In the early and late eighteen century Benjamin Franklin was a key figure in America. His achievements in science, politics and society were influential. His own principles were epressed when interacting with the colonist and having a profound effect in American culture.
He was self educated and skilled in printing. Understood the power of words and could express him self accordingly. His traits allowed him to influence colonist or at least informed them of larger issue such as abolishing slavery and joining together as one nation. This echoed onto our modern culture. for example "a penny saved is a penny earned' drawn from Franklin "poor Richard's Almanack" years later his publication and letters, that people would keep, show how influential he was to America. He embodied the values of hard work, education, social collaboration int his work. The star one might argue of secularization of Puritan values and becoming engraved as American values.
Over two hundred years Franklin words have influence our culture. What he spoke for was the greater good, In doing so America braces democracy where a large collection of different people can gather and further enhance American culture.
Franklin, Benjamin. The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin.
Mineola: Dover Publications, Inc. 1996. Print.
Morgan, Edmuns S. Benjamin Franklin.
Yale University Press. 2002
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This article does a good job of summing up how important Benjamin Franklin is to our American culture today. After reading his autobiography and this article, it made me realize what a great man he was. He was truly altruistic and always tried to think of ways to better the world. His printing press work, his active political stances and his discoveries and inventions (library, stove, etc), really is something that we all use today without thinking about the great man who was the force behind it all. However, there was one thing that I kept thinking about while reading this article, and that was his family life. In his entire autobiography, he hardly mentioned his emotional stance with his wife and family. I think he was a workaholic and maybe in his attempt to make the world better, he sort of neglected that family love that most other men experience. However, I might be wrong; maybe he was happy to be doing things for others and at the same time happy at home. It was just something that was bothering me, and I wonder what Franklin would’ve been like if he was a workaholic man in the 21st century.
ReplyDeleteI also agree that this article does a good job of summing up Franklin and his accomplishments. Another accomplishment of Franklin's that is still visible in society today is his development of not only the stove and library, but more basic services such as the police force, fire department, and street sweeping service. Without the development of these vital public services the growing colonies could have developed in an extremely different way.
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