On January 17th of the year 1706 Benjamin Franklin was born. He was incredibly ambitious and optimistic as he grew up. His idealism as a youth and his good-natured cynicism as an older man led to the discovery of electricity in lightning, the invention of the fire brigade, the work as Postmaster General, the funding of a hospital, the organization of a street-sweeping force, and many others. He became an American legend responsible for many improvements in American life and for many things that we presently take for granted (Encyclopedia). Although starting the autobiography with the original purpose as guidance it becomes obvious that Franklin continues to write in order to create an image of himself as a great public figure rather than as a great father.
Franklin wanted us to think for ourselves. While following his own advise, he invents a machine that we now know as the cast iron stove. Despite inventing the stove Franklin refuses to patent it because he believed "that as we enjoy great Advantages from the Inventions of others, we should be glad of an Opportunity to serve others by any Invention of ours, and this we should do freely and generously (Stealing)." As expected someone else patents Franklin's invention. Ramsey points out that, "for Franklin, ideas were a common treasury to be shared by all." In addition, this allows further understanding about Franklin. He was inventive and was not greedy.
His decisions to promote self-thinking, invent things, and not patent his invention all help reveal Franklin's ideals as well as aids in Franklin's goal of becoming great public figure, forever.
"Benjamin Franklin." The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2008. Encyclopedia.com. 22 Sep. 2009 .Franklin, Benjamin. The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin. Mineola: Dover Publicatons, Inc., 1996. PrintRamsey, Colin T. "Stealing Benjamin Franklin's Stove: A New Identification for the "Ironmonger in London." ANQ 20.2 (Spring2007 2007): 25-30. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. [Library name], [City], [State abbreviation]. 23 Sep. 2009
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Wouldn't Franklin's stove be available to everyone even if it is patent? It is not like if the stove was patent, it would be only available to Franklin himself.
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