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The author Cecil B. Curry claims that Franklin was a British agent, given the code name of '72' (British Intelligence did refer to him as such in their letters, but they gave numbers to many others for correspondence purposes, including the King of France). The late George MacDonald Fraser (author of the 'Flashman' series), repeats the charge in one of his novels.
Even if it has been debunked, mention of the charge, along with answers to it should feature in the article. The notion is widespread enough to deserve mention as part of the history of the subject.
Ref: 'CODE NUMBER 72 - Benjamin Franklin: Patriot or Spy?' by Cecil B. Curry 71.202.17.218 ( talk) 07:45, 13 December 2009 (UTC)
Benjamin Franklin was an Liberal Anti-Federalist. Please change. :D —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.15.221.76 ( talk) 22:37, 9 December 2009 (UTC)
Look at the first sentence: "Benjamin Franklin (January 17, 1706 [O.S. January 6, 1705] – April 17, 1790) was one of the Founding Fathers of the United States of America." Shouldn't the O.S. date be 1706 too? 199.164.167.161 ( talk) 20:06, 27 January 2009 (UTC)
I noticed that independently, so have changed it. Slightly later: scratch that; there's a comment in there noting that "1705 is correct. In Old Style, new year began March 25". I have no idea whether that's true, but it's there and plausible, so I must leave it until someone better informed than myself comes along. At any rate, I thought it worth updating this talk item. Tom Yates ( talk) 06:19, 5 June 2009 (UTC)
Benjamin Franklin wasn't the only inventor of the lighting rod. In the same age, it was invented by Czech priest Prokop Diviš. I think it should be written in the page. -- Zik2 ( talk) 23:59, 6 December 2008 (UTC)
To claim that Franklin did not conduct his kite experiment, one author cited the illustrations of Franklin's kite experiment show him standing indoors, the kite string passing through an open window.
I'd say that rather proves Franklin did do his experiment, using due caution. Common sense tells us that he sent the kite up, tossed the dry ball of wound string through the open window, and did his experiment without fear of being electrocuted because he knew a dry string doesn't conduct. - - - - Richard_DuBrul@Yahoo.Com —Preceding unsigned comment added by 207.229.177.15 ( talk) 17:10, 8 September 2009 (UTC)
To whom it may Concern: note 30 has a dead link. This is the living one: http://www.benjaminfranklinhouse.org/site/sections/about_franklin/PhysicsTodayVol59no1p42_48.pdf Sorry I can't edit it myself. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.81.10.155 ( talk) 16:52, 28 October 2009 (UTC)
Wikipedia says: In 1730, at the age of 24, Franklin publicly acknowledged an illegitimate son named William. But this contradicts William's birthdate of 1731. Wikipedia is way too much in a hurry to accuse Franklin of having a supposedly illegitimate son. Many think he was not illegitimate and simply a son of Franklin's common law wife. Wikipedia needs make this clear and stop pointing fingers irresponsibly. 65.32.128.178 ( talk) 13:57, 8 January 2009 (UTC)
Osrevad's edits were quite good as it meant removal of
fancruft. Most of those things were nothing more than distracting tangents that shift the focus of the article away and weren't helping. Quality improves with Osrevad's deletions. Comments?
⋙–Berean–Hunter—► (
(⊕))
23:28, 23 January 2009 (UTC)
Original title: Suggestion for clarity in a sentence in the article referencing "Franklin Institute of Boston" (should actually be "Benjamin Franklin Institute of Technology")— title shortened to reduce width of TOC
—
.`^) Paine Ellsworth
diss`cuss (^`.
06:42, 21 September 2009 (UTC)
Where it says the following in the article,
"Franklin's Boston trust fund accumulated almost $5,000,000 during that same time, and was used to establish a trade school that became the Franklin Institute of Boston.[64]"
there isn't a "Franklin Institute of Boston" but rather what is now called "Benjamin Franklin Institute of Technology" (a technical tranining institute that grants Bachelors and Associate Degrees as well as Certificates in varied technical and engineering fields). The article **DOES** have a hyperlink for "Franklin Institute of Boston" which jumps to an article on the "Benjamin Franklin Institute of Technology" (which is good) but this article may be better to INSTEAD say the following in the above paragraph (for the sake of clarity):
"Franklin's Boston trust fund accumulated almost $5,000,000 during that same time, and was used to establish a trade school that became the Franklin Institute of Boston (actually now called the Benjamin Franklin Institute of Technology)."
. . . and where it says "Benjamin Franklin Institute of Technology" in my suggested paragraph replacement, you can make that school's present-day name hyperlinked to jump to the Wikipedia article by the exact same name. That Wikipedia article on "Benjamin Franklin Institute of Technology" does not even reference anything about "Franklin Institute of Boston" and neither does that school's own web site.
Signed, MENSwikiman ( MENSwikiman ( talk) 08:53, 7 March 2009 (UTC))
can someone change the 'preformed' to 'performed'. I cannot, without some inconvenience, as it is semiprotected. thanks —Preceding unsigned comment added by 220.101.100.103 ( talk) 13:01, 3 December 2009 (UTC)
Since I didn't know what a compositor was, I clicked on compositor and it redirected to compositing, which I am sure is not what Franklin did for a living. I have changed the wording to typesetter, which makes sense to me. If I am wrong please correct it and tell me why I am wrong on my talk page. Thank You. Griffinofwales ( talk) 05:08, 20 March 2009 (UTC)
January 17, 1706 [O.S. January 6, 1705]
Shouldn't both years be 1706? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.237.138.44 ( talk) 02:53, 1 April 2009 (UTC)
Recently the file File:Benjamin Franklin by Joseph Siffrein Duplessis.jpg (right) was uploaded and it appears to be relevant to this article and not currently used by it. If you're interested and think it would be a useful addition, please feel free to include it. Dcoetzee 23:46, 1 April 2009 (UTC)
See this page http://www.udel.edu/PR/UDaily/2005/mar/franklin061605.html there are some thingth you would find out the are not corect in wiki I hope it helps —Preceding unsigned comment added by 192.114.91.226 ( talk) 07:33, 6 May 2009 (UTC)
Following is a proposal for additions to the section on virtue, religion and personal beliefs. I also made a number of small changes for clarity, grouping of ideas, and a few small edits to get rid of repetition of ideas, plus one correction re the church Franklin was baptised in. since i touched almost every paragraph, I thought I would put the post here before putting it into the article. note I have not put the new references in the proper format yet. waldenpond ( talk) 02:56, 31 May 2009 (UTC)waldenpond
Like the other advocates of republicanism, Franklin emphasized that the new republic could survive only if the people were virtuous. All his life he explored the role of civic and personal virtue, as expressed in Poor Richard's aphorisms. Franklin was a non-dogmatic believer, who felt that organized religion was necessary for men to be good to their fellow men, but he rarely attended church himself. His faith in God was an important factor in his support for the American Revolution. (Novak, p.12,84) When Ben Franklin met Voltaire in Paris and asked this great apostle of the Enlightenment to bless his grandson, Voltaire said in English, “God and Liberty,” and added, “this is the only appropriate benediction for the grandson of Monsieur Franklin.” (Isaacson, p 354)
Franklin’s parents were both pious Puritans. (Isaacson, pp 5-18) The family attended the old South Church, the most liberal Puritan congregation in Boston, where Benjamin Franklin was baptized in 1706. (Isaacson p 15; http://www.oldsouth.org/history.html ) The Revolutionary War generation of this historic congregation include Samuel Adams,; Samuel Sewall, judge and diarist; Thomas Prince, minister and book collector; William Dawes, Paul Revere’s fellow rider in 1775. Old South Church played a significant role in the revolution through the bold actions of the Sons of Liberty at the Old South Meeting House. There, in 1773, Samuel Adams gave the signal for the “war whoops” that started the Boston Tea Party. As poet John Greenleaf Whittier wrote, “So long as Boston shall Boston be, And her bay tides rise and fall, Shall freedom stand in the Old South Church, And plead for the rights of all.” (; http://www.oldsouth.org/history.html)
Franklin’s Puritan upbringing was a central factor throughout his life, as a philanthropist, civic leader and key player in the Revolutionary War. (Novak pp 12,26,42,84,173-5,218n2,242n63; Isaacson, pp 10,25,26,31,49,59,92,102,486,489,490) Franklin rejected much of his Puritan upbringing: belief in salavation, hell, Jesus Christ’s divinity, and indeed most religious dogma. He retained a strong faith in God as the wellspring of morality and goodness in man, and as a Providential actor in history responsible for American independence. (Isaacson, p. 486; Novak pp 11-12, 42, 84, 173-5, 218n2, 242n63) His faith in God was an important factor in his Franklin’s support for the American Revolution, as it was to most of the founding generation. (Novak, pp11-12) As Franklin wrote, “Rebellion to Tyrants is Obedience to God.” (Novak, p.12)
Ben Franklin’s father, a poor chandler, owned a copy of a book, Bonifacius: Essays to Do Good, by the famous Purtian preacher, and family friend, Cotton Mather, which “Franklin often cited as a key influence” on his life. (Isaacson, p 26) “”If I have been,” Franklin wrote to Cotton Mather’s son seventy years later, “a useful citizen, the public owes the advantage of it to that book.” Franklin’s first pen name, Silence Dogwood, paid homage both to the book and to a famous sermon by Mather.” (Isaacson, p26) The book preached the importance of forming voluntary associations to benefit society. Cotton Mather personally founded a neighborhood improvement group, that Franklin’s father joined. “Franklin picked up his penchant for forming do-good associations from Cotton Mather and others, but his organizational fervor and galvanizing personality made him the most influential force in instilling this as an enduring part of American life.” (Isaacson, p102)
It was Ben Franklin who during a critical impasse during the Constitutional Convention, 28 June 1787, introduced the practice of daily common prayer at the Convention, with these words:
“… In the beginning of the contest with G. Britain, when we were sensible of danger we had daily prayer in this room for the Divine Protection. -- Our prayers, Sir, were heard, and they were graciously answered. All of us who were engaged in the struggle must have observed frequent instances of a Superintending providence in our favor. … And have we now forgotten that powerful friend? or do we imagine that we no longer need His assistance.
I have lived, Sir, a long time and the longer I live, the more convincing proofs I see of this truth -- that God governs in the affairs of men. And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without his notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without his aid? We have been assured, Sir, in the sacred writings that "except the Lord build they labor in vain that build it." I firmly believe this; and I also believe that without his concurring aid we shall succeed in this political building no better than the Builders of Babel: …I therefore beg leave to move -- that henceforth prayers imploring the assistance of Heaven, and its blessings on our deliberations, be held in this Assembly every morning before we proceed to business, and that one or more of the Clergy of this City be requested to officiate in that service.” ( http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/benfranklin.htm )
Franklin briefly belonged to a Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia. Shortly thereafter, he became an enthusiastic supporter of one of America’s great evangelical ministers, George Whitefield, “the most popular of the Great Awakening’s roving preachers.” (Isaacson, p110) Franklin did not subscribe to Whitefield’s theology, but he admired Whitefield for exhorting people to worship God through good works. Franklin printed Whitefield’s sermons on the front page of his Gazette. He arranged to publish all of Whitefield’s sermons and journals. Half of Franklin’s publications in 1739-41 were of Whitefield, and helped the success of the evangelical movement in America. Franklin was a lifelong friend and supporter of Whitefield, until his death in 1770. (Isaacson pp107, 110, 112, 113)
When he stopped attending church, Franklin wrote in his autobiography, "...Sunday being my studying day, I never was without some religious principles. I never doubted, for instance, the existence of the Deity; that He made the world, and governed it by His providence; that the most acceptable service of God was the doing good to man; that our souls are immortal; and that all crime will be punished, and virtue rewarded, either here or hereafter." [1] ( http://history.hanover.edu/courses/excerpts/111frank2.html
Franklin retained a lifelong commitment to the Puritan virtues and political values he had grown up with, and through his civic work and publishing, he succeeded in passing these values into the American culture permanently. He had a “passion for virtue.” (Isaacson p 485) These Puritan values included his devotion to egalitarianism, education, industry, thrift, honesty, temperance, charity and community spirit. (Isaacson p. 149, 92,486,490) Franklin’s desire to teach these values was itself something he gained from his Puritan upbringing, with its stress on “inculcating virtue and character in themselves and their communities.” (Isaacson p 10,102,489) These Puritan values and the desire to pass them on, were one of Franklin’s quintessentially American characteristics, and helped shape the character of the nation.
Max Weber considered Franklin's ethical writings a culmination of the Protestant ethic, which ethic created the social conditions necessary for the birth of
capitalism.
[2]
One of Franklin's famous characteristics was his respect, tolerance and promotion of all churches. Referring to his experience in Philadelphia, he wrote in his
autobiography, "new Places of worship were continually wanted, and generally erected by voluntary Contribution, my Mite for such purpose, whatever might be the Sect, was never refused."
[1] “He helped create a new type of nation that would draw strength from its religious pluralism.” (Isaacson p 93ff). The first generation of Puritans had been intolerant of dissent, but by the early 1700’s, when Franklin grew up in the Puritan church, tolerance of different churches was the norm, and Massachusetts was known, in John Adam’s words, as “’the most mild and equitable establishment of religion that was known in the world.’” (Bailyn, 1967, p. 248) The evangelical revivalists who were active mid-century, such as Franklin’s friend and preacher, George Whitefield, were the greatest advocates of religious freedom, “claiming liberty of conscience to be an ‘inalienable right of every rational creature.’” (Bailyn, p 249) Whitefield’s supporters in Philadelphia, including Franklin, erected “a large, new hall, that…could provide a pulpit to anyone of any belief.” (Isaacson, p. 112) Franklin’s rejection of dogma and doctrine and his stress on the God of ethics and morality and civic virtue, made him the “prophet of tolerance.” (Isaacson, p 93ff)
Although Franklin's parents had intended for him to have a career in the church, Franklin as a young man adopted the Enlightenment religious belief in Deism, that God’s truths can be found entirely through nature and reason.(Isaacson p. 46) "I soon became a thorough Deist." [3] As a young man he rejected Christian dogma in a 1725 pamphlet, which he later saw as an embarrassment, A Dissertation on Liberty and Necessity, Pleasure and Pain. [4], while simultaneously asserting, God is “all wise, all good, all powerful.” (Isaacson, p. 45) He defended his rejection of religious dogma with these words: "I think opinions should be judged by their influences and effects; and if a man holds none that tend to make him less virtuous or more vicious, it may be concluded that he holds none that are dangerous, which I hope is the case with me." After the disillusioning experience of seeing the decay in his own moral standards, and those of two friends in London whom he had converted to Deism, Franklin turned back to a belief in the importance of organized religion, on the pragmatic grounds that without God and organized churches, man will not be good. (Isaacson, p 46, 486)
In 1757 he wrote Thomas Paine, criticizing his manuscript, The Age of Reason: "For without the Belief of a Providence that takes Cognizance of, guards and guides and may favour particular Persons, there is no Motive to Worship a Deity, to fear its Displeasure, or to pray for its Protection….think how great a Proportion of Mankind consists of weak and ignorant Men and Women, and of inexperienc'd and inconsiderate Youth of both Sexes, who have need of the Motives of Religion to restrain them from Vice, to support their Virtue, and retain them in the Practice of it till it becomes habitual, which is the great Point for its Security; And perhaps you are indebted to her originally that is to your Religious Education, for the Habits of Virtue upon which you now justly value yourself. If men are so wicked with religion, what would they be if without it."
According to David Morgan, [5] Franklin was a proponent of religion in general. He prayed to "Powerful Goodness" and referred to God as "the infinite". John Adams noted that Franklin was a mirror in which people saw their own religion: "The Catholics thought him almost a Catholic. The Church of England claimed him as one of them. The Presbyterians thought him half a Presbyterian, and the Friends believed him a wet Quaker." Whatever else Franklin was, concludes Morgan, "he was a true champion of generic religion."
In 1790, just about a month before he died, Franklin wrote a letter to
Ezra Stiles, president of
Yale University, who had asked him his views on religion:
As to Jesus of Nazareth, my Opinion of whom you particularly desire, I think the System of Morals and his Religion, as he left them to us, the best the world ever saw or is likely to see; but I apprehend it has received various corrupt changes, and I have, with most of the present Dissenters in England, some Doubts as to his divinity; tho' it is a question I do not dogmatize upon, having never studied it, and I think it needless to busy myself with it now, when I expect soon an Opportunity of knowing the Truth with less Trouble.... [6]
On July 4, 1776, Congress appointed a committee that included Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, and John Adams to design the Great Seal of the United States. [7] Franklin's proposal featured a design with the motto: "Rebellion to Tyrants is Obedience to God." His design portrayed a scene from the Book of Exodus, with Moses, the Israelites, the pillar of fire, and George III depicted as Pharaoh. [8]
At age 20, Franklin wrote his own epitaph:
The body of B. Franklin, Printer (Like the Cover of an Old Book Its Contents torn Out And Stript of its Lettering and Gilding) Lies Here, Food for Worms. But the Work shall not be Lost; For it will (as he Believ'd) Appear once More In a New and More Elegant Edition Revised and Corrected By the Author.
Franklin's actual grave, however, as he specified in his final will, simply reads "Benjamin and Deborah Franklin." [9]
The {{Skiptotoctalk}} template has been added to the top of this Talk page for those who want to "get right down to it". .`^) Paine Ellsworth diss`cuss (^`. 03:14, 31 May 2009 (UTC)
{{
editsemiprotected}}
The Biographies contains the line
Mark Skousen. The Compleated Autobiography by Benjamin Franklin (2005) told in Franklin's own words.
Which contains a TYPO
Compleated should be Completed
TheGreatAwesomeness (
talk)
01:06, 23 June 2009 (UTC)
1. An extensive discussion of the Pennsylvania Gazette's influence on journalism. 2. Some acknolwedgement that the man was a womanizer. It's not a secret. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 76.94.201.49 ( talk) 19:11, 2 July 2009 (UTC)
In 1751, when Lancaster, Pennsylvania was the largest inland city in the world, Benjamin Franklin established the first print shop in the city, founding a local industry that remains a significant part of Lancaster's economy. Ben partnered with Quaker printer James Chattin in a precursor to today's franchising operations, providing the equipment and paying one third of the expenses in exchange for one third of the profit. He had the same arrangement with printers in New York, New Haven, Annapolis, Charleston, and Antigua. Chattin was unsuccessful in attracting trade, and was replaced with Heinrich Miller and Samuel Holland. In 1753, Franklin sells out to Holland for 200 Pounds Sterling, the same amount he used to establish Franklin College, precursor of Franklin and Marshall. In 1754, he takes back the print shop and rents it to William Dunlap, who brings in his nephew, John Dunlap, from Ireland to apprentice in the shop. In 1757, Franklin moves to England, and William Dunlap moves to Philadelphia to succeed him as postmaster. Meanwhile, John Dunlap acquires some renown, and becomes the first to print the Declaration of Independence. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 72.72.131.100 ( talk) 19:00, 15 July 2009 (UTC)
Special balloting conducted October 18, 1785 unanimously elected Franklin the sixth President of the Supreme Executive Council of Pennsylvania, replacing John Dickinson. The office of President of Pennsylvania was analogous to the modern position of Governor. It is not clear why Dickinson needed to be replaced with less than two weeks remaining before the regular election.
John Dickinson was elected counsellor for the County of Philadelphia October 8, 1782, and his term as counsellor, i.e. member of the Executive Council, expired three years later as required by the Constitution of Pennsylvania (1776), Sect. 19. According to the legal norms existing in the State at that time, Dickinson's term as counsellor (and subsequently as President of the Executive Council) expired on the day of General Election held on the second Tuesday of October (Constitution 1776, Sect. 17), October 11, 1785. There was no need to "replace" Dickinson. Incidentally, Franklin's term as President ended October 14, 1788 (NOT December 1, 1788 as indicated in the left column under his portrait).
-- arch_editor ( talk) 12:27, 13 July 2009 (UTC)
See WP:SEEALSO from the Manual of Style... "This section should generally not contain links that appear in the body text or in navigation boxes" In general, the "See Also" section is reserved for related topics that are not otherwise Wikilinked in the text. All of the ones I removed are clearly Wikilinked in the main text, in some cases several times. I will be presently removing them again unless you would care to work to have the manual of style changed so that this is not part of it. -- Jayron32. talk. say no to drama 17:09, 18 July 2009 (UTC)
Ben Franklin was a master of time management and personal productivity. There's a link that I'd like to recommend be placed on the Ben Franklin page. It's a link to a mini-course on his self-developed system of productivity.
Here's the link: http://improveyourself.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&catid=1:iycategory&id=93:mini-course-ben-franklin-time-management
The article, as of September 2, 2009 says that Franklin criticized Thomas Paine's [/u]The Age of Reason[/u] in 1757. This is clearly impossible since Paine published [/u]The Age of Reason[/u] well after the drafting of the US Constitution in 1787. The date is definitely inaccurate. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Numberonesurvivor ( talk • contribs) 22:24, 2 September 2009 (UTC)
This article says "In 1757 he wrote Thomas Paine, criticizing his manuscript, The Age of Reason", yet the wiki article on The Age of Reason says it was published starting in 1794. The wiki article on Thomas Paine gives 1793. It seems the 1757 in the Franklin articles is inaccurate. Dclcackle ( talk) 03:59, 27 September 2009 (UTC)
The article states that Benjamin Franklin stayed with Charles Darwin at Lichfield. However cross referencing against Darwin's article shows that he wasn't born until the 1800s, which was after Franklin's death. Therefore I would suggest that this information must be erroneous.
See the below hyperlink for the dates of Darwin's birth and death.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/darwin_charles.shtml —Preceding unsigned comment added by 195.50.96.14 ( talk) 10:27, 20 October 2009 (UTC)
The Life in France section is way too short - he spent almost 10 years of his life there; it warrants more than the one small paragraph. -- RossF18 ( talk) 23:52, 20 October 2009 (UTC)
it doesnt say in Articles Related to Benjamin Franklin that he was a ambassador to ENGLAND???????????????????? johnjay and rich fan 67.101.189.131 ( talk) 18:04, 27 October 2009 (UTC)
Why is there a lack of information on this page about the Silence Doogood letters? Why has no one brought this to attention, and/or, written anything into the article about this? Sadly, I only know of the letters, however, and lack the sufficent knowledge to write out anything but a rough idea. 24.206.252.254 ( talk) 20:16, 28 October 2009 (UTC)
I read in a book by Jack Fruchtman that Franklin may well have been homosexual, and married simply to conceal this fact. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.5.61.194 ( talk) 01:00, 22 November 2009 (UTC)
Benjamin Franklin’s contribution to American Literature is noteworthy. Throughout Franklin’s literature is the presence of the values by which he lived. These values include: virtue, industry, hard work, frugalness, and bettering oneself. Franklin was not known for his religious practices, but rather his practicing habits religiously. As a young man, he rose from the lower working class and soon became one of the most well known Americans in Europe. It is germane to conclude that he was face with which Europeans came to associate America and her values; he was the first American. Franklin was raised in the Puritan setting of the New England colonies, but throughout his lifetime instead of adhering to these religious practices he successfully took the Puritan discipline and devotion and applied it to his personal beliefs. These beliefs include the aforementioned values. Not being a religious man and even considering going to church invaluable compared to reading a book. He states in his autobiography that it was more valuable to spend his leisure time reading and becoming more knowledgeable than it was to go to church. As a result, Franklin’s literature reflects these beliefs he held so dearly. His writing was such a landmark in American Literature because it differed so much from that of the traditional American Literature that was written in the Northeast prior to Franklin. In contrast to that of earlier authors, such as Cotton Mather (1663-1728), who wrote about being a good Christian and understanding one’s place in the hierarchy system. Franklin had contrary beliefs in man. He felt that man could make his own future through hard work and dedication to education and industry.
Articles of Belief and Acts of Religion: (1728) In this piece, Franklin addresses God; it is written in the structure of that of a prayer. Franklin says, “He, the Infinite Rather, expects or requires no Worship or Praise from us, but that he is even INFINITELY ABOVE IT.” Franklin delivers the message that approbation is paid to him through working hard and being virtuous. This article sets the precedent for that which the rest of Franklin’s writings are based: his enormous value for hard work and his immense focus on virtue. Review of Franklin’s work: Richard Amacher says, “The Articles of Belief were Franklin's attempts at modernizing and otherwise improving the language of the King James Version of the Bible.” This suggests that Benjamin Franklin was trying to find himself and his place with religion, and perhaps he was changing his religion to better fit him, rather than to create himself with the religion as the premise. Franklin tried to tie together his ideas of values and the churches.
Poor Richard’s Almanac:
Benjamin Franklin began publishing Poor Richard’s Almanac at the age of 26 in 1732 until 1758. He wrote Poor Richard’s Almanacs under the pseudonym of Richard Saunders. As these almanacs became more popular, he became successful with this yearly publication that sold thousands of copies. This publication was comprised of: weather, poetry, witty comments, words of wisdom, and miscellaneous comments that pertained to life in the colonies.
The following are a few examples of the words of wisdom that make these pieces of literature still remembered today. These aphorisms are still popular in American culture:
“In the Humility makes great men twice honourable”
“Keep thy shop, & thy shop will keep thee.”
“Of learned Fools I have seen ten times ten, “
“Of unlearned wise men I have seen a hundred.”
“Three may keep a Secret, if two of them are dead.”
“Deny Self for Self’s sake.”
“Early to bed and early to rise, makes a man healthy wealthy and wise.”
“Are you angry that others disappoint you? remember you cannot depend upon yourself.”
Some scholars say that Benjamin Franklin’s political ideas were imbedded in his almanacs.
For example, William Pencak says that, “In both their general socio-political outlook and their opinions on particular public events, the almanacs illustrated Franklin’s own efforts toward shaping the mentality of a provincial society that purchased thousands of Poor Richards” (The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography). Franklin was a man who used his resources well and frequently spoke of virtue, frugality, and better one’s self. His almanacs were tools that allowed him to instill in the colonist his beliefs. Through the Alamanacs he encourage colonists to think for themselves and to question the political environment and their niche in that environment. By way of questioning values and religion, Franklin gingerly inquired through aphorisms and stories the thoughts that began to change what soon became America. These thoughts focused on working hard and being able to rise in the hierarchy system; the ways in which to rise had nothing do with church and focused on how virtuous and how hard a man was whiling to work.
Benjamin Franklin’s Autobiography (1791 in French and 1793 in English)
Benjamin Franklin’s Autobiography is one of Franklin’s most memorable works. He wrote it in the later years of his life, from 1771 to 1790. This book speaks not only of its author but also of America as a whole. He was the man who painted the picture of America to European nations and their peoples. His autobiography was truly one of the first American texts as it broke away from the church and New England’s traditional Puritan values and focused more on the values he felt necessary for a man to be a good man. It is evident that these values have withstood the passage of time, because they are still what define Americans and they are what America has been built upon. Franklin’s perspective on knowledge and church are ubiquitous throughout the text. To show his beliefs of the superiority of work over church in the text he states, his belief in hard work and dedication:
“As I have always thought that one man of tolerable abilities may work great changes and accomplish great affairs among mankind if he first forms a good plan, and cutting off all amusements or other employments that would divert his attention, makes the execution of that same plan his sole study and business (83).
This metanarrative speaks of more than just a man, but of the nation as it is trying to break away from the values of that of Britain and define its own place in the world, much like Franklin has tried to work his way up through society through knowledge and experience.
The Way to Wealth (1758)
Much like many of his other works, his voice transcends through the text to encourage people to “make the wealth small and the want great” (2). He reiterates the motif of his Autobiography: the importance of the abundance of hard work and the eschewal of relaxing and laziness.
The pages are filled telling the reader to not borrow money and to work as long as possible. Leisure is redefined by Franklin using Poor Richard’s quote, “leisure is time for doing something useful; this leisure the diligent can will obtain, but the lazy man never; for A life of leisure and a life of laziness are two things” (3). It is only toward the conclusion that Franklin speaks of God and it is only for the convenience of Franklin’s beliefs that there is a moral lesson that is tied to the Bible; he speaks of Job, “Remember, Job suffered, and was afterwards prosperous” (7). Though Franklin relates to the Bible in the sense that work is good and a biblical character, it is not putting God before hard work, but merely using this allusion as a rhetorical device to steer people toward working hard, purchasing little, and being thrifty and frugal.
Satire:
Franklin’s most famous piece, An Edict by The King of Prussia, was written to “protest the Tea Act in 1773, … merely the best of hundreds displaying Franklin’s clever pen in aid of his chosen causes” (Reference Guide to American Literature). This satire is a parody of the relationship between the colonies and Great Britain. He uses hyperbole to communicate how ridiculous these laws and restrictions are among the colonists. This is shown through the way Franklin explains the grounds by which the subjects can ship goods to Prussia, but they have to pay for the service and transportation. The subjects to the King have to pay just to sail through the port which takes away even more of their money. Franklin’s sarcasm is effective. He writes in a style that at first makes it sound as if he is giving the privilege of allowing them to keep their wool, but he retracts the privilege by not allowing them to sell it for money. The irony of the piece is that Prussia makes it sound like they care about the well being of the subjects, but the King is just holding them down and further handicapping their abilities to be self sufficient, much like Britain was doing the same to the colonies. Franklin is the voice of the colonies in this satire as he relays the colonists’ frustrations.
This can further be reflected back to the motif that appears ubiquitously in all of Franklin’s work: the importance of hard work and people having the ability to better their lives for themselves. Franklin stands true to his values as he makes a mockery of the system that has been created. He successfully shows just how ridiculous and unethical the relationship between Britain and the colonies is.
Silence Dogood Letters: (April- October 1722)
The Silence Dogood Letters are an example of Benjamin Franklin’s satire. He brings social problems to the attention of the people using a woman narrator. The letters were written by Franklin when he worked in his brother’s print shop. He secretly wrote these letters and delivered them to the shop and his brother never knew it was him till some years later.
In this composition of letters, Benjamin Franklin spoke as a widow in the colonies and used these letters as a vehicle to express the concerns of average colonists; he wrote as an average colonial woman and addressed issues including: society’s hierarchy, sobriety, and the worries of a widow. Ultimately, these letters to the editor spoke to the people, about the people, and related their present situation to that of Rome and ancient ways. These letters served as the answers to questions and the person who inquired thoughts that many were too afraid to bring to the surface out of the turbid ways and odious facts. For example, the life of a woman after the death of her husband, how children are to be raised in the society into which they are socialized, and how to be a good person and find one’s place. In these letters he speaks of character and even includes a few sayings that would later be found in Poor Richard’s Almanac’s.
To quote Lois Gordon, “The first—fourteen essays that appeared in his half-brother’s New England Courant and written under the name of Silence Dogood—is the essential Franklin. His persona, a parson’s widow writing of both the serious and the ridiculous—provides the author distance for irony and satire.” This satire and irony continued to be seen numerous times throughout Franklin’s career.
A Scholar’s take on Benjamin Franklin:
There are some who believe Benjamin Franklin was a smart and wise man who showed the world what it meant to an American man. There are others who feel was a full of himself and not a good Christian. Scholar Lois Gordon says of Benjamin Franklin:
“He gave an American flavor to the epistolary and essay forms, mastered the use of persona in creating the first memorable American comic character, and left for succeeding generations to emulate a crackerbarrel and homey humor. Always, Franklin's work appeals to human reason and retains as its purpose social and moral betterment. "No Piece can properly be called good ... which is void of any tendency to benefit the [Reader's] ... Virtue or his Knowledge.” Benjamin Franklin was the first American and he spoke freely and set the precedence for future Americans.
Work Citied Amacher, Richard E. “Chapter 8: Religious and Philosophical Tracts.” Benjamin Franklin. Richard E. Amacher. Twayne’ United States Authors Series 12. New York: Twayne Publishers, 1962. Literature Resource Center. Gale. Longwood University. 1 Nov. 2009 Franklin, Benjamin. Benjamin Franklin’s Autobiography. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 1986. Print. Franklin, Benjamin. The Way to Wealth. New York: The New York Association For Improving The Condition of The Poor, 1848. Ebook. Franklin, Benjamin. The works of Benjamin Franklin: containing several political and historical tracts not included in any former edition, and many letters, official and private, not hitherto published, Volume 4. New York: Benjamin Franklin Stevens, 1882. E-book. Gordon, Lois. "Benjamin Franklin: Overview." Reference Guide to American Literature. Ed. Jim Kamp. 3rd ed. Detroit: St. James Press, 1994. Literature Resource Center. Gale. Longwood University. 2 Nov. 2009 < http://go.galegroup.com/ps/start.do?p=LitRC&u=viva_lwc_main>. Gordon, Lois. "Benjamin Franklin: Overview." Reference Guide to American Literature. Ed. Jim Kamp. 3rd ed. Detroit: St. James Press, 1994. Literature Resource Center. Gale. Longwood University. 2 Nov. 2009 Pencak, William. “Polititcs and Ideology in ‘Poor Richard’s Almanack’” The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography 116.2 (Apr, 1992): 183- 211. JStor. Web. 09 Nov. 2009. < http://go.galegroup.com/ps/start.do?p=LitRC&u=viva_lwc_main>. "The Writings of Benjamin Franklin, Volume I: Boston and London, 1722 - 1726." The History Carper -- Primary Source Documents, Histories, and Stories. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Nov. 2009. < http://www.historycarper.com/resources/twobf1/contents.htm>. < http://go.galegroup.com/ps/start.do?p=LitRC&u=viva_lwc_main>.
I don't see any mention of his involvement in the Hellfire Club. -- Darth Borehd ( talk) 21:12, 11 January 2010 (UTC)
What exactly is (was?) the Hellfire Club? If you can find reliable sources for it, please feel free to add it in the appropriate section.-- JayJasper ( talk) 05:27, 16 January 2010 (UTC)
Some people assert that Ben's accent made him sound like a Scotsman. Yet it is clear that he grew up in New England. Did people in Massachusetts speak a dialect most closely resembling present-day Scottish? Or did the contemporaries which described his dialect as Scottish-like have the wrong idea of how Scottish sounds?
2010-02-06 Lena Synnerholm, Märsta, Sweden. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 212.247.167.71 ( talk) 18:52, 6 February 2010 (UTC)
Hello,
I checked the source [95] directly in Google books because I was looking for "Portrait of American Culture." The author of the source writes that Ferdinand Kürnberger wrote this work. On the same page in source [95], there is the spelling "Jakob Fugger" as well.
Excerpt from the Wikipedia article:
Franklin's writings on virtue were derided by some European authors, such as Jackob Fugger in his critical work Portrait of American Culture. Max Weber considered Franklin's ethical writings a culmination of the Protestant ethic, which ethic created the social conditions necessary for the birth of capitalism.[95]
64.246.215.5 ( talk) 17:47, 25 January 2012 (UTC)
The difference between old and new styles is 11 days, not one year and 11 days. The Old Style date is shown with the wrong year. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 88.69.29.204 ( talk) 21:26, 8 March 2012 (UTC)
In the opening section it states Philadelphia as the leading city in the colonies. Even if this is true, should this be cited? I feel like it violates the NPOV if it is not cited.-- MrNiceGuy1113 ( talk) 21:42, 25 April 2012 (UTC)
B. Franklin made his fortune by lending money at interest; engaging in the slave trade; printing advertisements for slave sales and runaways; also had contract to print money.
B. Franklin's first published work was a poem which his brother James asked him to write, about a lighthouse keeper who drowned.
B. Franklin probably freed Peter and John, slaves he took to England, who did not return with him. His other slaves died.
B. Franklin was a joint postmaster with William Hunter prior to the Revolutionary War.
B. Franklin became president of the Pennsylvania Abolitionist Society in 1787; Pennsylvania abolished slavery by statute in 1780.
B. Franklin's partner, David Hall, was the former captain of the Charming Sally, and advertised slaves brought into Pennsylvania in the Gazette.
B. Franklin also represented South Carolina.
B. Franklin did not believe in integration of blacks into society. His plan for free blacks included surveillance and oversight so they did not become public burdens.
B. Franklin's autobiography was published after his death. He did not self-publish the book. Marylinn ( talk) 00:21, 10 May 2012 (UTC)
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There should be mention of Franklin's association with the Hellfire Club. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 89.241.65.2 ( talk) 20:56, 26 May 2012 (UTC)
I deleted (for the second time) the following sentence from the article: "To understand why this was novel insights on Franklin's part one has to merely see that Economics was only generally recognized as a science with the publishing of Adam Smith's The Wealth of Nations which was published 9 years later."
I deleted this sentence for the following reasons:
Considering that Franklin devoted much of his adult life to promoting industrialization, and considering that Adam Smith pointedly argued against industrializing the colonies ("natural course of things," etc.), we're going to need more than the first page of a 90-year-old article to suggest that Adam Smith was following Franklin and defending the colonies.-- Other Choices ( talk) 11:24, 26 August 2012 (UTC)
I think we should split this article pertaining to Inventions, and (social/political and) scientific inquiries (Benjamin Franklin). this article can include a small summary, and a main article link. Maybe having a separate split also for 'social studies and contributions'.
Franklin was said to have "established a common-law marriage with Deborah Read on September 1, 1730". There is some confusion over the status of so-called common law marriages. I suspect that what occured was a declaration (not establishment) of aPer Verba De Praesenti marriage. This is an agreement to marry, not a marriage. 203.184.41.226 ( talk) 04:04, 22 September 2012 (UTC)
All the main biographers cover Franklin's important work in demography, and it's the subject of scholarly articles. It is covered in histories of demography. The topic therefore has to be covered in this main article. If an editor want to expand on the topic in an extra additional article they are certainly free to do so. But that has not happened. One editor erased the material here and created a stub article Social contributions and studies (Benjamin Franklin) that has no additional information. It's a bad idea to erase solid material and dump it in an article with a strange title that few people will notice. So I reverted. Rjensen ( talk) 22:15, 27 August 2012 (UTC)
[ [2]] [ [3]] [ [4]] Sidelight12 Talk 06:42, 27 October 2012 (UTC)
It looks like the Benjamin_Franklin#Meteorology lunar eclipse observation is wrong by a year, says year 1743, October 21, should be 1744, and also was apparently a partial lunar eclipse. Catalog: [5] Image: [6] The wikipedia source is a webpage, so maybe that should be challenged first for correction since it is a very interesting article! [7] 173.240.25.249 ( talk) 01:20, 22 October 2012 (UTC)
An error in the text and link in the section "Europe Years": The town where Franklin visited Erasmus Darwin was Lichfield in Staffordshire NOT Litchfield in Hampshire P e mason ( talk) 08:59, 1 November 2012 (UTC)
France is spelled "Frace" in the second to last sentence in the "Illegitimate son William" section.
"Places and things" just doesn't sound that encyclopedic, does it? Any alternatives? — Preceding unsigned comment added by Dorshil ( talk • contribs) 21:38, 6 November 2012 (UTC)
I find the section titled 'primary sources' to be confusing, as it seems to be composed of some of Franklin's own publications as well as publications written about him. I petition to separate out the 'primary source' section into a section titled 'List of Franklin's Publications' & the sub-section under 'Further Reading' titled 'Compilations of Franklin's Writings' or another title that is more appropriate for the source. -- Russot1 ( talk) 22:22, 10 December 2012 (UTC)
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In the early life section of the article it says that his father didn't have enough money to send him to school, but the school he went to was public, free. The real reason his father did not keep sending him to school was because they thought he was no pious enough to become a priest. [10] Jackson9w9 ( talk) 16:42, 18 December 2012 (UTC)
The citation at the end of Note 3 reads " Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). . Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press."; there are a few problems with this:
I'd be grateful if someone could correct this citation.
Many Thanks!
Cheers, Rico402 ( talk) 17:45, 5 February 2013 (UTC)
"The publication was critical of the Society of the Cincinnati, established in the United States. Franklin and Mirabeau thought of it as a “noble order,” consistent with the egalitarian ideals of the new republic."
--Surely what was meant here was that the authors viewed a "noble order" (SotC membership is limited to descendants of officers) as INconsistent with egalitarian ideas, and so the publication was "critical" of it.— Preceding unsigned comment added by 139.139.83.17 ( talk • contribs) 11:33, 27 February 2013 (UTC)
His membership in the Hellfire Club is missing. 184.147.228.122 ( talk) 05:30, 20 March 2013 (UTC)
I believe Franklin owned slaves, but he set them free. I have searched through the article and could not find any information on slaves and slavery. I believe Franklin's views on slavery and the fact he owned slaves needs to be mentioned in the article. Cmguy777 ( talk) 15:44, 22 March 2013 (UTC)
Thanks Rjensen. Cmguy777 ( talk) 16:10, 22 March 2013 (UTC)
According to Nash, Franklin owned seven slaves and was active in the slave trade at his general store including printing ads in his newspaper to capture runaway slaves. This information, I believe, would be good for the article. Cmguy777 ( talk) 16:45, 22 March 2013 (UTC)
Here is a sample edit:
I would need page numbers for the Nash information. Cmguy777 ( talk) 03:42, 10 April 2013 (UTC)
Informed feedback is needed on the Thomas Jefferson talk page regarding whether we should list Architect in the info box on that page. The issue has been discussed at length there in the upper sections. -- Gwillhickers 15:26, 29 August 2013 (UTC)
The letter Franklin writes is to an unknown atheist. At what point was it proven that the letter was to Thomas Paine? 209.184.116.187 ( talk) 14:13, 14 September 2013 (UTC)
Why no mention of the Franklin stove? This great invention should surely be mentioned somewhere in the article. He is remembered by many common folk for this great improvement to everyday living. 86.164.161.64 ( talk) 10:06, 26 September 2013 (UTC)
This in the Chess section needs a fix:
"This essay in praise of chess and prescribing a code of behavior for it has been widely reprinted and translated."
Maybe remove "for it" ... GretDrabba ( talk) 18:36, 8 October 2013 (UTC)
That change you made is perfect, thanks. GretDrabba ( talk) 15:03, 9 October 2013 (UTC)
Benjamin Franklin is cited by George Pocock in a major noteworthy book for Ben's youthful experiment of being pulled across body of water by use of kite power. The True Benjamin Franklin, by Sydney George Fisher is a possible reference for Ben's experience. A major Pocock work so mentions Ben in an important way: A TREATISE on The Aeropleustic Art, or Navigation in the Air, by means of Kites, or Buoyant Sails: with a description of the Charvolant, or Kite Carriage, and containing numerous most amusing and interesting anecdotes connected with several extraordinary excursions both by sea and land. Later in life Ben would recall and forward his findings into suggesting pulling ships by kite power. The matter is a seed to the noteworthy explosion of sports and commerce of pulling people and hulls by kites. I suggest that some editor form a section in the Benjamin Franklin article to trace the matter and the large notes and art that respect that youthful scientific experience. Joefaust ( talk) 16:44, 17 October 2013 (UTC)
"Franklin also co-authored the first treaty of friendship between Germany and America in 1785."
There was no such country as Germany at the time. There wouldn't be until 1871. Which of the many German states then in existence was this treaty of friendship concluded? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 88.113.5.94 ( talk) 08:57, 4 November 2013 (UTC)
the following URL in the links section of this article is broken http://www.tufts.edu/as/wright_center/personal_pages/bob_m/
A new site is now hosting this material - the URL is
www.compadre.org/psrc/Franklin/
I don't know how to make the correction - could someone please make this change? Rsyzygym ( talk) 20:31, 25 November 2013 (UTC)
Is there a proper place to include at least a brief mention of Franklin's authorship of the letter, "Advice to a Friend on Choosing a Mistress (1745)," originally written to a friend, not necessarily delivered or published, but ultimately resulting in major influences to modern thought on censorship and obscenity laws? For more information, see its wiki page. Mmpozulp ( talk) 05:12, 27 January 2014 (UTC)
Noticing that the introduction part contains too much contents for an introduction, I tried to reorganize it and decrease the repetitive information. The edited version is saved in my sandbox. Any comments and corrections would be welcomed and appreciated. -- Coldwdt ( talk) 19:26, 9 March 2014 (UTC)
Spelling mistake in the section "Years in Europe" leading to an incorrect hyperlink:
"In 1771 Franklin made short journeys through different parts of England, staying with . . . Dr Darwin at Litchfield . . ."
Darwin was a native of the Staffordshire town of Lichfield. Nogbird ( talk) 16:16, 29 July 2014 (UTC)
Franklin developed a painful bladder stone in 1782 while minister to France and took opiates to relieve the pain. --From "They Went That-A-Way" by Malcolm Forbes, pg. 108, Barnes & Noble Books, N.Y., 1988. 50.202.81.2 ( talk) 18:04, 29 July 2014 (UTC)
he is awsome — Preceding unsigned comment added by 165.234.104.36 ( talk) 15:06, 1 October 2014 (UTC)
On just a quick check, this Article has some serious copyright violations; 2.2 Newspaperman is pulled word for word from “The Cambridge History of English and American Literature in 18 Volumes (1907–21). VOLUME XV. Colonial and Revolutionary Literature; Early National Literature, Part I. [9]. The section 2.1 Junto and Library pulled word for word from Benjamin Franklin “The First American”. [10] ShoesssS Talk 12:42, 7 October 2014 (UTC)
I’ve noticed that the On This Day article for 26th October says Franklin ‘departs from America for France on a mission to seek French support for the American Revolution.’
Is it possible to do a touch of cleaning up: to show when he left America for France? (I suspect that December date given is the date he got to France: but would find it helpful if it were clarified.) Cuddy2977 ( talk) 19:27, 15 October 2014 (UTC)
Why is this article still rated "B" on the quality scale? What prevents it from being classed in the "GA" category? - The Gnome ( talk) 04:23, 5 November 2014 (UTC)
This article, and many others on Wikipedia dealing with events taking place before 1871, incorrectly mention Germany as if it was a country, when there clearly was no Germany during Franklin's lifetime and Prussia is not Germany, yet I can't edit it to fix the problem. 174.73.5.74 ( talk) 02:39, 24 November 2014 (UTC)
The article seems to make a serious error in conflating the Royal Society of Arts (which admitted Franklin in 1756, see Benjamin_Franklin_Medal_(Royal_Society_of_Arts) which was instated in 1956 on the 200th anniversary thereof) with the Royal Society. The follow-on application of the FRS post-nominal letters is particularly problematic. These claims should be removed unless citations can be provided proving membership in the actual Royal Society of London &c — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2601:A:480:24D:945F:AF08:F491:8B42 ( talk) 13:26, 5 January 2015 (UTC)
Narrowly read, I think this is true - but his father had 17 children - seven by his first wife. So saying that Franklin was "one of ten children" is a little misleading - even if technically correct when you read the entire sentence carefully. I could easily imagine people just assuming that he was one of ten children, period - so I think we need to be a little more clear.
I think I'll change this to "He was one of seventeen children born to Josiah Franklin." because that better encapsulates the gigantic size of the family he came from - which seems like it's more significant than the narrow explanation of which mother bore all of those kids. Since we're writing about Franklin himself, that seems like a clearer statement.
SteveBaker ( talk) 17:33, 9 February 2015 (UTC)
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Section: Freemason (additional information concerning Freemason Section) Benjamin Franklin served as Grand Master of Philadelphia for two separate years (1734,1749). Serving for two separate terms shows the esteem of Benjamin Franklin among his peers in Freemasonry. http://www.pagrandlodge.org/gmaster/history/1734franklin004.html
Ddenney411 ( talk) 01:19, 10 February 2015 (UTC)
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— Preceding unsigned comment added by Jamesarmistead25 ( talk • contribs) 19:49, 24 March 2015 (UTC)
suggest you finish the section with line about Franklin's change in attitude at the end of his life. According to National Archives http://www.archives.gov/legislative/features/franklin/ and book The Great Upheaval by Jay Winik Franklin wrote supporting abolition and petitioned congress to end both slavery and the slave trade as his last public act before his death. As it stands the section leaves the impression that he still was neutral at the time of his death. 72.188.34.53 ( talk) 19:51, 7 February 2015 (UTC)
i can't make heads nor tails of this sentence: "Franklin often Bethlehem staying at the Moravian Sun Inn.[8]" obviouslly something's amiss.... — Preceding unsigned comment added by 108.34.62.15 ( talk) 19:14, 4 July 2015 (UTC)
What's so humorous about Franklin's observations of oil on water? He may have played tricks with the oil he carried in his cane, but the section says nothing about that. Renaming section to Oil on water, but keeping the former title as an anchor so as not to break any links that may exist to it. -- Thnidu ( talk) 05:50, 5 July 2015 (UTC)
The article referenced is also correct so it must be a typo but I don't know how to correct it. But both birthdays have amazing patterns that make it easy to memorize. 01/06/1706 and 01/17/1706. The year 1706 is comprised of both 06 and 17. The calendar was switched in 1752 when Ben was 46 years old. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 96.248.90.119 ( talk) 02:07, 8 July 2015 (UTC)
In his book "Weggenosse des Jahrhunderts" from 1968 the german author https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/G%C3%BCnter_Henle wrotes: "I remembered the warning of Benjamin Franklin from the year 1787, that for Europe there was one solution: to create at once a federal union by a constituent assembly." (p. 110, PDF p. 126 - in german). Does anybody know the source of Franklin's announcement ? In case it's true it testifies an astounding political vision. Just keep in mind the european states got a union already in the 18th century - what would have been spared us. Somehow a nice fiction for a "what happend if"-novelle...-- Eckhart Triebel ( talk) 21:31, 20 August 2015 (UTC)
I performed original research on this, so I can't make the edit and cite myself, but Ben Franklin attributing the severity of the 1783/1784 winter to volcanic activity marks the first recorded example of someone connecting vulcanism and winter. 206.113.192.12 ( talk) 03:48, 25 August 2015 (UTC)
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He is a dad of three kids. Rayutter21 ( talk) 14:25, 19 October 2015 (UTC)
The History Channel ran a show where Franklin was a member of the so-called Hellfire Club, and would travel to Ireland and engage in orgies in a neolithic tomb.
Any truth to this? 24.51.217.118 ( talk) 16:19, 18 November 2015 (UTC)
Early form of capacitor : The shocking history of electric fishes: p169 - Rod57 ( talk) 02:49, 1 December 2015 (UTC)
Can I please edit this I have been studying Benjamin Franklin ever since I was little. I just find what he did so interesting. I mean what would we do without electricity today. He was a good man who never really got much sleep, the reason for this is he was always studying the whole night on what interesting things we have in this world. I wish I could do something g like he did and I really hope that you accept me to edit this article and I promise you guys will benefit from it. — Preceding unsigned comment added by ChineseTurtle1 ( talk • contribs) 02:11, 10 December 2015 (UTC)
I have just deleted the following passage from the section "Virtue, religion and personal beliefs":
The first generation of Puritans had been intolerant of dissent, but by the early 18th century, when Franklin grew up in the Puritan church, tolerance of different churches was the norm, and Massachusetts was known, in John Adams' words, as "the most mild and equitable establishment of religion that was known in the world." (Bailyn, 1992, p. 248)
Although they did not share the fate of the Boston martyrs (1659–1661), the Ashfield Baptists were persecuted between 1763 and 1771; Franklin turned 57 in 1763. Adams' statement dates from a 1774 meeting with Isaac Backus, who took a very different view on the nature of the Massachusetts establishment. As this article is about Franklin, I propose that it is best to delete the passage, which I have just done. GroupCohomologist ( talk) 12:43, 28 December 2015 (UTC)
The date of birth is at least partly wrong. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 31.53.52.40 ( talk) 12:08, 19 January 2016 (UTC)
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Please combine the first and second sentences. 23:36, 27 February 2016 (UTC)
BF was never appointed PMG to the US. He was appointed PMG of the United Colonies. He continued as PMG when the United Colonies passed a declaration of independence on July 2, 1776. The July 4 date misguidedly celebrated related to a now iconic propoganda document. (See the records of the Continental Congress and John Adam's letter of July 2 to his wife). There is no basis for the November 1776 date for his resignationl, and post office records show he quit in October.
Bernard Biales 2601:197:300:308E:B06A:D74B:A3AB:F02B ( talk) 03:20, 17 May 2016 (UTC)
Why does he have a libary on 6and Gratiot. Isaiah85 ( talk) 15:08, 22 June 2016 (UTC)
Would a more senior editor please add the following to the places and things named after Benjamin Franklin:
— Preceding unsigned comment added by Burth55 ( talk • contribs)
References
vandoren
was invoked but never defined (see the
help page).-- I added another reference- Burth55 ( talk) 12:49, 16 August 2016 (UTC)
This is an archive of past discussions. Do not edit the contents of this page. If you wish to start a new discussion or revive an old one, please do so on the current talk page. |
Archive 1 | Archive 2 | Archive 3 | Archive 4 | Archive 5 |
The author Cecil B. Curry claims that Franklin was a British agent, given the code name of '72' (British Intelligence did refer to him as such in their letters, but they gave numbers to many others for correspondence purposes, including the King of France). The late George MacDonald Fraser (author of the 'Flashman' series), repeats the charge in one of his novels.
Even if it has been debunked, mention of the charge, along with answers to it should feature in the article. The notion is widespread enough to deserve mention as part of the history of the subject.
Ref: 'CODE NUMBER 72 - Benjamin Franklin: Patriot or Spy?' by Cecil B. Curry 71.202.17.218 ( talk) 07:45, 13 December 2009 (UTC)
Benjamin Franklin was an Liberal Anti-Federalist. Please change. :D —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.15.221.76 ( talk) 22:37, 9 December 2009 (UTC)
Look at the first sentence: "Benjamin Franklin (January 17, 1706 [O.S. January 6, 1705] – April 17, 1790) was one of the Founding Fathers of the United States of America." Shouldn't the O.S. date be 1706 too? 199.164.167.161 ( talk) 20:06, 27 January 2009 (UTC)
I noticed that independently, so have changed it. Slightly later: scratch that; there's a comment in there noting that "1705 is correct. In Old Style, new year began March 25". I have no idea whether that's true, but it's there and plausible, so I must leave it until someone better informed than myself comes along. At any rate, I thought it worth updating this talk item. Tom Yates ( talk) 06:19, 5 June 2009 (UTC)
Benjamin Franklin wasn't the only inventor of the lighting rod. In the same age, it was invented by Czech priest Prokop Diviš. I think it should be written in the page. -- Zik2 ( talk) 23:59, 6 December 2008 (UTC)
To claim that Franklin did not conduct his kite experiment, one author cited the illustrations of Franklin's kite experiment show him standing indoors, the kite string passing through an open window.
I'd say that rather proves Franklin did do his experiment, using due caution. Common sense tells us that he sent the kite up, tossed the dry ball of wound string through the open window, and did his experiment without fear of being electrocuted because he knew a dry string doesn't conduct. - - - - Richard_DuBrul@Yahoo.Com —Preceding unsigned comment added by 207.229.177.15 ( talk) 17:10, 8 September 2009 (UTC)
To whom it may Concern: note 30 has a dead link. This is the living one: http://www.benjaminfranklinhouse.org/site/sections/about_franklin/PhysicsTodayVol59no1p42_48.pdf Sorry I can't edit it myself. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.81.10.155 ( talk) 16:52, 28 October 2009 (UTC)
Wikipedia says: In 1730, at the age of 24, Franklin publicly acknowledged an illegitimate son named William. But this contradicts William's birthdate of 1731. Wikipedia is way too much in a hurry to accuse Franklin of having a supposedly illegitimate son. Many think he was not illegitimate and simply a son of Franklin's common law wife. Wikipedia needs make this clear and stop pointing fingers irresponsibly. 65.32.128.178 ( talk) 13:57, 8 January 2009 (UTC)
Osrevad's edits were quite good as it meant removal of
fancruft. Most of those things were nothing more than distracting tangents that shift the focus of the article away and weren't helping. Quality improves with Osrevad's deletions. Comments?
⋙–Berean–Hunter—► (
(⊕))
23:28, 23 January 2009 (UTC)
Original title: Suggestion for clarity in a sentence in the article referencing "Franklin Institute of Boston" (should actually be "Benjamin Franklin Institute of Technology")— title shortened to reduce width of TOC
—
.`^) Paine Ellsworth
diss`cuss (^`.
06:42, 21 September 2009 (UTC)
Where it says the following in the article,
"Franklin's Boston trust fund accumulated almost $5,000,000 during that same time, and was used to establish a trade school that became the Franklin Institute of Boston.[64]"
there isn't a "Franklin Institute of Boston" but rather what is now called "Benjamin Franklin Institute of Technology" (a technical tranining institute that grants Bachelors and Associate Degrees as well as Certificates in varied technical and engineering fields). The article **DOES** have a hyperlink for "Franklin Institute of Boston" which jumps to an article on the "Benjamin Franklin Institute of Technology" (which is good) but this article may be better to INSTEAD say the following in the above paragraph (for the sake of clarity):
"Franklin's Boston trust fund accumulated almost $5,000,000 during that same time, and was used to establish a trade school that became the Franklin Institute of Boston (actually now called the Benjamin Franklin Institute of Technology)."
. . . and where it says "Benjamin Franklin Institute of Technology" in my suggested paragraph replacement, you can make that school's present-day name hyperlinked to jump to the Wikipedia article by the exact same name. That Wikipedia article on "Benjamin Franklin Institute of Technology" does not even reference anything about "Franklin Institute of Boston" and neither does that school's own web site.
Signed, MENSwikiman ( MENSwikiman ( talk) 08:53, 7 March 2009 (UTC))
can someone change the 'preformed' to 'performed'. I cannot, without some inconvenience, as it is semiprotected. thanks —Preceding unsigned comment added by 220.101.100.103 ( talk) 13:01, 3 December 2009 (UTC)
Since I didn't know what a compositor was, I clicked on compositor and it redirected to compositing, which I am sure is not what Franklin did for a living. I have changed the wording to typesetter, which makes sense to me. If I am wrong please correct it and tell me why I am wrong on my talk page. Thank You. Griffinofwales ( talk) 05:08, 20 March 2009 (UTC)
January 17, 1706 [O.S. January 6, 1705]
Shouldn't both years be 1706? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.237.138.44 ( talk) 02:53, 1 April 2009 (UTC)
Recently the file File:Benjamin Franklin by Joseph Siffrein Duplessis.jpg (right) was uploaded and it appears to be relevant to this article and not currently used by it. If you're interested and think it would be a useful addition, please feel free to include it. Dcoetzee 23:46, 1 April 2009 (UTC)
See this page http://www.udel.edu/PR/UDaily/2005/mar/franklin061605.html there are some thingth you would find out the are not corect in wiki I hope it helps —Preceding unsigned comment added by 192.114.91.226 ( talk) 07:33, 6 May 2009 (UTC)
Following is a proposal for additions to the section on virtue, religion and personal beliefs. I also made a number of small changes for clarity, grouping of ideas, and a few small edits to get rid of repetition of ideas, plus one correction re the church Franklin was baptised in. since i touched almost every paragraph, I thought I would put the post here before putting it into the article. note I have not put the new references in the proper format yet. waldenpond ( talk) 02:56, 31 May 2009 (UTC)waldenpond
Like the other advocates of republicanism, Franklin emphasized that the new republic could survive only if the people were virtuous. All his life he explored the role of civic and personal virtue, as expressed in Poor Richard's aphorisms. Franklin was a non-dogmatic believer, who felt that organized religion was necessary for men to be good to their fellow men, but he rarely attended church himself. His faith in God was an important factor in his support for the American Revolution. (Novak, p.12,84) When Ben Franklin met Voltaire in Paris and asked this great apostle of the Enlightenment to bless his grandson, Voltaire said in English, “God and Liberty,” and added, “this is the only appropriate benediction for the grandson of Monsieur Franklin.” (Isaacson, p 354)
Franklin’s parents were both pious Puritans. (Isaacson, pp 5-18) The family attended the old South Church, the most liberal Puritan congregation in Boston, where Benjamin Franklin was baptized in 1706. (Isaacson p 15; http://www.oldsouth.org/history.html ) The Revolutionary War generation of this historic congregation include Samuel Adams,; Samuel Sewall, judge and diarist; Thomas Prince, minister and book collector; William Dawes, Paul Revere’s fellow rider in 1775. Old South Church played a significant role in the revolution through the bold actions of the Sons of Liberty at the Old South Meeting House. There, in 1773, Samuel Adams gave the signal for the “war whoops” that started the Boston Tea Party. As poet John Greenleaf Whittier wrote, “So long as Boston shall Boston be, And her bay tides rise and fall, Shall freedom stand in the Old South Church, And plead for the rights of all.” (; http://www.oldsouth.org/history.html)
Franklin’s Puritan upbringing was a central factor throughout his life, as a philanthropist, civic leader and key player in the Revolutionary War. (Novak pp 12,26,42,84,173-5,218n2,242n63; Isaacson, pp 10,25,26,31,49,59,92,102,486,489,490) Franklin rejected much of his Puritan upbringing: belief in salavation, hell, Jesus Christ’s divinity, and indeed most religious dogma. He retained a strong faith in God as the wellspring of morality and goodness in man, and as a Providential actor in history responsible for American independence. (Isaacson, p. 486; Novak pp 11-12, 42, 84, 173-5, 218n2, 242n63) His faith in God was an important factor in his Franklin’s support for the American Revolution, as it was to most of the founding generation. (Novak, pp11-12) As Franklin wrote, “Rebellion to Tyrants is Obedience to God.” (Novak, p.12)
Ben Franklin’s father, a poor chandler, owned a copy of a book, Bonifacius: Essays to Do Good, by the famous Purtian preacher, and family friend, Cotton Mather, which “Franklin often cited as a key influence” on his life. (Isaacson, p 26) “”If I have been,” Franklin wrote to Cotton Mather’s son seventy years later, “a useful citizen, the public owes the advantage of it to that book.” Franklin’s first pen name, Silence Dogwood, paid homage both to the book and to a famous sermon by Mather.” (Isaacson, p26) The book preached the importance of forming voluntary associations to benefit society. Cotton Mather personally founded a neighborhood improvement group, that Franklin’s father joined. “Franklin picked up his penchant for forming do-good associations from Cotton Mather and others, but his organizational fervor and galvanizing personality made him the most influential force in instilling this as an enduring part of American life.” (Isaacson, p102)
It was Ben Franklin who during a critical impasse during the Constitutional Convention, 28 June 1787, introduced the practice of daily common prayer at the Convention, with these words:
“… In the beginning of the contest with G. Britain, when we were sensible of danger we had daily prayer in this room for the Divine Protection. -- Our prayers, Sir, were heard, and they were graciously answered. All of us who were engaged in the struggle must have observed frequent instances of a Superintending providence in our favor. … And have we now forgotten that powerful friend? or do we imagine that we no longer need His assistance.
I have lived, Sir, a long time and the longer I live, the more convincing proofs I see of this truth -- that God governs in the affairs of men. And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without his notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without his aid? We have been assured, Sir, in the sacred writings that "except the Lord build they labor in vain that build it." I firmly believe this; and I also believe that without his concurring aid we shall succeed in this political building no better than the Builders of Babel: …I therefore beg leave to move -- that henceforth prayers imploring the assistance of Heaven, and its blessings on our deliberations, be held in this Assembly every morning before we proceed to business, and that one or more of the Clergy of this City be requested to officiate in that service.” ( http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/benfranklin.htm )
Franklin briefly belonged to a Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia. Shortly thereafter, he became an enthusiastic supporter of one of America’s great evangelical ministers, George Whitefield, “the most popular of the Great Awakening’s roving preachers.” (Isaacson, p110) Franklin did not subscribe to Whitefield’s theology, but he admired Whitefield for exhorting people to worship God through good works. Franklin printed Whitefield’s sermons on the front page of his Gazette. He arranged to publish all of Whitefield’s sermons and journals. Half of Franklin’s publications in 1739-41 were of Whitefield, and helped the success of the evangelical movement in America. Franklin was a lifelong friend and supporter of Whitefield, until his death in 1770. (Isaacson pp107, 110, 112, 113)
When he stopped attending church, Franklin wrote in his autobiography, "...Sunday being my studying day, I never was without some religious principles. I never doubted, for instance, the existence of the Deity; that He made the world, and governed it by His providence; that the most acceptable service of God was the doing good to man; that our souls are immortal; and that all crime will be punished, and virtue rewarded, either here or hereafter." [1] ( http://history.hanover.edu/courses/excerpts/111frank2.html
Franklin retained a lifelong commitment to the Puritan virtues and political values he had grown up with, and through his civic work and publishing, he succeeded in passing these values into the American culture permanently. He had a “passion for virtue.” (Isaacson p 485) These Puritan values included his devotion to egalitarianism, education, industry, thrift, honesty, temperance, charity and community spirit. (Isaacson p. 149, 92,486,490) Franklin’s desire to teach these values was itself something he gained from his Puritan upbringing, with its stress on “inculcating virtue and character in themselves and their communities.” (Isaacson p 10,102,489) These Puritan values and the desire to pass them on, were one of Franklin’s quintessentially American characteristics, and helped shape the character of the nation.
Max Weber considered Franklin's ethical writings a culmination of the Protestant ethic, which ethic created the social conditions necessary for the birth of
capitalism.
[2]
One of Franklin's famous characteristics was his respect, tolerance and promotion of all churches. Referring to his experience in Philadelphia, he wrote in his
autobiography, "new Places of worship were continually wanted, and generally erected by voluntary Contribution, my Mite for such purpose, whatever might be the Sect, was never refused."
[1] “He helped create a new type of nation that would draw strength from its religious pluralism.” (Isaacson p 93ff). The first generation of Puritans had been intolerant of dissent, but by the early 1700’s, when Franklin grew up in the Puritan church, tolerance of different churches was the norm, and Massachusetts was known, in John Adam’s words, as “’the most mild and equitable establishment of religion that was known in the world.’” (Bailyn, 1967, p. 248) The evangelical revivalists who were active mid-century, such as Franklin’s friend and preacher, George Whitefield, were the greatest advocates of religious freedom, “claiming liberty of conscience to be an ‘inalienable right of every rational creature.’” (Bailyn, p 249) Whitefield’s supporters in Philadelphia, including Franklin, erected “a large, new hall, that…could provide a pulpit to anyone of any belief.” (Isaacson, p. 112) Franklin’s rejection of dogma and doctrine and his stress on the God of ethics and morality and civic virtue, made him the “prophet of tolerance.” (Isaacson, p 93ff)
Although Franklin's parents had intended for him to have a career in the church, Franklin as a young man adopted the Enlightenment religious belief in Deism, that God’s truths can be found entirely through nature and reason.(Isaacson p. 46) "I soon became a thorough Deist." [3] As a young man he rejected Christian dogma in a 1725 pamphlet, which he later saw as an embarrassment, A Dissertation on Liberty and Necessity, Pleasure and Pain. [4], while simultaneously asserting, God is “all wise, all good, all powerful.” (Isaacson, p. 45) He defended his rejection of religious dogma with these words: "I think opinions should be judged by their influences and effects; and if a man holds none that tend to make him less virtuous or more vicious, it may be concluded that he holds none that are dangerous, which I hope is the case with me." After the disillusioning experience of seeing the decay in his own moral standards, and those of two friends in London whom he had converted to Deism, Franklin turned back to a belief in the importance of organized religion, on the pragmatic grounds that without God and organized churches, man will not be good. (Isaacson, p 46, 486)
In 1757 he wrote Thomas Paine, criticizing his manuscript, The Age of Reason: "For without the Belief of a Providence that takes Cognizance of, guards and guides and may favour particular Persons, there is no Motive to Worship a Deity, to fear its Displeasure, or to pray for its Protection….think how great a Proportion of Mankind consists of weak and ignorant Men and Women, and of inexperienc'd and inconsiderate Youth of both Sexes, who have need of the Motives of Religion to restrain them from Vice, to support their Virtue, and retain them in the Practice of it till it becomes habitual, which is the great Point for its Security; And perhaps you are indebted to her originally that is to your Religious Education, for the Habits of Virtue upon which you now justly value yourself. If men are so wicked with religion, what would they be if without it."
According to David Morgan, [5] Franklin was a proponent of religion in general. He prayed to "Powerful Goodness" and referred to God as "the infinite". John Adams noted that Franklin was a mirror in which people saw their own religion: "The Catholics thought him almost a Catholic. The Church of England claimed him as one of them. The Presbyterians thought him half a Presbyterian, and the Friends believed him a wet Quaker." Whatever else Franklin was, concludes Morgan, "he was a true champion of generic religion."
In 1790, just about a month before he died, Franklin wrote a letter to
Ezra Stiles, president of
Yale University, who had asked him his views on religion:
As to Jesus of Nazareth, my Opinion of whom you particularly desire, I think the System of Morals and his Religion, as he left them to us, the best the world ever saw or is likely to see; but I apprehend it has received various corrupt changes, and I have, with most of the present Dissenters in England, some Doubts as to his divinity; tho' it is a question I do not dogmatize upon, having never studied it, and I think it needless to busy myself with it now, when I expect soon an Opportunity of knowing the Truth with less Trouble.... [6]
On July 4, 1776, Congress appointed a committee that included Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, and John Adams to design the Great Seal of the United States. [7] Franklin's proposal featured a design with the motto: "Rebellion to Tyrants is Obedience to God." His design portrayed a scene from the Book of Exodus, with Moses, the Israelites, the pillar of fire, and George III depicted as Pharaoh. [8]
At age 20, Franklin wrote his own epitaph:
The body of B. Franklin, Printer (Like the Cover of an Old Book Its Contents torn Out And Stript of its Lettering and Gilding) Lies Here, Food for Worms. But the Work shall not be Lost; For it will (as he Believ'd) Appear once More In a New and More Elegant Edition Revised and Corrected By the Author.
Franklin's actual grave, however, as he specified in his final will, simply reads "Benjamin and Deborah Franklin." [9]
The {{Skiptotoctalk}} template has been added to the top of this Talk page for those who want to "get right down to it". .`^) Paine Ellsworth diss`cuss (^`. 03:14, 31 May 2009 (UTC)
{{
editsemiprotected}}
The Biographies contains the line
Mark Skousen. The Compleated Autobiography by Benjamin Franklin (2005) told in Franklin's own words.
Which contains a TYPO
Compleated should be Completed
TheGreatAwesomeness (
talk)
01:06, 23 June 2009 (UTC)
1. An extensive discussion of the Pennsylvania Gazette's influence on journalism. 2. Some acknolwedgement that the man was a womanizer. It's not a secret. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 76.94.201.49 ( talk) 19:11, 2 July 2009 (UTC)
In 1751, when Lancaster, Pennsylvania was the largest inland city in the world, Benjamin Franklin established the first print shop in the city, founding a local industry that remains a significant part of Lancaster's economy. Ben partnered with Quaker printer James Chattin in a precursor to today's franchising operations, providing the equipment and paying one third of the expenses in exchange for one third of the profit. He had the same arrangement with printers in New York, New Haven, Annapolis, Charleston, and Antigua. Chattin was unsuccessful in attracting trade, and was replaced with Heinrich Miller and Samuel Holland. In 1753, Franklin sells out to Holland for 200 Pounds Sterling, the same amount he used to establish Franklin College, precursor of Franklin and Marshall. In 1754, he takes back the print shop and rents it to William Dunlap, who brings in his nephew, John Dunlap, from Ireland to apprentice in the shop. In 1757, Franklin moves to England, and William Dunlap moves to Philadelphia to succeed him as postmaster. Meanwhile, John Dunlap acquires some renown, and becomes the first to print the Declaration of Independence. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 72.72.131.100 ( talk) 19:00, 15 July 2009 (UTC)
Special balloting conducted October 18, 1785 unanimously elected Franklin the sixth President of the Supreme Executive Council of Pennsylvania, replacing John Dickinson. The office of President of Pennsylvania was analogous to the modern position of Governor. It is not clear why Dickinson needed to be replaced with less than two weeks remaining before the regular election.
John Dickinson was elected counsellor for the County of Philadelphia October 8, 1782, and his term as counsellor, i.e. member of the Executive Council, expired three years later as required by the Constitution of Pennsylvania (1776), Sect. 19. According to the legal norms existing in the State at that time, Dickinson's term as counsellor (and subsequently as President of the Executive Council) expired on the day of General Election held on the second Tuesday of October (Constitution 1776, Sect. 17), October 11, 1785. There was no need to "replace" Dickinson. Incidentally, Franklin's term as President ended October 14, 1788 (NOT December 1, 1788 as indicated in the left column under his portrait).
-- arch_editor ( talk) 12:27, 13 July 2009 (UTC)
See WP:SEEALSO from the Manual of Style... "This section should generally not contain links that appear in the body text or in navigation boxes" In general, the "See Also" section is reserved for related topics that are not otherwise Wikilinked in the text. All of the ones I removed are clearly Wikilinked in the main text, in some cases several times. I will be presently removing them again unless you would care to work to have the manual of style changed so that this is not part of it. -- Jayron32. talk. say no to drama 17:09, 18 July 2009 (UTC)
Ben Franklin was a master of time management and personal productivity. There's a link that I'd like to recommend be placed on the Ben Franklin page. It's a link to a mini-course on his self-developed system of productivity.
Here's the link: http://improveyourself.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&catid=1:iycategory&id=93:mini-course-ben-franklin-time-management
The article, as of September 2, 2009 says that Franklin criticized Thomas Paine's [/u]The Age of Reason[/u] in 1757. This is clearly impossible since Paine published [/u]The Age of Reason[/u] well after the drafting of the US Constitution in 1787. The date is definitely inaccurate. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Numberonesurvivor ( talk • contribs) 22:24, 2 September 2009 (UTC)
This article says "In 1757 he wrote Thomas Paine, criticizing his manuscript, The Age of Reason", yet the wiki article on The Age of Reason says it was published starting in 1794. The wiki article on Thomas Paine gives 1793. It seems the 1757 in the Franklin articles is inaccurate. Dclcackle ( talk) 03:59, 27 September 2009 (UTC)
The article states that Benjamin Franklin stayed with Charles Darwin at Lichfield. However cross referencing against Darwin's article shows that he wasn't born until the 1800s, which was after Franklin's death. Therefore I would suggest that this information must be erroneous.
See the below hyperlink for the dates of Darwin's birth and death.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/darwin_charles.shtml —Preceding unsigned comment added by 195.50.96.14 ( talk) 10:27, 20 October 2009 (UTC)
The Life in France section is way too short - he spent almost 10 years of his life there; it warrants more than the one small paragraph. -- RossF18 ( talk) 23:52, 20 October 2009 (UTC)
it doesnt say in Articles Related to Benjamin Franklin that he was a ambassador to ENGLAND???????????????????? johnjay and rich fan 67.101.189.131 ( talk) 18:04, 27 October 2009 (UTC)
Why is there a lack of information on this page about the Silence Doogood letters? Why has no one brought this to attention, and/or, written anything into the article about this? Sadly, I only know of the letters, however, and lack the sufficent knowledge to write out anything but a rough idea. 24.206.252.254 ( talk) 20:16, 28 October 2009 (UTC)
I read in a book by Jack Fruchtman that Franklin may well have been homosexual, and married simply to conceal this fact. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.5.61.194 ( talk) 01:00, 22 November 2009 (UTC)
Benjamin Franklin’s contribution to American Literature is noteworthy. Throughout Franklin’s literature is the presence of the values by which he lived. These values include: virtue, industry, hard work, frugalness, and bettering oneself. Franklin was not known for his religious practices, but rather his practicing habits religiously. As a young man, he rose from the lower working class and soon became one of the most well known Americans in Europe. It is germane to conclude that he was face with which Europeans came to associate America and her values; he was the first American. Franklin was raised in the Puritan setting of the New England colonies, but throughout his lifetime instead of adhering to these religious practices he successfully took the Puritan discipline and devotion and applied it to his personal beliefs. These beliefs include the aforementioned values. Not being a religious man and even considering going to church invaluable compared to reading a book. He states in his autobiography that it was more valuable to spend his leisure time reading and becoming more knowledgeable than it was to go to church. As a result, Franklin’s literature reflects these beliefs he held so dearly. His writing was such a landmark in American Literature because it differed so much from that of the traditional American Literature that was written in the Northeast prior to Franklin. In contrast to that of earlier authors, such as Cotton Mather (1663-1728), who wrote about being a good Christian and understanding one’s place in the hierarchy system. Franklin had contrary beliefs in man. He felt that man could make his own future through hard work and dedication to education and industry.
Articles of Belief and Acts of Religion: (1728) In this piece, Franklin addresses God; it is written in the structure of that of a prayer. Franklin says, “He, the Infinite Rather, expects or requires no Worship or Praise from us, but that he is even INFINITELY ABOVE IT.” Franklin delivers the message that approbation is paid to him through working hard and being virtuous. This article sets the precedent for that which the rest of Franklin’s writings are based: his enormous value for hard work and his immense focus on virtue. Review of Franklin’s work: Richard Amacher says, “The Articles of Belief were Franklin's attempts at modernizing and otherwise improving the language of the King James Version of the Bible.” This suggests that Benjamin Franklin was trying to find himself and his place with religion, and perhaps he was changing his religion to better fit him, rather than to create himself with the religion as the premise. Franklin tried to tie together his ideas of values and the churches.
Poor Richard’s Almanac:
Benjamin Franklin began publishing Poor Richard’s Almanac at the age of 26 in 1732 until 1758. He wrote Poor Richard’s Almanacs under the pseudonym of Richard Saunders. As these almanacs became more popular, he became successful with this yearly publication that sold thousands of copies. This publication was comprised of: weather, poetry, witty comments, words of wisdom, and miscellaneous comments that pertained to life in the colonies.
The following are a few examples of the words of wisdom that make these pieces of literature still remembered today. These aphorisms are still popular in American culture:
“In the Humility makes great men twice honourable”
“Keep thy shop, & thy shop will keep thee.”
“Of learned Fools I have seen ten times ten, “
“Of unlearned wise men I have seen a hundred.”
“Three may keep a Secret, if two of them are dead.”
“Deny Self for Self’s sake.”
“Early to bed and early to rise, makes a man healthy wealthy and wise.”
“Are you angry that others disappoint you? remember you cannot depend upon yourself.”
Some scholars say that Benjamin Franklin’s political ideas were imbedded in his almanacs.
For example, William Pencak says that, “In both their general socio-political outlook and their opinions on particular public events, the almanacs illustrated Franklin’s own efforts toward shaping the mentality of a provincial society that purchased thousands of Poor Richards” (The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography). Franklin was a man who used his resources well and frequently spoke of virtue, frugality, and better one’s self. His almanacs were tools that allowed him to instill in the colonist his beliefs. Through the Alamanacs he encourage colonists to think for themselves and to question the political environment and their niche in that environment. By way of questioning values and religion, Franklin gingerly inquired through aphorisms and stories the thoughts that began to change what soon became America. These thoughts focused on working hard and being able to rise in the hierarchy system; the ways in which to rise had nothing do with church and focused on how virtuous and how hard a man was whiling to work.
Benjamin Franklin’s Autobiography (1791 in French and 1793 in English)
Benjamin Franklin’s Autobiography is one of Franklin’s most memorable works. He wrote it in the later years of his life, from 1771 to 1790. This book speaks not only of its author but also of America as a whole. He was the man who painted the picture of America to European nations and their peoples. His autobiography was truly one of the first American texts as it broke away from the church and New England’s traditional Puritan values and focused more on the values he felt necessary for a man to be a good man. It is evident that these values have withstood the passage of time, because they are still what define Americans and they are what America has been built upon. Franklin’s perspective on knowledge and church are ubiquitous throughout the text. To show his beliefs of the superiority of work over church in the text he states, his belief in hard work and dedication:
“As I have always thought that one man of tolerable abilities may work great changes and accomplish great affairs among mankind if he first forms a good plan, and cutting off all amusements or other employments that would divert his attention, makes the execution of that same plan his sole study and business (83).
This metanarrative speaks of more than just a man, but of the nation as it is trying to break away from the values of that of Britain and define its own place in the world, much like Franklin has tried to work his way up through society through knowledge and experience.
The Way to Wealth (1758)
Much like many of his other works, his voice transcends through the text to encourage people to “make the wealth small and the want great” (2). He reiterates the motif of his Autobiography: the importance of the abundance of hard work and the eschewal of relaxing and laziness.
The pages are filled telling the reader to not borrow money and to work as long as possible. Leisure is redefined by Franklin using Poor Richard’s quote, “leisure is time for doing something useful; this leisure the diligent can will obtain, but the lazy man never; for A life of leisure and a life of laziness are two things” (3). It is only toward the conclusion that Franklin speaks of God and it is only for the convenience of Franklin’s beliefs that there is a moral lesson that is tied to the Bible; he speaks of Job, “Remember, Job suffered, and was afterwards prosperous” (7). Though Franklin relates to the Bible in the sense that work is good and a biblical character, it is not putting God before hard work, but merely using this allusion as a rhetorical device to steer people toward working hard, purchasing little, and being thrifty and frugal.
Satire:
Franklin’s most famous piece, An Edict by The King of Prussia, was written to “protest the Tea Act in 1773, … merely the best of hundreds displaying Franklin’s clever pen in aid of his chosen causes” (Reference Guide to American Literature). This satire is a parody of the relationship between the colonies and Great Britain. He uses hyperbole to communicate how ridiculous these laws and restrictions are among the colonists. This is shown through the way Franklin explains the grounds by which the subjects can ship goods to Prussia, but they have to pay for the service and transportation. The subjects to the King have to pay just to sail through the port which takes away even more of their money. Franklin’s sarcasm is effective. He writes in a style that at first makes it sound as if he is giving the privilege of allowing them to keep their wool, but he retracts the privilege by not allowing them to sell it for money. The irony of the piece is that Prussia makes it sound like they care about the well being of the subjects, but the King is just holding them down and further handicapping their abilities to be self sufficient, much like Britain was doing the same to the colonies. Franklin is the voice of the colonies in this satire as he relays the colonists’ frustrations.
This can further be reflected back to the motif that appears ubiquitously in all of Franklin’s work: the importance of hard work and people having the ability to better their lives for themselves. Franklin stands true to his values as he makes a mockery of the system that has been created. He successfully shows just how ridiculous and unethical the relationship between Britain and the colonies is.
Silence Dogood Letters: (April- October 1722)
The Silence Dogood Letters are an example of Benjamin Franklin’s satire. He brings social problems to the attention of the people using a woman narrator. The letters were written by Franklin when he worked in his brother’s print shop. He secretly wrote these letters and delivered them to the shop and his brother never knew it was him till some years later.
In this composition of letters, Benjamin Franklin spoke as a widow in the colonies and used these letters as a vehicle to express the concerns of average colonists; he wrote as an average colonial woman and addressed issues including: society’s hierarchy, sobriety, and the worries of a widow. Ultimately, these letters to the editor spoke to the people, about the people, and related their present situation to that of Rome and ancient ways. These letters served as the answers to questions and the person who inquired thoughts that many were too afraid to bring to the surface out of the turbid ways and odious facts. For example, the life of a woman after the death of her husband, how children are to be raised in the society into which they are socialized, and how to be a good person and find one’s place. In these letters he speaks of character and even includes a few sayings that would later be found in Poor Richard’s Almanac’s.
To quote Lois Gordon, “The first—fourteen essays that appeared in his half-brother’s New England Courant and written under the name of Silence Dogood—is the essential Franklin. His persona, a parson’s widow writing of both the serious and the ridiculous—provides the author distance for irony and satire.” This satire and irony continued to be seen numerous times throughout Franklin’s career.
A Scholar’s take on Benjamin Franklin:
There are some who believe Benjamin Franklin was a smart and wise man who showed the world what it meant to an American man. There are others who feel was a full of himself and not a good Christian. Scholar Lois Gordon says of Benjamin Franklin:
“He gave an American flavor to the epistolary and essay forms, mastered the use of persona in creating the first memorable American comic character, and left for succeeding generations to emulate a crackerbarrel and homey humor. Always, Franklin's work appeals to human reason and retains as its purpose social and moral betterment. "No Piece can properly be called good ... which is void of any tendency to benefit the [Reader's] ... Virtue or his Knowledge.” Benjamin Franklin was the first American and he spoke freely and set the precedence for future Americans.
Work Citied Amacher, Richard E. “Chapter 8: Religious and Philosophical Tracts.” Benjamin Franklin. Richard E. Amacher. Twayne’ United States Authors Series 12. New York: Twayne Publishers, 1962. Literature Resource Center. Gale. Longwood University. 1 Nov. 2009 Franklin, Benjamin. Benjamin Franklin’s Autobiography. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 1986. Print. Franklin, Benjamin. The Way to Wealth. New York: The New York Association For Improving The Condition of The Poor, 1848. Ebook. Franklin, Benjamin. The works of Benjamin Franklin: containing several political and historical tracts not included in any former edition, and many letters, official and private, not hitherto published, Volume 4. New York: Benjamin Franklin Stevens, 1882. E-book. Gordon, Lois. "Benjamin Franklin: Overview." Reference Guide to American Literature. Ed. Jim Kamp. 3rd ed. Detroit: St. James Press, 1994. Literature Resource Center. Gale. Longwood University. 2 Nov. 2009 < http://go.galegroup.com/ps/start.do?p=LitRC&u=viva_lwc_main>. Gordon, Lois. "Benjamin Franklin: Overview." Reference Guide to American Literature. Ed. Jim Kamp. 3rd ed. Detroit: St. James Press, 1994. Literature Resource Center. Gale. Longwood University. 2 Nov. 2009 Pencak, William. “Polititcs and Ideology in ‘Poor Richard’s Almanack’” The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography 116.2 (Apr, 1992): 183- 211. JStor. Web. 09 Nov. 2009. < http://go.galegroup.com/ps/start.do?p=LitRC&u=viva_lwc_main>. "The Writings of Benjamin Franklin, Volume I: Boston and London, 1722 - 1726." The History Carper -- Primary Source Documents, Histories, and Stories. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Nov. 2009. < http://www.historycarper.com/resources/twobf1/contents.htm>. < http://go.galegroup.com/ps/start.do?p=LitRC&u=viva_lwc_main>.
I don't see any mention of his involvement in the Hellfire Club. -- Darth Borehd ( talk) 21:12, 11 January 2010 (UTC)
What exactly is (was?) the Hellfire Club? If you can find reliable sources for it, please feel free to add it in the appropriate section.-- JayJasper ( talk) 05:27, 16 January 2010 (UTC)
Some people assert that Ben's accent made him sound like a Scotsman. Yet it is clear that he grew up in New England. Did people in Massachusetts speak a dialect most closely resembling present-day Scottish? Or did the contemporaries which described his dialect as Scottish-like have the wrong idea of how Scottish sounds?
2010-02-06 Lena Synnerholm, Märsta, Sweden. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 212.247.167.71 ( talk) 18:52, 6 February 2010 (UTC)
Hello,
I checked the source [95] directly in Google books because I was looking for "Portrait of American Culture." The author of the source writes that Ferdinand Kürnberger wrote this work. On the same page in source [95], there is the spelling "Jakob Fugger" as well.
Excerpt from the Wikipedia article:
Franklin's writings on virtue were derided by some European authors, such as Jackob Fugger in his critical work Portrait of American Culture. Max Weber considered Franklin's ethical writings a culmination of the Protestant ethic, which ethic created the social conditions necessary for the birth of capitalism.[95]
64.246.215.5 ( talk) 17:47, 25 January 2012 (UTC)
The difference between old and new styles is 11 days, not one year and 11 days. The Old Style date is shown with the wrong year. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 88.69.29.204 ( talk) 21:26, 8 March 2012 (UTC)
In the opening section it states Philadelphia as the leading city in the colonies. Even if this is true, should this be cited? I feel like it violates the NPOV if it is not cited.-- MrNiceGuy1113 ( talk) 21:42, 25 April 2012 (UTC)
B. Franklin made his fortune by lending money at interest; engaging in the slave trade; printing advertisements for slave sales and runaways; also had contract to print money.
B. Franklin's first published work was a poem which his brother James asked him to write, about a lighthouse keeper who drowned.
B. Franklin probably freed Peter and John, slaves he took to England, who did not return with him. His other slaves died.
B. Franklin was a joint postmaster with William Hunter prior to the Revolutionary War.
B. Franklin became president of the Pennsylvania Abolitionist Society in 1787; Pennsylvania abolished slavery by statute in 1780.
B. Franklin's partner, David Hall, was the former captain of the Charming Sally, and advertised slaves brought into Pennsylvania in the Gazette.
B. Franklin also represented South Carolina.
B. Franklin did not believe in integration of blacks into society. His plan for free blacks included surveillance and oversight so they did not become public burdens.
B. Franklin's autobiography was published after his death. He did not self-publish the book. Marylinn ( talk) 00:21, 10 May 2012 (UTC)
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There should be mention of Franklin's association with the Hellfire Club. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 89.241.65.2 ( talk) 20:56, 26 May 2012 (UTC)
I deleted (for the second time) the following sentence from the article: "To understand why this was novel insights on Franklin's part one has to merely see that Economics was only generally recognized as a science with the publishing of Adam Smith's The Wealth of Nations which was published 9 years later."
I deleted this sentence for the following reasons:
Considering that Franklin devoted much of his adult life to promoting industrialization, and considering that Adam Smith pointedly argued against industrializing the colonies ("natural course of things," etc.), we're going to need more than the first page of a 90-year-old article to suggest that Adam Smith was following Franklin and defending the colonies.-- Other Choices ( talk) 11:24, 26 August 2012 (UTC)
I think we should split this article pertaining to Inventions, and (social/political and) scientific inquiries (Benjamin Franklin). this article can include a small summary, and a main article link. Maybe having a separate split also for 'social studies and contributions'.
Franklin was said to have "established a common-law marriage with Deborah Read on September 1, 1730". There is some confusion over the status of so-called common law marriages. I suspect that what occured was a declaration (not establishment) of aPer Verba De Praesenti marriage. This is an agreement to marry, not a marriage. 203.184.41.226 ( talk) 04:04, 22 September 2012 (UTC)
All the main biographers cover Franklin's important work in demography, and it's the subject of scholarly articles. It is covered in histories of demography. The topic therefore has to be covered in this main article. If an editor want to expand on the topic in an extra additional article they are certainly free to do so. But that has not happened. One editor erased the material here and created a stub article Social contributions and studies (Benjamin Franklin) that has no additional information. It's a bad idea to erase solid material and dump it in an article with a strange title that few people will notice. So I reverted. Rjensen ( talk) 22:15, 27 August 2012 (UTC)
[ [2]] [ [3]] [ [4]] Sidelight12 Talk 06:42, 27 October 2012 (UTC)
It looks like the Benjamin_Franklin#Meteorology lunar eclipse observation is wrong by a year, says year 1743, October 21, should be 1744, and also was apparently a partial lunar eclipse. Catalog: [5] Image: [6] The wikipedia source is a webpage, so maybe that should be challenged first for correction since it is a very interesting article! [7] 173.240.25.249 ( talk) 01:20, 22 October 2012 (UTC)
An error in the text and link in the section "Europe Years": The town where Franklin visited Erasmus Darwin was Lichfield in Staffordshire NOT Litchfield in Hampshire P e mason ( talk) 08:59, 1 November 2012 (UTC)
France is spelled "Frace" in the second to last sentence in the "Illegitimate son William" section.
"Places and things" just doesn't sound that encyclopedic, does it? Any alternatives? — Preceding unsigned comment added by Dorshil ( talk • contribs) 21:38, 6 November 2012 (UTC)
I find the section titled 'primary sources' to be confusing, as it seems to be composed of some of Franklin's own publications as well as publications written about him. I petition to separate out the 'primary source' section into a section titled 'List of Franklin's Publications' & the sub-section under 'Further Reading' titled 'Compilations of Franklin's Writings' or another title that is more appropriate for the source. -- Russot1 ( talk) 22:22, 10 December 2012 (UTC)
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In the early life section of the article it says that his father didn't have enough money to send him to school, but the school he went to was public, free. The real reason his father did not keep sending him to school was because they thought he was no pious enough to become a priest. [10] Jackson9w9 ( talk) 16:42, 18 December 2012 (UTC)
The citation at the end of Note 3 reads " Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). . Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press."; there are a few problems with this:
I'd be grateful if someone could correct this citation.
Many Thanks!
Cheers, Rico402 ( talk) 17:45, 5 February 2013 (UTC)
"The publication was critical of the Society of the Cincinnati, established in the United States. Franklin and Mirabeau thought of it as a “noble order,” consistent with the egalitarian ideals of the new republic."
--Surely what was meant here was that the authors viewed a "noble order" (SotC membership is limited to descendants of officers) as INconsistent with egalitarian ideas, and so the publication was "critical" of it.— Preceding unsigned comment added by 139.139.83.17 ( talk • contribs) 11:33, 27 February 2013 (UTC)
His membership in the Hellfire Club is missing. 184.147.228.122 ( talk) 05:30, 20 March 2013 (UTC)
I believe Franklin owned slaves, but he set them free. I have searched through the article and could not find any information on slaves and slavery. I believe Franklin's views on slavery and the fact he owned slaves needs to be mentioned in the article. Cmguy777 ( talk) 15:44, 22 March 2013 (UTC)
Thanks Rjensen. Cmguy777 ( talk) 16:10, 22 March 2013 (UTC)
According to Nash, Franklin owned seven slaves and was active in the slave trade at his general store including printing ads in his newspaper to capture runaway slaves. This information, I believe, would be good for the article. Cmguy777 ( talk) 16:45, 22 March 2013 (UTC)
Here is a sample edit:
I would need page numbers for the Nash information. Cmguy777 ( talk) 03:42, 10 April 2013 (UTC)
Informed feedback is needed on the Thomas Jefferson talk page regarding whether we should list Architect in the info box on that page. The issue has been discussed at length there in the upper sections. -- Gwillhickers 15:26, 29 August 2013 (UTC)
The letter Franklin writes is to an unknown atheist. At what point was it proven that the letter was to Thomas Paine? 209.184.116.187 ( talk) 14:13, 14 September 2013 (UTC)
Why no mention of the Franklin stove? This great invention should surely be mentioned somewhere in the article. He is remembered by many common folk for this great improvement to everyday living. 86.164.161.64 ( talk) 10:06, 26 September 2013 (UTC)
This in the Chess section needs a fix:
"This essay in praise of chess and prescribing a code of behavior for it has been widely reprinted and translated."
Maybe remove "for it" ... GretDrabba ( talk) 18:36, 8 October 2013 (UTC)
That change you made is perfect, thanks. GretDrabba ( talk) 15:03, 9 October 2013 (UTC)
Benjamin Franklin is cited by George Pocock in a major noteworthy book for Ben's youthful experiment of being pulled across body of water by use of kite power. The True Benjamin Franklin, by Sydney George Fisher is a possible reference for Ben's experience. A major Pocock work so mentions Ben in an important way: A TREATISE on The Aeropleustic Art, or Navigation in the Air, by means of Kites, or Buoyant Sails: with a description of the Charvolant, or Kite Carriage, and containing numerous most amusing and interesting anecdotes connected with several extraordinary excursions both by sea and land. Later in life Ben would recall and forward his findings into suggesting pulling ships by kite power. The matter is a seed to the noteworthy explosion of sports and commerce of pulling people and hulls by kites. I suggest that some editor form a section in the Benjamin Franklin article to trace the matter and the large notes and art that respect that youthful scientific experience. Joefaust ( talk) 16:44, 17 October 2013 (UTC)
"Franklin also co-authored the first treaty of friendship between Germany and America in 1785."
There was no such country as Germany at the time. There wouldn't be until 1871. Which of the many German states then in existence was this treaty of friendship concluded? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 88.113.5.94 ( talk) 08:57, 4 November 2013 (UTC)
the following URL in the links section of this article is broken http://www.tufts.edu/as/wright_center/personal_pages/bob_m/
A new site is now hosting this material - the URL is
www.compadre.org/psrc/Franklin/
I don't know how to make the correction - could someone please make this change? Rsyzygym ( talk) 20:31, 25 November 2013 (UTC)
Is there a proper place to include at least a brief mention of Franklin's authorship of the letter, "Advice to a Friend on Choosing a Mistress (1745)," originally written to a friend, not necessarily delivered or published, but ultimately resulting in major influences to modern thought on censorship and obscenity laws? For more information, see its wiki page. Mmpozulp ( talk) 05:12, 27 January 2014 (UTC)
Noticing that the introduction part contains too much contents for an introduction, I tried to reorganize it and decrease the repetitive information. The edited version is saved in my sandbox. Any comments and corrections would be welcomed and appreciated. -- Coldwdt ( talk) 19:26, 9 March 2014 (UTC)
Spelling mistake in the section "Years in Europe" leading to an incorrect hyperlink:
"In 1771 Franklin made short journeys through different parts of England, staying with . . . Dr Darwin at Litchfield . . ."
Darwin was a native of the Staffordshire town of Lichfield. Nogbird ( talk) 16:16, 29 July 2014 (UTC)
Franklin developed a painful bladder stone in 1782 while minister to France and took opiates to relieve the pain. --From "They Went That-A-Way" by Malcolm Forbes, pg. 108, Barnes & Noble Books, N.Y., 1988. 50.202.81.2 ( talk) 18:04, 29 July 2014 (UTC)
he is awsome — Preceding unsigned comment added by 165.234.104.36 ( talk) 15:06, 1 October 2014 (UTC)
On just a quick check, this Article has some serious copyright violations; 2.2 Newspaperman is pulled word for word from “The Cambridge History of English and American Literature in 18 Volumes (1907–21). VOLUME XV. Colonial and Revolutionary Literature; Early National Literature, Part I. [9]. The section 2.1 Junto and Library pulled word for word from Benjamin Franklin “The First American”. [10] ShoesssS Talk 12:42, 7 October 2014 (UTC)
I’ve noticed that the On This Day article for 26th October says Franklin ‘departs from America for France on a mission to seek French support for the American Revolution.’
Is it possible to do a touch of cleaning up: to show when he left America for France? (I suspect that December date given is the date he got to France: but would find it helpful if it were clarified.) Cuddy2977 ( talk) 19:27, 15 October 2014 (UTC)
Why is this article still rated "B" on the quality scale? What prevents it from being classed in the "GA" category? - The Gnome ( talk) 04:23, 5 November 2014 (UTC)
This article, and many others on Wikipedia dealing with events taking place before 1871, incorrectly mention Germany as if it was a country, when there clearly was no Germany during Franklin's lifetime and Prussia is not Germany, yet I can't edit it to fix the problem. 174.73.5.74 ( talk) 02:39, 24 November 2014 (UTC)
The article seems to make a serious error in conflating the Royal Society of Arts (which admitted Franklin in 1756, see Benjamin_Franklin_Medal_(Royal_Society_of_Arts) which was instated in 1956 on the 200th anniversary thereof) with the Royal Society. The follow-on application of the FRS post-nominal letters is particularly problematic. These claims should be removed unless citations can be provided proving membership in the actual Royal Society of London &c — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2601:A:480:24D:945F:AF08:F491:8B42 ( talk) 13:26, 5 January 2015 (UTC)
Narrowly read, I think this is true - but his father had 17 children - seven by his first wife. So saying that Franklin was "one of ten children" is a little misleading - even if technically correct when you read the entire sentence carefully. I could easily imagine people just assuming that he was one of ten children, period - so I think we need to be a little more clear.
I think I'll change this to "He was one of seventeen children born to Josiah Franklin." because that better encapsulates the gigantic size of the family he came from - which seems like it's more significant than the narrow explanation of which mother bore all of those kids. Since we're writing about Franklin himself, that seems like a clearer statement.
SteveBaker ( talk) 17:33, 9 February 2015 (UTC)
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Section: Freemason (additional information concerning Freemason Section) Benjamin Franklin served as Grand Master of Philadelphia for two separate years (1734,1749). Serving for two separate terms shows the esteem of Benjamin Franklin among his peers in Freemasonry. http://www.pagrandlodge.org/gmaster/history/1734franklin004.html
Ddenney411 ( talk) 01:19, 10 February 2015 (UTC)
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— Preceding unsigned comment added by Jamesarmistead25 ( talk • contribs) 19:49, 24 March 2015 (UTC)
suggest you finish the section with line about Franklin's change in attitude at the end of his life. According to National Archives http://www.archives.gov/legislative/features/franklin/ and book The Great Upheaval by Jay Winik Franklin wrote supporting abolition and petitioned congress to end both slavery and the slave trade as his last public act before his death. As it stands the section leaves the impression that he still was neutral at the time of his death. 72.188.34.53 ( talk) 19:51, 7 February 2015 (UTC)
i can't make heads nor tails of this sentence: "Franklin often Bethlehem staying at the Moravian Sun Inn.[8]" obviouslly something's amiss.... — Preceding unsigned comment added by 108.34.62.15 ( talk) 19:14, 4 July 2015 (UTC)
What's so humorous about Franklin's observations of oil on water? He may have played tricks with the oil he carried in his cane, but the section says nothing about that. Renaming section to Oil on water, but keeping the former title as an anchor so as not to break any links that may exist to it. -- Thnidu ( talk) 05:50, 5 July 2015 (UTC)
The article referenced is also correct so it must be a typo but I don't know how to correct it. But both birthdays have amazing patterns that make it easy to memorize. 01/06/1706 and 01/17/1706. The year 1706 is comprised of both 06 and 17. The calendar was switched in 1752 when Ben was 46 years old. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 96.248.90.119 ( talk) 02:07, 8 July 2015 (UTC)
In his book "Weggenosse des Jahrhunderts" from 1968 the german author https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/G%C3%BCnter_Henle wrotes: "I remembered the warning of Benjamin Franklin from the year 1787, that for Europe there was one solution: to create at once a federal union by a constituent assembly." (p. 110, PDF p. 126 - in german). Does anybody know the source of Franklin's announcement ? In case it's true it testifies an astounding political vision. Just keep in mind the european states got a union already in the 18th century - what would have been spared us. Somehow a nice fiction for a "what happend if"-novelle...-- Eckhart Triebel ( talk) 21:31, 20 August 2015 (UTC)
I performed original research on this, so I can't make the edit and cite myself, but Ben Franklin attributing the severity of the 1783/1784 winter to volcanic activity marks the first recorded example of someone connecting vulcanism and winter. 206.113.192.12 ( talk) 03:48, 25 August 2015 (UTC)
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He is a dad of three kids. Rayutter21 ( talk) 14:25, 19 October 2015 (UTC)
The History Channel ran a show where Franklin was a member of the so-called Hellfire Club, and would travel to Ireland and engage in orgies in a neolithic tomb.
Any truth to this? 24.51.217.118 ( talk) 16:19, 18 November 2015 (UTC)
Early form of capacitor : The shocking history of electric fishes: p169 - Rod57 ( talk) 02:49, 1 December 2015 (UTC)
Can I please edit this I have been studying Benjamin Franklin ever since I was little. I just find what he did so interesting. I mean what would we do without electricity today. He was a good man who never really got much sleep, the reason for this is he was always studying the whole night on what interesting things we have in this world. I wish I could do something g like he did and I really hope that you accept me to edit this article and I promise you guys will benefit from it. — Preceding unsigned comment added by ChineseTurtle1 ( talk • contribs) 02:11, 10 December 2015 (UTC)
I have just deleted the following passage from the section "Virtue, religion and personal beliefs":
The first generation of Puritans had been intolerant of dissent, but by the early 18th century, when Franklin grew up in the Puritan church, tolerance of different churches was the norm, and Massachusetts was known, in John Adams' words, as "the most mild and equitable establishment of religion that was known in the world." (Bailyn, 1992, p. 248)
Although they did not share the fate of the Boston martyrs (1659–1661), the Ashfield Baptists were persecuted between 1763 and 1771; Franklin turned 57 in 1763. Adams' statement dates from a 1774 meeting with Isaac Backus, who took a very different view on the nature of the Massachusetts establishment. As this article is about Franklin, I propose that it is best to delete the passage, which I have just done. GroupCohomologist ( talk) 12:43, 28 December 2015 (UTC)
The date of birth is at least partly wrong. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 31.53.52.40 ( talk) 12:08, 19 January 2016 (UTC)
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Please combine the first and second sentences. 23:36, 27 February 2016 (UTC)
BF was never appointed PMG to the US. He was appointed PMG of the United Colonies. He continued as PMG when the United Colonies passed a declaration of independence on July 2, 1776. The July 4 date misguidedly celebrated related to a now iconic propoganda document. (See the records of the Continental Congress and John Adam's letter of July 2 to his wife). There is no basis for the November 1776 date for his resignationl, and post office records show he quit in October.
Bernard Biales 2601:197:300:308E:B06A:D74B:A3AB:F02B ( talk) 03:20, 17 May 2016 (UTC)
Why does he have a libary on 6and Gratiot. Isaiah85 ( talk) 15:08, 22 June 2016 (UTC)
Would a more senior editor please add the following to the places and things named after Benjamin Franklin:
— Preceding unsigned comment added by Burth55 ( talk • contribs)
References
vandoren
was invoked but never defined (see the
help page).-- I added another reference- Burth55 ( talk) 12:49, 16 August 2016 (UTC)