While it is probably impossible to single out one individual as the most important figure in early American History, it is difficult to dispute that Benjamin Franklin was a most interesting and multi-talented individual in that period. His occupations included printer, writer, publisher, editor, scientist, inventor, statesman, postmaster, and diplomat. He founded many civic organizations, including the Library Company, The American Philosophical Society, Philadelphia's first fire department, and the University of Pennsylvania. In Walter Isaacson’s biography, every aspect of the life story of this founding father was told in a style which is both engaging, humorous, and touching.
After meticulously describing the events before, during and after the American Revolution, Isaacson’s summed up Franklin’s contributions by pointing out that he was the only person to sign all four of its founding papers: the Declaration of Independence, the treaty with France, the peace accord with Britain, and the Constitution.
It was interesting to learn that Franklin’s proposed experiments to show that lightning was electricity and that metal rods could be used to snatch lightning from the sky were communicated to his English friend Peter Collinson in 1750, which were presented to the Royal Society in London and then widely published. It was translated into French in early 1752. King Louis XV asked that the lab tests be performed for Franklin, which they were in February by three Frenchmen. On encouragement from the King, the three went on to perform the lightning rod experiment on May 10, 1752. This was before the famous Kite experiment performed by Franklin, assisted by his son William, in June 1752. He was thus well-known and respected before he was sent to France as Ambassador, and his fame certainly helped with securing the aid of France in the Revolutionary War, without which History would likely be very different.
In describing Franklin’s scientific contributions and inventions, Isaacson went much beyond Electricity and the Lightning Rod. Some of Franklin’s discoveries included that dark fabrics absorb heat better than bright ones and northeaster storms travel up the coast from the south in the opposite direction from their winds. He and Captain Timothy Folger published the Gulf Stream Chart detailing the North Atlantic Ocean circulation patterns. Besides the lightning rod, Franklin also invented the bifocal lens and a wood-burning stove that could be built into fireplaces to maximize heat while minimizing smoke and drafts. For his achievements, he received honorary degrees from Yale, Harvard and the College of William and Mary. On the other side of the pond, he received honorary doctorate degrees from Oxford University and the University of St. Andrews. He was elected the first American member of the Royal Society of London.
The path of Franklin as a writer was rather interesting. His formal education consisted of two years at Boston’s Latin School but did not graduate. Most of his education he picked up on his own through voracious reading. Among his favorite books were John Bunyan’s “Pilgrim’s Progress” and Cotton Mather’s “Bonifacius: Essays to Do Good.”. In particular, he was fond of reading the deft essays by Joseph Addison and Richard Steele in The Spectator, a London daily that flourished in 1711-12. These essays probed the vanities and values of contemporary life. Franklin began writing and publishing essays under various pseudonyms, the first one being “Silence Dogood” in his brother James’ paper in Boston and later a series of “Busy-Body Essays” in Andrew Bradford’s paper Mercury in Philadelphia. These writings were not only satires and criticisms of contemporary issues but they also contained Franklin’s self-help rules. When Sir William Keith, then Governor of Pennsylvania, saw a letter Franklin wrote to a brother-in-law explaining why he was happy in Philadelphia and had no desire to return to Boston, the Governor was so impressed that “a missive so eloquent had been written by a lad so young”, he pledged to sponsor Franklin to England to procure printing equipment for a second newspaper in Philadelphia. So Benjamin went to England for the first time in 1723, at the age of 17. The pledge was never honored by the Governor.
Franklin became a popular writer when he published Poor Richard Almanack in his own paper the Pennsylvania Gazette under the pseudonym “Richard Saunders”. His fame as a writer was further consolidated with the publication of his autobiography. Although the autobiography was incomplete and published after his death, it has become one of the classics of the genre. It is amusing that the one book David Crockett carried to his death at the Alamo was Franklin’s autobiography.
Franklin’s relationship with his family members, as well as his extraordinary ability to befriend a number of ladies, in America, London, as well as in Paris, is told in exquisite detail in the book. One of these lady friends, Polly Stevenson, travelled from London to Philadelphia to be with him in his final days and was at his bedside when he died. It is sad to read that he and his wife, Deborah, was an ocean apart during 15 of their last 17 years of marriage and he was not present when she died. Franklin and his son William were on opposite sides of the American Revolutionary War and they never reconciled. It was also sad to learn that many of Franklin’s French friends were brutally killed during the French Revolution. On the other hand, it was amusing to read about Franklin’s suggestion to a young lady friend on the art of procuring pleasant dreams. Humors such as this are scattered throughout the book.
It is surprising that a person as accomplished as Franklin had drawn fierce criticisms from people who had not made significant contributions to society. These are summarized in the last chapter of the book, which ends with Isaacson's strong rebuttal to these criticisms.
Many well-known quotes attributed to Franklin first appeared in Poor Richard Almanack, ranging from the amusing, serious, to profound. I think Franklin would be delighted to see this review ending with several of the quotes below:
“Fish and visitors stink in three days.”
“Keep your eyes wide open before marriage, half shut afterwards.”
“Religion is important, but too much of it is worse than none at all.”
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