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The Importance Of Ben Franklin's Contribution To American Identity

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An American, what does it mean to call oneself an American? To many outside the United States, it means patriotism, it means freedom. To others it means laziness, gluttony, or greed. To almost every American, it means the freedom to choose one’s fate. America has been known to be called “The Land of Endless Opportunity.” Ben Franklin was the pioneer of this idea and thus made a large contribution to the American identity through his ideas and hard work. At the time that Benjamin Franklin lived, the idea of complete freedom was revolutionary. Most countries still had a strict class structure and dramatic changes between classes were very few and far between. Ben Franklin felt that anyone should have the chance to change their socioeconomic …show more content…

He pioneered the idea of self-help through his own work. Although he had less than three years of schooling, he taught himself everything he knew, from French to Italian and Spanish to even learning how to play the guitar, harp, and violin. At the age of twelve, he became restless with school so his father arranged for him to apprentice with his older brother at a boston printing press. He began to start writing when his brother started publishing a paper. In this paper, he anonymously wrote and published 14 articles, that later became known as the Silence Dogood papers, that slandered government officials and praising the virtue of some fellow citizens. As a result, his brother James was thrown into jail and forced to stop writing and publishing his paper. Following this, Benjamin Franklin ran away from home and went to Philadelphia, where he had heard that a printer needed some help. “I was dirty from my Journey, my Pockets were stuff’d out with Shirts & Stockings; I knew no Soul, or where to look for Lodging. I was fatigued with Travelling, Rowing & Want of Rest. I was very hungry, and my whole Stock of Cash consisted of a Dutch Dollar and about a Shilling in Copper.”(BFA) When he showed up to the printer, Franklin was described as presentable, a young man in his early twenties, and radiating an energy like no

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Benjamin franklin's involvement with the us constitution is a very remarkable part of the us constitution because of how much he inspired the delegates to work on the constitution Of all the founding fathers, Franklin has the special distinction of having signed all three of the major documents that gave the colonies freedom from British rule and established the United States as a free nation(1): the Declaration of Independence, The Treaty of Paris, and the United States Constitution were all the treaties he signed(1). Benjamin franklin didn’t use any documents to help him write the us constitution. But since his beginning times, he’d read many important books. He’d discussed vision about equal rights with professors and other delegates. He’d also worked with intelligent men like

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At age ten Ben goes to work in his father candle and soap making shop. He went to the Boston Latin School. He dropped out of school when he was 10 to work. At sixteen Franklin wrote essays for Silence Dogood.

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“The Speech at the Constitutional Convention” , given by Benjamin Franklin, was a moving point for our freedom. Franklin was a well respected man for doing many things for our country; such as serving as the president of Pennsylvania executive council and many other honorable positions (Franklin, Benjamin). Allowing him to elaborate was a key component of helping define the term American dream. Franklin being well respected and very charismatic allowed him to effectively broadcast why he believed that the constitution should be ratified. The constitution was an important symbol for demonstrating that the colonists were qualified for self rule.

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Although a very loyal man, Benjamin Franklin has been considered both a Loyalist and a Patriot, but he is marked very clearly as a founding father, and as thus, should have primarily been a Patriot during and after the war with England. In this paper I wish to address the following questions. To what extent did Benjamin Franklin convert to Patriotism in the Revolutionary war, and what part did he play in achieving American victory? Was his primary success as a diplomat to France, a member of the Continental Congress, or through his subterfuge and spy ring.

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549 Words | 3 Pages

Born in 1706 as the eighth of 17 children to a Massachusetts soap and candlestick maker, the chances Benjamin Franklin would go on to become a gentleman, scholar, scientist, statesman, musician, author, publisher and all-around general genius were astronomically low, yet he did just that. Franklin wrote in the Age of Enlightenment, an intellectual revolution in the 18th century. The ideals of the enlightenment are still thought of today, as they are a part of the United States’ Declaration of Independence and Constitution. When one remembers Benjamin Franklin very few people are aware of the fact that he worked as a printer until the age of 42. As a printer he had access to substantial amounts of literature.

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When Franklin was twelve years old, he made a decision about being a printer. At this age, Franklin started working long hours daily at his dad’s candle

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Earlier in his life his brother was imprisoned for his newspaper because it “gave offense to the Assembly”. Although only imprisoned for a month, this was a huge injustice on what Franklin saw as basic human rights. Later in Benjamin Franklin’s life he had another experience with the freedom of speech being restrained. During his second time living in London, Benjamin Franklin came across letters from governors in the colonies that warned of the colonies losing dependence on Britain. Concerned with what the letters contained, Franklin sent them to a friend in Boston with explicit instructions not to have them published.

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Benjamin Franklin’s resumé starts from a print shop to a politician, and finally to a scientist. Having worked in different

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Franklin’s work in providing a public forum through his newspaper, discussion groups, library system, and almanac established the foundations for evolution of this American character. The British Parliament let the Licensing Act lapse, and the result was a print revolution. All over Britain and Europe print was essential to transmission of new ideas. This information soon reached the Atlantic, and the colonies began printing their own newspapers. Benjamin Franklin was born in 1706 and

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290 Words | 2 Pages

Benjamin Franklin was born January 12, 1706 in Boston, Massachusettes. He grew up in Boston but spent the majority of his life in Philadelphia after running away from home at 17. Before his death on April 17, 1790 he had made many contributions to society, including typography. Although his vocation in life was a diplomat, scientist, inventor and writer, he only ever identified himself as a printer. Originally, Ben Franklin was an apprentice to his brother James at the age of 12.

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Final exam Earlier in the semester we were introduced to John De Crevecoeur’s letters from an American Farmer and Benjamin Franklin’s Autobiography. The two books both had strong opinions about what American and what the “New Man” was in American during the 18th century. In the 18th century Benjamin franklin was the man who invented the American dream for many people. His Dream was that through hard work and honesty any man can gain respect in the community; along with deserving prosperity and economic protection. he also believed that American was a place where you could come and have a new start.

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Franklin values frugality so highly that he refers to as the way to wealth, freedom from debt, and “producing affluence and independence” (Franklin 38). Franklin goes as far as to “avoid all appearances to the contrary [of being frugal]”, by always dressing plainly when out in public and not being seen at expensive, “places of idle diversion” (Franklin 33). Franklin’s combined frugality and humble appearance worked in his favor, as he was seen as a “thriving young man” whom merchants would import stationery for and “others would supply . . . with books” (Franklin 33). This frugality of Franklin’s gave him social standing, success, and riches.

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What it means to be an American is that you have the freedom to vote freedom of speech. You have the liberty to be what you want in America no one chooses for you. Also have the liberty to work wherever you want not be someone 's slave. Being American means you don 't have to hide your religion, the color of your skin or your sex. You have the ability to speak what you want.

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Benjamin Franklin is known to be an “Archetypal American,” because of his beliefs on religion, self-improvement, hard work, and determination; but also his somewhat prideful spirit. Much of modern America is quite similar to Franklin in his actions throughout his lifetime. In his early years, Franklin’s father, Josiah, had a set plan for what he was supposed to do with his life, as a minister. Soon into his education, he found an interest in reading and writing, so he began pursuing a career in printing.

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As a result, Benjamin Franklin is a wise man, in order to create trusts from the members of the congress, he utilizes his ethos by accepting his fallibilities and willing to do good for the constitution to be

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