The life of Benjamin Franklin. Volume 3, Soldier, scientist, and politician, 1748-1757 / J. A. Leo Lemay.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Lemay, J. A. Leo (Joseph A. Leo), 1935-2008, author.

Series:

The Life of Benjamin Franklin ; Volume 3

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Franklin, Benjamin, 1706-1790.

Franklin, Benjamin.

Statesmen--United States--Biography.

Statesmen.

Scientists--United States--Biography.

Scientists.

Inventors--United States--Biography.

Inventors.

Printers--United States--Biography.

Printers.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (769 pages) : illustrations, maps

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania : University of Pennsylvania Press, 2009.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Described as "a harmonious human multitude," Ben Franklin's life and careers were so varied and successful that he remains, even today, the epitome of the self-made man. Born into a humble tradesman's family, this adaptable genius rose to become an architect of the world's first democracy, a leading light in Enlightenment science, and a major creator of what has come to be known as the American character. Journalist, musician, politician, scientist, humorist, inventor, civic leader, printer, writer, publisher, businessman, founding father, philosopher-a genius in all fields and a bit of a magician in some. Volume 3 begins in the year 1748, when Franklin was known in Pennsylvania as clerk of the Pennsylvania Assembly and in the Middle Colonies as the printer and editor of Poor Richard's Almanac and the Pennsylvania Gazette, the best-known colonial publications. By the middle of 1757, where this volume leaves off, he had become famous in Pennsylvania as a public-spirited citizen and soldier in the conflicts of the Seven Years' War; well known throughout America as a writer, politician, and the most important theorist and patriot of the American empire; and renowned in the western world as a natural philosopher. This volume tells the story of that transformation.

Contents:

Front matter

Contents

List of Illustrations

Preface

1. The Association, 1747-1748

2. Electricity

3. Astronomy, Weather, and the Northwest Passage: Natural Philosopher, 1748-1757

4. Clerk, Councilman, And Magistrate, 1748-1751

5. The Academy And College of Philadelphia

6. Colonial Union, Dumping Felons in America, and Assemblyman, 1751

7. The Fundamental Document of the American Revolution, 1751

8. The Pennsylvania Hospital

9. Franklin's First Full Assembly, the Money Bill, and Susanna Wright, 1751-1752

10. Insurance: The Philadelphia Contributionship

11. Paper Currency, the Coming of War, and a Trip to New England, 1752-1753

12. The Carlisle Treaty, Postmaster General, a Trip to New England, and Assembly Sessions, 1753-1754

13. The Pennsylvania Germans

14. Assembly Sessions, the Snake Cartoon, and the Albany Conference, 1754

15. Boston, America and the Empire, and Katy Ray, 1754-1755

16. Libels on the Assembly, Quincy's Mission, and General Braddock, 1755

17. Assembly Crises, Crown Point, Parables, and Glimpses of Deborah, 1755

18. The French and Indians Attack and Pennsylvania Responds, 1755

19. General Franklin on the Frontier, 1755-1756

20. Rival Militias, Colonel Franklin, Virginia, New York, and Frontier Fighting, 1756

21. The Easton Treaty and Assembly Sessions, 1756-1757

22. Franklin in New York and at Sea, 1757

23. Assessing Franklin, Age 42 through 51

Appendices

List of Abbreviations

Notes

Index

Acknowledgments

Notes:

Includes index.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

9780812291414

0812291417

OCLC:

1002233019