Not your usual founding father : selected readings from Benjamin Franklin / edited by Edmund S. Morgan.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Franklin, Benjamin, 1706-1790.

Contributor:

Morgan, Edmund S. (Edmund Sears), 1916-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Franklin, Benjamin, 1706-1790. Archives.

Franklin, Benjamin, 1706-1790--Correspondence.

Franklin, Benjamin, 1706-1790--Philosophy.

Statesmen--United States--Archives.

United States--Politics and government--To 1775--Sources.

United States--Politics and government--1775-1783--Sources.

United States--Politics and government--1783-1789--Sources.

United States--Social life and customs--18th century--Sources.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (318 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

New Haven, Conn. : Yale University Press, c2006.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

This engaging book reveals Benjamin Franklin's human side-his tastes and habits, his enthusiasms, and his devotion to democracy and the people of the United States. Three hundred years after his birth, we may remember Franklin's famous Autobiography, or his status as framer of the Declaration of Independence and the peace with Great Britain, or his experiments in electricity, or perhaps his sage advice on diligence and thrift. But historian Edmund S. Morgan invites us to meet the man himself, a sociable, good-natured, and extraordinary human being with boundless curiosity about the natural world and a vision of what America could be. Drawing on lifelong research in the vast Franklin archives, Morgan assembles both famous and lesser-known writings that offer insights into this founding father's thinking. The book is organized around four major themes, each with an introduction. The first section includes journal excerpts and letters revealing Franklin's personal tastes and habits. The second is devoted to Franklin's inexhaustible intellectual energy and his scientific discoveries. The third and fourth chronicle his devotion to serving the people who became the United States both before and after the Revolution and to advancing his democratic vision of their future. Franklin's humanity and genius have never seemed more real than in the pages of this appealing anthology.

Contents:

Front matter

Contents

Preface

Introduction

1 The young man and the old man

2 Friendship and flirtation

3 The uses of laughter

4 Religion

5 Sickness and health

6 Wind, weather, and air

7 Ships and the sea

8 Electric fire

9 Geology and cosmology

10 The colonies and the empire

11 Ethnic pride and prejudice

12 Join or die

13 The vision challenged

14 The empire at risk

15 Independence

16 Poor Richard's diplomacy

18 The pretensions of wealth

19 America

Chronology

Credits

Index

Notes:

Includes index.

ISBN:

9786611734565

9781281734563

128173456X

9780300135015

0300135017

OCLC:

1024015906