An excellent and comprehensive biography of Ben Franklin, by H.W. Brands, was my latest bio read. It is titled “The First American”, which is a little misleading because it turns out that Franklin spent much of his adult life in Britain and France, working on behalf of the colonies. But they considered Franklin an “American” because relatively early he recognized that the colonists in North America had become a different country of people than their European ancestors and cousins, with different values and a distinct approach to life and to government.
Franklin lived a long life, generally healthy although plagued by a kidney stone for the last few years. Those can be very painful and at the time there was no known cure. Nothwithstanding the pain and other ailments he served his country to the end of his life. When Franklin was a boy, somewhat amazingly in contrast to today’s America, by the age of 12 or even earlier, a male child would be apprenticed or found work in some manner. Franklin’s father wanted him to follow one calling and indentured him to a friend. Franklin was unhappy with the choice and absconded to Philadelphia, which was his nominal home for the remainder of his life.
He apprenticed to a printer there and eventually started his own business at which he became quite successful. He owned or was invested in printing for the remainder of his life. One byproduct of this business was an outlet for his writing skills, which from the start focused on public policy and government. Franklin was an exceptional negotiator and advocate for positions he believed in or was asked to enunciate on behalf of the emerging new nation. He rarely got angry and used various rhetorical devices to persuade others to accept his views. He wrote under pseudonyms, often using irony, sarcasm and exaggeration to make his points. Often people did not realize he was the true author of letters to a paper or columns. He authored what became a very popular almanac, full of adages and stories with a moral.
Franklin was a deeply curious person, with little formal education, but who read constantly in all areas of human endeavor. He was extremely interested in science and math. His experiments with electricity and magnetism are well known. He also studied ocean currents and navigation on his many journeys to and from Europe. He was accepted into academies of science in Britain and France. He initiated learned societies in the colonies. His speculations on many topics have subsequently been shown to be accurate in whole or in part.
For years Franklin attempted to maintain good relations with Britain and was a tireless advocate for fair treatment of the American colonies. But when it became apparent to him that Britain did not intend to treat Americans as true English citizens, he was a strong advocate of full independence and he played the critical role in securing French military and monetary support for the war to secure that independence. He was a moving force behind both the Articles of Confederacy and the Constitution. One interesting side note is that, as you would always suspect to be the case, there was a lot of backbiting and rivalry among various “founders” and Franklin received his share of unfair criticism, while seldom if ever engaging in this behavior himself.
His personal life also is somewhat mysterious. He suffered tragedy, with his first son with his wife dying young, and ultimately becoming estranged during the Revolutionary War from an illegitimate son who had been his close companion for many years. His wife, whom he appeared to worship, endured many, many years of lack of physical contact with him, as he lived in Britain and then France in connection with his work for the colonies and she would not travel overseas. Even as she was in her obvious last months, Franklin did not return home to be with her. And he had a wandering eye for other women.
As with so many of these biographies, a fascinating read about an important life. Franklin is one of the individuals to whom our country owes its existence and its system of government, which has created so much opportunity and happiness, not just in the United States, but around the globe.
