02.05.06
UIS Spring, 2006 - Understanding US History
This year is the tercentenary (300th) Benjamin Franklin’s birthday. Celebrations abound in Philadelphia.
The assignment was to read The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin and then write a 3-5 page paper giving my opinion on the question of “WAS BENJAMIN FRANKLIN A SHAMELESS SELF-PROMOTER ONLY OUT FOR FAME AND A BLIND IDEALIST UNCONCERNED WITH AMERICANS LESS LUCKY THAN HIMSELF?” (paraphrased from the instructor’s topic) Of course, as all good historians must do, we had to use our reading and cite our sources to back up our claim.
And, in usual fashion, I chose the grey area: “If he was, does that lessen his legacy to America and the world?”
Here are some things I learned:
The mutual improvement club, called the Junto Society, Franklin formed with 12 friends became The American Philosophical Society 40 years later.
The Society promotes useful knowledge in the sciences and humanities through excellence in scholarly research, professional meetings, publications, library resources, and community outreach.
In 1731, Franklin established a subscription library which became “the mother of all North American subscription libraries”. 1 That library is now The Library Company of Philadelphia, whose mission is
to collect, preserve, and make available books, graphics, and other primary source materials for the study of American history and culture up to the closing years of the 19th century.2
He also founded the first paid municipal city watch which was the genesis of law enforcement departments, the first volunteer fire department which was incorporated as the Union Fire Company and also led to municipal fire departments.
1Franklin, Benjamin. The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin. (Mineola: Dover Publications, 1996). p.53
2At the Instance of Benjamin Franklin - A Brief History of the Library Company of Philadelphia