Printer, author, philanthropist, abolitionist, scientist, librarian, diplomat, inventor, philosopher, self-aggrandizer, and social wag, Benjamin Franklin is one of the most fascinating characters in all of American history-a quality that was not lost on the man himself, as his autobiography makes plain. Avoiding the strife of the American Revolution entirely, Franklin focuses his incisive wit on the culture and society of colonial Philadelphia, weaving a mostly true mythology of humble origins and hard work that created the concepts of "The American Dream" and "the self-made man." This edition includes letters written by Franklin as well as "Poor Richard's Almanac," a popular pamphlet that was continuously reprinted from 1732-1758. Franklin's Autobiography, originally published in French in 1791, and translated into English and published in London in 1793, is considered the great autobiography of life in colonial America. American icon BENJAMIN FRANKLIN (1706-1790), born in Massachusetts to a British immigrant father and colonial mother, published the famous "Poor Richard's Almanac," helped found the University of Pennsylvania, and was the first Postmaster General of the United States. Franklin's likeness adorns, among other things, the United States hundred-dollar bill.
Benjamin Franklin was an important conservative figure in the American Restoration Movement, especially as the leading antebellum conservative in the northern United States branch of the movement. He is notable as the early and lifelong mentor of Daniel Sommer, whose support of the 1889 Sand Creek Declaration set in motion events which led to the formal division of the Churches of Christ from the Disciples of Christ in 1906.
According to contemporary biographies "His early religious training was according to the Methodist faith, though he never belonged to any church until he united with the Disciples."
In 1856, Franklin began to publish the ultra-conservative American Christian Review, which he published until his death in 1878. Its influence, initially considerable, was said to have waned following the American Civil War. Franklin undertook a rigorous program of publication correspondence, and traveling lectures which took him to "many" U. S. states and Canada.
Franklin's last move was to Anderson, Indiana, where he lived from 1864 until his death.
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