“The Invention of Benjamin Franklin”

From Revolutionary Characters by Gordon Wood

Instructions:

Read the chapter on Benjamin Franklin

In groups of 3, divide the following questions;

  1. 1,4,7,10,13
  2. 2,5,8,11,13
  3. 3,6,9,12,13

Address the following prompts in a written format, include number and question you are addressing, probably a good paragraph each question.

Use quotes to help express yourself and cite the page number as necessary.

Please type this.

(You do not have to include the quiz questions but you should be able to answer them)

  1. Why does author argue Franklin is difficult to understand or ‘figure out”?
  2. What evidence does the author use to suggest that “no one could have predicted that he would become one of the leaders of the American Revolution”?
  3. Franklin was a celebrity in the 18th Century why?
  4. Why does the author argue Franklin is “never very revealing” and or his autobiography “resembles a work of fiction”?

Quiz question:What was the role of patronage in Franklin’s career?

Quiz question:List some of Franklin’s most notable accomplishments.

Quiz question:What did Franklin do when he “retired”?

  1. Why does the author argue Franklin was an advocate of empire?
  2. According to the author, what is Franklin’s view of government, what form is best and why?
  3. Franklin wanted to be an imperial official, outline how he is thwarted in his ambitions? (Hillsbourgh, Dartmouth, Hutchinson letters, the Privy Council)
  4. The author argues “Some of his anger and passion were calculated.” What does he mean by this?
  5. Franklin was very proud of his reputation outside of America, Revolutionary leaders also recognized his power as an American celebrity and they send him to Paris in 1776. Explain how Franklin’s skill as a politician was exemplified in his time at the French court of Louis xvi. (p85) example, “The French created the modern image of Franklin that we are familiar with: Bourgeois Poor Richard moralist, the symbol of rustic democracy, the simple backwoods philosopher. It is Franklin’s genius to understand how the French saw him and to exploit that image for the American Cause.” (p85)

Quiz question:What was Franklin’s mission in France?

  1. Why does the author argue Franklin was “the greatest diplomat America has ever had”?

Quiz question:How did the French respond to Franklin?

  1. Why was Franklin so popular in France?
  2. What does the author mean by, “It was Franklin’s genius to know what the French wanted from him…” (p87)
  3. How did people view Franklin at the time of his death as compared to the later 19th Century and why?

“In an important sense the French invented something of the Ben Franklin that we now know.”