The americanization of benjamin franklin
“The Americanization of Benjamin Franklin”; The Significance of a Biography
When trying to read about history, sometimes it is easy to misinterpret information and not realize certain motives or reasons that are behind historical events. Biographies can give readers a better understanding of what happened in the past by explaining how a specific individual viewed and acted on events that happened during their lifetime. People can relate better to biographies than to textbooks that are simply written to be taught in class because biographies give insight to personal feelings and go into detail beyond what a normal textbook
would do. In the book “The Americanization of Benjamin Franklin,” Gordon Wood gives an
extensive biography on Benjamin Franklin and explains how and why Franklin is such a
celebrated historic figure in not just America, but all over the World. In the biography, many
historical issues, attitudes and events were touched upon but there select-few that really stood out
in the process of Benjamin Franklin’s “Americanization.”
The New World, or America, was a land of opportunity because everyone who settled
there was an immigrant that wanted to start a new life. The trades became the center of wealth
and prosperity due to the influx of commerce with Britain. Merchants, artisans and farmers
began to make good money thanks to the large trading ports America had with Europe. The
attitude in the Americas was that if you worked hard, no matter where you came from, success
was in your future. This was especially true for the young American Benjamin Franklin. With
only a few years of schooling, Franklin managed to get into the printing trade and educated
1
himself on how to become a successful writer. Once poor, Franklin managed to earn more than
enough money to live comfortably and become very well known throughout the colonies. When
thinking about America, usually what comes to mind
When trying to read about history, sometimes it is easy to misinterpret information and not realize certain motives or reasons that are behind historical events. Biographies can give readers a better understanding of what happened in the past by explaining how a specific individual viewed and acted on events that happened during their lifetime. People can relate better to biographies than to textbooks that are simply written to be taught in class because biographies give insight to personal feelings and go into detail beyond what a normal textbook
would do. In the book “The Americanization of Benjamin Franklin,” Gordon Wood gives an
extensive biography on Benjamin Franklin and explains how and why Franklin is such a
celebrated historic figure in not just America, but all over the World. In the biography, many
historical issues, attitudes and events were touched upon but there select-few that really stood out
in the process of Benjamin Franklin’s “Americanization.”
The New World, or America, was a land of opportunity because everyone who settled
there was an immigrant that wanted to start a new life. The trades became the center of wealth
and prosperity due to the influx of commerce with Britain. Merchants, artisans and farmers
began to make good money thanks to the large trading ports America had with Europe. The
attitude in the Americas was that if you worked hard, no matter where you came from, success
was in your future. This was especially true for the young American Benjamin Franklin. With
only a few years of schooling, Franklin managed to get into the printing trade and educated
1
himself on how to become a successful writer. Once poor, Franklin managed to earn more than
enough money to live comfortably and become very well known throughout the colonies. When
thinking about America, usually what comes to mind