Hius 221 Benjamin Franklin Essay
Benjamin Franklin Essay
HIUS 221
I. INTRODUCTION
Benjamin Franklin was born in Boston as the son of a candle maker. From humble beginnings, he grew into a renowned figure of American history. “He became famous for being a scientist, an inventor, a statesman, a printer, a philosopher, a musician, and an economist”. Today, Americans recognize him for being one of our Founding Fathers and a prominent citizen of the city of Philadelphia. In his autobiography, Franklin shows that he desired self-improvement and in pursuit of this goal focused on improvements of four different types: intellectual, moral, business, and social.
II. BODY
Franklin’s intellectual improvements were numerous. As a child, he had a thirst for knowledge. He exhibited a readiness to learn and read at an early age, and while in school, he rose to the head of his class and then skipped a grade. After Franklin’s father pointed out that he had a poor manner of writing, Franklin resolved to improve not only his manner of writing but also his arrangement of thoughts in his written work. His ambition was to become a good English writer. In his young age, he also was intent on improving his language and when he got older he taught himself French, Italian, Spanish, and Latin. He used the library as a means of improvement by constant study of one to two hours per day here.
Franklin went to great lengths to achieve moral improvement. As a young man, Franklin developed a plan regulating his future conduct in life that he adhered to even in his old age. He wrote a list of moral characters that he would like to possess such as temperance, frugality, and humility. He had thirteen categories in all that he wrote down in a book to carry with him. He had a separate column for each day of the week. He would pull out the book and mark which virtues he felt he had committed a fault in that day so that he may examine them and improve upon them. During the course of this practice, Franklin said that he
HIUS 221
I. INTRODUCTION
Benjamin Franklin was born in Boston as the son of a candle maker. From humble beginnings, he grew into a renowned figure of American history. “He became famous for being a scientist, an inventor, a statesman, a printer, a philosopher, a musician, and an economist”. Today, Americans recognize him for being one of our Founding Fathers and a prominent citizen of the city of Philadelphia. In his autobiography, Franklin shows that he desired self-improvement and in pursuit of this goal focused on improvements of four different types: intellectual, moral, business, and social.
II. BODY
Franklin’s intellectual improvements were numerous. As a child, he had a thirst for knowledge. He exhibited a readiness to learn and read at an early age, and while in school, he rose to the head of his class and then skipped a grade. After Franklin’s father pointed out that he had a poor manner of writing, Franklin resolved to improve not only his manner of writing but also his arrangement of thoughts in his written work. His ambition was to become a good English writer. In his young age, he also was intent on improving his language and when he got older he taught himself French, Italian, Spanish, and Latin. He used the library as a means of improvement by constant study of one to two hours per day here.
Franklin went to great lengths to achieve moral improvement. As a young man, Franklin developed a plan regulating his future conduct in life that he adhered to even in his old age. He wrote a list of moral characters that he would like to possess such as temperance, frugality, and humility. He had thirteen categories in all that he wrote down in a book to carry with him. He had a separate column for each day of the week. He would pull out the book and mark which virtues he felt he had committed a fault in that day so that he may examine them and improve upon them. During the course of this practice, Franklin said that he
References: Benjamin Franklin: Glimpses of the Man. 1994. The Franklin Institute Science Museum. http://www.fi.edu/franklin/ (accessed June 4, 2012). Franklin, Benjamin. 1909. The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin. Ed. Charles W. Eliot. New York: P F Collier & Son Company. http://www.fi.edu/franklin/ (accessed June 4, 2012). [ 2 ]. Franklin, Benjamin. 1909. The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin. Ed. Charles W. Eliot. New York: P F Collier & Son Company, 12.