Similarities Between Benjamin Franklin And Thomas Jefferson

Consenting Fathers:

Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson

Though Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson were contemporaries, their views, backgrounds and modes of influence were very different. Benjamin Franklin was born of a large and poor family and rose to become a model of the emerging bourgeois classes in the American Colonies. Throughout his long and life, Franklin succeeded in business, science, and excellent statesmanship. Thomas Jefferson, however, rose out of an affluent family to become the second President of the United States. These two seemingly separate lives nevertheless overlapped each other on many occasions. Jefferson succeeded Benjamin Franklin as the minister to France in 1785, and both men were present and influential
While neither of the men were radical atheists in the vein of Thomas Paine, both of these men were pronounced Deists. Benjamin Franklin, in his Autobiography, writes frequently about his beliefs. At the age of 15, Franklin happened upon books against Deism which he read and found that the argument for Deism was much better than the argument against it. "It happened that they wrought an Effect on me quite contrary to what was intended by them: For the Argument of the Deists which were quoted to be refuted, appeared to me much Stronger that the Refutation" (Norton, 574). From this young age, Franklin seemed to become a very liberal Deist. Franklin later writes about a minister friend of his who convinced him to attend his sermons. Franklin did so, but was disappointed due to the fact that the minister did not care to expound on the virtues exhibited in the Bible, but instead just made examples of these virtues to support the Presbyterian religion. Ben Franklin 's Deism is basically a way for him to spiritually live out the great virtues that he sees as important to living a good life. Although the reader is never made aware of the explicit nature of Thomas Jefferson 's Deism, one can infer his spirituality from the works that he created. The opening passage of the Declaration of Independence has Jefferson speaking of "the Laws of Nature and of Nature 's God" (Selected Writings Jefferson,
Benjamin Franklin 's Autobiography catalogues his poor background and the way that he learned to educate himself. Because of his background, Franklin was most concerned with introducing a work ethic among the younger generation that stresses not only hard work in one 's job, but also a dedication to improve oneself by reading and applying the learned knowledge to oneself. To this end, Franklin provides a thorough account of the society he created for him and his peers called Junto. This group was dedicated to the studying and understanding of all the arts, philosophy, and science. This interaction, coupled with his own reading time, becomes the best model of education that Benjamin Franklin can provide. Thomas Jefferson, however, is more interested in a formal education which is certainly what he received as a member of an aristocratic family. Jefferson details a multi-tiered plan for education in the new United States that involves free primary public education to all, with the best and the brightest students moving up through college education. This rigorously structured plan does share one thing in common with Franklin 's ideas; it allows for a hardworking son of a poor farmer to achieve at the same level as a child of a rich family. Jefferson understands that great students and