Contributions of Benjamin Franklin Essay

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Benjamin Franklin was born in Boston in 1706. According to Panesar (2004), Franklin was the most famous people across the world during his lifetime. Franklin was a literary author who happened to be involved in politics, having a special place in the hearts and minds of many Americans. Studies have shown that Franklin was a leading figure in the American Revolution, where, he served in the Second Continental Congress as well as, a diplomat to France (Lemay, 2006). He helped in securing French support for the American Cause, an indispensable contribution during the Revolutionary War (Wood 2004), Today, Franklin remain one of the relatively figures in the world history who could be called, a diplomat, a politician, an inventor, a scientist and many others. During his life, Franklin influenced many areas of American life, for instance, his influence in France during his lifetime as the ambassador did not only change the America, but changed the world at large. In addition, he had of course a significant role in shaping the independent United States as one of the Founding Fathers; this role embedded him in the national consciousness (Panesar, 2004),

How Benjamin Franklin was important and shaped the course of the U.S.A.

Franklin, the elder statesman of the Constitutional Convention pioneered the spirit of self-help in America. He actually had more to do with founding the American republic than anyone else. For instance, as an American representative, he managed to go to France and secured the military help and formal alliance, without which America would not have won the Revolutionary War. He also crafted a compromise which helped in preventing the collapse of the Constitutional Convention, and indeed he was one who moved that the Constitution be adopted. According to Wood (2004), Franklin shaped the course of the United States of America in five major ways that is; through becoming a gentleman, British imperialist, a patriot, a diplomat and an American.

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(a) Through becoming a gentleman

Becoming a gentleman changed Franklin's life. He was no longer merely the "honest Tradesman," however, he was a different person who had different goals. "You do nice things for the people you like and bad things to the people you hate." As for Franklin, dealing with the haters was not a major problem. Like many people full of drive and intelligence, Franklin developed strong people skills as well as social powers in solving problems that affected many Americans.

During the signing of the Declaration of Independence, he told people to be gentlemen since he knew that he was a gentleman; he said "Gentlemen, we must all hang together or else you shall all hang separately." In this case, Franklin knew that the men to sign the Declaration of Independence would be considered as traitors by the British, therefore, they were needed to work together, or else they would be hung. Despite all his gentlemanly activities, Franklin's philanthropic ventures as well as, his practical projects for self-education in the art of virtue, he still saw himself as a businessman and not a gentleman in these early Philadelphia years. Conversely, if Franklin was not a gentleman, he would have not been a commoner either.

(b) Through becoming a British Imperialist

Becoming a gentleman changed Franklin's life. Franklin never became the most eloquent spokesman for the American rights, however he seems to have outshone many native English people in his praise for Great Britain, as a result, people referred him as "a thoroughgoing imperialist and royalist" (Waldstreicher, 2011). In addition, Franklin was aware of the British system's faults. For instance, he had seen corruption at various levels of government, he also complained about the transportation of convicts to America, where he noted that ignorance of American affairs was common in Great….....

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