The life of Benjamin Franklin

Abstract

Maps on endpapers. Overview: Described as "a harmonious human multitude," Ben Franklin's life and careers were so varied and successful that he remains, even today, the epitome of the self-made man. Born into a humble tradesman's family, this adaptable genius rose to become an architect of the world's first democracy, a leading light in Enlightenment science, and a major creator of what has come to be known as the American character. Journalist, musician, politician, scientist, humorist, inventor, civic leader, printer, writer, publisher, businessman, founding father, philosopher - a genius in all fields and a bit of a magician in some. Volume 1: Journalist 1706-1730 -- List of illustrations -- Preface -- Part 1: Boston: Youth, 1706-1723: -- Prologue: Quandary -- Boston -- Child to adolescent -- Printer's devil -- Massachusetts controversies, 1716-1723 -- Nathaniel Gardner and the couranteers -- James Franklin: America's first newspaperman -- Silence dogood in context -- Saucy and provoking: Franklin takes charge -- Assessing Franklin as a youth, to age seventeen -- Part 2: Adrift: Age Seventeen To Twenty-four, 1723-1730 -- Runaway -- Water American: London escapades -- At sea, 1726 -- Merchant to master printer, 1726-1728 -- Junto -- Business, 1728-1730, and "Articles of Religion" -- Busy-body -- Paper currency -- Journalist -- Assessing Franklin, age seventeen to twenty-four -- Appendix: New attributions -- Sources and documentation -- List of abbreviations -- Notes -- Index -- Acknowledgments. Volume 2: Printer And Publisher 1730-1747: -- List of illustrations -- Preface -- Part 1: New Life, Age 24 to 30 (1730-1736): -- Personal and business life -- Art of virtue -- Freemason -- Library company of Philadelphia -- Man of letters -- Politics, religion, and the rivalry with Bradford, 1732 -- Poor Richard's prefaces, 1733-1747 -- Poor Richard's proverbs -- Franklin and politics, 1730-1736 -- Hemphill controversy -- Assessing Franklin as a young man, age 24 to 30 -- Part 2: Expanding Personal Interest, Age 30 Through 41 (1736-1747): -- Personal life -- Assembly clerk and Pennsylvania politics -- Firefighter -- Earning a living: printer, publisher, merchant, bookseller, and postmaster -- Concerned citizen -- George Whitefield and the great awakening -- Natural philosophy -- Satires and other writing, 1736-1747 -- Assessing Franklin, age 30 through 41 -- Appendices: -- New attributions -- Franklin's organizations: date and locations of meetings 1727-1747 -- Sample wages and prices in Colonial Philadelphia -- Sources, documentation, dates -- Abbreviated references -- Notes -- Index -- Acknowledgments. Volume 3: Soldier, Scientist, And Politician 1748-1757: -- List of illustrations -- Preface -- Association, 1747-1748 -- Electricity -- Astronomy, weather, and the northwest passage: natural philosopher, 1748-1757 -- Clerk, councilman, and magistrate, 1748-1751 -- Academy and college of Philadelphia -- Colonial Union, dumping felons in America, and assemblyman 1751 -- Fundamental document of the American Revolution, 1751 -- Pennsylvania hospital -- Franklin's first full assembly, the money Bill, and Susanna Wright, 1751-1752 -- Insurance: the Philadelphia contributionship -- Paper currency, the coming of war, and a trip to New England, 1752-1753 -- Carlisle Treaty, Postmaster General, a trip to New England, and Assembly Sessions, 1753-1754 -- Pennsylvania Germans -- Assembly sessions, the snake cartoon, and the Albany Conference, 1754 -- Boston, America and the empire, and Katy Ray, 1754-1755 -- Libels on the assembly, Quincy's Mission, and General Braddock, 1755 -- Assembly crises, Crown Point, Parables, and glimpses of Deborah, 1755 -- French and Indians attack and Pennsylvania responds, 1755 -- General Franklin on the frontier, 1755-1756 -- Rival militias, Colonel Franklin, Virginia, New York, and frontier fighting, 1756 -- Easton Treaty and Assembly Sessions, 1756-1757 -- Franklin in New York and at sea, 1757 -- Assessing Franklin, age 42 through 51 -- Appendices: -- New attributions -- Franklin's residences and real estate to 1757 -- Electrical terminology -- Influence of Benjamin Franklin's "observations concerning the increase of mankind" (1751) on Ezra Stiles, Richard Price, and Adam Smith; on Thomas Malthus; and on Alfred Russel Wallace and Charles Darwin -- Franklin's plan of union and the Albany Plan -- Franklin's saying: "essential liberty-temporary safety" -- Post office expansion, 1753-1757 -- Franklin's wealth, 1756 -- Americanization of Benjamin Franklin -- List of abbreviations -- Notes -- Index -- Acknowledgments.