1 00:00:03,040 --> 00:00:05,280 Speaker 1: On this episode, I'm going to talk about one of 2 00:00:05,320 --> 00:00:10,440 Speaker 1: my favorite founding fathers, somebody that, having been born in Hasburg, Pennsylvania, 3 00:00:10,760 --> 00:00:13,720 Speaker 1: spent a large part of my childhood going to Philadelphia 4 00:00:13,880 --> 00:00:17,640 Speaker 1: surrounded by Franklin and the impact he'd made in the world. 5 00:00:18,079 --> 00:00:21,680 Speaker 1: I've always felt that the breadth of what he did 6 00:00:22,400 --> 00:00:27,360 Speaker 1: the extraordinary range from business person to publisher to writer 7 00:00:27,920 --> 00:00:30,920 Speaker 1: to invent her not just inventor in the sense of 8 00:00:31,000 --> 00:00:35,559 Speaker 1: physical things like lightning rods and bifocal glasses and the 9 00:00:35,640 --> 00:00:39,360 Speaker 1: Franklin stove, but inventor in the sense of inventing the 10 00:00:39,479 --> 00:00:44,240 Speaker 1: University of Pennsylvania, inventing the Volunteer fire Department, inventing the 11 00:00:44,240 --> 00:00:49,240 Speaker 1: American Philosophical Society. Franklin had such an extraordinary love for life, 12 00:00:49,760 --> 00:00:53,440 Speaker 1: such a deep work ethic, and such a cheerful willingness 13 00:00:53,479 --> 00:00:57,240 Speaker 1: to go out and turn ideas into projects and projects 14 00:00:57,240 --> 00:01:01,320 Speaker 1: into achievements, that there's almost nobody like him. There are 15 00:01:01,360 --> 00:01:03,760 Speaker 1: lots of other people who've done great things, but almost 16 00:01:03,800 --> 00:01:08,200 Speaker 1: nobody has covered the range from business to politics, to diplomacy, 17 00:01:08,280 --> 00:01:13,040 Speaker 1: to science to invention to social leadership that Franklin personified, 18 00:01:13,440 --> 00:01:16,360 Speaker 1: and so I think he's well worth spending some time, 19 00:01:16,800 --> 00:01:38,280 Speaker 1: and he clearly is by any standard an immortal. Of 20 00:01:38,400 --> 00:01:43,080 Speaker 1: all of the founding fathers other than George Washington, who 21 00:01:43,880 --> 00:01:47,960 Speaker 1: literally was the moral strength in which America was created 22 00:01:48,800 --> 00:01:51,920 Speaker 1: and really was the father of our country. But of 23 00:01:52,000 --> 00:01:56,200 Speaker 1: all the other Founding fathers except Washington, the one who 24 00:01:57,120 --> 00:02:01,720 Speaker 1: most deserves to be considered an immortal was Benjamin Franklin. 25 00:02:02,600 --> 00:02:04,520 Speaker 1: You can make a case and some people will for 26 00:02:04,600 --> 00:02:09,160 Speaker 1: Thomas Jefferson, who helped with Franklin to write the Declation Independence, 27 00:02:09,560 --> 00:02:15,240 Speaker 1: who became president, but for sheer scale of achievement, for 28 00:02:15,880 --> 00:02:20,960 Speaker 1: range of ideas, for the number of different kinds of contributions, 29 00:02:21,680 --> 00:02:25,520 Speaker 1: Benjamin Franklin literally is an immortal. He also is a 30 00:02:25,600 --> 00:02:30,240 Speaker 1: great sign of what was making America really different because 31 00:02:30,240 --> 00:02:33,320 Speaker 1: he was someone who rose by his own efforts, not 32 00:02:33,400 --> 00:02:36,840 Speaker 1: because he was an aristocrat, not because he'd inherited a 33 00:02:36,880 --> 00:02:39,560 Speaker 1: lot of money, not because he had a unique position, 34 00:02:39,800 --> 00:02:42,120 Speaker 1: but just because he worked really hard and he was 35 00:02:42,200 --> 00:02:45,960 Speaker 1: really smart. And the result was because he had this 36 00:02:46,480 --> 00:02:50,799 Speaker 1: endless interest in life that every time he turned around 37 00:02:50,840 --> 00:02:54,240 Speaker 1: he was doing something fascinating, and much of the time 38 00:02:54,880 --> 00:02:58,359 Speaker 1: he was doing things that were historic, and that literally 39 00:02:58,960 --> 00:03:03,320 Speaker 1: changed history for all of us. When you wear bifocal glasses, 40 00:03:03,800 --> 00:03:07,440 Speaker 1: you are, after all, dealing with an invention of Benjamin Franklin. 41 00:03:07,919 --> 00:03:11,520 Speaker 1: When you think about having a lightning rod to divert 42 00:03:11,600 --> 00:03:14,639 Speaker 1: the lightning so that your house doesn't burn up, you're 43 00:03:14,680 --> 00:03:18,840 Speaker 1: dealing with an invention of Benjamin Franklin. The whole concept 44 00:03:19,520 --> 00:03:25,600 Speaker 1: of constantly tinkering, constantly learning. The discovery of electricity, which 45 00:03:25,639 --> 00:03:27,639 Speaker 1: is a true story. He goes out he wants to 46 00:03:27,680 --> 00:03:31,240 Speaker 1: figure out how electricity occurs, and so he flies a 47 00:03:31,320 --> 00:03:36,120 Speaker 1: kite in the middle of a thunderstorm and attaches metal 48 00:03:36,240 --> 00:03:40,640 Speaker 1: so that lightning hits and he suddenly has discovered electricity. 49 00:03:41,480 --> 00:03:46,160 Speaker 1: This was at the time comparable to Einstein in the 50 00:03:46,200 --> 00:03:51,560 Speaker 1: twentieth century discovering relativity. People across the planet were stunned 51 00:03:52,160 --> 00:03:56,040 Speaker 1: that this American had undertaken But if you think about it, 52 00:03:56,120 --> 00:04:00,880 Speaker 1: is a very common sense, non theoretical experiment, and that 53 00:04:01,120 --> 00:04:04,880 Speaker 1: is sort of what marks Franklin. He just applies common 54 00:04:04,960 --> 00:04:09,000 Speaker 1: sense with a lot of intelligence, a real willingness to work, 55 00:04:09,440 --> 00:04:13,440 Speaker 1: and a kind of funny stubbornness. Now remember Franklin is 56 00:04:13,840 --> 00:04:17,200 Speaker 1: born in Boston in seventeen o six, the beginning of 57 00:04:17,200 --> 00:04:20,800 Speaker 1: a new century. He's the tenth son out of seventeen children. 58 00:04:21,320 --> 00:04:24,200 Speaker 1: And that was an era where the number one attitude 59 00:04:24,360 --> 00:04:27,479 Speaker 1: was you got to earn a living. Frankly, if you 60 00:04:27,480 --> 00:04:29,559 Speaker 1: want to leave town, we got other kids here too, 61 00:04:30,120 --> 00:04:34,400 Speaker 1: and we'd rather have you produced money than get a degree. 62 00:04:34,839 --> 00:04:37,799 Speaker 1: Franklin has stopped schooling. When he was ten years old. 63 00:04:38,360 --> 00:04:40,960 Speaker 1: He worked in his father's candle shop. He made money, 64 00:04:41,360 --> 00:04:45,800 Speaker 1: and he listened and paid attention to everybody. The fact 65 00:04:45,880 --> 00:04:49,559 Speaker 1: is that there was nothing that didn't intrigue him. Now, 66 00:04:49,760 --> 00:04:53,200 Speaker 1: he also understood that having money was good. So if 67 00:04:53,200 --> 00:04:56,080 Speaker 1: you watch Franklin's long career and he is at the 68 00:04:56,240 --> 00:04:59,919 Speaker 1: end the oldest person at the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia, 69 00:05:00,360 --> 00:05:03,800 Speaker 1: he's constantly aware of the fact that having money beats 70 00:05:03,839 --> 00:05:07,159 Speaker 1: not having money. Franklin thought it was good to acquire wealth, 71 00:05:07,160 --> 00:05:10,520 Speaker 1: that if you acquired wealth, it liberated you. And in fact, 72 00:05:10,560 --> 00:05:13,800 Speaker 1: his goal was to be rich enough by forty to 73 00:05:13,839 --> 00:05:16,839 Speaker 1: be able to go into politics. And so he really 74 00:05:16,880 --> 00:05:21,599 Speaker 1: was working constantly at this question of can I find 75 00:05:21,640 --> 00:05:25,560 Speaker 1: a way? And he tried many different things simultaneously. He's 76 00:05:25,600 --> 00:05:29,360 Speaker 1: also focused on invention, he's focused on writing. He's one 77 00:05:29,360 --> 00:05:32,280 Speaker 1: of those rare people who had so much energy, had 78 00:05:32,360 --> 00:05:35,599 Speaker 1: such a great capacity to work. You know, here he is, 79 00:05:35,640 --> 00:05:41,400 Speaker 1: for example, at eleven years of age, inventing swim fins 80 00:05:41,480 --> 00:05:44,719 Speaker 1: for his hands. He's eleven years old and he's inventing 81 00:05:44,800 --> 00:05:46,840 Speaker 1: fins he can put in his hands so he can 82 00:05:46,920 --> 00:05:50,279 Speaker 1: swim better. By the time he's twelve, he's an apprentice, 83 00:05:50,320 --> 00:05:53,320 Speaker 1: has left his father's candle shop and now he's apprentice 84 00:05:53,320 --> 00:05:55,919 Speaker 1: to his brother. His brother, James, has a printing shop 85 00:05:55,920 --> 00:05:59,200 Speaker 1: in Boston, and at the age of twelve, Franklin is there, 86 00:05:59,320 --> 00:06:03,720 Speaker 1: busy work away learning how to print. His brother starts 87 00:06:03,720 --> 00:06:06,839 Speaker 1: publishing The New England Current, which is the first American 88 00:06:06,880 --> 00:06:11,040 Speaker 1: newspaper to use literary ideas and humorous essays, and this 89 00:06:11,080 --> 00:06:15,120 Speaker 1: will become an important part of Franklin's own style. Franklin 90 00:06:15,160 --> 00:06:17,880 Speaker 1: doesn't just look at facts. He has a very deep 91 00:06:17,920 --> 00:06:21,040 Speaker 1: sense of humor. He has a little bit cynical sense 92 00:06:21,080 --> 00:06:24,679 Speaker 1: of humor. I understood the human condition. He was quite 93 00:06:24,680 --> 00:06:27,200 Speaker 1: willing to write about it. And he also must have 94 00:06:27,240 --> 00:06:30,560 Speaker 1: been an amazingly fast writer. Remember this is an age 95 00:06:30,880 --> 00:06:35,040 Speaker 1: when people are setting type one letter at a time, 96 00:06:35,760 --> 00:06:39,200 Speaker 1: so type setting is a big deal. And if you 97 00:06:39,200 --> 00:06:41,680 Speaker 1: write as much as Franklin, did you spending a lot 98 00:06:41,720 --> 00:06:44,479 Speaker 1: of time setting type in order to send this stuff out? 99 00:06:45,360 --> 00:06:48,800 Speaker 1: So you have here a person who's constantly writing. Now 100 00:06:49,080 --> 00:06:52,680 Speaker 1: by the time he's sixteen, he's publishing his first letters, 101 00:06:52,760 --> 00:06:56,320 Speaker 1: and he publishes fourteen of them. In the current he 102 00:06:56,480 --> 00:07:00,160 Speaker 1: uses the pen name Silent do Good and vents himself 103 00:07:00,000 --> 00:07:03,479 Speaker 1: off as a fictional widow of a country minister. You're 104 00:07:03,480 --> 00:07:09,480 Speaker 1: already seeing the Franklin who is very imaginative, very cheerful 105 00:07:09,520 --> 00:07:12,400 Speaker 1: about pretending to be a widow. At the same time, 106 00:07:12,720 --> 00:07:16,120 Speaker 1: when his brother finally realizes that Silent do Good is 107 00:07:16,160 --> 00:07:19,680 Speaker 1: his younger brother, Benjamin Franklin, he ain't very happy with him. 108 00:07:20,080 --> 00:07:23,560 Speaker 1: Franklin somehow sort of faking people out, which he was, 109 00:07:23,680 --> 00:07:26,480 Speaker 1: but he's doing it really cheerfully. So he gets the 110 00:07:26,520 --> 00:07:30,200 Speaker 1: airtay with his brother and he runs off to Philadelphia 111 00:07:30,280 --> 00:07:33,239 Speaker 1: because he getting his brother can't get along anymore. Now 112 00:07:33,400 --> 00:07:36,960 Speaker 1: at this point he is a ripe old seventeen years 113 00:07:37,000 --> 00:07:40,560 Speaker 1: of age. Philadelphia then was the biggest city in America, 114 00:07:40,960 --> 00:07:43,600 Speaker 1: the most bustling, had the most commerce, had the most 115 00:07:43,600 --> 00:07:46,960 Speaker 1: ships coming in from London. Franklin finds work as a 116 00:07:47,040 --> 00:07:50,520 Speaker 1: printer with Samuel Kemmer, and he lodges in the home 117 00:07:50,560 --> 00:07:53,320 Speaker 1: of John Reid, who at the time he had no idea, 118 00:07:53,560 --> 00:07:57,960 Speaker 1: but automately becomes his father in law. Now, Franklin is 119 00:07:58,000 --> 00:08:00,880 Speaker 1: a very sociable person and a He was a very 120 00:08:00,920 --> 00:08:04,440 Speaker 1: good conversationalist, so people liked him. You go to taverns, 121 00:08:04,600 --> 00:08:07,000 Speaker 1: they got an extra seat here. Come on over, Ben, 122 00:08:07,040 --> 00:08:08,960 Speaker 1: sit down and chat with us. Yeah. One of the 123 00:08:09,000 --> 00:08:11,920 Speaker 1: people who did that was the Pennsylvania governor at the time, 124 00:08:11,960 --> 00:08:15,720 Speaker 1: William Keith. So he gets to know Franklin. He says, 125 00:08:15,920 --> 00:08:18,720 Speaker 1: why don't you set up your own print shop. Well, 126 00:08:19,120 --> 00:08:22,080 Speaker 1: Franklin goes back to Boston asks his father for a loan. 127 00:08:22,800 --> 00:08:26,120 Speaker 1: His father says, you know, Ben, I mean you're not 128 00:08:26,240 --> 00:08:28,880 Speaker 1: old enough. You had to do this. So Franklin goes 129 00:08:28,920 --> 00:08:30,840 Speaker 1: back and says to the governor, I'd love to do this. 130 00:08:31,000 --> 00:08:33,800 Speaker 1: My dad won't loan me the money. The governor loans 131 00:08:33,880 --> 00:08:36,600 Speaker 1: him the money. Now here's a guy who has only 132 00:08:36,600 --> 00:08:39,120 Speaker 1: been in town a couple of years and has made 133 00:08:39,120 --> 00:08:43,480 Speaker 1: such a strong impression that the governor thinks he's a 134 00:08:43,520 --> 00:08:46,400 Speaker 1: good business risk. Not only does the offer to pay 135 00:08:46,400 --> 00:08:48,920 Speaker 1: the bill, he offers to send Franklin and pay for 136 00:08:48,960 --> 00:08:52,240 Speaker 1: Franklin to go to London. Franklin gets to London and 137 00:08:52,360 --> 00:08:54,520 Speaker 1: a lesson that he will learn many times in his life. 138 00:08:54,920 --> 00:08:57,200 Speaker 1: The Governor forgets to pay for him to come home, 139 00:08:58,559 --> 00:09:00,960 Speaker 1: so Franklin stuck in London to find the money to 140 00:09:00,960 --> 00:09:03,200 Speaker 1: come home. But he does come home, and when he 141 00:09:03,200 --> 00:09:06,640 Speaker 1: comes home, remembering that he had been lodging with John 142 00:09:06,679 --> 00:09:09,880 Speaker 1: Reid and he'd gotten to know Deborah Read, he asked 143 00:09:09,880 --> 00:09:12,679 Speaker 1: her to marry him. However, at this point in his 144 00:09:12,720 --> 00:09:16,960 Speaker 1: life he's only eighteen years old. Deborah's mother is thinking, 145 00:09:17,080 --> 00:09:20,559 Speaker 1: you know, this is a guy who's a little bit strange, 146 00:09:21,040 --> 00:09:25,559 Speaker 1: so she says, please be patient, be patient. But when 147 00:09:26,120 --> 00:09:29,840 Speaker 1: Franklin is abroad in London, Deborah's mother tries to convince 148 00:09:29,960 --> 00:09:33,720 Speaker 1: Deborah that she ought to marry John Rogers. But Rogers 149 00:09:33,960 --> 00:09:37,240 Speaker 1: is really a bad guy. He spends her dowry, he 150 00:09:37,320 --> 00:09:39,400 Speaker 1: runs up debts, he takes off for the West Indies 151 00:09:39,880 --> 00:09:42,960 Speaker 1: and they think he has died. Franklin, who has not 152 00:09:43,080 --> 00:09:45,840 Speaker 1: gotten money from the governor come back home, is working 153 00:09:45,840 --> 00:09:49,120 Speaker 1: at Samuel Palmer's print shop in London in order to 154 00:09:49,200 --> 00:09:52,760 Speaker 1: publish enough stuff to make enough money to be able 155 00:09:52,800 --> 00:09:56,600 Speaker 1: to get home, and in seventeen twenty five, he publishes 156 00:09:56,640 --> 00:09:59,880 Speaker 1: his first pamphlet in London, which is called a dissert 157 00:10:00,040 --> 00:10:04,840 Speaker 1: Patient on Liberty and Necessity, Pleasure and Pain, and argues 158 00:10:05,120 --> 00:10:08,160 Speaker 1: that humans actually lack free will and are therefore not 159 00:10:08,280 --> 00:10:11,920 Speaker 1: morally responsible for their actions. Now, this is a fairly 160 00:10:12,040 --> 00:10:16,600 Speaker 1: radical idea, and people sort of thought Franklin had lost 161 00:10:16,600 --> 00:10:19,040 Speaker 1: his mind, but it does not in the long run 162 00:10:19,120 --> 00:10:22,120 Speaker 1: a fit who Franklin is, because he certainly did, in 163 00:10:22,160 --> 00:10:24,559 Speaker 1: fact believe in free will and thought you could make 164 00:10:24,600 --> 00:10:27,040 Speaker 1: your way, and later in life will write a whole 165 00:10:27,080 --> 00:10:30,720 Speaker 1: series of articles and books about it. But he doesn't 166 00:10:30,760 --> 00:10:33,480 Speaker 1: hurt him any. This is the guy who's learning the 167 00:10:33,480 --> 00:10:36,680 Speaker 1: hard way that politicians don't always keep their word because 168 00:10:36,679 --> 00:10:40,560 Speaker 1: the governor has not brought him back home, so ultimately 169 00:10:41,120 --> 00:10:45,280 Speaker 1: he does in fact get back to Philadelphia. Took him 170 00:10:45,280 --> 00:10:48,880 Speaker 1: two years instead of one, and he sees Deborah, and 171 00:10:49,040 --> 00:10:52,199 Speaker 1: poor Deborah is there with the guy who's run off 172 00:10:52,200 --> 00:10:55,199 Speaker 1: with her dowry and apparently may have died in the Caribbean, 173 00:10:55,679 --> 00:10:58,240 Speaker 1: so he tries to make her feel better. He gets 174 00:10:58,280 --> 00:11:01,600 Speaker 1: his job back at Samuel Kimeron's print shop, and the 175 00:11:01,720 --> 00:11:07,200 Speaker 1: very typical Franklin behavior Franklin all his life, we'll see 176 00:11:07,240 --> 00:11:11,320 Speaker 1: an opportunity to get something done that requires founding an 177 00:11:11,440 --> 00:11:16,920 Speaker 1: organization of some kind, because he understands that organizations create 178 00:11:16,960 --> 00:11:20,440 Speaker 1: a life of their own. Well, he founds what's called 179 00:11:20,480 --> 00:11:23,080 Speaker 1: the Hunt Club, and the Hunter Club is a group 180 00:11:23,120 --> 00:11:25,839 Speaker 1: of young men. They meet on Friday evenings and they 181 00:11:25,880 --> 00:11:31,120 Speaker 1: discuss everything, the intellectual stuff, personal stuff, business stuff, community stuff. 182 00:11:31,400 --> 00:11:34,920 Speaker 1: So it's a free, willing dialogue. But it does encourage 183 00:11:34,960 --> 00:11:38,080 Speaker 1: them to read books, it encourage them to think about ideas. 184 00:11:38,440 --> 00:11:41,800 Speaker 1: It gives him a space to begin to create a 185 00:11:41,840 --> 00:11:45,840 Speaker 1: personal following because inevitably, in any group, Franklin will be 186 00:11:45,840 --> 00:11:48,880 Speaker 1: the smartest guy, he'll be the best storyteller, and he'll 187 00:11:48,920 --> 00:11:52,760 Speaker 1: be the funniest person. So now he's been back home, 188 00:11:53,160 --> 00:11:57,200 Speaker 1: he's worked once again for somebody else. But by seventeen 189 00:11:57,280 --> 00:12:00,920 Speaker 1: twenty eight he's in a position where he can, now, 190 00:12:01,520 --> 00:12:04,680 Speaker 1: at twenty two years of age, open his own print 191 00:12:04,720 --> 00:12:09,240 Speaker 1: shop with h Meredith, and Meredith actually gets a loan 192 00:12:09,320 --> 00:12:12,840 Speaker 1: from his own father. In seventeen twenty nine, they purchase 193 00:12:12,920 --> 00:12:16,680 Speaker 1: the Pennsylvania Gazette from Samuel Kimmer, and at that point 194 00:12:17,000 --> 00:12:20,080 Speaker 1: Franklin begins to really roll because he likes to write. 195 00:12:20,160 --> 00:12:22,439 Speaker 1: He can write a lot. He has a style that 196 00:12:22,520 --> 00:12:26,520 Speaker 1: people are attracted to, and it both increases his name, 197 00:12:26,600 --> 00:12:31,240 Speaker 1: idea and modern parlance, and appears to create more money. 198 00:12:31,360 --> 00:12:34,640 Speaker 1: He writes a modest inquiry and the nature and necessity 199 00:12:34,640 --> 00:12:37,040 Speaker 1: of a paper currency, which called for an increase in 200 00:12:37,080 --> 00:12:40,120 Speaker 1: the money supply to stimulate the economy at this stage 201 00:12:40,120 --> 00:12:43,199 Speaker 1: of his career, something which will change by late in life. 202 00:12:43,679 --> 00:12:46,559 Speaker 1: He's basically what we would call an inflationist. He thinks 203 00:12:46,640 --> 00:12:49,800 Speaker 1: if we have more paper money floating around, people will 204 00:12:49,840 --> 00:12:54,040 Speaker 1: have more purchasing power, and therefore the economy will work better. 205 00:12:54,360 --> 00:12:56,880 Speaker 1: And this is part of what has been a permanent 206 00:12:57,000 --> 00:13:01,840 Speaker 1: running debate in American society between sound money people who 207 00:13:01,840 --> 00:13:05,160 Speaker 1: believe that money ought to attain its value, and inflationary 208 00:13:05,200 --> 00:13:10,760 Speaker 1: people who believe that having money gradually depreciate actually increases 209 00:13:10,760 --> 00:13:15,080 Speaker 1: the purchasing power and increases the economy. And that fight 210 00:13:15,200 --> 00:13:19,000 Speaker 1: goes on for a long time. Franklin automately decides that 211 00:13:19,440 --> 00:13:22,120 Speaker 1: paper money is dangerous, and in fact, one of the 212 00:13:22,120 --> 00:13:24,920 Speaker 1: reasons we end up with a constitution is to block 213 00:13:25,040 --> 00:13:28,360 Speaker 1: those who would inflate currency. The reason that mattered is 214 00:13:28,880 --> 00:13:31,600 Speaker 1: once you have a lot of property. If you're loaning 215 00:13:31,600 --> 00:13:34,800 Speaker 1: out money that's worth a dollar and they're going to 216 00:13:34,840 --> 00:13:38,240 Speaker 1: pay you back with money worth ninety cents, you're losing 217 00:13:38,280 --> 00:13:42,360 Speaker 1: on the loan. So people who are propertied really dislike 218 00:13:42,440 --> 00:13:45,680 Speaker 1: having an inflationary currency. Franklin goes from a young guy 219 00:13:45,720 --> 00:13:48,600 Speaker 1: with a theory to an older, a wealthy guy with money, 220 00:13:48,880 --> 00:13:51,640 Speaker 1: and decises an older, wealthy guy, he's with people like 221 00:13:51,760 --> 00:13:55,839 Speaker 1: Washington who don't want to have an inflationary currency. Now 222 00:13:56,040 --> 00:13:59,960 Speaker 1: he's picked to be the official government printer for Pennsylvania. 223 00:14:00,200 --> 00:14:03,440 Speaker 1: And there's a reason that this wily matters government then, 224 00:14:03,679 --> 00:14:07,079 Speaker 1: like now is a major purchaser of goods and services. 225 00:14:07,640 --> 00:14:11,280 Speaker 1: Everything that the state needs published is going to be 226 00:14:11,280 --> 00:14:14,960 Speaker 1: printed by Benjamin Franklin. So he now has a steady 227 00:14:15,080 --> 00:14:18,920 Speaker 1: stream of revenue which enables him. And remember at this 228 00:14:19,000 --> 00:14:21,960 Speaker 1: stage he's twenty four. But at twenty four he's able 229 00:14:21,960 --> 00:14:25,560 Speaker 1: to buy out Meredith. He becomes the most successful printer 230 00:14:25,640 --> 00:14:29,640 Speaker 1: in town. He owns his own company, and at twenty four, 231 00:14:29,720 --> 00:14:33,400 Speaker 1: having become the official government printer, Deborah Read's parents think, 232 00:14:33,440 --> 00:14:37,560 Speaker 1: you know, probably would be a good thing to have. 233 00:14:38,200 --> 00:14:42,080 Speaker 1: Benjamin Franklin has a son in law. Now he marries 234 00:14:42,120 --> 00:14:45,240 Speaker 1: her even though they have no proof that her husband 235 00:14:45,280 --> 00:14:49,520 Speaker 1: was dead. John Rogers member had married her, spent her dowry, 236 00:14:49,880 --> 00:14:52,320 Speaker 1: run up a whole bunch of debt, fled to the Caribbean, 237 00:14:52,400 --> 00:14:56,320 Speaker 1: never been heard of again. And the question was what 238 00:14:56,360 --> 00:14:59,080 Speaker 1: proof do you have? And Franklin, as he often will, 239 00:14:59,400 --> 00:15:03,680 Speaker 1: just ignore. And so he marries Deborah and she plays 240 00:15:03,680 --> 00:15:06,120 Speaker 1: a huge role in his life as somebody that he 241 00:15:06,240 --> 00:15:10,680 Speaker 1: leans on. She did agree to raise Franklin's illegitimate son, William. 242 00:15:11,240 --> 00:15:14,560 Speaker 1: Truth is, historians are not quite sure who the mother was. 243 00:15:15,160 --> 00:15:19,640 Speaker 1: William becomes the deep part of Franklin's household and later 244 00:15:19,680 --> 00:15:22,720 Speaker 1: in life will disappoint him deeply by being a loyalist 245 00:15:22,720 --> 00:15:25,560 Speaker 1: and staying with the British and becoming the governor of 246 00:15:25,600 --> 00:15:30,280 Speaker 1: New Jersey for the King against the Revolutionaries, which embitters 247 00:15:30,320 --> 00:15:36,160 Speaker 1: Franklin substantially. Deborah works with Franklin and this becomes a 248 00:15:36,320 --> 00:15:39,400 Speaker 1: very very important part of his life. She's really his 249 00:15:39,440 --> 00:15:43,200 Speaker 1: business partner. And when he goes off to do other things, 250 00:15:43,240 --> 00:15:44,960 Speaker 1: when he goes off to politick, he goes off to 251 00:15:44,960 --> 00:15:48,080 Speaker 1: be a diplomat, she's the one who stays home. She 252 00:15:48,080 --> 00:15:51,800 Speaker 1: didn't particularly want to travel and given the way ocean 253 00:15:51,840 --> 00:15:56,160 Speaker 1: travel was in that generation, that's understandable. She ran the businesses, 254 00:15:56,240 --> 00:15:59,080 Speaker 1: kept them profitable, made him money, and it all seemed 255 00:15:59,080 --> 00:16:01,440 Speaker 1: to work, and they worked for a very long time 256 00:16:01,520 --> 00:16:04,720 Speaker 1: until she died. She is a key hidden part of 257 00:16:04,760 --> 00:16:07,640 Speaker 1: why Franklin was able to be as effective as he was. 258 00:16:08,000 --> 00:16:10,120 Speaker 1: She also put up with him. She was wanting to 259 00:16:10,120 --> 00:16:13,720 Speaker 1: focus on the mundane business and household side, which would 260 00:16:13,720 --> 00:16:16,280 Speaker 1: not have made him a historic figure, but was the 261 00:16:16,280 --> 00:16:19,040 Speaker 1: base of his ability to have the time and energy 262 00:16:19,040 --> 00:16:22,440 Speaker 1: and resources to be a historic figure. So Franklin got 263 00:16:22,480 --> 00:16:25,160 Speaker 1: to play at being Ben Franklin in large part because 264 00:16:25,160 --> 00:16:28,520 Speaker 1: he had a wife who was willing to tolerate him, 265 00:16:28,800 --> 00:16:31,440 Speaker 1: willing to support him, and was smart enough and hard 266 00:16:31,480 --> 00:16:33,880 Speaker 1: working enough that she could make a bunch of money 267 00:16:34,120 --> 00:16:37,720 Speaker 1: while he was doing other things. Franklin, now that he's 268 00:16:37,760 --> 00:16:40,160 Speaker 1: married and he owns his own business and he's the 269 00:16:40,240 --> 00:16:45,760 Speaker 1: largest printer in Philadelphia. Now he turns and he begins 270 00:16:45,800 --> 00:16:50,080 Speaker 1: to really define himself as a citizen. By seventeen thirty one, 271 00:16:50,600 --> 00:16:52,480 Speaker 1: he's done all the stuff I've been describing to you, 272 00:16:52,680 --> 00:16:56,160 Speaker 1: and he's twenty five. He joins the Freemasons, which were 273 00:16:56,200 --> 00:17:00,160 Speaker 1: a very, very important social and quasi religious group. With 274 00:17:00,240 --> 00:17:04,760 Speaker 1: that era, he helps establish the Library Company of Philadelphia, 275 00:17:04,840 --> 00:17:08,720 Speaker 1: which is the first lending library of America. He aggressively 276 00:17:08,720 --> 00:17:11,119 Speaker 1: defends the freedom of the press that would clearly be 277 00:17:11,200 --> 00:17:14,280 Speaker 1: on the side of those who favor the First Amendment 278 00:17:14,359 --> 00:17:17,560 Speaker 1: rights of the press, and at twenty five years of age, 279 00:17:17,760 --> 00:17:21,720 Speaker 1: he publishes an Apology for Printers which defends freedom of 280 00:17:21,760 --> 00:17:25,440 Speaker 1: the press. He also enters into a partnership, gets more 281 00:17:25,600 --> 00:17:29,879 Speaker 1: printing equipment, continuous to get wealthier. By seventeen thirty two, 282 00:17:30,359 --> 00:17:35,800 Speaker 1: they have their first child, Francis Folger Franklin. Sadly, Francis 283 00:17:35,880 --> 00:17:39,800 Speaker 1: dies from smallpox at the age of four. Franklin never 284 00:17:39,880 --> 00:17:46,040 Speaker 1: forgives himself because he should have been inoculated smallpox. Inoculation 285 00:17:46,680 --> 00:17:50,280 Speaker 1: was increasingly popular. People knew about it, and it worked. 286 00:17:51,000 --> 00:17:55,680 Speaker 1: Franklin would later write in his autobiography quote in seventeen 287 00:17:55,760 --> 00:17:59,439 Speaker 1: thirty six, I lost one of my sons, a fine 288 00:17:59,480 --> 00:18:02,800 Speaker 1: boy of war years old, by the smallpox taken in 289 00:18:02,800 --> 00:18:07,520 Speaker 1: the common way. I long regretted bitterly, in still regret 290 00:18:07,880 --> 00:18:10,320 Speaker 1: that I have not given it to him by inoculation. 291 00:18:11,080 --> 00:18:16,760 Speaker 1: Close quote Franklin in seventeen thirty two publishes a German 292 00:18:16,840 --> 00:18:20,919 Speaker 1: foreign language newspaper. In the eighteenth century, there were so 293 00:18:20,960 --> 00:18:24,920 Speaker 1: many Germans migrating to Pennsylvania that there was serious talk 294 00:18:24,920 --> 00:18:27,720 Speaker 1: of making German the second language of the country. There 295 00:18:27,760 --> 00:18:31,640 Speaker 1: was a very large German population. Franklin was deeply opposed 296 00:18:31,680 --> 00:18:34,600 Speaker 1: to making German the second language, but he wasn't opposed 297 00:18:34,640 --> 00:18:37,960 Speaker 1: to making money. So he publishes a German language newspaper 298 00:18:38,280 --> 00:18:41,720 Speaker 1: whose only difficulty as it fails financially. And again it's 299 00:18:41,720 --> 00:18:46,840 Speaker 1: an example entrepreneurs don't always succeed. Entrepreneurs have to be 300 00:18:46,880 --> 00:18:49,480 Speaker 1: able to get back up, go back and try it again, 301 00:18:49,800 --> 00:18:51,479 Speaker 1: and see what they can get done and what they 302 00:18:51,480 --> 00:18:56,040 Speaker 1: can learn. He also, in seventeen thirty two something historic 303 00:18:56,080 --> 00:18:59,720 Speaker 1: happens in the history of American literature and in the 304 00:19:00,400 --> 00:19:04,720 Speaker 1: Benjamin Franklin as an American citizen. He publishes the first 305 00:19:04,880 --> 00:19:10,480 Speaker 1: edition of Poor Richard's Almanac, using the pseudonym of Richard Saunders. 306 00:19:10,480 --> 00:19:15,920 Speaker 1: Why does Poor Richard's Almanac matter? It is extraordinarily successful. 307 00:19:16,680 --> 00:19:19,119 Speaker 1: It's a best seller, and it's going to be a 308 00:19:19,119 --> 00:19:21,800 Speaker 1: best seller for a generation because he writes it. There's 309 00:19:21,840 --> 00:19:25,840 Speaker 1: a new almanac every year. It is filled with common 310 00:19:25,880 --> 00:19:30,000 Speaker 1: sense things like waste, not want not A stitch in 311 00:19:30,119 --> 00:19:34,360 Speaker 1: time saves nine penny wise and pound foolish things which 312 00:19:34,440 --> 00:19:36,640 Speaker 1: in our era may not make a great deal sense. 313 00:19:36,680 --> 00:19:39,520 Speaker 1: For example, we don't use the British pounds. So the 314 00:19:39,560 --> 00:19:42,680 Speaker 1: idea of being penny wise and pound foolish meaning you're 315 00:19:42,680 --> 00:19:44,840 Speaker 1: really smart about a small thing, but it're dumb about 316 00:19:44,840 --> 00:19:47,000 Speaker 1: a big thing one It does finally get to be 317 00:19:47,040 --> 00:19:51,040 Speaker 1: obvious who's writing it. It just spreads his fame across 318 00:19:51,200 --> 00:19:54,280 Speaker 1: the whole all of the colonies. He becomes the Grand 319 00:19:54,320 --> 00:19:57,840 Speaker 1: Master of the Grand Lodge of Mason of Pennsylvania. Again, 320 00:19:57,880 --> 00:20:01,800 Speaker 1: he's rising in status, he's rising in influence. He has 321 00:20:01,840 --> 00:20:05,280 Speaker 1: a bigger and bigger network of friends. By seventeen thirty six, 322 00:20:05,359 --> 00:20:08,040 Speaker 1: at the age of thirty, he's appointed Clerk of the 323 00:20:08,080 --> 00:20:13,160 Speaker 1: Pennsylvania Assembly. So now he's helping organize and taking care 324 00:20:13,200 --> 00:20:16,400 Speaker 1: of the politicians at the same time that the colonial 325 00:20:16,480 --> 00:20:19,760 Speaker 1: government is hiring his firm to print all of the printing, 326 00:20:20,119 --> 00:20:38,440 Speaker 1: which is helping make him increasingly wealthy in many ways. 327 00:20:38,520 --> 00:20:43,560 Speaker 1: Franklin's greatest business accomplishment came from the publication of Poor 328 00:20:43,640 --> 00:20:46,920 Speaker 1: Richard's Almanac. You know, he published it once a year 329 00:20:46,960 --> 00:20:51,600 Speaker 1: for twenty five years, beginning on December nineteen, seventeen thirty two, 330 00:20:52,160 --> 00:20:57,240 Speaker 1: originally under the pseudonym of Richard Saunders, but then ultimately 331 00:20:57,680 --> 00:21:01,240 Speaker 1: everybody knew it was Benjamin Franklin. It captured all sorts 332 00:21:01,280 --> 00:21:08,840 Speaker 1: of information about the calendar, weather predictions, sayings, poems, recipes, trivia, advice. 333 00:21:09,320 --> 00:21:12,320 Speaker 1: He thought it was a vehicle of instruction for common people, 334 00:21:12,760 --> 00:21:15,920 Speaker 1: folks who couldn't afford books normally. It was a literature 335 00:21:15,960 --> 00:21:19,960 Speaker 1: for the masses, and he was onto something because almanacs 336 00:21:20,040 --> 00:21:23,800 Speaker 1: were the most read secular books in the colonies. He 337 00:21:23,840 --> 00:21:26,760 Speaker 1: had little phrases from different years, but to give you 338 00:21:26,760 --> 00:21:30,880 Speaker 1: a feel for Franklin's sense of what people ought to hear, 339 00:21:32,040 --> 00:21:35,119 Speaker 1: he wrote, three may keep a secret. If two of 340 00:21:35,160 --> 00:21:39,919 Speaker 1: them are dead. Lost time is never found again, And this, 341 00:21:40,040 --> 00:21:42,439 Speaker 1: by the way, captures his entire life. He did not 342 00:21:42,680 --> 00:21:45,440 Speaker 1: like to waste time because he felt it could never 343 00:21:45,480 --> 00:21:48,760 Speaker 1: be found again. He said, love your enemies, for they 344 00:21:48,800 --> 00:21:51,520 Speaker 1: tell you your faults and the affairs of this world. 345 00:21:51,520 --> 00:21:54,280 Speaker 1: Men are saved not by faith, but by the lack 346 00:21:54,320 --> 00:21:57,360 Speaker 1: of it. If you would not be forgotten as soon 347 00:21:57,400 --> 00:22:00,560 Speaker 1: as you are dead and rotten, Right things worth reading, 348 00:22:00,920 --> 00:22:04,639 Speaker 1: or do things worth writing and way his life was both. 349 00:22:05,680 --> 00:22:07,919 Speaker 1: The way to see by faith is to shut the 350 00:22:07,960 --> 00:22:12,000 Speaker 1: eye of reason. Women are books, and men the readers be. 351 00:22:12,720 --> 00:22:15,760 Speaker 1: There cannot be good living where there is not good drinking. 352 00:22:16,600 --> 00:22:20,600 Speaker 1: Speak little, do much. A friend in need is a friend. 353 00:22:20,640 --> 00:22:25,120 Speaker 1: Indeed to all apparent beauties blind, Each blemish strikes an 354 00:22:25,200 --> 00:22:29,440 Speaker 1: envious mind. Fish and visitors stink in three days. That 355 00:22:29,600 --> 00:22:32,199 Speaker 1: may be one that's remembered as well as anything he 356 00:22:32,200 --> 00:22:37,720 Speaker 1: ever wrote. Search others for their virtues, thyself for thy vices. 357 00:22:37,760 --> 00:22:41,240 Speaker 1: Now there's some advice very seldom followed. Search others for 358 00:22:41,280 --> 00:22:46,320 Speaker 1: their virtues, thyself for thy vices. He that drinks his 359 00:22:46,400 --> 00:22:51,120 Speaker 1: cider alone, let him catch his horse alone. Fools need 360 00:22:51,160 --> 00:22:54,520 Speaker 1: advice most, but wise men only are the better for it. 361 00:22:55,800 --> 00:23:00,639 Speaker 1: So that was classically Franklin. Somebody who listen, send people, 362 00:23:00,720 --> 00:23:03,920 Speaker 1: picked up common sense language and the fact. Wrote out 363 00:23:04,400 --> 00:23:08,200 Speaker 1: a set of advice to everyday Americans, some of which 364 00:23:08,240 --> 00:23:10,560 Speaker 1: he followed in his own life, and some of which 365 00:23:10,560 --> 00:23:14,199 Speaker 1: he cheerfully ignored. He helps organize the Union Fire Company 366 00:23:14,240 --> 00:23:17,200 Speaker 1: of Philadelphia, and the duty of the Union Fire Company 367 00:23:17,200 --> 00:23:20,840 Speaker 1: of Philadelphia was to train an organize fireman. Because the 368 00:23:20,920 --> 00:23:23,040 Speaker 1: city is getting big enough. It's the largest city in 369 00:23:23,040 --> 00:23:25,720 Speaker 1: the New World, and it's getting big enough that you 370 00:23:25,800 --> 00:23:28,720 Speaker 1: need to have an organized fire department because you have 371 00:23:28,880 --> 00:23:32,720 Speaker 1: a real challenge of taking care of houses of start 372 00:23:32,760 --> 00:23:37,640 Speaker 1: to burn down. He also becomes the postmaster of Philadelphia. 373 00:23:37,760 --> 00:23:42,040 Speaker 1: Now this is again an interesting example of Franklin. He 374 00:23:42,240 --> 00:23:47,400 Speaker 1: is now thirty one years old. The British government appoints 375 00:23:47,480 --> 00:23:51,159 Speaker 1: him postmaster of Philadelphia, which is Frankly in office that 376 00:23:51,240 --> 00:23:55,520 Speaker 1: makes money. Postmasters back then were commercial assignments, so that 377 00:23:55,600 --> 00:23:58,880 Speaker 1: they make money out of many different things. And then 378 00:23:58,880 --> 00:24:02,119 Speaker 1: he does something which truly changes history, but in a 379 00:24:02,160 --> 00:24:06,520 Speaker 1: way that's very practical rather than political. In seventeen forty two, 380 00:24:07,240 --> 00:24:11,440 Speaker 1: he invents a free standing cast iron fireplace, which is 381 00:24:11,480 --> 00:24:14,360 Speaker 1: known as the Franklin stove. Franklin stove, by the way, 382 00:24:14,760 --> 00:24:17,120 Speaker 1: is still available today. You can go online you can 383 00:24:17,160 --> 00:24:21,840 Speaker 1: buy a Franklin stove. It was a very intelligent contribution 384 00:24:21,920 --> 00:24:25,000 Speaker 1: to a better life because it used wood to generate 385 00:24:25,080 --> 00:24:30,360 Speaker 1: heat with greater efficiency than the stoves are preceded. And interestingly, 386 00:24:30,359 --> 00:24:33,120 Speaker 1: in terms of Franklin, he didn't patent it. In fact, 387 00:24:33,160 --> 00:24:36,040 Speaker 1: he didn't patent any of his inventions. His idea was, 388 00:24:36,600 --> 00:24:39,120 Speaker 1: look if it works for me, and my life is better. 389 00:24:39,160 --> 00:24:40,840 Speaker 1: Why shouldn't you be able to build it and your 390 00:24:40,880 --> 00:24:43,000 Speaker 1: life can be better. That he thought of this as 391 00:24:43,080 --> 00:24:46,680 Speaker 1: part of his civic life, and he's inventing as a citizen, 392 00:24:47,200 --> 00:24:49,800 Speaker 1: not as a business man. Now in the business side, 393 00:24:49,840 --> 00:24:53,160 Speaker 1: he's very tough mind, and he's independently wealthy. But as 394 00:24:53,160 --> 00:24:56,520 Speaker 1: an inventor, he's just liked inventing things, and of course 395 00:24:56,720 --> 00:25:00,480 Speaker 1: probably as most famous as the bivocal glasses, but he 396 00:25:00,600 --> 00:25:03,680 Speaker 1: just had a constant looking at things thinking is there 397 00:25:03,680 --> 00:25:05,080 Speaker 1: a way to do it better? Is there a way 398 00:25:05,080 --> 00:25:07,639 Speaker 1: to do it differently? In the same time period, by 399 00:25:07,640 --> 00:25:10,040 Speaker 1: the way, in seventeen forty three, when he does have 400 00:25:10,119 --> 00:25:13,359 Speaker 1: a daughter, Sarah, they have her inoculated. They'd learned the 401 00:25:13,440 --> 00:25:16,720 Speaker 1: lesson tragically from their sun dying from smallpox. They're not 402 00:25:16,760 --> 00:25:19,480 Speaker 1: going to take the risk. And the same year that 403 00:25:19,760 --> 00:25:22,919 Speaker 1: his daughter is born, seventeen forty three, he writes a 404 00:25:22,960 --> 00:25:27,600 Speaker 1: pamphlet called a Proposal for Promoting Useful Knowledge, and that 405 00:25:27,680 --> 00:25:31,199 Speaker 1: leads to the American Philosophical Society, and one of the 406 00:25:31,240 --> 00:25:35,040 Speaker 1: offshoots of the American Philosophical Society is the Academy of 407 00:25:35,119 --> 00:25:38,960 Speaker 1: Natural Sciences in Philadelphia, which I first visited when I 408 00:25:39,000 --> 00:25:41,720 Speaker 1: was about ten and one too a couple months ago. 409 00:25:42,200 --> 00:25:44,480 Speaker 1: It is a great institution. It has all of Lewis 410 00:25:44,480 --> 00:25:47,040 Speaker 1: and Clark's material, because at the time of the Lewis 411 00:25:47,040 --> 00:25:51,640 Speaker 1: and Clark expedition, he was the only major science museum 412 00:25:51,800 --> 00:25:54,200 Speaker 1: in the country. It's a remarkable place if you go 413 00:25:54,240 --> 00:25:56,920 Speaker 1: to Philadelphia to go by and see it. He wakes 414 00:25:56,960 --> 00:25:58,720 Speaker 1: up in the morning thinks, oh, why don't we have 415 00:25:58,760 --> 00:26:02,320 Speaker 1: a philosophical society. Well, because he writes so fast, I 416 00:26:02,359 --> 00:26:04,680 Speaker 1: think I'll write a proposal for it. And by the way, 417 00:26:04,680 --> 00:26:07,400 Speaker 1: since I'm a publisher, I think i'll publish it. So 418 00:26:07,480 --> 00:26:11,160 Speaker 1: he's publishing his own pamphlet. At the same time, he's 419 00:26:11,240 --> 00:26:16,320 Speaker 1: offering to sell Franklin stoves, and Franklin stoves sell very well. Now, 420 00:26:16,480 --> 00:26:18,600 Speaker 1: he wasn't pattenting it. Anybody else who wanted to could 421 00:26:18,600 --> 00:26:21,040 Speaker 1: make a Franklin stove, but he didn't mind making money 422 00:26:21,080 --> 00:26:25,080 Speaker 1: off it himself. By seventeen forty seven, he publishes a 423 00:26:25,080 --> 00:26:28,600 Speaker 1: pamphlet called Plain Truth and proposes the formation of a 424 00:26:28,640 --> 00:26:31,680 Speaker 1: Philadelphia militia. Let us just think about it. This is 425 00:26:31,680 --> 00:26:33,679 Speaker 1: the guy who wakes up in the morning, has a 426 00:26:33,680 --> 00:26:37,000 Speaker 1: big idea and writes it down and sends it out, 427 00:26:37,600 --> 00:26:40,199 Speaker 1: and people in the habit now thinking, I wonder what 428 00:26:40,280 --> 00:26:43,680 Speaker 1: Franklin's up to next. What makes Franklin amazing is at 429 00:26:43,720 --> 00:26:47,439 Speaker 1: forty two years of age in seventeen forty eight, he retires. 430 00:26:47,920 --> 00:26:50,760 Speaker 1: He's now made enough money. He takes on a partner 431 00:26:50,800 --> 00:26:53,560 Speaker 1: who gives him additional income the rest of his life, 432 00:26:53,880 --> 00:26:56,920 Speaker 1: and the partner runs the daily operations the printing business. 433 00:26:57,240 --> 00:27:00,040 Speaker 1: And because he now has free time, he becomes a 434 00:27:00,200 --> 00:27:06,760 Speaker 1: member of Philadelphia City Council. So now they have businessman, inventor, writer, 435 00:27:07,640 --> 00:27:12,920 Speaker 1: now politician. And by the following year, in seventeen forty nine, 436 00:27:13,000 --> 00:27:17,520 Speaker 1: he writes proposals relating to the education of youth in Philadelphia. 437 00:27:17,640 --> 00:27:19,800 Speaker 1: There's a great strike by. One of my favorites about 438 00:27:19,800 --> 00:27:23,960 Speaker 1: Franklin is at one point during his political career, he 439 00:27:24,000 --> 00:27:27,679 Speaker 1: took a very unpopular position, and a number of people 440 00:27:27,760 --> 00:27:31,440 Speaker 1: wanted to sort of brow beaty into giving it up. 441 00:27:32,000 --> 00:27:36,440 Speaker 1: And so one evening he invited them to dinner, and 442 00:27:36,480 --> 00:27:38,480 Speaker 1: they all came over to his house, and he had 443 00:27:38,520 --> 00:27:40,960 Speaker 1: a very nice house, and they all sit around the 444 00:27:41,240 --> 00:27:45,000 Speaker 1: dining room table and he serves them this very strange 445 00:27:45,119 --> 00:27:49,639 Speaker 1: porridge which they all can barely taste so bad. And 446 00:27:50,000 --> 00:27:54,080 Speaker 1: he finishes, He cleans his bawl, and he says, gentlemen, 447 00:27:54,600 --> 00:27:58,640 Speaker 1: this is actually sawdust. Now, if I'm prepared to eat 448 00:27:58,640 --> 00:28:01,600 Speaker 1: a bowl of sawdust, what do you think you're going 449 00:28:01,680 --> 00:28:05,320 Speaker 1: to do to intimidate me? It was so clear that 450 00:28:05,359 --> 00:28:09,520 Speaker 1: Franklin wasn't somebody that you could intimidate. By seventeen fifty, 451 00:28:09,600 --> 00:28:13,520 Speaker 1: what I think, after his bifocal glasses is his most 452 00:28:14,080 --> 00:28:19,520 Speaker 1: interesting invention. He proposes using lightning rods to keep houses safe. 453 00:28:20,000 --> 00:28:22,840 Speaker 1: Franklin figured out that if I could put up a 454 00:28:23,000 --> 00:28:27,000 Speaker 1: pole there was above the house, so it would attract 455 00:28:27,000 --> 00:28:29,679 Speaker 1: the lightning, and if I could ground the pole in 456 00:28:29,760 --> 00:28:32,560 Speaker 1: the ground so that the electricity would come straight down 457 00:28:32,600 --> 00:28:35,200 Speaker 1: the pole go into the ground and never touch the house, 458 00:28:35,800 --> 00:28:38,480 Speaker 1: that your house wouldn't burn down. Well, it may have 459 00:28:38,560 --> 00:28:42,840 Speaker 1: been after his bifocal invention, the most practical and most 460 00:28:42,840 --> 00:28:46,840 Speaker 1: widespread improvement in life that anybody made. It. It's incalculable 461 00:28:46,880 --> 00:28:51,160 Speaker 1: to day how many houses did not burn down because 462 00:28:51,160 --> 00:28:53,600 Speaker 1: of Benjamin Franklin, but the numbers would be in the 463 00:28:53,680 --> 00:28:57,840 Speaker 1: hundreds of thousands. By now. He continues to be involved 464 00:28:57,880 --> 00:29:03,280 Speaker 1: as an active person, and seventeen he is developing lightning runs. 465 00:29:04,240 --> 00:29:08,160 Speaker 1: The following year he decides, in passing, he'll help found 466 00:29:08,200 --> 00:29:10,800 Speaker 1: what was then called the Academy for Education of Youth, 467 00:29:11,640 --> 00:29:14,160 Speaker 1: and we call at the University of Pennsylvania. And so 468 00:29:14,440 --> 00:29:17,520 Speaker 1: he's going from place to place, almost like a Johnny 469 00:29:17,560 --> 00:29:22,640 Speaker 1: Apple seat of a better life. He's also mentally exploring 470 00:29:22,680 --> 00:29:25,520 Speaker 1: the world. So the same year that he's helping found 471 00:29:25,520 --> 00:29:29,480 Speaker 1: what becomes University of Pennsylvania, he also is writing an 472 00:29:29,560 --> 00:29:33,320 Speaker 1: article on the experiments and observations on electricity. He's also 473 00:29:33,360 --> 00:29:36,200 Speaker 1: that year, by the way, elected to the Pennsylvania Assembly 474 00:29:36,520 --> 00:29:40,040 Speaker 1: and as a city alderman. All this is happening simultaneously. 475 00:29:40,640 --> 00:29:44,320 Speaker 1: The following year, in seventeen fifty two, he builds on 476 00:29:44,480 --> 00:29:48,760 Speaker 1: his article on the experiments and observations and electricity, and 477 00:29:48,840 --> 00:29:52,760 Speaker 1: in a classically American model, he leaves the laboratory. He 478 00:29:52,800 --> 00:29:57,479 Speaker 1: steps outside, and he flies the kite, and the kite 479 00:29:57,520 --> 00:30:01,120 Speaker 1: attracts lightning, and the lightning is trical. And he then 480 00:30:01,240 --> 00:30:05,360 Speaker 1: publishes how you can conduct the experiment because he had 481 00:30:05,360 --> 00:30:07,840 Speaker 1: thought through the key part, which is, all right, if 482 00:30:07,840 --> 00:30:10,680 Speaker 1: you attract the lightning, where is electricity going? And he 483 00:30:10,760 --> 00:30:14,240 Speaker 1: made sure it wasn't going through him. He also in 484 00:30:14,360 --> 00:30:18,240 Speaker 1: Passing the same year, I remember he's making money. He's 485 00:30:18,280 --> 00:30:21,360 Speaker 1: serving as a city alderman, he's serving in the Pennsylvania Assembly, 486 00:30:21,480 --> 00:30:24,400 Speaker 1: he's still writing a lot. And in seventeen fifty two 487 00:30:24,400 --> 00:30:31,000 Speaker 1: he founds the Philadelphia Contributionship. Now, what is a contributionship, Well, 488 00:30:31,080 --> 00:30:33,520 Speaker 1: you and I think of it as a fire insurance company. 489 00:30:34,280 --> 00:30:37,320 Speaker 1: And so literally in Passing he says, yeah, if we 490 00:30:37,400 --> 00:30:39,920 Speaker 1: all contribute it a little bit, then if one of 491 00:30:40,000 --> 00:30:42,720 Speaker 1: us had our house burned down, we could collect on 492 00:30:42,760 --> 00:30:46,440 Speaker 1: the value of the house based on our contributions. And 493 00:30:46,520 --> 00:30:51,000 Speaker 1: so the Philadelphia Contributionship sets the base for a mutual 494 00:30:51,000 --> 00:30:54,920 Speaker 1: fire insurance company, which becomes a model that's very, very widespread. 495 00:30:55,520 --> 00:30:59,080 Speaker 1: The next year, in seventeen fifty three, he's appointed Deputy 496 00:30:59,080 --> 00:31:02,520 Speaker 1: Postmister General of the Colonies. Now think about this. The 497 00:31:02,560 --> 00:31:06,160 Speaker 1: British government now is saying to Franklin, we trust you enough, 498 00:31:06,280 --> 00:31:08,080 Speaker 1: we think you're smart enough, we think you're a good 499 00:31:08,160 --> 00:31:11,880 Speaker 1: enough businessman. We want you to help run all of 500 00:31:11,880 --> 00:31:15,880 Speaker 1: the post offices in the entire thirteen colonies, which of 501 00:31:15,920 --> 00:31:20,480 Speaker 1: course also gives him an excuse to learn more and 502 00:31:20,600 --> 00:31:23,800 Speaker 1: more and to think beyond Philadelphia and think beyond Pennsylvania. 503 00:31:23,840 --> 00:31:26,880 Speaker 1: Now he'd already been born and grown up in Boston, 504 00:31:27,360 --> 00:31:30,920 Speaker 1: so now he has an increasing sense of the East 505 00:31:30,960 --> 00:31:33,760 Speaker 1: coast of the United States, the Atlantic Coast, and all 506 00:31:33,800 --> 00:31:38,880 Speaker 1: the different colonies from Georgia up through Massachusetts. Also that year, 507 00:31:38,920 --> 00:31:42,280 Speaker 1: in seventeen fifty three, he gets the Copley Medal, which 508 00:31:42,320 --> 00:31:45,280 Speaker 1: is the highest award the Royal Society of London can give. 509 00:31:46,040 --> 00:31:50,880 Speaker 1: So he's being recognized worldwide as a scientist. He is 510 00:31:51,360 --> 00:31:55,760 Speaker 1: the postmaster for all of the colonies. He is serving 511 00:31:55,840 --> 00:31:59,920 Speaker 1: in the city government, the state government, and he's active 512 00:32:00,320 --> 00:32:04,960 Speaker 1: in founding various organizations. And he's continuing to be a scientist. 513 00:32:05,040 --> 00:32:07,800 Speaker 1: All of this is simultaneous, and as a scientist in 514 00:32:07,880 --> 00:32:10,920 Speaker 1: passing because I remember, never went to graduate school, never 515 00:32:10,960 --> 00:32:14,360 Speaker 1: took a science course. He is recognized as a worldwide 516 00:32:14,760 --> 00:32:18,280 Speaker 1: contributor because of the work he's done on electricity. He's 517 00:32:18,320 --> 00:32:22,920 Speaker 1: also concerned about what we would call national security, and 518 00:32:23,080 --> 00:32:26,200 Speaker 1: he's concerned about the French and Indians in the West. 519 00:32:26,640 --> 00:32:29,320 Speaker 1: And remember that the Frenchman in war will start in 520 00:32:29,400 --> 00:32:33,400 Speaker 1: what we call Pittsburgh, then called Fort Duquesne, which was 521 00:32:33,440 --> 00:32:35,880 Speaker 1: a French outpost coming to the French are coming down 522 00:32:36,240 --> 00:32:39,720 Speaker 1: from Canada, We're coming from the Atlantic coast, and we're 523 00:32:39,760 --> 00:32:43,760 Speaker 1: about to collide in western Pennsylvania. And in seventeen fifty 524 00:32:43,760 --> 00:32:48,200 Speaker 1: four Franklin Princes of Cartoon Join or Die, which argues 525 00:32:48,560 --> 00:32:52,000 Speaker 1: that the colonies have to work together in confederation, they 526 00:32:52,040 --> 00:32:56,920 Speaker 1: have to protect themselves, that no single colony is going 527 00:32:56,960 --> 00:33:01,480 Speaker 1: to be capable of developing owned defenses. Now, this is 528 00:33:01,520 --> 00:33:04,080 Speaker 1: a pretty radical view at the time, and one of 529 00:33:04,120 --> 00:33:06,880 Speaker 1: the signals it's a radical view that year seventeen fifty 530 00:33:06,880 --> 00:33:10,520 Speaker 1: four is the British government fires. They say, you're now 531 00:33:10,600 --> 00:33:14,200 Speaker 1: not the Deputy Postmaster General. Your political views are too radical. 532 00:33:14,560 --> 00:33:17,360 Speaker 1: And for the first time Franklin is faced with the 533 00:33:17,400 --> 00:33:20,760 Speaker 1: consequences that if he really believes what he says he believes, 534 00:33:20,960 --> 00:33:23,040 Speaker 1: he's going to pay some real cost for that. In 535 00:33:23,080 --> 00:33:26,880 Speaker 1: the midst of all this, in seventeen fifty five, Franklin, 536 00:33:27,000 --> 00:33:31,640 Speaker 1: with doctor Thomas Bond, founded the Pennsylvania Hospital, the nation's 537 00:33:31,720 --> 00:33:35,800 Speaker 1: first hospital focused on the sick, the poor, and the insane. 538 00:33:36,440 --> 00:33:38,960 Speaker 1: And again when you go to Philadelphia, you just see 539 00:33:39,440 --> 00:33:43,160 Speaker 1: case after case of Franklin's impact. Two hundred years later, 540 00:33:43,800 --> 00:33:47,000 Speaker 1: the French and Indian War starting in seventeen fifty six, 541 00:33:47,040 --> 00:33:50,320 Speaker 1: and you'll remember that it's Washington who plays a leading 542 00:33:50,400 --> 00:33:54,080 Speaker 1: role in starting the French and Indian War. Franklin was 543 00:33:54,120 --> 00:33:57,440 Speaker 1: asked to lead Pennsylvania militia against the French who were 544 00:33:57,560 --> 00:34:02,200 Speaker 1: defeating the English troops. Accompanied by his son, Franklin fought 545 00:34:02,360 --> 00:34:06,480 Speaker 1: mercilessly to take back land, establish new forts, and push 546 00:34:06,560 --> 00:34:09,600 Speaker 1: back against the French forces. He served as an officer 547 00:34:09,680 --> 00:34:12,880 Speaker 1: in the militia without even receiving pay because his devotion 548 00:34:12,960 --> 00:34:16,360 Speaker 1: to duty was so deep. He was a wealthy businessman, 549 00:34:16,800 --> 00:34:19,280 Speaker 1: so he could afford to be a volunteer for free. 550 00:34:19,840 --> 00:34:23,279 Speaker 1: In seventeen fifty seven, while the French and New Wars underway, 551 00:34:23,520 --> 00:34:26,279 Speaker 1: Franklin is elected to go to England to talk about 552 00:34:26,360 --> 00:34:31,399 Speaker 1: colonial disputes with Parliament. He stays for five years, and 553 00:34:31,480 --> 00:34:35,839 Speaker 1: this is I think one of the most important examples 554 00:34:35,920 --> 00:34:42,240 Speaker 1: of change in leading up to American independence. Franklin leaves 555 00:34:42,440 --> 00:34:47,959 Speaker 1: the colonies as a loyal British servant. He finds out 556 00:34:48,320 --> 00:34:52,520 Speaker 1: over time that in fact, he'll never be accepted. He 557 00:34:52,600 --> 00:34:55,479 Speaker 1: can be wealthy, doesn't matter. He can be a world 558 00:34:55,520 --> 00:34:59,359 Speaker 1: class scientist, doesn't matter. He can win elections back home. 559 00:35:00,000 --> 00:35:04,120 Speaker 1: Doesn't matter. He can be the funniest, best storyteller in 560 00:35:04,160 --> 00:35:08,239 Speaker 1: the room, doesn't matter. He's not an aristocrat. He's never 561 00:35:08,280 --> 00:35:10,799 Speaker 1: going to be accepted as an aristocrat. And I think 562 00:35:10,880 --> 00:35:14,760 Speaker 1: it's the bitterness of beginning to realize that which begins 563 00:35:14,760 --> 00:35:18,319 Speaker 1: to turn him against the English government and make him 564 00:35:18,360 --> 00:35:21,240 Speaker 1: begin to think of himself as an American. He stays 565 00:35:21,400 --> 00:35:24,400 Speaker 1: from seventeen fifty seven for five years, goes back to 566 00:35:24,520 --> 00:35:27,719 Speaker 1: Boston for two years, and in the process he invents 567 00:35:27,760 --> 00:35:32,320 Speaker 1: the glass harmonica. This was a very sophisticated device which 568 00:35:32,360 --> 00:35:36,720 Speaker 1: made a series of sounds. It was widely received, probably 569 00:35:36,800 --> 00:35:41,080 Speaker 1: ranked along with the lightning rod and the bifocals and 570 00:35:41,120 --> 00:35:46,440 Speaker 1: the Franklin stove among the most widely received of Franklin's inventions. 571 00:35:46,440 --> 00:35:52,239 Speaker 1: Both Beethoven and Mozart used Franklin's harmonica. By seventeen sixty four, 572 00:35:52,560 --> 00:35:55,879 Speaker 1: he loses his seat in the Pennsylvania Assembly, but goes 573 00:35:55,920 --> 00:35:59,319 Speaker 1: back to London as a colonial agent, and the next year, 574 00:35:59,400 --> 00:36:02,959 Speaker 1: seventeen fifty, the Stamp Act is passed by the House 575 00:36:02,960 --> 00:36:07,200 Speaker 1: of Commons. Remember, the Stamp Act is designed to raise 576 00:36:07,320 --> 00:36:10,520 Speaker 1: money from the Americans to help pay the cost to 577 00:36:10,560 --> 00:36:14,080 Speaker 1: the French and Indian War, which the British reason had 578 00:36:14,120 --> 00:36:17,560 Speaker 1: protected America from attack, and therefore the Americans ought to 579 00:36:17,560 --> 00:36:21,200 Speaker 1: bear some burden. The Americans, of course, resented the idea, 580 00:36:21,360 --> 00:36:23,680 Speaker 1: did not want to pay the Stamp Act, and that 581 00:36:23,840 --> 00:36:26,920 Speaker 1: was the beginning of the deep disaffection that would automately 582 00:36:27,000 --> 00:36:30,799 Speaker 1: lead to the Revolution, because Franklin knew that Americans were 583 00:36:30,800 --> 00:36:33,879 Speaker 1: against it. In seventeen sixty six, just one year after 584 00:36:33,960 --> 00:36:37,160 Speaker 1: the Act was passed, he testifies in the House of 585 00:36:37,200 --> 00:36:41,160 Speaker 1: Commons in favor of repeal of the Stamp Act, proving 586 00:36:41,200 --> 00:36:43,959 Speaker 1: that his loyalties are to the colonies. Yet the very 587 00:36:44,000 --> 00:36:47,720 Speaker 1: same year, while he's testifying in the Commons, he's elected 588 00:36:47,760 --> 00:36:51,520 Speaker 1: as a member of the Royal Society of Sciences. He 589 00:36:51,640 --> 00:36:54,799 Speaker 1: may not be an aristocrat to the aristocrats, but he's 590 00:36:54,840 --> 00:36:57,719 Speaker 1: clearly an aristocrat to the scientists, and they have the 591 00:36:57,760 --> 00:37:01,320 Speaker 1: greatest admiration for him. Well, that's going on. The British 592 00:37:01,360 --> 00:37:04,400 Speaker 1: troops are being sent to Boston. The British government's getting 593 00:37:04,719 --> 00:37:08,759 Speaker 1: tougher and tougher. The fact is that Franklin was committed 594 00:37:09,320 --> 00:37:13,400 Speaker 1: to representing the American side. It's also in this period 595 00:37:13,440 --> 00:37:18,040 Speaker 1: that his daughter Sally marries Richard Bach. Franklin really wanted 596 00:37:18,160 --> 00:37:21,359 Speaker 1: not to do that because Bach's situation financially was bad 597 00:37:21,800 --> 00:37:24,000 Speaker 1: and he was afraid that Bach was just marrying her 598 00:37:24,040 --> 00:37:27,840 Speaker 1: for her money. Nonetheless, his wife, Deborah allowed them to 599 00:37:27,840 --> 00:37:32,359 Speaker 1: be married, against Franklin's wishes. He accepted the marriage after 600 00:37:32,560 --> 00:37:36,560 Speaker 1: Sally had their first child. Ben helped Richard obtain several loans, 601 00:37:36,960 --> 00:37:39,840 Speaker 1: helped him set up a few stores. But the truth 602 00:37:39,960 --> 00:37:42,960 Speaker 1: is Franklin supported Sally and her eight children for the 603 00:37:43,000 --> 00:37:45,480 Speaker 1: rest of his life. He was, in fact a very 604 00:37:45,560 --> 00:37:49,080 Speaker 1: generous family man and was deeply concerned about his family, 605 00:37:49,360 --> 00:37:51,239 Speaker 1: even if he didn't spend very much time with him. 606 00:37:51,840 --> 00:37:55,759 Speaker 1: By seventeen sixty nine, the American Philosophical Society, which he 607 00:37:55,800 --> 00:37:59,640 Speaker 1: had helped found, has elected Franklin as its president, and 608 00:37:59,680 --> 00:38:02,520 Speaker 1: then he reelected him every single year after that until 609 00:38:02,560 --> 00:38:06,439 Speaker 1: he died. So he's to have the Philosophical Society. He's 610 00:38:06,480 --> 00:38:10,640 Speaker 1: inventing musical instruments, he's inventing practical things like the Franklin stove, 611 00:38:10,719 --> 00:38:16,240 Speaker 1: the bifocals and lightning rods. And then the Boston massacre occurs. 612 00:38:16,600 --> 00:38:20,320 Speaker 1: British troops shoot at colonists. The whole colonies are upset 613 00:38:20,640 --> 00:38:24,160 Speaker 1: and are afraid, and Franklin tries to find a way 614 00:38:24,200 --> 00:38:28,120 Speaker 1: to bring Britain and the colonies back together. In seventeen 615 00:38:28,160 --> 00:38:31,400 Speaker 1: seventy one, he begins writing his autobiography, which I can 616 00:38:31,440 --> 00:38:34,799 Speaker 1: tell you if you have never read it is absolutely 617 00:38:34,840 --> 00:38:38,520 Speaker 1: worth your getting and reading. It's a remarkable book. It's 618 00:38:38,719 --> 00:38:42,839 Speaker 1: very candid, it's very wise. I don't care who you are. 619 00:38:43,320 --> 00:38:45,800 Speaker 1: You will learn things you'll apply to your own life 620 00:38:46,160 --> 00:38:51,200 Speaker 1: if you read Franklin's autobiography. In London, he gets a 621 00:38:51,239 --> 00:38:54,200 Speaker 1: series of letters, some thirteen letters come to him from 622 00:38:54,200 --> 00:38:58,000 Speaker 1: an anonymous sender. The letters had been stolen. There were 623 00:38:58,080 --> 00:39:03,080 Speaker 1: correspondence between the Massachusetts Governor, the Royal Governor Thomas Hutchison, 624 00:39:03,440 --> 00:39:07,440 Speaker 1: and the Royal Lieutenant Governor Andrew Oliver, who are writing 625 00:39:07,480 --> 00:39:13,399 Speaker 1: English authorities. Somehow these letters had gotten stolen and they 626 00:39:13,400 --> 00:39:16,120 Speaker 1: were given to Franklin, who then sends them to Samuel 627 00:39:16,160 --> 00:39:19,600 Speaker 1: Adams and authorizes them to be shown to the members 628 00:39:19,600 --> 00:39:25,040 Speaker 1: of the Massachusetts Committee of Correspondence, but not copied or published. Now, 629 00:39:25,280 --> 00:39:29,439 Speaker 1: this clearly is a totally inappropriate act and will begin 630 00:39:29,520 --> 00:39:33,560 Speaker 1: the process of really alienating the English and Franklin. By 631 00:39:33,600 --> 00:39:36,920 Speaker 1: seventeen seventy three, the Stamp Act not having worked, Parliament 632 00:39:36,960 --> 00:39:40,239 Speaker 1: passes the Tea Act, which then leads in Boston to 633 00:39:40,320 --> 00:39:43,640 Speaker 1: people dressing up as Indians and dumping the tea in 634 00:39:43,680 --> 00:39:46,280 Speaker 1: the harbor in what we call the Boston Tea Party, 635 00:39:46,680 --> 00:39:51,400 Speaker 1: and interestingly, Franklin, who of course was from Boston originally 636 00:39:51,680 --> 00:39:54,680 Speaker 1: as real Ties, emotionally back to Boston as well as 637 00:39:54,760 --> 00:39:59,480 Speaker 1: to Philadelphia. That same year, the Massachusetts Speaker, Thomas Cushing 638 00:40:00,080 --> 00:40:03,479 Speaker 1: gives the letters that Franklin had sent to the Massachusetts House, 639 00:40:03,880 --> 00:40:07,920 Speaker 1: and the House concluded that Governor Hutcherson intended to overthrow 640 00:40:08,000 --> 00:40:13,400 Speaker 1: the Constitution. They decide to petition for Hutchinson and Oliver's removal, 641 00:40:14,160 --> 00:40:18,319 Speaker 1: and despite Franklin's wishes, the letters are published in the 642 00:40:18,320 --> 00:40:41,759 Speaker 1: Boston Gazette. Franklin tries to communicate to the British through satire. 643 00:40:42,239 --> 00:40:46,520 Speaker 1: In September seventeen seventy three, he publishes two articles in 644 00:40:46,600 --> 00:40:51,359 Speaker 1: the Public Advertiser in London, one quote Rules by which 645 00:40:51,360 --> 00:40:54,560 Speaker 1: a great Empire may be reduced to a small one, 646 00:40:55,160 --> 00:40:58,120 Speaker 1: and the second Edict by the King of Prussia. Both 647 00:40:58,120 --> 00:41:00,600 Speaker 1: of them are satirical, and both of them attacked the 648 00:41:00,640 --> 00:41:03,479 Speaker 1: British attitude toward the colonies. Now, remember, at this point, 649 00:41:03,480 --> 00:41:06,400 Speaker 1: the aristocrats aren't amused. They don't want to be lectured 650 00:41:06,440 --> 00:41:09,480 Speaker 1: by some colonial, even if he's a famous scientist and 651 00:41:09,600 --> 00:41:13,200 Speaker 1: a wealthy man. And they're increasingly angry because they see 652 00:41:13,239 --> 00:41:17,960 Speaker 1: the Americans as totally ungrateful and treasonous. When Britain had 653 00:41:17,960 --> 00:41:20,879 Speaker 1: fought the French, Britain had defeated the Indians, Britain had 654 00:41:20,880 --> 00:41:23,560 Speaker 1: protected the colonies and all they get back in return. 655 00:41:23,960 --> 00:41:28,279 Speaker 1: His constant complaint refusal to pay taxes and people who 656 00:41:28,320 --> 00:41:32,880 Speaker 1: clearly are not appropriate for English society. Two things happened 657 00:41:33,040 --> 00:41:38,200 Speaker 1: in the early seventeen seventies that really affect Franklin. First 658 00:41:38,360 --> 00:41:41,600 Speaker 1: was that his wife, Deborah dies. He was still in England. 659 00:41:41,680 --> 00:41:45,360 Speaker 1: They had been separated physically, but they wrote each other constantly. 660 00:41:45,719 --> 00:41:48,319 Speaker 1: She had run the business in his absence. When he 661 00:41:48,360 --> 00:41:50,680 Speaker 1: did return home to America, he wrote a friend, quote, 662 00:41:51,360 --> 00:41:55,319 Speaker 1: I have lately lost my old and faithful companion, and 663 00:41:55,400 --> 00:41:57,920 Speaker 1: I every day become more sensible of the greatness of 664 00:41:57,960 --> 00:42:02,120 Speaker 1: that loss, which cannot now be repaired. Close quote I 665 00:42:02,200 --> 00:42:06,600 Speaker 1: suspect he both realized how many days they'd been apart, 666 00:42:07,040 --> 00:42:10,160 Speaker 1: how much of their lives had been separate and with 667 00:42:10,239 --> 00:42:13,280 Speaker 1: gratitude how much she had done, how she had enabled 668 00:42:13,360 --> 00:42:17,359 Speaker 1: him to be Benjamin Franklin, because she had run the business, 669 00:42:17,400 --> 00:42:19,960 Speaker 1: she'd earned the money, she'd paid attention to, all the 670 00:42:20,000 --> 00:42:23,560 Speaker 1: details that he'd cheerfully ignored. But the other thing which 671 00:42:23,600 --> 00:42:26,440 Speaker 1: happened in the seventeen seventies while he was still in London, 672 00:42:27,080 --> 00:42:31,120 Speaker 1: when word reached Great Britain that the official letters of 673 00:42:31,160 --> 00:42:36,520 Speaker 1: the Governor and the Lieutenant Governor had been somehow submitted 674 00:42:36,600 --> 00:42:40,160 Speaker 1: to the House of Commons of the colony. There was 675 00:42:40,920 --> 00:42:44,640 Speaker 1: an enormous uprising in Britain of interest where did these 676 00:42:44,640 --> 00:42:48,439 Speaker 1: come from? Who was responsible? And finally Franklin cleared the air. 677 00:42:48,560 --> 00:42:52,640 Speaker 1: In December seventeen seventy three, he wrote a brief note 678 00:42:52,680 --> 00:42:56,080 Speaker 1: to the newspapers saying I'm the person who released him. 679 00:42:56,160 --> 00:42:58,920 Speaker 1: While that guaranteed that the Privy Council, which was the 680 00:42:59,560 --> 00:43:04,160 Speaker 1: effect the highest political judicial body in Britain, would see 681 00:43:04,239 --> 00:43:06,879 Speaker 1: him and would demand to know what he was doing 682 00:43:06,920 --> 00:43:09,680 Speaker 1: and why he was doing it, and he went twice. 683 00:43:09,719 --> 00:43:12,400 Speaker 1: The first time he went, he frankly thought they were 684 00:43:12,400 --> 00:43:15,319 Speaker 1: going to enquire about what had happened with Hutchinson and 685 00:43:15,360 --> 00:43:18,200 Speaker 1: Oliver the governor, Lieutenant governor, and why were they in 686 00:43:18,200 --> 00:43:21,840 Speaker 1: such trouble. Instead, he found that the Solicitor General of 687 00:43:21,880 --> 00:43:26,000 Speaker 1: Britain attacked him for a full solid hour, and when 688 00:43:26,040 --> 00:43:28,879 Speaker 1: they said, okay, it's your turn, he just stood there 689 00:43:28,960 --> 00:43:31,040 Speaker 1: quietly and said, I didn't realize this was the point 690 00:43:31,080 --> 00:43:33,800 Speaker 1: of this, and I want a lawyer. And they agreed 691 00:43:33,800 --> 00:43:35,759 Speaker 1: he ought to have a lawyer. So two weeks later 692 00:43:35,800 --> 00:43:39,400 Speaker 1: they came back together. But in the interim the Boston 693 00:43:39,480 --> 00:43:43,200 Speaker 1: Tea Party news had reached Great Britain that the Americans 694 00:43:43,200 --> 00:43:46,120 Speaker 1: had dressed like Indians, gone into the harbor, thrown the 695 00:43:46,200 --> 00:43:49,600 Speaker 1: tea from the East India Company into the harbor, destroying it. 696 00:43:49,960 --> 00:43:53,000 Speaker 1: And there was a high sense of rage in the 697 00:43:53,040 --> 00:43:56,960 Speaker 1: governing class in Britain. And so when Franklin shows back up, 698 00:43:57,360 --> 00:44:02,720 Speaker 1: he is attacked or several hours in a very direct 699 00:44:02,760 --> 00:44:05,880 Speaker 1: and aggressive and nasty way, and it's quite clear that 700 00:44:05,920 --> 00:44:08,719 Speaker 1: he is the target and that there's nothing he can 701 00:44:08,760 --> 00:44:11,960 Speaker 1: do to defend himself. He is wearing a blue coat, 702 00:44:12,719 --> 00:44:16,919 Speaker 1: which to show how Franklin's mind worked, he will wear 703 00:44:17,040 --> 00:44:21,440 Speaker 1: again when he signs the Peace Treaty declaring the United 704 00:44:21,480 --> 00:44:25,120 Speaker 1: States to be free and independent and somebody said, why 705 00:44:25,120 --> 00:44:27,840 Speaker 1: do you have this old coat? Remember the peace treaty 706 00:44:27,880 --> 00:44:32,120 Speaker 1: now that he's signing is more than a decade later, 707 00:44:32,680 --> 00:44:36,360 Speaker 1: And he said, for a little sense of revenge. Franklin 708 00:44:36,480 --> 00:44:39,520 Speaker 1: was not a man who one could attack easily or lightly, 709 00:44:39,920 --> 00:44:42,920 Speaker 1: or expect to ever turn the other cheek. So he 710 00:44:42,960 --> 00:44:47,319 Speaker 1: goes home having been attacked by the British elites, and 711 00:44:47,400 --> 00:44:51,520 Speaker 1: now he is clearly committed independence. He's elected as a 712 00:44:51,520 --> 00:44:57,000 Speaker 1: Pennsylvania delegate to the second Continental Congress, and he also, ironically, 713 00:44:57,120 --> 00:45:00,680 Speaker 1: having been fired by the British as the postman master General, 714 00:45:01,000 --> 00:45:04,759 Speaker 1: which happened the day after the Privy Council meeting to 715 00:45:04,880 --> 00:45:08,400 Speaker 1: punish him, he is now elected as the Postmaster General 716 00:45:08,400 --> 00:45:11,640 Speaker 1: of the colonies by the Continental Congress. So at the 717 00:45:11,760 --> 00:45:14,600 Speaker 1: very moment that the British are losing control of the 718 00:45:14,640 --> 00:45:17,279 Speaker 1: post offices, they are being turned back over to the 719 00:45:17,320 --> 00:45:20,440 Speaker 1: guy who had been in charge of the post offices 720 00:45:20,719 --> 00:45:23,160 Speaker 1: on behalf of the king. So Franklin knew what he 721 00:45:23,200 --> 00:45:26,120 Speaker 1: was doing and how to do it. In seventeen seventy six, 722 00:45:26,719 --> 00:45:29,400 Speaker 1: he's asked to be one of five people who draft 723 00:45:29,440 --> 00:45:34,280 Speaker 1: the Declician independence, and he is clearly a key figure 724 00:45:34,280 --> 00:45:38,160 Speaker 1: who people trust and plays a significant role in working 725 00:45:38,160 --> 00:45:41,000 Speaker 1: with Jefferson and Adams to get the final draft of 726 00:45:41,040 --> 00:45:46,840 Speaker 1: the Decliian independence approved by the Congress. Then he's asked 727 00:45:46,880 --> 00:45:51,680 Speaker 1: to go to France to be a commissioner from the 728 00:45:51,719 --> 00:45:55,880 Speaker 1: Continental Congress in order to get the French to help us. Remember, 729 00:45:55,920 --> 00:45:59,160 Speaker 1: at this point, without the help of France, the United 730 00:45:59,200 --> 00:46:02,200 Speaker 1: States will use the war to Britain because we'll have 731 00:46:02,320 --> 00:46:06,319 Speaker 1: no money, we'll have no ammunition, we'll have no uniforms, 732 00:46:06,520 --> 00:46:10,240 Speaker 1: well have no effective navy. And so this was life 733 00:46:10,239 --> 00:46:14,319 Speaker 1: and death. And Franklin, who had the great advantage of 734 00:46:14,440 --> 00:46:18,240 Speaker 1: being a world famous scientist, is a very major player. 735 00:46:18,239 --> 00:46:23,600 Speaker 1: And because he's also so personable, so amused by life, 736 00:46:23,600 --> 00:46:28,600 Speaker 1: and so engaging with people, he became a very, very 737 00:46:28,640 --> 00:46:34,160 Speaker 1: widely admired and liked diplomat. Franklin plays a key role 738 00:46:34,760 --> 00:46:38,359 Speaker 1: is in Europe, not in America, works very hard to 739 00:46:38,480 --> 00:46:42,279 Speaker 1: keep the French on our side. And then after Cornwallis 740 00:46:42,320 --> 00:46:46,400 Speaker 1: surrenders at Yorktown in seventeen eighty one, effectively ending the 741 00:46:46,400 --> 00:46:50,359 Speaker 1: military part of the war, Congress appoints Franklin, along with 742 00:46:50,480 --> 00:46:53,680 Speaker 1: John Jay, John Adams, and Henry Lawrence, to be a 743 00:46:53,719 --> 00:46:58,200 Speaker 1: Commissioner to negotiate peace, and in seventeen eighty three they 744 00:46:58,200 --> 00:47:02,920 Speaker 1: complete the negotiations and they Franklin, by the way, is 745 00:47:02,960 --> 00:47:06,560 Speaker 1: the toughest, most hard nosed person on the question of 746 00:47:06,560 --> 00:47:10,640 Speaker 1: whether or not there should be any compensation for Tories 747 00:47:10,880 --> 00:47:13,120 Speaker 1: who had stayed on the side of the British and 748 00:47:13,239 --> 00:47:16,440 Speaker 1: said absolutely no, these people were traitors. They should not 749 00:47:16,480 --> 00:47:19,600 Speaker 1: get a penny, and he was just firm that that 750 00:47:19,840 --> 00:47:22,000 Speaker 1: was not going to be part of the agreement. They 751 00:47:22,080 --> 00:47:25,320 Speaker 1: signed the peace treaty, as I said earlier, with Franklin 752 00:47:25,440 --> 00:47:28,400 Speaker 1: wearing the same coat that he had worn back when 753 00:47:28,440 --> 00:47:33,080 Speaker 1: the Privy Council tried to humiliate it. And Franklin then 754 00:47:33,160 --> 00:47:36,799 Speaker 1: returns because now he's no longer totally drowning and being 755 00:47:36,880 --> 00:47:40,600 Speaker 1: a diplomat, so he returns to being an inventor and 756 00:47:40,680 --> 00:47:44,719 Speaker 1: a commentator. In seventeen eighty three, we complete negotiations, we 757 00:47:44,800 --> 00:47:48,320 Speaker 1: signed the peace treaty. Now the colonies are independent states. 758 00:47:48,840 --> 00:47:53,040 Speaker 1: And one year later Franklin writes quote an economical project 759 00:47:53,320 --> 00:47:56,800 Speaker 1: for diminishing the cost of light, which is in fact 760 00:47:56,840 --> 00:48:01,160 Speaker 1: the first document proposing daylight savings. Time he does this 761 00:48:01,320 --> 00:48:03,640 Speaker 1: in passing, he just thinks himself gosh, wouldn't it make 762 00:48:03,719 --> 00:48:06,000 Speaker 1: sense if we change so that we had more time, 763 00:48:06,080 --> 00:48:09,160 Speaker 1: more daylight And he writes this out, and of course, 764 00:48:09,560 --> 00:48:12,879 Speaker 1: well over a hundred years later it begins to be implemented. 765 00:48:13,160 --> 00:48:16,680 Speaker 1: So the daylight savings time that we currently celebrate can 766 00:48:16,719 --> 00:48:19,560 Speaker 1: be traced back to an idea from Benjamin Franklin. Then 767 00:48:19,600 --> 00:48:22,520 Speaker 1: the same year he invents the bifocal glasses. As he's 768 00:48:22,560 --> 00:48:25,560 Speaker 1: getting older, he notices he has one pair of glasses 769 00:48:26,000 --> 00:48:28,520 Speaker 1: seeing a close one pair of glasses for seeing in 770 00:48:28,560 --> 00:48:31,879 Speaker 1: the distance. He's constantly taking off one putting on the other. 771 00:48:32,160 --> 00:48:34,920 Speaker 1: You always have to carry extra glasses, And he thinks 772 00:48:34,920 --> 00:48:38,120 Speaker 1: to himself, well, what if I arrange it so when 773 00:48:38,120 --> 00:48:40,320 Speaker 1: you look down, which is what you do when you're reading, 774 00:48:40,800 --> 00:48:43,479 Speaker 1: you have close vision, and when you look out, which 775 00:48:43,800 --> 00:48:47,040 Speaker 1: you're looking up, you have distance vision. He goes to 776 00:48:47,120 --> 00:48:52,120 Speaker 1: the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia in seventeenty seven. He's the 777 00:48:52,160 --> 00:48:55,879 Speaker 1: oldest person at the convention. He occasionally falls asleep during 778 00:48:55,920 --> 00:48:59,400 Speaker 1: the sessions, but he also when the convention is about 779 00:48:59,400 --> 00:49:03,160 Speaker 1: to melt down in bitterness and and hostility between the 780 00:49:03,239 --> 00:49:06,640 Speaker 1: large states and the small states, and his most important intervention, 781 00:49:06,719 --> 00:49:10,080 Speaker 1: he says, why don't we suspend for a day, have 782 00:49:10,200 --> 00:49:14,040 Speaker 1: a day of prayer and fasting, and have various ministers 783 00:49:14,040 --> 00:49:16,480 Speaker 1: come in and pray to us to get ourselves back 784 00:49:16,480 --> 00:49:19,560 Speaker 1: on the right mindset, which is in fact precisely what 785 00:49:19,600 --> 00:49:22,759 Speaker 1: they do. And a very famous moment when he is 786 00:49:22,840 --> 00:49:27,040 Speaker 1: leaving the Constitutional Convention, having completed the work, and the 787 00:49:27,120 --> 00:49:30,759 Speaker 1: lady says to him on Independence Hall steps, what have 788 00:49:30,920 --> 00:49:33,960 Speaker 1: you done? And he said, we have created a republic 789 00:49:34,120 --> 00:49:38,120 Speaker 1: if you can keep it, and understood thoroughly that in 790 00:49:38,160 --> 00:49:39,720 Speaker 1: the long run it would be up to the American 791 00:49:39,800 --> 00:49:42,000 Speaker 1: people whether or not it would work and whether or 792 00:49:42,000 --> 00:49:44,920 Speaker 1: not it would survive. I want to just comment, to 793 00:49:45,040 --> 00:49:51,000 Speaker 1: go and stand there at Independence Hall and think about 794 00:49:51,040 --> 00:49:55,720 Speaker 1: the people who signed the declation Independence. To go across 795 00:49:55,800 --> 00:50:00,000 Speaker 1: to the great New Constitution Center, which is just remarkable, 796 00:50:00,480 --> 00:50:03,640 Speaker 1: To go to the Franklin Institute, and to realize again 797 00:50:03,640 --> 00:50:07,000 Speaker 1: and again the impact that this guy had. To take 798 00:50:07,000 --> 00:50:09,360 Speaker 1: a map and go around and see all the different 799 00:50:09,400 --> 00:50:14,360 Speaker 1: places where there are universities or insurance companies, or libraries 800 00:50:14,440 --> 00:50:18,080 Speaker 1: or fire departments, things that Benjamin Franklin created in his lifetime. 801 00:50:18,440 --> 00:50:21,440 Speaker 1: By seventeen eighty eight, he's begin to realize that eighty 802 00:50:21,440 --> 00:50:24,080 Speaker 1: two years of age, he likely doesn't have many more 803 00:50:24,160 --> 00:50:26,640 Speaker 1: years left, so he writes a will leaving most of 804 00:50:26,640 --> 00:50:30,800 Speaker 1: his estate to his daughter Sarah. Seventy nine, he's elected 805 00:50:30,800 --> 00:50:35,040 Speaker 1: president of the Pennsylvania Society for Promoting the Abolition of Slavery. 806 00:50:35,480 --> 00:50:40,960 Speaker 1: Here's a guy who constantly, endlessly fought for human freedom, 807 00:50:41,080 --> 00:50:45,279 Speaker 1: who steadily spread the opportunity for freedom, and who at 808 00:50:45,280 --> 00:50:48,160 Speaker 1: the end of his life is working on the abolition 809 00:50:48,160 --> 00:50:53,360 Speaker 1: of slavery. In fact, submits the first antislavery perdition before 810 00:50:53,400 --> 00:50:56,399 Speaker 1: the US Congress. He had had slaves very early, two 811 00:50:56,400 --> 00:50:59,239 Speaker 1: slaves who worked in his household, but when he was young. 812 00:50:59,680 --> 00:51:01,480 Speaker 1: But as he got older, he began to think, this 813 00:51:01,560 --> 00:51:04,400 Speaker 1: is an evil institution. And if you believe in the 814 00:51:04,440 --> 00:51:07,120 Speaker 1: principles of the American Revolution, if you believe in a 815 00:51:07,120 --> 00:51:10,440 Speaker 1: declaration that says we're all created equal, it's simply wrong. 816 00:51:11,000 --> 00:51:12,960 Speaker 1: And at a time when it was still a very 817 00:51:13,080 --> 00:51:17,640 Speaker 1: very radical position, he was actively in favor of the 818 00:51:17,680 --> 00:51:23,040 Speaker 1: abolition of slavery. Ultimately, in seventeen ninety he dies, Washington 819 00:51:23,160 --> 00:51:27,160 Speaker 1: is now president, the country is established. He leaves behind 820 00:51:27,680 --> 00:51:30,000 Speaker 1: a fair amount of wealth for Sally and her husband, 821 00:51:30,200 --> 00:51:33,520 Speaker 1: but he leaves behind for the world, a whole series 822 00:51:33,560 --> 00:51:37,719 Speaker 1: of inventions and breakthroughs and understandings that are just astonishing 823 00:51:38,160 --> 00:51:41,840 Speaker 1: and that ultimately improve the lives of millions and millions 824 00:51:41,840 --> 00:51:44,279 Speaker 1: of people. Gives you a sense of why he is 825 00:51:44,320 --> 00:51:49,759 Speaker 1: an immortal and why somebody who really I think represents 826 00:51:49,840 --> 00:51:53,880 Speaker 1: the best of the American tradition of constant effort, constant dreaming, 827 00:51:54,200 --> 00:51:59,640 Speaker 1: constant hard work to term the dreams in reality. Much 828 00:51:59,680 --> 00:52:03,879 Speaker 1: World is produced by Gingwich three sixty and iHeartMedia. Our 829 00:52:03,960 --> 00:52:08,279 Speaker 1: executive producers Debbie Myers, our producer is Garnsey Sloan, and 830 00:52:08,360 --> 00:52:12,320 Speaker 1: our researcher is Rachel Peterson. The artwork for the show 831 00:52:12,800 --> 00:52:16,439 Speaker 1: was created by Steve Kenley. Special thanks to the team 832 00:52:16,440 --> 00:52:20,440 Speaker 1: at Gingwish three sixty. If you've been enjoying Newtsworld, I 833 00:52:20,480 --> 00:52:23,279 Speaker 1: hope you'll go to Apple Podcasts and both rate us 834 00:52:23,280 --> 00:52:26,600 Speaker 1: with five stars and give us a review so others 835 00:52:26,600 --> 00:52:29,719 Speaker 1: can learn what it's all about. I'm new Gingwish. This 836 00:52:29,920 --> 00:52:30,600 Speaker 1: is Newtsworld.