“Our new Constitution is now established, and has
an appearance that promises permanency; but in this world nothing can be said
to be certain, except death and taxes.” Benjamin Franklin
During the second half of the eighteenth century, the United
States was blessed with numerous renaissance men. Thomas Jefferson was a
planter, architect, revolutionary, author, agricultural scientist, inventor,
and politician, among other things. George Washington started life as a
surveyor, but then became a successful planter, military commander, politician,
entrepreneur, and agricultural innovator. Many of the Founders were
equally skillful at multiple endeavors. None, however, compared with
Benjamin Franklin.
Franklin’s humorous aphorisms are so embedded in our culture and
he’s been caricatured so often, we sometimes think he must have been the class
clown of the Revolution. Nothing could be further from the truth.
Franklin was arguably the second most important person in securing our
independence. Despite Washington’s greatest efforts, our domestic
military and treasury could never have defeated the British Empire. We
needed help. Franklin did more than flirt with the ladies in Paris, he
charmed a nation in order to gain access to the French court. The thing
to understand about Franklin is that everything he did had a purpose.
Once granted access to the back rooms of Versailles, he did the impossible and
got the United States desperately needed money, warships, and international
legitimacy.
Franklin started life as a printer’s apprentice, and ended up exceptionally wealthy. Michael Klepper and Robert Gunther rank him in the top 100 in The Wealthy 100: From Benjamin Franklin to Bill Gates – A Ranking of the Richest Americans, Past and Present. How did he do it? With two grand entrepreneurial moves. He nearly invented the concept of franchising, setting up print shops in cities outside Philadelphia that were as standardized as H & R Block. But the real money came from his realization that content ruled. Printers typeset other people’s material, but Franklin went beyond this standard practice and published a newspaper, books, and Poor Richard’s Almanac. For nearly the entire twenty-five years of its publication, Poor Richard’s Almanac was the country’s #1 bestseller after the Bible. If Franklin had been born in 1960, he’d probably have clobbered Bill Gates, Larry Page, Sergey Brin, Mark Zuckerberg, and Steve Jobs.
Franklin invented bifocals, the Franklin stove, the lightening
rod, a urinary catheter, swim flippers, a Glass Armonica, an odometer, and
several other devices. It’s generally forgotten that he was a world-class
scientist in his day, especially renowned in Europe for his scientific
achievements. His famous kite flying episode was not a lark, but an
experiment to confirm a portion of his well-developed theory of electricity.
He was the first to map the Gulf Stream, which gave him something scientific to
occupy his mind during his eight voyages across the Atlantic.
In 1727, Franklin founded a philosophical organization called
the Junto. This civic minded group led to Philadelphia being the home
of the nation’s first volunteer fire department, public hospital, public
library, and numerous other improvements that all had Benjamin Franklin’s
strong imprint. Franklin transitioned the Junto into the Philosophical
Society, the first learned society in the country.
Benjamin Franklin played a crucial role in all three phases of
our nation’s Founding.
In the first stage that
built a consensus toward independence, he mirrored many people in the
colonies. He was initially a loyalist, but as an informal envoy to
England, he changed his mind when he found Parliament intractable. When
scolded by a British courtier, he told him, “I will make your master a little
king for this.” Despite his jovial image, Franklin could hold a grudge, and he
made those who slighted him or his country pay for their transgressions.
He returned from England to help Jefferson write the Declaration of Independence.
During the second phase, which was war, Franklin did what the
Continental Congress could not do—he delivered money and armed forces to
Washington. He got them from France, while politicians at home bickered
endlessly.
The third phase represented
the real nation-building. That was when the Federal Convention wrote the Constitution of the United States.
This convention was at times so acrimonious that the delegates almost scattered
like a flock of disturbed seagulls. Each time the convention edged toward
collapse, Franklin was the one that lightened the tone through humor, calls for
help from the Almighty, or merely filibustering until tempers abated.
Franklin did not add much substance to the constitutional design, but he held
the delegates together in the State House until the design was complete.
It was a unique role that no one else could fill.
Benjamin Franklin built
things to last. The American
Philosophical Society still
resides next to Independence Hall. Poor Richard’s Almanac and his autobiography remain in print. The
Philadelphia Contribution for Insurance Against Loss by Fire that he helped
found still sells fire insurance. The University of
Pennsylvania and the Pennsylvania Hospital still exist. On leaving the
convention after the signing ceremony, a woman asked what type of government
the delegates had designed. Franklin responded, “A republic, ma’am, if
you can keep it.”
His greatest worry was the
long term upholding of the Constitution. If he returned today, he would probably
warn us to never let our priceless heritage slip away. His jovial image would not disguise his anger at those
who flippantly discard the work of his friends.
No comments:
Post a Comment