Andrew M. Allison - The Real Benjamin Franklin

The Real Benjamin Franklin: The True Story of Americas Greatest Diplomat

Copyright 1982, 2008 by National Center for Constitutional Studies
Electronic Book Edition Copyright 2011 by National Center for Constitutional Studies

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systems without permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages in a review.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

The Real Benjamin Franklin (Vol. 2 of the American Classic Series)
Includes bibliographical references.

Contents: Part I. Benjamin Franklin: Printer, Philosopher, Patriot (A History of His Life)/ by Andrew M. Allison. Part II. Timeless Treasures from Benjamin Franklin (Selections from His Writings) / prepared by W. Cleon Skousen and M. Richard Maxfield.
Includes index.
1. Franklin, Benjamin, 1706-1790. 2. StatesmanUnited StatesBiography. I. Allison, Andrew M., 1949. II. Skousen, W. Cleon (Willard Cleon), 19132006 . III. Maxfield, M. Richard, 1934. IV. Franklin, Benjamin, 17061790. V. Allison, Andrew M., 1949. VI. Franklin, Benjamin, 17061790. Selections. 1982. VII. Series: American Classic Series (National Center for Constitutional Studies (U.S.)); v.2. E302.6F8R28
973.30924
82-70110 [B] CIP

ISBN 10: 0-88080-001-1 ISBN 13: 978-0-88080-001-3

Cover image courtesy of The Granger Collection, New York. Used with permission.
Printed in the United States of America

National Center for Constitutional Studies
(208) 645-2625
www.nccs.net

__________________

(A History of His Life)

By Andrew M. Allison

(Selections from His Writings)

Prepared by W. Cleon Skousen
and M. Richard Maxfield

There are many Benjamin Franklins. Or at least he has taken on many different forms in the history books and conversations of the last two centuries.

Some historians have shown us an aged statesman whose wise and steadying influence kept the Constitutional Convention together in 1787, while others have pictured a chuckling prankster who couldnt resist a funny story. Some remember Franklin for flying a kite in a thunderstorm; others think of him as a successful printer of the colonial era; still others know him only as an expounder of clever maxims (A penny saved is a penny earned) or the author of a now famous autobiography.

More recently, a certain brand of biographers and journalists have conjured up sensational tales of a lecherous old diplomat in his seventies who enjoyed illicit affairs with adoring young French women. And a few years ago Franklin even reappeared as a British spy! Some of these myths are now being repeated and embellished in school textbooks and educational television programs.

There are many other versions of Franklin as wellsome slanderous, some complimentary. New portrayals continue to come forward, multiplying and changing with each generation.

Which of all these Benjamin Franklins, if any, is real? This book is an attempt to answer that question. Or, more accurately, it is an attempt to let Franklin himself provide the answer. The Real Benjamin Franklin makes no effort to develop another fresh interpretation of the Sage of Philadelphia. Instead, it seats us across the table from the one person who really knew Ben Franklinthat is, Franklin himselfand gives him an opportunity to explain his life and ideas in his own words.

No mans life can be truly understood apart from his ideas, nor can his ideas be fully appreciated apart from the experiences which shaped his life. For this reason The Real Benjamin Franklin includes both: the biography in Part I and the selected quotations in Part II are designed to complement each other. In both sections, Franklins words are carefully documented from original sources.

This volume is part of a series being published by the National Center for Constitutional Studies, a nonprofit educational foundation dedicated to restoring Constitutional principles in the tradition of Americas Founding Fathers. The AMERICAN CLASSIC SERIES is designed to revive an intelligent appreciation of the Founders and the remarkable system of free government which they gave us. The nation these men built is now in the throes of a political, economic, social, and spiritual crisis that has driven many to an almost frantic search for modern solutions. The truth is that the solutions have been available for a long timein fact, for nearly two hundred yearsin the writings of our Founding Fathers. An honest examination of twentieth-century American history reveals that virtually every serious problem which has developed in our society can be traced to an ill-conceived departure from the sound principles taught by these great men. The citizen of today who turns back to the Founders writings is often surprised by their timeless relevanceand perhaps equally dismayed that we have permitted ourselves to stray so far from such obvious truths.

It is our earnest hope that the AMERICAN CLASSIC SERIES will help the American people recapture the Founding Fathers sense of direction and manifest destiny. If this generation will relearn and reapply their original success formula for freedom and prosperity, the United States of America may once again become a beacon on the hill to light the way of liberty for all mankind.

Andrew M. Allison, Editor
AMERICAN CLASSIC SERIES

We express sincere appreciation to the many persons who have contributed to the preparation of this volume of the AMERICAN CLASSIC SERIES. First we acknowledge our tremendous debt to Benjamin Franklin himself, for whom we have acquired a great affection and respect, and without whose marvelous life and writings this work would have been impossible. The staffs of the J. Willard Marriott Library at the University of Utah and the Harold B. Lee Library at Brigham Young University, both of which house excellent collections in American history and biography, have been most helpful in identifying and making available many of the sources cited in Part I herein. K. DeLynn Cook, Sammie Lane Gifford, and Mark Anderson have assisted in researching the quotations found in Part II; Mrs. Gifford has also provided valuable suggestions in her role as librarian of the National Center for Constitutional Studies. Harold Skousen has ably coordinated the various phases of the production process, while Jean Marshall and Ken Neff have been especially prompt and skillful in handling the typesetting and layout of the book. To all of these people, and to our dear wives and family members who have encouraged us in this endeavor, we are deeply grateful.