Reflection- Ben Franklin

Deism is the belief in God and is very much a Christian but yet at the same time, use logic and reasoning when pertaining to life. ("Deism: Its History, Beliefs and Practices.") This caused a lot of controversy in this time for people who believed this way at first because most people in this time were of the puritan belief. Benjamin Franklin was of the deism belief and this did cause a little bit of controversy for him because those who were of the full puritan belief still saw his views to be incorrect. Benjamin Franklin in a way used his book the Autobiography to allow himself to defend himself. He used many different examples of what he believed. "I had been religiously educated as Presbyterian; but, through some of the dogmas of the persuasion, such as the eternal decrees of God, election, reprobation, appeared to me unintelligible, others doubful, nearly absented myself form the public assemblies of the sect, Sunday being my studying I never was without some religious principles." (Franklin 7) This shows that Ben Franklin has always been born with a religious background and has kept religion as a huge importance in his life. Yet, as he grew older he began to question the extent of some of the beliefs in his religion and challenge them. He found himself not believing in some/many of the ideas that we was raised with. He then adopted the idea of deism because he was still very much a believer but he had his own opinions on the idea of inventing, science, and challenging religious "facts". He explored the ideas of morals which was not exactly an idea that was explored by those in a very large religious faith because they believed the only rules morally were in the Bible. Ben Franklin did not disagree with that but he was not in full agreement either. "It was about this time I conceived the bold and arduous project of arriving at moral perfection". (Franklin 10) This was the plan for Ben Franklin for the next few years of his life. This showed his religious beliefs of how he truly wanted to perfect himself as much as a person as he could. Ben Franklin then developed the thirteen virtues of which he was going to live by so he truly could get to his goal of moral perfection. He thought that these virtues would help him to become a better Christian as well. The virtues were temperance, silence, order, resolution, frugality, industry, sincerity, justice, moderation, cleanliness, tranquility, chastity, and humility. (Franklin 12-13) Each of these were based of what he believed was morally and religiously correct. These all are things that on an average day we all break and Ben Franklin did to. Even as he started this he was always breaking them, not on purpose, but he was always honest about it. Every day he chose to work harder and harder to achieve this religious and moral task that he put on himself.




"Deism: Its History, Beliefs and Practices." Religious Tolerance. Web. 26 Oct. 2011






Franklin, Benjamin. Autobiography. Henry Altimus, 1895. Print.

Journal #14

If I was the apprentice of Ben Franklin I would have had a whole different life than I do know. One huge difference between my life now and what it would be then is my education. If I were his apprentice I would learn things about English, science, and philosophical ideas. This is different than now because now I learn a lot more other subjects and have a lot more options than would have been given to me at that time. Another big difference would be my typical day. It would probably start when the sun rises because that would be the only thing that would be there to wake me up in the morning. I would then have to do my morning chores that would of course not want to do. I would do this in a timely manner so I could get to Ben Franklin's shop/office. After I got there we would start working on all the inventions he was planning on doing. I would watch him and do what he told me to do because after all I am his apprentice and am there to learn from his wisdom and insight. I would be doing a lot of paperwork for him because while he worked I would need to make sure I am writing things down so that we do not forget the really important stuff we did or how we did those things. Also so we could mark new ideas or new concepts to old ideas. These are very important in the process of inventing new things. I would also do a lot of research to make sure we do not copy another persons hard work. My childhood would not be much of a childhood because I would be working all the time. I would also get a lot of publicity though because of his huge recognition. My every day would be a life of learning and experimenting from the best there was and would be worth the loss of my childhood..

Journal #12

There is many things that are wrong about what people do in life. People have very low morals in my opinion and it is only getting worse. It is much easier with all the technology today to become rude because people aren't as worried when its online and not in person. One rude thing is not responding to someone in either a text, email, or ect. That to me shows that one does not care about either what the person is saying or that person in general. Now in person a person would more likely do the right moral thing and talk to the person, but now with technology it is easy to be rude. Things like that can be hurtful to many people which to me would be a rule of wrong. A right to this would be that no matter what you respond to the person unless they are saying something hurtful or mean to you. Another rule that I would give at least high school students is to not give your heart away to easily. In high school you feel love for the first time so it is easy to let yourself fall in love with someone but it is a wrong. It can turn out with you very hurt and upset! So that wrong rule would be to not fall completely in love until you are engaged or married. That is more permanent situation to be in. The right rule to that would be to guard your heart from possible pain. This does not mean do not ever love, just don't do it completely. Another rule for wrong it do not give let being afraid stop you from doing anything. It is wrong for many people do not do something just because they feel that they will fail or fall in it. The right rule to that would be to take chances and live in the moment because if you don't, you will lose that moment forever. You cannot take moments back so make the best of every single one you live in.

Franklin Comparrison

I am going to compare the authors Thomas Paine and William Bradford to Benjamin Franklin. Both Thomas Paine and William Bradford have writings of the Puritan style. Franklin on the other head was a huge leader in a Rationalist colony. (Divine) All three authors are fairly different so that is why I chose the people I did to compare. William Bradford is very much a Puritan writer. William is also a very large leader just like Benjamin, but Bradford led through God. He saw signs of God everywhere, the sailor's death, the six "elect" people taking care of the contagious sick people (Bradford 15, 65). Franklin doesn't see stuff that way. He does not see that God is everywhere constantly acting of humans lives. Franklin being a scientist,someone who invented many things, a writer who is still popular today as he was in his time, and someone who is constantly read and talked about in History. (Franklin 104) No where do I talk about him having a prominence in the church or within a religious community because that was not who he was. He led everything with his mind and Bradford was more of a leading by his heart instead. Thomas Paine, another fantastic Puritan style writer, also was one to lead with his heart instead of his head. He was very into telling people how they should and should not be following God. “Say not that the thousands are gone--turn your tens of thousands; throw not the burden of the day upon Providence, but show your faith by your works, that God may bless you” (Paine 136). This is just one quote that shows that to be very true that he thought he knew exactly how it should be and how people should be doing it. Franklin on the other hand was not just saying something was right, he was proving it at as well. He did not just throw out empty statements, each one had a reason for it to be said. Also each one had something behind it, whether that be a hidden meaning, a fact, or some type of statistic. There was just about always something behind it. Franklin did not feel that God really did make any decision. Although he was not fully on board with the God thing, Franklin did still believe in the existence of God. "God grant that not only the love of liberty but a thorough knowledge of the rights of man may pervade all the nations of the earth, so that a philosopher may set his foot anywhere on its surface and say: This is my country. " (Petrie) This quotes the believing in God that Franklin did have. Except he still is asking for knowledge and things that will make things more logical in life. Unlike Paine and Bradford, Franklin does not force the fact of God and believing in him onto people. Franklin just speaks of him or to him.



Petrie, John. "The Greatest Benjamin Franklin Quotes." John Petrie's Home Page. Web. 16 Oct. 2011. .

Franklin, Benjamin. "from The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin." Comp. Jeffrey D. Wilhelm, Ph.D. and Douglas Fisher, Ph.D. Glencoe Literature. American Literature ed. Columbus: McGraw-Hill Companies, 2009. 104-108. Print.

Divine, Robert A., T. H. Breen, George M. Fredrickson, R. Hal Williams, H. W. Brands, and Ariela J. Gross. America Past and Present AP Edition. Boston: Longman, 2011. Print.

Journal #11 Aphorism

A popular aphorism that I think is very insightful is one by a Mr. Robert F. Kennedy. He stated that "Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly." ("Robert Francis Kennedy Quotes.") This makes a compelling argument almost on how you should also strive for the best even if you know it is possible you will fail. Just because there is a chance that you might not reach your goal doesn't mean you need to totally get rid of the goal all together. This is a problem many people have in there life, not just teenagers either. Grown men and women have a lot of problems with giving up on there goals because the make excuses to why they can't do it such as; I am too busy, can't leave/ do this with my family and kids, not enough money, or not enough connections. These are things that hold a lot of older men and women back in their lives. The hardest part for teenagers is that they are worried about people seeing them fail. Nothing is more important to a teenager than their reputation. This causes many people to give up on their dreams and put them on the back burner because they are scared of failure and make excuses. This states that the only way you can be great is if you take the chance of failing greatly. If you do not ever take the chances in life that might change it, yes you will stop your chance of getting hurt, but you will never experience something great. As much things hold us back because we don't want to get hurt, sometimes we need to get hurt so we can remember when times are good. Bad time tend to make the good ones seem even better. These bad times are hard to get through but you have to get through them or life you leave you behind because it won't stop. You must take chances at failure so that you can possibly get something completely great out of it.


"Robert Francis Kennedy Quotes." Find the Famous Quotes You Need, ThinkExist.com Quotations. Think Exsist, 1999-2011. Web. 16 Oct. 2011. .

The Reflection "The Crisis No. 1"

The story the Crisis No. 1 was written in sense of defense of the new settlers in America. This is also written in a very rationalistic way that displays the Rationalism period very well by showing opinions and giving the facts to support them. The author begins talking about their dependence on the British for their lively hood in the Americas. "We did not make proper use of last winter; neither could we, while we are in a dependent state." (Paine 135) This quote displays the pure dependence the Americans felt they had on the British. The people felt as if they did not have a proper way of life, or at least enough to be able to fend for themselves. The author believes that this is not their fault though. The author thinks that the British have put them in this dependent state so that they will not be able to revolt or go against them and become almost a slave to the British. "Britain, with an army to enforce her tyranny, has declared that she has a right(not only to tax) but "to bind s in all cases whatsoever"; and if being bound in that manner is not slavery, then there is not such a thing as slavery upon earth." (Paine 134) This quote displays the thoughts of practically being a slaver under "her" rule. Which in my opinion is referring to the government that is being forced upon them as a she. This is at least how I have perceived it. I perceive it this way because of the time period that they are living in. The Rationalism period caused many to begin forming their own opinions, especially when it comes to the government. This is why when I read the quote I displayed above, I felt that it was a true testament against the government with fairly accurate facts to support it. Emotional appeal was still very much involved in the speech which is not exactly a good display of Rationalism period but shows how the author knew how to displays the facts and give emotion. He would get your attention and hearts with the emotional appeal, but then he backs it up with facts that are needed to make you feel like what he is saying is accurate. (Paine 134-136) The author still does display a Christian oriented belief though that may also be a pull on the hearts for many of that time. "I have as little superstition in me as any man living; but my secret opinion has ever been, and still is, that God Almighty will not give up a people to military destruction, or leave them unsupportedly to perish, who have so earnestly and so repeatedly sought to avoid the calamities of war, by every decent method which wisdom could invent" (Paine 135) With this quote he still connects a little bit to the Puritan period by talking about God and his almighty power in the world. All in all though, it is more logic based making it very much Rationalistic period.


Paine, Thomas. The Crisis No. 1. Wilhelm, Jeffrey D., and Douglas Fisher. Glencoe Literature. New York: Glencoe McGraw-Hill, 2009. Print.