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Benjamin Franklin And TheChanging W orld of 18th Century

Am erican Society

Paulo W erth Gick (UFRGS )

I t i s my in t en t ion in t h i s pape r t o p re sen t some a spec t s o f

the work and though t s o f Ben jamin F rank l in wh ich r e f l ec t t he

P u r i t a n t r a d i t i o n f r o m w h i c h h e s p r a n g . I n s o m e o f h i s l i t e r a r y

produc t ion , F rank l in mi r ro r s t he g rea t changes t ha t occu r r ed in

Pur i t an i sm, f rom an e l eva t ed theo log ica l l eve l i n to a prac t i ca l

u t i l i t a r i an app roach o f more popu la r na tu re .

Ben jamin F rank l in was bo rn in to a s imp le bu t ha rd -work ing

f ami ly o f Pur i t an s tock . P roud o f t he i r be ing f r ee ( f r ank l ins )

fo r many a gene ra t ion , t hey endeavored to p re se rve the i r f r eedom

in the best possible way hat of be ing usefu l to the communi ty.

Thi s way of t h ink ing and behav ing was one o f t he Pu r i t an t ene t s ,

wh ich , a long wi th i ndus t ry, l i s t ed v i r t ue , cha r i t y, f ruga l i t y,

educa t ion , and s impl i c i ty (no t necessa r i ly in tha t o rde r ) , as

some of t he mos t impor t an t s igns o f e l ec t ion

From the Pu r i t an c r eed and theo logy, howeve r, t he g rea t

Ma jo r i t y o f peop le was on ly ab l e t o ex t r ac t so much , and the

popu la r i n t e rp re t a t i on o f t he s e rmons and e s says wh ich the

p reache r s pou red on them was o f t en qu i t e r emoved f rom the

or ig ina l i n t en t of t h e m i n i s t e r s . I t i s a l s o t r u e t h a t m u c h o f

wha t was p reached demanded too g rea t a s ac r i f i ce , r enunc ia t i on ,

a n d r e s i g n a t i o n o n t h e p a r t o f t h e c o n g r e g a t i o n s . M o s t o f t h e

ILEA DO DEST ERRO, NC B 15/16 - IP e29 aerneetres de 1986, pp.

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popu la t ion o f t he co lon ie s a t t h i s t ime ( a round the s econd

qua r t e r o f t he e igh teen th cen tu ry ) was a l r eady qu i t e p rospe rous

compared to t he i r fo re fa the r s , and the sp i r i t ua l need tha t wa lks

hand in hand wi th ha rdsh ips and in secu r i t y was chang ing i t s

na tu re wi th the a ff luence o f t he co lon i s t s . Th i s ve ry a ff luencewas fo r many the su re s ign tha t t he Grace o f God was ope ra t ing ,

hove r ing ove r t he co lon ie s , d ropp ing he re and the re and a l l owing

m o r e a n d m o r e p e o p l e to g r o w p r o s p e r o u s . T h e c o n s t a n t d o u b t o f

e l ec t ion i s r ep l aced by a f ee l ing o f s e l f - r e l i ance wh ich sp rang

f rom the ce r t a in ty t ha t i f one d id h i s j ob we l l and p rac t i ced the

v i r tues he had been t augh t to va lue , he wou ld be i n t he r i gh t

pa th , and the re fo re shou ld f ea r no th ing . The idea tha t God g ives

p l e n t y t o t h o s e w h o m h e l o v e s gave ammiraeas to those who had plenty.

The consc iousnes s o f t he r e spons ib i l i t y o f t he v i r t uous s t eward

who i s made r i ch by God so tha t he can be cha r i t ab l e s t ead i ly

became a t r ad i t i on wh ich wou ld bea r exce l l en t r e su l t s . ( I wou ld

l i ke to add , pa ren the t i ca l ly, t ha t t h i s t r ad i t i on s t i l l ex i s t s ,

and is of t en f e l t i n t he shape o f p rov iden t i a l g i f t s and dona t ions

to cha r i t y, a r t i s t i c o r educa t iona l i n s t i t u t i ons . )2

I t is i n t h i s a tmosphe re t ha t Ben jamin F rank l in g rows up and

d e v e l o p s h i s f i r s t t a s t e s a n d t e n d e n c i e S . B u t s e n s i t i v e a s h e

i s , he soon f ee l s t ha t t he t i e s t o t he o r thodox Pur i t an i sm s t i l lf unc t ion a s a k ind o f h ind rance to any young man who wan t s to

deve lop h i s own sk i l l s and expand and b roaden h i s ho r i zons .

There fo re , t he on ly a l t e rna t ive h e s e e s i s t o l e a v e h o m e fo r a

p lace wh ich had a l r eady e s t ab l i shed i t s f ame a s a s ea t o f l i be r ty

o f c r e e d s a n d r e l i g i o n . T h e y o u n g m a n m u s t n o w s t r u g g l e t o

su rv ive , and the v i r t ues wh ich had been p reached to h im, and wh ich

he had a s s imi l a t ed to a g rea t ex t en t , p rove to be u se fu l t o h im,

i f on ly he pu t t hem in to p rac t i ce t o su i t t he occas ion . '

Ben jamin F rank l in ' s succes s s to ry i s t he s ame succes s s to ry

o f t he Pilgrim's Progress r e to ld i n a new env i ronmen t , and in t he

l i g h t o f a n e w G o s p e l . T h e n e w p i l g r i m , a ch i ld o f o the r p i l g r ims

who had c rossed the At l an t i c i n sea rch o f a New Jerusa lem, has

ach ieved a degree o f en l igh tenmen t wh ich , on ly a few yea r s ea r l i e r,

w o u l d h a v e h a d t h e s m e l l o f h e r e s y. H e is capab le o f l ook ing in to

God ' s na tu re and r e in t e rp re t ing i t , s ee ing in i t s phenomena no t

t ypes o r s igns o f p remon i to ry na tu re ; h i s " co ro l a r i e s " , t o employ

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one o f Jona than Edward ' s exp res s ions , do no t po in t t owards t he

" l e s sons" God has t o t each , bu t t owards t he p rac t i ca l u se r o a n

may make of na tu re t o be t t e r s e rve h im, o r how one can p ro f i t ,

ma te r i a l l y, by the u se and con t ro l o f t he na tu ra l e l emen t s .

Thunde r i s no longe r s een as t he vo ice o f an a lmigh ty, ang ry

God, bu t i s s tud ied in s t ead , and p roven tobee lec t r i c i ty.

However, F rank l in does no t d i smis s t he t r ad i t i on tha t l i e s

beh ind h im comple t e ly, bu t s ees in i t one way th rough wh ich he

can p ro f i t , and make o the r s p ro f i t a s we l l . . * H e r e I d o n o t m e a n

pro f i t i n t he s t r i c t s ense o f ma te r i a l ga in on ly, bu t a l so i n

the s ense t ha t he s ees i n h i s expe r i ence and t a l en t s an

oppor tun i ty t o r each the common man , a s we l l a s t he more

soph i s t i ca t ed man o f soc i e ty, and b r ing them a b i t o f t he w i sdom

a n d u s e f u l n e s s o f t h e f o l k w a y s o f l i f e . H e i s u n d o u b t e d l y agen ius a t do ing tha t , f o r he speaks t he l anguage o f h i s aud ience ,

w h i c h e v e r i t m a y b e , w i t h a m o s t p e r f e c t e a s e . H e a d d r e s s e s t h e

i n t e l l i gen t s i a a s ea s i l y a s he does t he f a rmer, and they a l l l ove

h i m a n d p r a i s e h i m . T h e m a n w h o h e l p s t o w r i t e t h e d r a f t f o r t h e

Dec la ra t ion o f Independence is the same one who has wr i t ten Poor

Richa rd ' s A lmanack . H i s pen r eaches a l l t he l eve l s o f soc i e ty,

no t on ly i n Amer i ca , bu t i n Europe as w e l l . B u t i s h e a t o t a l

i nnova to r? Can we say tha t wha t he wr i t e s exp res se s t he b rand new

ideas o f a new k ind o f man?

Ac tua l ly, Ben jamin F rank l in c l ea r ly r e l i e s on the ma t t e r

tha t ex i s t ed in t he coun t ry, and on ly r e in t e rp re t s t he o ld

P u r i t a n t e n e t s . T h e P u r i t a n m a n i s a p r a c t i c a l m a n . H i s

preach ing abou t i ndus t ry and h i s i nvec t ives aga ins t i d l enes s a r e

obv ious ly u t i l i t a r i an p reach ings t o p romote t he ma te r i a l g rowth

of t he co lony, a s we l l a s t o keep the minds and hands o f t he

co lon i s t s o ff t he fo rb idden though t s and ac t ions t ha t migh t l ead

t h e m i n t o s i n a n d c o r r u p t i o n . T h e v e r y c l a s s i c a l t e c h n i q u e o ft he Pu r i t an s e rmon can be s a id t o be based on a u t i l i t a r i an

s t ruc tu re i n wh ich the f i r s t s t ep i s t o f r i gh t en the congrega t ion

and then to o ff e r t hem a way ou t o f t h i s s t a t e o f f r i gh t and

despa i r by po in t ing to t he pa th t o s a lva t ion g ran t ed by God ' s

b e n e v o l e n t f r e e g i f t o f h i s r e d e e m i n g G r a c e . O t h e r i n s t a n c e s , o f

more ma te r i a l and p rac t i ca l na tu re can be c i t ed a s examples o f

Pur i t an u t i l i t a r i an exped ien t s t o d raw peop le t o chu rch . A m o n g

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t hem, t he re i s t he ep i sode in wh ich Ben jamin F rank l in , on hea r ing

the compla in t s o f a P re sby te r i an Army p reache r t ha t t he so ld i e r s

w o u l d n o t a t t e n d t h e c h u r c h s e r v i c e s , p e r s u a d e d t h e c h a p l a i n - t o

se rve ou t t he men ' s da i ly r a t i ons o f rum jus t a f t e r t he p raye r s .

A n d F r a n k l i n a s s u r e s u s t h a t t h e a t t e n d a n c e g r e w i m m e n s e l y. T h eaccep tance o f h i s sugges t ion by the chap la in c l ea r ly deno tes the

p r e a c h e r ' s p r a c t i c a l s p i r i t . I s h o u l d a d d n o w, as a r eminde r,

t ha t one mus t no t fo rge t t ha t one o f t he mos t p ro f i t ab l e bus ines ses

run by the New Eng land Pur i t ans was t he commerce o f rum and

s l aves f rom the Ca r ibean I s l ands t o t he Amer i can co lon ie s .

The very Autobiography i s a g igan t i c example o f F rank l in ' s

fo l lowing a t r ad i t i on tha t goes much fu r the r back In t ime . I t i s

h i s own "Sp i r i t ua l Au tob iog raphy" in t he s t eps o f Bunyan , Defoe ,

a n d o t h e r s . T h e f i c t i t i o u s a c c o u n t s o f R o b i n s o n C r u s o e ' s

bus ines s became , i n F rank l in , awfu l ly r ea l a s he t e l l s i n de t a i l

h i s dea l ings w i th t he men peop le knew and r e spec t ed , o r e l s e knew

and d i sda ined , o r poked fun a t a f t e r t hey were demys t i f i ed by the

grea te r gen ius o f F rank l in . H i s Au tob iography i s a gen ia l

' exemplum' , of which he c lear ly s ta tes the purpose a t i t s openings

"Hav ing emerged f rom the pove r ty and obscu r i t y i nwhich I was bo rn and b red , t o a s t a t e o f a ff luenceand some deg ree o f r epu ta t i on in t he wor ld , andhav ing gone so f a r t h rough l i f e w i th a cons ide rab lesha re o f f e l i c i t y, t he conduc ing means I made useo f , wh ich wi th t he b l e s s ing o f God so we l l succeeded ,my pos t e r i t y may l i ke t o know, a s t hey may f ind someof t hem su i t ab l e t o t he i r own s i t ua t ions , andthe re fo re f i t t o be imi t a t ed . "

Bu t aga in , we mus t r ecogn ize he re t ha t ano the r t r end tha t i s

s t rong ly uphe ld by the Pu r i t an a t t i t ude comes in to p l ay : t he

i m p o r t a n c e o f t h e o u t w a r d a p p e a r a n c e o f g r a c e . T h e i m p o r t a n c e

of t h i s ou tward appea rance mi s l ed peop le a l l t oo o f t en to a s sume

a n a t t i t u d e t h a t h a d m o r e o f p r e t e n t i o n t h a n o f s i n c e r i t y. T h e

neces s i t y o f ma in t a in ing the appea rance o f a s a in t made men

s t r ive t o acqu i r e i t , so t ha t t he ou tward looks o r ig ina l ly t hough t

a s a v i sua l s ign o f e l ec t ion become a pose , a r ehea r sed a t t i t ude

tha t has , a s i t s ma in ob jec t ive , t he accep tance o f i t s bea re r by

the " in -c rowd" of t h e c h u r c h a n d s o c i e t y ' I t i s t h i s u s e o f

appea rances t ha t migh t have p rompted F rank l in i n to adop t ing the

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several masks he uses throughout his work. But, as he bluntly

states what his purpose and intent ars, at the opening of his

book, the common reader may easily accept this initial, outwarddeclaration, as the true and only one. s Over and over again wehave the wise and successful old Ben telling his reader to avoid

the appearance of idleness, to make it evident how industrious

one is, so that he can get credit, be trusted, and so on. He

sees an d preaches again and again the usefulne ss of"innocen t"deceit, and always excuses his practices by telling that he too

was often deceived. Of course he does not use the word "deceit",

but names his attitude "prudence", or the like, making of it a

virtue. This is true mainly when he does it to someone who is

about to trick him, as was the case of his employer Reimer;'

If his Autobiography is offered as a kind of 'exemplum' whereone finds innumerable anecdotes that function almost like parables

which conclude with "applications", so that no one will miss their

point,fta radin's iumtsayings of Poor Richard, the epitome of thePuritan "wisdom" turned popular. While in the Autobiography one

often finds examples of "virtue rewarded", the sayings and proverbs

are much more direct and do not need to be put into a context to

express all they have to say. The best set of sayings used

caricaturally, but conveying through satire (on himself and on a

certain class of his readers, as he wears two masks -- old

Abraham and Richard Saunders) is to be found in his "The Way toHealth". There the reader has the ultimate example of the

popular sage who speaks to a crowd by means of ready-made phrasesand impresses the narrator, Richard Saunders himself, but doesnot quite convince his audience. This very fact is representative

and significant in that it shows that the morality of the

Puritanical Era has ended, and though it still remains physically

present in the shape of the proverbs, it is not strong enough tomove the general audience into believingandacbing according toWhat is preached.

RVen though they are not Franklin's in their totality, one

cannot deny the importance of Poor Richard's Almanack and itssayings. They do represent the tradition of the industrious men

who strove to survive, and on succeeding turned materialistic to

a certain extent, and caned to see themselves as the blessed

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t he soc i e ty i n wh ich he l i ved , he was ab l e t o ach ieve the p l ace

of honor in the hear t s and minds of h is people .

The popu la r image o f F rank l in f l y ing a k i t e i n t he s to rm, o r

as the inven to r o f b i - foca l g l a s ses , o r a s t he man who wro te

Poor Richard's ALaanack i s bu t a f a in t shadow o f the t rue s ta ture

o f t he man who ep i tomizes t he t r ans i t i on o f t he who le Amer i can

soc i e ty f rom i t s Pu r i t an mode o f ex i s t ence in to t he p ragma t i c ,

s emi - scep t i ca l , en l igh t ened man o f t he s e l f -made r epub l i c o f t he

Uni ted Sta tes of Amer ica .

H i s t a l e o f succes s i s t h i s day cons ide red by many a s t he

ve ry t a l e o f succes s o f t he coun t ry he he lped to bu i ld , and h i s

succes s , t he s tu ff wh ich the Amer i can d ream i s made o f .

NOTES

' The Seven teen th -Cen tu ry The New Rag land P r imer i n t roduced thel e t t e r "A" wi th t he s en t ence : " In Adam ' s f a l l we s inned a l l " .Th i s l i ne sums up the Pu r i t an concep t o f t he f a l l enness o f manand h i s cond i t i on o f u t t e r despondency and dependence in t he f aceof an a lmigh ty God. For t he o r thodox Ca lv in i s t man i s i ncapab leo f v i r t ue and canno t hope fo r s a lva t ion save th rough theopera t ion o f d iv ine g race , wh ich i s God ' s f r ee g i f t t o man . Thef i ve bas i c t ene t s o f Ca lv in i sm migh t be summar i zed a s fo l lows :1 . God e l ec t s i nd iv idua l s t o be s aved ; 2 . He des igns comple t er edempt ion on ly fo r t hose e l ec t ; 3 . Fa l l en man i s i ncapab le o ft rue f a i t h and r epen tance ; 4 . God ' s Grace is su ff i c i en t fo r t hesa lva t ion o f t he e l ec t ; 5 . A sou l , once r egene ra t ed , i s neve ru l t ima te ly l o s t .

2 As the e igh teen th cen tu ry p rog res sed , Ra t iona l i sm and De i smacqu i r ed momen tum and d i s lodged the cen te r o f t he Pu r i t anT h e o c r a c y, r e p l a c i n g r e l i g i o n b y s c i e n c e a n d p o e t i c s . H u m a nReason r ep l aced the B ib l e i n a man-cu l tu red wor ld , and in s t eadof P rov idence ac t ing , t he new man t ru s t ed the f i xed l aws o f am a c h i n e - l i k e , i m m u t a b l e u n i v e r s e . I n t h e n e w e r a , a l l m e n w e r een t i t l ed t o sha re i n " the pu r su i t o f happ ines s " , a s t hey nol onge r be l i eved tha t on ly few men were to be t he e l ec t fo rs a l v a t i o n . T h e D e i s t s s a w G o d r e v e a l e d i n nature, no t i n t hew o r d ( T h e B i b l e ) . L i k e w i s e , t h e y b e l i e v e d t h a t a l l m e n w e r ec rea t ed equa l , and a l l ev i l r e s ided in co r rup t institutions,r a t h e r t h a n i n n a t u r a l d e p r a v i t y. E d u c a t i o n w a s a w a y t o p e r -f e c t i b i l i t y , and tha t t he mos t accep tab l e s e rv i ce o f God i sdoing good to man.

'Pa ren the t i ca l ly, i t shou ld be added tha t t he Au tob iog raphypresen t s Ben jamin F rank l in ' s j ou rney in to t he wor ld o f d i s cove ry,h i s i n i t i a t i on in to t he r ea l i t i e s o f h i s soc i e ty, wh ich i scon t inua l ly bo rde r ing myth ica l and a rche typ ica l s i t ua t ions . H i s

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l e av ing h i s home in Bos ton fo r t he new wor ld o f Ph i l ade lph ia i sd e s c r i b e d b y t h e c r o s s i n g o f w a t e r. A n o t h e r e v e n m o r e d e c i s i v epassage i s h i s t r i p t o Eng land , whe re he i s f aced wi th much moreb i t t e r r ea l i t i e s : he a r r ives i n Eng land to f i nd ou t t ha t t hel e t t e r s o f c r ed i t p romised h im by the Gove rnmen t o f Ph i l ade lph iahad neve r been wr i t t en , l e av ing h im s t r anded in a s t r ange l and ,f r i e n d l e s s a n d Wi t h l i m i t e d f i n a n c i a l r e s o u r c e s . T h o u g h h e i sno t pu r i f i ed by f i r e , h i s "bap t i sms" by wa te r a r e qu i t es ign i f i can t and eve ry t ime they s igna l t he b i r th o f a meson .The man who comes fo r th i s t o become the cha rac t e r i s t i c man o ft h e A m e r i c a n b r a v e n e w w o r l d . T h e m e t a m o r p h o s i s h e u n d e rg o e st r ans fo rms the o ld man , t he co lon ia l Eng l i shman , i n to a newcrea ture , the "modern" Amer ican colonis t and pa t r io t .

" A n xample o f Ben jamin F rank l in ' s ex t e rna l accep tance o ff o r m a l t r a d i t i o n i s t ha t he con t inued to a t t end the P re sby te r i anChurch serv ices though a professed Deis t .

'He admi t s t ha t i t i s u se fu l t o cu l t i va t e no t on ly t he r ea l i t y,but the appearance of industry and humi l i ty. I t was e f f e c t i v et o ca r ry h i s own pape r s tock th rough the s t r ee t s i n a whee lba r rowto be seen as a hard-working youth .

"Ac tua l ly, we a re p re sen ted to a t l e a s t t h r ee d i f f e r en t Ben jaminFrank l in s i n h i s Autobiography. I t beg ins w i th t he i n t roduc t ionof t he young app ren t i ce on h i s way to succes s , f o l l owed by theen t r ance o f t he d ip loma t , r e spec t ed and admi red , a l l p r e sen tedby the benevo len t o ld Fa the r F igu re who can l augh a t h imse l f i nhis d i fferent guises and ages .

'Re imer u ses Ben jamin F rank l in t o t r a in h i s employees , so t ha t hec a n d i s m i s s F r a n k l i n . F r a n k l i n i n t h e m e a n t i m e i s prepa r ing tose t a shop , wh ich he u l t ima te ly does , and causes Ke imer ' sbankruptcy.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

On wr i t i ng th i s pape r I have r e l i ed bas i ca l ly on the r ead ing

of t he fo l lowing works bes ides t hose o f Ben jamin F rank l in :

G r i s w o l d , W h i t n e y. " T h r e e P u r i t a n s o n P r o s p e r i t y " . M E Q , 7 ( 1 9 3 4 ) ,

483-8 .

L a w r e n c e , D . E . The Symbolic Meaning: The Un collect ed Versions of

St udies in Classic American Literatu re. Ed. Armin Arnold .

London : The Cur t a in P re s s , 1962 .

L e v i n , D a v i d . " T h e A u t o b i o g r a p h y of Ben jamin F rank l in : The

P u r i t a n E x p e r i m e n t e r i n L i f e a n d i n A r t " . YR, 53(1963) ,258-75.

N y e , R u s 4 e 1 B . i n t r o d . A u t o b i o g r a p h y a n d O t h e r Writings by

Benjamin Frankl in . Rive r s ide Editions. Boston: Bough ton

Miff l in Company, 1958.