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Lengthy tomes could be devoted entirely to Franklin's effect on people, society, science, and history. When he chose to be, he was a beguiling writer skilled in persuading people, even without appearing as though he were doing anything but entertaining. The way he wrote, how he behaved in public, and even what he wore were aspects of Franklin that many Americans imitated. His wearing Quaker-style clothing and a fur cap, while representing the United States in France, not only endeared him to the French, who saw him as representing what they admired most about Americans, but indeed served to show that Americans, simply by being themselves, could mix with even European high society and be accepted as sovereign beings. Although Franklin seems to have preferred to persuade subtly, in the matter of American independence he often wrote with savage intensity. His "Rules by Which a Great Empire May Be Reduced to a Small One" anticipates the Declaration of Independence in its drumbeat of grievances against the British government. Such writings stirred his fellow colonists and gave their resentments focus and direction. In the minds of many Americans and people around the world, once Franklin turned his pen toward independence, he became the author not only of the Revolution but furthermore of the Republic that emerged from it.

Although Franklin's political achievements draw attention away from his many other achievements, his legacy extends into aspects of life throughout the world. His vision of an ideal society not only influenced the writing of the Constitution but also affected the lives of everyday people. His notions that public service was every person's duty and that even in quotidian matters people could better their lives and the lives of others have found receptive readers from his own era to the present. In his day many people regarded Franklin as the greatest natural philosopher (scientist) of the age. Franklin tried to make all of his scientific research useful in some way. For instance, his curiosity about electricity led him to make numerous discoveries that unified the concepts of electricity and lightning, and he took pains to put what he learned to use by inventing the lightning rod. He viewed science as a social obligation, and inventions of his, such as the lightning rod and the Franklin stove, were simply given to the world. His discovery and charting of the Gulf Stream reshaped navigation at sea. His studies of the movements of wind and water were applied to generating power. He affected the fields of astronomy, physics, chemistry, mechanical engineering, hydrology, and medicine as well as government and society. In almost every aspect of his public life Franklin reshaped the future.

Bibliography:

6)         Anderson, Douglas. The Radical Enlightenments of Benjamin Franklin. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1997.

7)         Brands, H. W. The First American: The Life and Times of Benjamin Franklin. New York: Doubleday, 2000.

8)         Dray, Philip. Stealing God's Thunder: Benjamin Franklin's Lightning Rod and the Invention of America. New York: Random House, 2005.

9)         Isaacson, Walter. Benjamin Franklin: An American Life. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2003.

10)       Morgan, Edmund S. Benjamin Franklin. New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 2002.

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