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Slavery is such an atrocious debasement of human nature, that its very extirpation, if not performed with solicitous care, may sometimes open a source of serious evils. Benjamin Franklin. Abolition Of Slavery, Evil, Care. Benjamin Franklin, Jared Sparks (1840). “The Works of Benjamin Franklin: Containing Several Political and Historical ...
- The Perils of Authoritarianism
- The Sacred Flame of Liberty
- The Enlightenment's Shaping Hand
- The Democratic Legacy of Franklin's Works
- In The Shadow of Franklin's Legacy
Franklin lived in a world full of tyranny and authoritarianism. Franklin's was against the centralized concentration of power. He was a staunch advocate for the dispersion of power. He believed in the need for checks and balances. These things were needed to safeguard the world against tyranny. Franklin's cautionary tales helped call for vigilanc...
Benjamin Franklin's advocacy for the rights of the individual came from many areas. But mainly he believed humans were virtuous beings and deserved liberty. He thought liberty and democracy would create the backbone of the American experiment. Many of his insights came from him living in Great Britain and being exposed from many famous people and...
The Enlightenment, a European intellectual and cultural movement characterized by a focus on reason, science, and the pursuit of knowledge, played a pivotal role in shaping Franklin's political and philosophical views. The movement's emphasis on individual liberty and the rights of the individual struck a resonant chord with Franklin, who absorbe...
Benjamin Franklin's commitment to democracy can be found in many of his writings. Among his most notable works on the subject are:
Benjamin Franklin's passionate belief in democracy helped to shape the USA to where it is today. He wanted a government that was for the people and governed by the people. He fervently advocated for a government that represented and responded to the will of the people, giving them a voice in decisions that would impact their lives. Equality irres...
- "Rebellion to tyrants is obedience to God" (proposed by Franklin for the motto of the Great Seal of the United States).
- "From a persuasion that equal liberty was originally the portion, it is still the birthright of all men."
- "Every man…is, of common right, and by the laws of God, a freeman, and entitled to the free enjoyment of liberty."
- "All the property that is necessary to a man for the conservation of the individual… is his natural right which none can justly deprive him of."
They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety. Benjamin Franklin, William-Temple Franklin (1818). “Memoirs of the Life and Writings of (the Same), Continued to the Time of His Death by William Temple Franklin. - London, H. Colburn 1818”, p.270.
Benjamin Franklin. Taken, Government, Support. "On Freedom of Speech and the Press". Benjamin Franklin, Pennsylvania Gazette, November 17, 1737. Without Freedom of thought there can be no such thing as wisdom;and no such thing as public liberty, without freedom of speech. Benjamin Franklin. Wisdom, Freedom, Patriotic.
By the 1780s he was a vocal abolitionist writing a famous public address condemning slavery and urging Congress to act. When Benjamin Franklin arrived in London in 1757, he had with him two enslaved Africans that lived and worked at 36 Craven Street. At Benjamin Franklin House, we aim to tell the stories of all the individuals that lived here.
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Jan 17, 2002 · Broad-Street Buildings, Jan. 26, 1770. Sir, Many Reflections being of late thrown out against the Americans, and particularly against our worthy Lord-Mayor, 9 on Account of their keeping Slaves in their Country, I send you the following Conversation on that Subject, which, for Substance, and much of the Expression, is, I assure you, a real one ...
