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Essay ofbenjamin franklin
How does benjamin franklins early life experiences play a role on gender
Essay ofbenjamin franklin
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Benjamin Franklin has been without a doubt one of the most relevant individuals in US history. His autobiography gives us a brief but detailed summary of what his life was like and how society worked in the eighteen century. This autobiography gives us many details of how the colonies where and offers and an overall image of the development of British North America which later turned into the United States. Due to the fact that this book was originally written for Franklin's son, the book concentrates in personal information and has very little information about other topics. However, there are some topics that can be extracted from his writings; one of them is gender. Even though, Franklin never talks openly about gender, we can observe how in his writing these roles are clearly assigned. In this paper, we will analyze how Benjamin's Franklin autobiography showcases the importance of gender in the early eighteenth century. Gender can be analyzed in Franklins book by looking at different topics. This given to men and women by society can be seen in the workspace, in the education of each individual, and in the family and family structure. …show more content…
The role of both men and women in the workplace can be inferred from Franklins book in many different ways.
Throughout the story, Franklin gives examples of many different jobs that were available in colonies. Even though, he mainly talks about jobs in the press, we can also identify jobs like smiths, scriveners, clerks and many more. Nevertheless, we always see that these jobs are carried out by men. It is men and always men that form part of a business or that work in something. It was men's role to be outside of the house doing a job while women stayed and took care of the children; something that certainly society never identified as a job. This shows us how this early American society had clearly established what roles men and women were going to
play. Another important topic about gender is how education is established as a role for both men and women. This something that can be clearly seen in Franklin's book and it is the only topic that franklin himself points out; although for just a few lines. Education is a key element in Franklin's life. Throughout the book, Franklin mentions how he has been educated and how his desire of knowledge has grown up with him. The book gives us information about how he was educated, went to different schools and developed his reading ability. However, once again, this concept of education is always seen with men as the main character. This gives us the idea that men are the only ones that have education available for the, or at least more options than women. This idea is confirmed by Franklin when he openly discusses with his friend Collins about the propriety of educating women in learning and their abilities to study. This, of course, is just a little remark in his autobiography. Franklin does not really discuss this issue, because as we can clearly see by his attitude, he, and society in general, did not want or were not interested in answering this question. Franklin states clearly that this discussion was not important for him, but just a simple game where he took the contrary side just for dispute's sake. In addition, he opens this topic again when writing about an educated woman who took care of her dead husband's press. In this case, we can observe how in his writing he first shows some surprise when seeing that this woman was able to a great job due to her education. Then Franklin openly gives his position about women education by stating that young female education is recommended. Be that as it may, his reason for stating this is due to the fact that he thinks that it will be useful for the husband's business, as when he dies, she can continue doing his job; all for the business. In Franklins autobiography, there are many topics concerning gender, but probably the most important one is family. In the early eighteenth century, society's idea of family and family structure was focused on the idea that men were the leaders or patriarchs of the house, while women's role was to take care of the children and the house. This idea is seen all over the book. Every time Franklin names a woman she is either at home or with the children; showing us what society had established as a role for women. This society considered women as mothers and someone that took care of the house; that was their job. On the other hand, men were supposed to be the ones that took care of bringing money home and being the leader of the house. This family structure was similar to a business structure; where the man is the boss and the woman is just a worker. Additionally, in Franklin's book we can see how this patriarch idea influenced the whole family. Children were also affected by this role distribution. In the book, we can observe the little relevance that Franklin sisters have in the story; and not only as sisters but probably also as daughters. Franklin writes about how his father was always trying to take control of him and his brothers life. The father was the one that decided what the child was going to do and organized in some way how his son's life was going to be. This is shown in many other ways throughout the autobiography. A clear example is the many cases where sons continued the father's business or they stayed in the same place for years. One example of this is the case of one of Franklin's uncle's family. The family stayed in the same village and continued the same business for at least two hundred years. In this case, we can see how this idea is clearly represented and how important men's role was for society. In conclusion, I have to say that, although Franklin's piece might be an interesting book and part of the American history, it has many flaws. Franklins autobiography is clearly not a good historical source. One of the reasons for this is the fact that this was not a book that was supposed to be published. Franklin wrote this book to his son; something that definitely changes the way the book was structured. Franklin gives us what he wanted his son to read. He points out the parts of his life that he considers will help his son in some way, and probably distorts parts of his life so that it pleases his audience. Another reason why this book is not reliable is the fact that human's memory is not always perfect. Benjamin Franklin wrote this book in his last moments, but, however, he focused a big part of his in the early stages of life. There is at least a reasonable doubt that some parts of the story may not have happened as Franklin described. Overall, I have to say that, even though it is not a reliable source of American history, it does show some nuances of how it was like to live in an early eighteenth century's society.
Cott, Nancy F. The Bonds of Womanhood: "Woman's Sphere" in New England, 1780-1835. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1977.
Skinner Keller, Rosemary. Patriotism and the Female Sex: Abigail Adams and the American Revolution. Brooklyn, New York: Carlson Publishing Inc., 1994.
“Deborah Sampson, the daughter of a poor Massachusetts farmer, disguised herself as a man and in 1782, at age twenty-one, enlisted in the Continental army. Ultimately, her commanding officer discovered her secret but kept it to himself, and she was honorably discharged at the end of the war.” She was one of the few women who fought in the Revolution. This example pictured the figure of women fighting alongside men. This encouraged the expansion of wife’s opportunities. Deborah, after the Revolution along with other known female figures, reinforced the ideology of Republican Motherhood which saw the marriage as a “voluntary union held together by affection and mutual dependency rather than male authority.” (Foner, p. 190). This ideal of “companionate” marriage changed the structure of the whole family itself, the now called Modern Family in which workers, laborers and domestic servants are now not considered member of the family anymore. However even if women thought that after the war they would have been seen from the society in a different way it never happened. The revolution haven’t changed the perception of the woman and the emancipated ideal
In The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin we see the way Franklin carried his life from being just a boy to a great business man. He states how things were in his opinion. He was a man that started from nothing, worked his way up in the social hierarchy as an important figure and also a financial figure. In his autobiography we see differences in gender take place. Men were the highlight of social construction while females were underestimated as a role in society in education, family and work.
Gender roles were important in the eighteenth century because firmly established roles for each gender helped build and maintain a strong family unit. A family with a strong structure was vital because the family was the basis for all other institutions. Everything from government to church worked through the strong family unit. Women in the eighteenth century were designated to maintain household order and be subservient to the man. Eliza Wharton does not lose her innocence throughout the novel, Foster starts the novel with Eliza already enticed by the idea of freedom. Eliza refuses to cooperate with the domestic and republican ideology that is enforced by the women around her. Eliza challenges those who are happily the voice of domesticity. Eliza has no intention of participating in typical republican motherhood and matrimonial bonds. Eliza’s refusal to accept the normal gender roles of the eighteenth century is a menace to the patriarchy. One of Eliza’s suitors Boyer, ends up getting his heart
Benjamin Franklin, through hard work and perseverance, transformed himself into a philosopher, diplomat, inventor, writer, and scientist. (SOURCE) Franklin’s contributions and ideas significantly encouraged major progress in the development our country and improvements that continue to affect society. He showed that with a strong desire and honest and hard work anything is possible. Unlike most politicians, he was a common person. He is also a hero in that he symbolizes hope and possibilities for many Americans. However, Franklin was not a perfect human being, and for that reason, some believe that his face should not grace the $100 bill. His legacy is undeniably a major part in our history and as one of the key “founding fathers” to our society; the fact reminds Benjamin Franklin is distinct figure in our history. I will present my argument in favor of keeping Franklin on the bill.
Women primarily undertook the role of being a mother from a considerably young age. Prejudice views prevented many women from holding office let alone playing influential public roles. Most men in the colonial era were farmers or merchants, very few having careers in the medical or law fields. Women seldom held jobs of higher nobility, yet a fraction practiced the trades of their husband or served as midwives. Religion in the colonial era emphasized women balancing the roles of mothering and serving their husband as an idealistic wife. ...
Often historical events leading up to the twentieth century are dominated by men and the role of women is seemingly non-existent outside of reproduction. When one thinks of notable and memorable names and events of the Revolution, men are the first to be mentioned. The American Revolution was mainly dominated by men including George Washington, Samuel Adams, and Benjamin Franklin. There is no denying that men were vitally important to the American Revolution, but what were the women doing? Often overlooked, the women of the Revolution played a key role in the outcome of the nation. The women of the American Revolution, although not always recognized, were an influential society that assumed risky jobs like soldiers, as well as involvement
Women working in the mills were typically native-born, young, and unmarried. As most of the boardinghouses were run by men, the idea of coverture does not disappear. In the case of John and Abigail Adams, coverture meant protection, but it took away from Abigail’s privileges. Similarly in the boardinghouses, women were protected, but they were so restricted by rules and regulations that they had very few freedoms. Although these rules limited women, they upheld the submissive aspect of True Womanhood because they were to be obedient to their
The role of women in the Early Republic is a topic mostly overlooked by historians when dealing with this era of American history. The triumphs of the Revolution and the early events of the new nation were done solely by men. However, women had their own political societies and even participated in the Revolution. Women's roles began to take a major turn after the war with Great Britain. This was due in part to their involvement in the war and female patriotism. Others believed it was due to the easier access to formal education for young women. Whatever the reason, it inspired women to challenge the social structure of the Early Republic. The roles of women were changing in the Early Republic. However, progress was slow and little change followed after the Revolution. This change in social structure elicited two questions. What caused this social change and what was the major setback for the progression of women's rights? These were the questions Linda Kreber's Women In The Republic: Intellect And Ideology In Revolutionary America, Caroline Robbins' review of Mary Norton's Liberty's Daughters: The Revolutionary Experience of American Women, and Sheila Skemp's review of Lucia McMahon's Mere Equals: The Paradox of Educated Women in the Early American Republic attempted to answer. Each of the pieces of literature agreed that the social equality of women was changing, but each offer a unique aspect of what changed it, and what slowed progression of equality.
A huge part of the economical grow of the United States was the wealth being produced by the factories in New England. Women up until the factories started booming were seen as the child-bearer and were not allowed to have any kind of career. They were valued for factories because of their ability to do intricate work requiring dexterity and nimble fingers. "The Industrial Revolution has on the whole proved beneficial to women. It has resulted in greater leisure for women in the home and has relieved them from the drudgery and monotony that characterized much of the hand labour previously performed in connection with industrial work under the domestic system. For the woman workers outside the home it has resulted in better conditions, a greater variety of openings and an improved status" (Ivy Pinchbeck, Women Workers and the Industrial Revolution, 1750-1850, pg.4) The women could now make their own money and they didn’t have to live completely off their husbands. This allowed women to start thinking more freely and become a little bit more independent.
In The Autobiography, Benjamin Franklin recounts the many paramount experiences throughout his life that shaped him into great American figure he was known to be. On the opening page, Franklin reveals the book’s epistolary format by writing, “Dear Son,” going on to admit that he’s made some mistakes in the past and to recollect that past is a way to relive it. By divulging his desire to “change some sinister Accidents & Events” (Franklin 3) the author indicates how important it is for his son to observe as he amends his mistakes. Pride, virtue and vanity play a pivotal role in Benjamin Franklin’s life and the way he portrays himself to others. Instances occur where the author is shown gloating about his great accomplishments and he puts emphasis on his need to live a virtuous and morally perfect life. Throughout his story, Benjamin Franklin tells his son of his many virtuous acts and momentous achievements, motivating the question as to whether he seeks his own approval more so than the approval of his peers.
... a feme covert, a dependant. Jeanne Boydston paints a wholly different picture of Eighteenth Century America and women’s involvement in the burgeoning labor market. In The Woman Who Wasn't There: Women's Market Labor and the Transition to Capitalism in the United States Boydston points to the emphasis on household productivity in order to deal with an erratic economy. She tells us that by the mid-eighteenth century the flexible nature of “woman’s work” (which could be done at home, with tools that were readily available) gave rise to the role of wife as “deputy husband”. Though soon the growing linkage between what Boydston calls “independent manhood” and “economic agency” began to overwhelm. There was a reordering of the concept of gender in late eighteenth century America, and the concept of separate spheres that Linda Kerber eloquently debunks began to take hold.
B — I am frightfully sorry to disturb you at this hour, Franklin, but matters of a most vital import have transpired and I felt that I must convey them to you immediately.
Benjamin Franklin is one of the most influential and famous figures of all time. Ben Franklin if often referred to as the "self-made man," and his philosophies and principles in the Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin, edited by Louis P. Masur, has served as a self-help book for millions around the world. Franklin's Autobiography is a prime example of the American dream, a rag to riches story that has inspired many people to think of themselves and the community in a different light. Franklin's moral and social philosophies are packed deeply into his Autobiography. Franklin believed that improving ones self was the key to success. Self-improvement, self-education, and self-discipline are the main factors of a self-made man. Improving yourself will ultimately improve the society as a whole. Franklin speaks of principality and inclination. His idea was to produce the principle man with the awareness of man's natural inclination. Throughout the text Franklin provides examples from his own life that contradicts his moral and social philosophies. These contradictions are mostly caused by natural inclinations. Franklin uses these contradictions to educate people to be aware of their natural inclinations and to try and overcome them. Franklin's realizes that improving oneself is a road with many imperfections. Not even the "self-made man" was completely perfect.