Jonathan Edwards and Benjamin Franklin were both prominent leaders in colonial America who were dedicated to hard work and a belief in the basic goodness of all men. Sharing in these basic concepts they went about making a major contribution to society but did so in different ways. The personalities of Jonathan Edwards and Benjamin Franklin could not have been any different. Edwards was a strict Calvinist who was serious and reserved while Franklin was a Deist whose warmth and gregarious personality was legendary. Taking different views in many ways to life they still adhered to their basic beliefs that there was no substitute for hard work.

As a Deist, Franklin believed that every life situation could be resolved through the use of reason. Franklin's writings on life and his extensive work in the areas of philosophy and science are evidence of his basic attitude toward life. Edwards, meanwhile, believed strongly in the Calvinist concept of predestination and the idea that a strong belief...

For Edwards, everything was explainable through God. For Franklin, reason was the key. Nevertheless, both men were reflective and determined to spend their days examining their own lives and considering how they could improve themselves. In the process, Edwards felt it his obligation to be an example for others and to go about preaching his beliefs. Franklin, however, never viewed himself as a role model for others or did he set out to suggest to others how to lead their lives.
Both Franklin and Edwards were highly driven men who had an intense desire to succeed. Franklin began his wide and varied professional career as a printer who eventually became actively involved in the political affairs of the day. Reading and learning were his passion and he spent his entire life educating himself on a variety of matters. He may have been the most Renaissance man of his times. Edwards was a preacher whose primary concern was preparing himself…