Complementary Yet Frank and Scholarly

¶ … complementary yet frank and scholarly biography about Benjamin Franklin, Edmund S. Morgan presents an intimate and personal picture of a man who would forever shape the future of the United States of America. Not only did Franklin help draft the Declaration of Independence and forge the basis for the republican character of the nation, he also devoted much of his time to the pursuit of science as well as religion and morality. Franklin penned innumerable casual and formal letters and books, including Poor Richard's Almanac, from which modern English has borrowed many common phrases, idioms, and maxims. Benjamin Franklin's religious life, personal life, and public life are accounted for in rich detail and compassionate review by Morgan, a Yale scholar who obviously holds Franklin in high esteem. In compiling the primary source material for his biography, Morgan represents the academic community but also presents the information clearly for a lay audience. The resulting book is well-written and approachable while also being thoroughly researched and documented, based mainly on primary source material but bolstered by the personal opinions of its author. Edmund S. Morgan's Benjamin Franklin lends deep insight into the character of the man, filling in small gaps in the historiography of his time while offering his audience an enormously laudatory, positive view of the quintessential American founding father.

Morgan's purpose is not to offer much in the way of secret or new information about Benjamin Franklin, of whom the scholarly and lay community alike already knows a considerable amount. After all, Benjamin Franklin was a prolific writer who penned his autobiography and who also left a legacy of letters and other pieces of writing that can tell much about his life, his character, and his influence. However, Morgan extrapolates more than the average biographer from Franklin's writings in this book, inferring a considerable amount of information. For instance as if Morgan knew the man, he describes the "warmth of his smile, the tone of his voice, the little gestures, the radiant presence," (ix). Such liberties are normally not taken by an erudite academic yet Morgan holds back nothing regarding his high esteem of Benjamin Franklin. Therefore, the thesis of his biography is basically that Benjamin Franklin was an incredible personage of great historical import who is fully deserving of all the fame and accolades that he readily receives.

In fact, Morgan acknowledges the legendary status that Franklin has achieved. The author continually refers to his folk hero status and the urban legends that surround Benjamin Franklin. Regarding the kite-flying incidence, Morgan asserts that unlike George Washington cutting down the cherry tree, Benjamin Franklin "really did fly the kite," (11). Morgan devotes a vast amount of his book to Franklin's scientific as well as his political and social achievements. Especially in the early chapters of the book, Morgan accounts Franklin's lifelong fascination with the natural world and the world of physics and electricity, for which he became famous. Franklin was a natural scientist, one who was fascinated with the natural world and who was also dedicated to documenting and understanding its workings. Morgan notes that Franklin was "continually designing experiments" and "had the same curiosity about the world that drives today's scientists," (8; 9). Franklin was, therefore, ahead of his time, and as Morgan states, felt he was "born too soon," (ix).

Morgan's biography is well-organized and straightforward but is not strictly chronological. While he attempts to offer a basically linear account of Franklin's life in the context of his many achievements, Morgan presents Franklin's life more in terms of overarching themes than of how the man proceeded from childhood through old age. For example, Morgan begins by describing Franklin's fascination with the oceanic world, which led him to investigate other scientific processes and manifestations including lightening. Moreover, Franklin's spirituality and religiosity followed him throughout his career, influencing every aspect of his life. Franklin was not an overtly religious man although he did have close connections to the Quakers due to his residence in Pennsylvania. Morgan also stresses Franklin's social skills, which came in handy for a politician and for someone deeply devoted to the public welfare and to promoting civil service. Although Franklin retained respect for and devotion to the British crown, he also became one of the seminal figures of American history.