Contributions of Benjamin Franklin

Benjamin Franklin was born in Boston in 1706. According to Panesar (2004), Franklin was the most famous people across the world during his lifetime. Franklin was a literary author who happened to be involved in politics, having a special place in the hearts and minds of many Americans. Studies have shown that Franklin was a leading figure in the American Revolution, where, he served in the Second Continental Congress as well as, a diplomat to France (Lemay, 2006). He helped in securing French support for the American Cause, an indispensable contribution during the Revolutionary War (Wood 2004), Today, Franklin remain one of the relatively figures in the world history who could be called, a diplomat, a politician, an inventor, a scientist and many others. During his life, Franklin influenced many areas of American life, for instance, his influence in France during his lifetime as the ambassador did not only change the America, but changed the world at large. In addition, he had of course a significant role in shaping the independent United States as one of the Founding Fathers; this role embedded him in the national consciousness (Panesar, 2004),

How Benjamin Franklin was important and shaped the course of the U.S.A.

Franklin, the elder statesman of the Constitutional Convention pioneered the spirit of self-help in America. He actually had more to do with founding the American republic than anyone else. For instance, as an American representative, he managed to go to France and secured the military help and formal alliance, without which America would not have won the Revolutionary War. He also crafted a compromise which helped in preventing the collapse of the Constitutional Convention, and indeed he was one who moved that the Constitution be adopted. According to Wood (2004), Franklin shaped the course of the United States of America in five major ways that is; through becoming a gentleman, British imperialist, a patriot, a diplomat and an American.

(a) Through becoming a gentleman

Becoming a gentleman changed Franklin's life. He was no longer merely the "honest Tradesman," however, he was a different person who had different goals. "You do nice things for the people you like and bad things to the people you hate." As for Franklin, dealing with the haters was not a major problem. Like many people full of drive and intelligence, Franklin developed strong people skills as well as social powers in solving problems that affected many Americans.

During the signing of the Declaration of Independence, he told people to be gentlemen since he knew that he was a gentleman; he said "Gentlemen, we must all hang together or else you shall all hang separately." In this case, Franklin knew that the men to sign the Declaration of Independence would be considered as traitors by the British, therefore, they were needed to work together, or else they would be hung. Despite all his gentlemanly activities, Franklin's philanthropic ventures as well as, his practical projects for self-education in the art of virtue, he still saw himself as a businessman and not a gentleman in these early Philadelphia years. Conversely, if Franklin was not a gentleman, he would have not been a commoner either.

(b) Through becoming a British Imperialist

Becoming a gentleman changed Franklin's life. Franklin never became the most eloquent spokesman for the American rights, however he seems to have outshone many native English people in his praise for Great Britain, as a result, people referred him as "a thoroughgoing imperialist and royalist" (Waldstreicher, 2011). In addition, Franklin was aware of the British system's faults. For instance, he had seen corruption at various levels of government, he also complained about the transportation of convicts to America, where he noted that ignorance of American affairs was common in Great Britain. In 1970s, Franklin became livid at arbitrary power in Pennsylvania. However, he later criticized the British Imperial system as well as, introducing proposals for reform. His overarching goal was mainly to improve the British Empire along with the America's place within it (Waldstreicher, 2011).

Later in 1970s, as dissidents took to the streets to protest British taxation, Franklin on the other hand, took the field against a Pennsylvania "Country Mob" so as to assert the authority of the Pennsylvania Legislature. As a British Imperialist, Franklin continued looking forward to the next war as the opportunity for completing the conquests that the British government had forgone in 1973. In summary, Franklin was a pragmatist, a builder of sociable networks rather than a person who worried about rigorous intellectual consistency. To the extent that he was an ideologue, it was in his vision for America as the spearhead of an expanding empire (Wood, 2004),

(c) Through becoming a patriot

Franklin was admired for his scientific accomplishments, diplomatic ability as well as, kindly personality. He was able to employ these personal qualities in the service of his country as an able diplomat and respected advocate of compromise in the critical moments of the early republic. Franklin had a colorful personality, his opinions were moderate and he usually kept them to themselves. The British taxation did not worry him so much; however, he saw America's future as more equal part of the British Empire. And in 1763, the Great Britain was able to emerge from the seven years of war as the most powerful empire the world had ever seen. The armies and navies on the other hand had been victorious from India to the Mississippi River (Wood, 2004), Franklin was so much disturbed with the idea that the Americans had wrong ideas of the nature of their constitution, he believed that the American colonists should be able to vote on the laws of the colonies in their American assemblies, and that, once those laws have been approved by the British King, should not be able to be amended again by any British person, as a result, Franklin decided to support the American patriotic cause.