Benjamin Franklin - Founding Father of the United States

Dutch Uncle

Dutch Uncle

* Tertia Optio * Defend the Constitution
Tonight and tomorrow a 4 hour Ken Burns documentary runs on PBS.


https://www.pbs.org/kenburns/benjamin-franklin/
Ken Burns’s four-hour documentary, Benjamin Franklin, explores the revolutionary life of one of the 18th century’s most consequential figures, whose work and words unlocked the mystery of electricity and helped create the United States.

https://www.pbs.org/kenburns/benjamin-franklin/watch

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Benjamin-Franklin
Benjamin Franklin, also called Ben Franklin, pseudonym Richard Saunders, (born January 17 [January 6, Old Style], 1706, Boston, Massachusetts [U.S.]—died April 17, 1790, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.), American printer and publisher, author, inventor and scientist, and diplomat. One of the foremost of the Founding Fathers, Franklin helped draft the Declaration of Independence and was one of its signers, represented the United States in France during the American Revolution, and was a delegate to the Constitutional Convention. He made important contributions to science, especially in the understanding of electricity, and is remembered for the wit, wisdom, and elegance of his writing.
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Dutch Uncle said:
Tonight and tomorrow a 4 hour Ken Burns documentary runs on PBS.


https://www.pbs.org/kenburns/benjamin-franklin/
Ken Burns’s four-hour documentary, Benjamin Franklin, explores the revolutionary life of one of the 18th century’s most consequential figures, whose work and words unlocked the mystery of electricity and helped create the United States.

https://www.pbs.org/kenburns/benjamin-franklin/watch

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Benjamin-Franklin
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He and Jefferson, opposites in many ways are my fav's.
 
Dutch Uncle said:
Why do you think it was a "big fail"? Is that like "fake news"?
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We ended the whole experiment after 8 presidents who had almost zero power. It was badly constructed. Our first president Hanson is not even remembered by Americans. How does Repub fake news fit into this thread?
 
Nordberg said:
We ended the whole experiment after 8 presidents who had almost zero power. It was badly constructed. Our first president Hanson is not even remembered by Americans. How does Repub fake news fit into this thread?
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Because, like Republicans, you are distorting the truth.

https://www.archives.gov/milestone-documents/articles-of-confederation
The Articles of Confederation were adopted by the Continental Congress on November 15, 1777. This document served as the United States' first constitution. It was in force from March 1, 1781, until 1789 when the present-day Constitution went into effect.

The Dickinson Draft of the Articles of Confederation named the confederation "the United States of America." After considerable debate and revision, the Second Continental Congress adopted the Articles of Confederation on November 15, 1777.

The document seen here is the engrossed and corrected version that was adopted on November 15. It consists of six sheets of parchment stitched together. The last sheet bears the signatures of delegates from all 13 states.

This "first constitution of the United States" established a "league of friendship" for the 13 sovereign and independent states. Each state retained "every Power...which is not by this confederation expressly delegated to the United States." The Articles of Confederation also outlined a Congress with representation based on population – each state would have one vote in Congress.

Ratification by all 13 states was necessary to set the Confederation into motion. Because of disputes over representation, voting, and the western lands claimed by some states, ratification was delayed. When Maryland ratified it on March 1, 1781, the Congress of the Confederation came into being.
 
Dutch Uncle said:
Because, like Republicans, you are distorting the truth.

https://www.archives.gov/milestone-documents/articles-of-confederation
The Articles of Confederation were adopted by the Continental Congress on November 15, 1777. This document served as the United States' first constitution. It was in force from March 1, 1781, until 1789 when the present-day Constitution went into effect.

The Dickinson Draft of the Articles of Confederation named the confederation "the United States of America." After considerable debate and revision, the Second Continental Congress adopted the Articles of Confederation on November 15, 1777.

The document seen here is the engrossed and corrected version that was adopted on November 15. It consists of six sheets of parchment stitched together. The last sheet bears the signatures of delegates from all 13 states.

This "first constitution of the United States" established a "league of friendship" for the 13 sovereign and independent states. Each state retained "every Power...which is not by this confederation expressly delegated to the United States." The Articles of Confederation also outlined a Congress with representation based on population – each state would have one vote in Congress.

Ratification by all 13 states was necessary to set the Confederation into motion. Because of disputes over representation, voting, and the western lands claimed by some states, ratification was delayed. When Maryland ratified it on March 1, 1781, the Congress of the Confederation came into being.
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He was correct though, it was a dismal failure

And I’d take Hamilton over both Ben and Jefferson, pragmatist, and he didn’t let marry himself to orthodoxy
 
archives said:
He was correct though, it was a dismal failure

And I’d take Hamilton over both Ben and Jefferson, pragmatist, and he didn’t let marry himself to orthodoxy
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It was a stepping stone. That's like saying "The Mercury Project was a dismal failure because it never reached the Moon". Duh.

The other lie is that Franklin wrote it. His draft was never even considered by Congress: https://www.history.com/topics/early-us/articles-of-confederation

Altogether, six drafts of the Articles were prepared before Congress settled on a final version in 1777. Benjamin Franklin wrote the first and presented it to Congress in July 1775. It was never formally considered. Later in the year Silas Deane, a delegate from Connecticut, offered one of his own, which was followed still later by a draft from the Connecticut delegation, probably a revision of Deane’s.

None of these drafts contributed significantly to the fourth version written by John Dickinson of Pennsylvania, the text that after much revision provided the basis for the Articles approved by Congress. Dickinson prepared his draft in June 1776; it was revised by a committee of Congress and discussed in late July and August. The result, the third version of Dickinson’s original, was printed to enable Congress to consider it further. In November 1777 the final Articles, much altered by this long deliberative process, were approved for submission to the states.
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN’S INVENTIONS

He was truly a man ahead of his times!

Benjamin Franklin was many things in his lifetime: a printer, a postmaster, an ambassador, an author, a scientist, a Founding Father. Above all, he was an inventor, creating solutions to common problems, innovating new technology, and even making life a little more musical.

Despite creating some of the most successful and popular inventions of the modern world, Franklin never patented a single one, believing that they should be shared freely: "That as we enjoy great Advantages from the Inventions of others, we should be glad of an Opportunity to serve others by any Invention of ours; and this we should do freely and generously."

Here are some of Benjamin Franklin’s most significant inventions:

https://www.fi.edu/benjamin-franklin/inventions

My favorite quote by Ben: "Those who would give up essential liberty, to purchase a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety."

 
Dutch Uncle said:
Tonight and tomorrow a 4 hour Ken Burns documentary runs on PBS.


https://www.pbs.org/kenburns/benjamin-franklin/
Ken Burns’s four-hour documentary, Benjamin Franklin, explores the revolutionary life of one of the 18th century’s most consequential figures, whose work and words unlocked the mystery of electricity and helped create the United States.

https://www.pbs.org/kenburns/benjamin-franklin/watch

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Benjamin-Franklin
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I can’t wait to watch it. I enjoy Ken’s work.
 
Phantasmal said:
I can’t wait to watch it. I enjoy Ken’s work.
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Me too although I'll have to record it.

I saw both Burns and Mandy Patinkin (narrator) on the Late Night show last week and they talked about both the documentary and Franklin himself.
 
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