Conservapedia - User contributions [en]

Talk:Essay: Penn Jillette's refusal to accept my debate offer

2011-08-03T17:58:47Z

Rscaritt:

== Jillette Admits That He Doesn't Get Satire ==

I went and looked up the video. I find it interesting that Jillette acknowledges what you've been saying all along: that atheists lack appreciation of sophisticated comedy and satire. Consider the points below:

"I don't tend to respond to satire or irony or sarcasm."

"I'm naive, and my comedic interests and style do not go to satire..."

"I know that satire, irony, and sarcasm are considered very sophisticated forms of comedy, and may be too sophisticated for me..."

Now, he tacitly admitted to a number of things here:

1. He recognizes your work as satire.
2. He admits that he lacks the sophistication to appreciate satire.

He's really boxed himself into a corner. Either this was a sincere admission of his own lack of sophistication when it comes to comedy, or he was being ironic--which would make his claims that he "doesn't go to" irony and says what he means disingenuous. --[[User:Benp|Benp]] 16:31, 2 August 2011 (EDT)
::He also said concerning the above issue which you raise concerning himself that he: "pretty much say what I mean" which seems to imply that he sometimes uses sarcasm and/or satire. Once again, he appears not to be consistent in his complaints about some of the Conservapedia's material which focuses on himself. In addition, Jillette has yet to offer a single factual error in Conservapedia's [[atheism and obesity]] article nor has any other atheist. I do think that Jillette's "responses" so far are reflective of the [[Atheism|utter weakness of the atheist position]] and it is not surprising that he has yet to have a formal public debate with a Bible believer. [[User:Conservative|Conservative]] 17:53, 2 August 2011 (EDT)
:::I am not an atheist but I have pointed out the [[atheism and obesity]] article is predicated on an error. You never respond. [[User:MaxFletcher|MaxFletcher]] 18:07, 2 August 2011 (EDT)
:::::MaxFletcher, I know your claim is untrue and I suggest readers judge for themselves by reading these web pages: [[Atheism and obesity]] and the talk page of the article which is at [[Talk:Atheism and obesity]]. [[User:Conservative|Conservative]] 18:10, 2 August 2011 (EDT)
::::::And they come to the same conclusion - it is based on a Gallup study that mentions neither obesity or atheism. [[User:MaxFletcher|MaxFletcher]] 18:18, 2 August 2011 (EDT)
:::::::MaxFletcher, please feel blather on and engage in [[last wordism]]. I stand by what I previously posted. [[User:Conservative|Conservative]] 18:24, 2 August 2011 (EDT)
::::::::The Gallup study never mentions obesity or atheism. That is an error. Why can't you admit you are wrong? It's embarrassing. [[User:MaxFletcher|MaxFletcher]] 18:27, 2 August 2011 (EDT)
:::::::::It's really embarrassing. I've also repeatedly shown "Conservative" to be in error on this point yet he's done nothing but sneer at me too. Blather indeed. [[User:NKeaton|Nate]] 19:10, 2 August 2011 (EDT)
:::::::::::Nate, I see you are still smarting from our Conservative Protestantism vs. Liberal Catholicism exchanges. [[User:Conservative|Conservative]] 19:23, 2 August 2011 (EDT)
::::::::::::Please stay on topic. I have a very simple question, a yes/no question: Does the Gallup Study mention obesity or atheism? [[User:MaxFletcher|MaxFletcher]] 19:31, 2 August 2011 (EDT)
:::::::::::::I see you're still slandering my church. I was never smarting - I was irritated that nobody here would discipline you for spouting more anti-Catholic nonsense. It's ok. I'll wait for it. This site is too good to be taken over by someone so unwilling to accommodate ALL Christians. [[User:NKeaton|Nate]] 19:35, 2 August 2011 (EDT)
::::::::::::::Gentlemen, you are wasting your time. The owner of this site is obviously well aware of Conservative's actions (the debate was after all, plastered all over his talk page). As for trying to convince Conservative that the poll does not address an obesity/atheism link, you are wasting your time. Moral and intellectual cowards never admit their errors..--[[User:Rscaritt|Rscaritt]] 09:09, 3 August 2011 (EDT)

== When will Penn Jillette formally debate a Bible believing Christian? ==

[[File:Señor-Dawkins-in-his-intellectual-bunnyhole.jpg|right|thumb|300px|Atheist [[Essay: Penn Jillette's refusal to accept my debate offer|Penn Jillette]] in his "intellectual bunny hole" which unfortunately is his native habitat. When will Penn Jillette formally debate a Bible believing Christian?
 
 
(photo obtained from [http://www.flickr.com/photos/shell_belle/1123262803/ Flickr], see: [http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/deed.en license agreement])]]

User talk:Rscaritt

2011-08-03T17:57:03Z

Rscaritt:

Please do not reinsert the personal remark Jcw took the liberty of removing. If you insist on inserting personal remarks, you may be blocked. Thanks.--[[User:JamesWilson|JamesWilson]] 13:33, 3 August 2011 (EDT)

Sorry. I will reinsert it. I meant it and stand by it.--[[User:Rscaritt|Rscaritt]] 13:57, 3 August 2011 (EDT)

Talk:Essay: Penn Jillette's refusal to accept my debate offer

2011-08-03T17:08:06Z

Rscaritt:

Talk:Essay: Penn Jillette's refusal to accept my debate offer

2011-08-03T13:31:21Z

Rscaritt:

== Jillette Admits That He Doesn't Get Satire ==

I went and looked up the video. I find it interesting that Jillette acknowledges what you've been saying all along: that atheists lack appreciation of sophisticated comedy and satire. Consider the points below:

"I don't tend to respond to satire or irony or sarcasm."

"I'm naive, and my comedic interests and style do not go to satire..."

"I know that satire, irony, and sarcasm are considered very sophisticated forms of comedy, and may be too sophisticated for me..."

Now, he tacitly admitted to a number of things here:

1. He recognizes your work as satire.
2. He admits that he lacks the sophistication to appreciate satire.

He's really boxed himself into a corner. Either this was a sincere admission of his own lack of sophistication when it comes to comedy, or he was being ironic--which would make his claims that he "doesn't go to" irony and says what he means disingenuous. --[[User:Benp|Benp]] 16:31, 2 August 2011 (EDT)
::He also said concerning the above issue which you raise concerning himself that he: "pretty much say what I mean" which seems to imply that he sometimes uses sarcasm and/or satire. Once again, he appears not to be consistent in his complaints about some of the Conservapedia's material which focuses on himself. In addition, Jillette has yet to offer a single factual error in Conservapedia's [[atheism and obesity]] article nor has any other atheist. I do think that Jillette's "responses" so far are reflective of the [[Atheism|utter weakness of the atheist position]] and it is not surprising that he has yet to have a formal public debate with a Bible believer. [[User:Conservative|Conservative]] 17:53, 2 August 2011 (EDT)
:::I am not an atheist but I have pointed out the [[atheism and obesity]] article is predicated on an error. You never respond. [[User:MaxFletcher|MaxFletcher]] 18:07, 2 August 2011 (EDT)
:::::MaxFletcher, I know your claim is untrue and I suggest readers judge for themselves by reading these web pages: [[Atheism and obesity]] and the talk page of the article which is at [[Talk:Atheism and obesity]]. [[User:Conservative|Conservative]] 18:10, 2 August 2011 (EDT)
::::::And they come to the same conclusion - it is based on a Gallup study that mentions neither obesity or atheism. [[User:MaxFletcher|MaxFletcher]] 18:18, 2 August 2011 (EDT)
:::::::MaxFletcher, please feel blather on and engage in [[last wordism]]. I stand by what I previously posted. [[User:Conservative|Conservative]] 18:24, 2 August 2011 (EDT)
::::::::The Gallup study never mentions obesity or atheism. That is an error. Why can't you admit you are wrong? It's embarrassing. [[User:MaxFletcher|MaxFletcher]] 18:27, 2 August 2011 (EDT)
:::::::::It's really embarrassing. I've also repeatedly shown "Conservative" to be in error on this point yet he's done nothing but sneer at me too. Blather indeed. [[User:NKeaton|Nate]] 19:10, 2 August 2011 (EDT)
:::::::::::Nate, I see you are still smarting from our Conservative Protestantism vs. Liberal Catholicism exchanges. [[User:Conservative|Conservative]] 19:23, 2 August 2011 (EDT)
::::::::::::Please stay on topic. I have a very simple question, a yes/no question: Does the Gallup Study mention obesity or atheism? [[User:MaxFletcher|MaxFletcher]] 19:31, 2 August 2011 (EDT)
:::::::::::::I see you're still slandering my church. I was never smarting - I was irritated that nobody here would discipline you for spouting more anti-Catholic nonsense. It's ok. I'll wait for it. This site is too good to be taken over by someone so unwilling to accommodate ALL Christians. [[User:NKeaton|Nate]] 19:35, 2 August 2011 (EDT)
::::::::::::::Gentlemen, you are wasting your time. The owner of this site is obviously well aware of Conservative's actions (the debate was after all, plastered all over his talk page). As for trying to convince Conservative that the poll does not address an obesity/atheism link, you are wasting your time. Moral and intellectual cowards never admit their errors.--[[User:Rscaritt|Rscaritt]] 09:09, 3 August 2011 (EDT)

Talk:Essay: Penn Jillette's refusal to accept my debate offer

2011-08-03T13:09:15Z

Rscaritt:

== Jillette Admits That He Doesn't Get Satire ==

I went and looked up the video. I find it interesting that Jillette acknowledges what you've been saying all along: that atheists lack appreciation of sophisticated comedy and satire. Consider the points below:

"I don't tend to respond to satire or irony or sarcasm."

"I'm naive, and my comedic interests and style do not go to satire..."

"I know that satire, irony, and sarcasm are considered very sophisticated forms of comedy, and may be too sophisticated for me..."

Now, he tacitly admitted to a number of things here:

1. He recognizes your work as satire.
2. He admits that he lacks the sophistication to appreciate satire.

He's really boxed himself into a corner. Either this was a sincere admission of his own lack of sophistication when it comes to comedy, or he was being ironic--which would make his claims that he "doesn't go to" irony and says what he means disingenuous. --[[User:Benp|Benp]] 16:31, 2 August 2011 (EDT)
::He also said concerning the above issue which you raise concerning himself that he: "pretty much say what I mean" which seems to imply that he sometimes uses sarcasm and/or satire. Once again, he appears not to be consistent in his complaints about some of the Conservapedia's material which focuses on himself. In addition, Jillette has yet to offer a single factual error in Conservapedia's [[atheism and obesity]] article nor has any other atheist. I do think that Jillette's "responses" so far are reflective of the [[Atheism|utter weakness of the atheist position]] and it is not surprising that he has yet to have a formal public debate with a Bible believer. [[User:Conservative|Conservative]] 17:53, 2 August 2011 (EDT)
:::I am not an atheist but I have pointed out the [[atheism and obesity]] article is predicated on an error. You never respond. [[User:MaxFletcher|MaxFletcher]] 18:07, 2 August 2011 (EDT)
:::::MaxFletcher, I know your claim is untrue and I suggest readers judge for themselves by reading these web pages: [[Atheism and obesity]] and the talk page of the article which is at [[Talk:Atheism and obesity]]. [[User:Conservative|Conservative]] 18:10, 2 August 2011 (EDT)
::::::And they come to the same conclusion - it is based on a Gallup study that mentions neither obesity or atheism. [[User:MaxFletcher|MaxFletcher]] 18:18, 2 August 2011 (EDT)
:::::::MaxFletcher, please feel blather on and engage in [[last wordism]]. I stand by what I previously posted. [[User:Conservative|Conservative]] 18:24, 2 August 2011 (EDT)
::::::::The Gallup study never mentions obesity or atheism. That is an error. Why can't you admit you are wrong? It's embarrassing. [[User:MaxFletcher|MaxFletcher]] 18:27, 2 August 2011 (EDT)
:::::::::It's really embarrassing. I've also repeatedly shown "Conservative" to be in error on this point yet he's done nothing but sneer at me too. Blather indeed. [[User:NKeaton|Nate]] 19:10, 2 August 2011 (EDT)
:::::::::::Nate, I see you are still smarting from our Conservative Protestantism vs. Liberal Catholicism exchanges. [[User:Conservative|Conservative]] 19:23, 2 August 2011 (EDT)
::::::::::::Please stay on topic. I have a very simple question, a yes/no question: Does the Gallup Study mention obesity or atheism? [[User:MaxFletcher|MaxFletcher]] 19:31, 2 August 2011 (EDT)
:::::::::::::I see you're still slandering my church. I was never smarting - I was irritated that nobody here would discipline you for spouting more anti-Catholic nonsense. It's ok. I'll wait for it. This site is too good to be taken over by someone so unwilling to accommodate ALL Christians. [[User:NKeaton|Nate]] 19:35, 2 August 2011 (EDT)
:::::::::::::::Gentlemen, you are wasting your time. The owner of this site is obviously well aware of Conservative's actions (the debate was after all, plastered all over his talk page). As for trying to convince Conservative that the poll does not address an obesity/atheism link, you are wasting your time. Moral and intellectual cowards never admit their errors.--[[User:Rscaritt|Rscaritt]] 09:09, 3 August 2011 (EDT)

Mystery:Why is the Senate More Liberal than the House?

2011-07-24T01:05:42Z

Rscaritt:

As the political struggle over the [[debt ceiling]] in July 2011 illustrates, the [[U.S. Senate]] is more liberal than the [[U.S. House of Representatives]]? Other examples include how the House voted to end funding of the [[abortion]] provider [[Planned Parenthood]], yet the Senate voted to continue the funding.

''Why'' is the Senate more [[liberal]] than the House? Reasons include:

*Senate elections are statewide, and thus are more easily influenced by [[liberal]] media organizations than local House elections are.

* Senators are elected to a six year term, rather than the two years that members of the House of Representatives are elected to. The Senate, for much of its history, has always been more moderate than the house.

(add to list)

[[Category:politics]]
[[Category:mystery]]

American History Lecture Four

2011-07-24T01:01:36Z

Rscaritt:

{{HS_American_History}}
[[American History Lecture Four|Lecture]] - [[American_History_Homework_Four|Questions]] - [[American History Homework Four Answers|Student Answers]]

Here are a few more tips on answering multiple-choice history questions:

#First determine the general time period of the question. Was it before the Revolutionary War, or after? Was it before the Civil War, or later? If possible, eliminate any answers from the wrong time period.
#Next determine who was president, simply as a landmark for recalling other events. Was there a war going on? If it was before there were any presidents (i.e., during colonial times), what else was going on?
#Just as you use landmarks for finding your way to a location, use easy-to-recall events to find your "way around" history. If you know when the Constitutional Convention was (1787), then it becomes easier to estimate when George Washington first became president (elected in late 1788, and sworn into office in early 1789).

After 1788, the easiest "landmark" for each period is the president. That does not mean he is the most important person, but being able to identify the president is an easy way to organize the important events. '''I should be able to name any date and you should be able to say who was president.''' Or, if you prefer, you can organize events around the numerous wars, but that may not be as easy because there were long periods in American history without ''any'' wars.

Let's try it now: 1798: who was president?<ref>John Adams.</ref>1793?<ref>George Washington.</ref> 1790?<ref>Also George Washington.</ref>

Throughout the late 1700s and all of the 1800s the federal or national government raised money for its operations primarily through tariffs, which are taxes on imports. When a foreign country sent goods to be sold in the United States, our federal government would impose a tariff (tax) on those goods. The more goods that were imported, the more revenue there would be from the tariffs. Tariffs were ultimately replaced by the income tax on individuals as the primary means for supporting our government, because President Woodrow Wilson thought tariffs caused conflicts and wars between nations.

Tariffs helped protect the domestic (United States) businesses by increasing the costs of the foreign competition, and thus are called "protective tariffs." If you were to own a factory that produces computers, and if there were a tariff imposing a $100 tax on all imported computers, then you would be thrilled because you could undersell the competition and make more profits. The North liked tariffs because the tariffs protected their manufacturing companies against competition by foreign manufacturers; the South disliked tariffs because it caused their cotton farmers to pay more for equipment, and because foreign nations would retaliate by imposing similar tariffs on the cotton exported by the South, which reduced the southern farmers' revenue.

An example of a protective tariff today would be a surcharge of $2000 on every foreign car sold in the United States. American car manufacturers would benefit from such a tariff, and the government would benefit from the extra revenue, but buyers of cars would not be happy about it. People in the North in 1800 were like the car manufacturers today that would support tariffs; people in the South in 1800 were like car buyers today who would oppose the tariffs. The conflict between the North and the South over tariffs was a major economic cause of the Civil War.

By 1800 decisions about tariffs and all other federal laws were being made in the marshy land now known as the District of Columbia. This, too, was a compromise between the North and the South. Our capital was initially in New York City, but then Alexander Hamilton brokered a compromise with Thomas Jefferson whereby the capital would move to Philadelphia in 1791 for ten years, and then to D.C. starting in 1800. In order to obtain support by northerners for moving the capital towards the South, Hamilton agreed to arrange for the federal government to assume debts incurred by the States for the Revolutionary War. So Washington actually suppressed the Whiskey Rebellion by riding from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, not from Washington, D.C., because the capital was in Philadelphia at that time.

In this class we focus on the period from 1800 to 1840.

== Revolution of 1800 ==

Jefferson learned the art of politics by first serving in the House of Burgesses in Virginia (an early Virginia legislative system similar to what became Congress). Jefferson was a brilliant writer, but a terrible speaker. In fact, he avoided public speaking whenever possible. He rarely spoke when he served in the Continental Congress, and when he did speak he expressed anti-religious views that were not shared by others. John Adams wrote about Jefferson:<ref name="Jefferson">http://wiki.monticello.org/mediawiki/index.php/Public_Speaking</ref>

:Mr. Jefferson had been now about a Year a Member of Congress, but had attended his Duty in the House but a very small part of the time and when there had never spoken in public: and during the whole Time I satt [''sic''] with him in Congress, I never heard him utter three Sentences together. The most of a Speech he ever made in my hearing was a gross insult on Religion, in one or two Sentences, for which I gave him immediately the Reprehension, which he richly merited.

After becoming president, Jefferson remained so afraid of speaking that he refused to read his annual address to Congress, instead insisting on sending it to Congress in written form.<ref name="Jefferson"/> On other occasions he would have someone else read his speech for him.

Jefferson benefited enormously from the formation of political parties. John Adams, the incumbent president in 1800, was a member of the "Federalist Party," which was strong in the northeast (especially Massachusetts). It favored a strong national government, friendly dealings with England, and a liberal interpretation of the Constitution (known as "loose constructionism," because it "loosely" interpreted or construed the Constitution). In opposition to this party, the Democratic-Republican Party formed to represent the opposite: a weak national government (keeping the power at a local level, which Virginia preferred), friendly dealings with France, and a strict interpretation of the Constitution ("strict constructionism"). The Democratic-Republican Party was strongest in Virginia. Politics is a team sport, and the fortunes of political candidates rose or fell based on the strength of the political party to which they belonged. The same is true today, and this system works reasonably well.

In 1800, when the Federalist Party leader John Adams was President, the Democratic-Republican Party ran Thomas Jefferson (who had founded the party) against Adams in the upcoming presidential election.

This presidential election of 1800 became known as the "[[Revolution of 1800]]," because it was the first '''''peaceful''''' change in power due to an election in modern history: the group in power, the Federalist Party, was defeated by a group not in power, the Democratic-Republican Party. The Democratic-Republican candidates, Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr, were victorious over the incumbent (Federalist) John Adams.<ref>Thomas Jefferson had been John Adams' Vice President, which seems odd today.</ref> The victory by Jefferson and Burr against Adams was a victory for limited government and a "strict constructionist" interpretation and implementation of the Constitution.

At the time, the Electoral College voted for both President and Vice President. Jefferson and his running mate, Aaron Burr, each received 73 electoral votes. It made sense that everyone who voted for Jefferson would also vote for his running mate, since both were with the same political party, the Democratic-Republicans. But the inability of this early election system to resolve this "tie" reflected a flaw in the Constitution in how Presidents and Vice Presidents were chosen. This was fixed by the [[12th Amendment]], but before that was ratified, the House of Representatives had to resolve the tie between Jefferson and Burr.

In the House of Representatives, many Federalists supported Burr and liked him more than Jefferson. But Burr was actually a bad guy, despite being the grandson of [[Jonathan Edwards]]. Burr had access and wealth, and a good deal of charm, but was as evil as anyone. Even the charitable [[George Washington]], who got along well with nearly everyone, felt compelled to banish Burr for misbehavior during the Revolution. Now the House of Representatives needed to choose between Burr and Jefferson as to who would be President.

Hamilton had fought Jefferson in politics for over a decade, and they disliked each other intensely. But Hamilton knew that Burr was rotten to the core. So Hamilton persuaded congressmen to choose Jefferson as President. Hamilton said that Burr was "the most unfit man in the United States for the office of president." Some suspect that Jefferson privately cut a deal with the Federalist Hamilton to act like more like a Federalist as President than Jefferson would have otherwise. Whether Hamilton and Jefferson cut a deal remains a mystery to this day. Regardless, after many "ballots" (votes), the House of Representatives at long last elected Jefferson on the thirty-sixth (36th) ballot.

Jefferson had a surprise waiting for him when he was sworn into the office of President. Before President Adams left office, Congress had passed a Judiciary Act to create many new federal courts below the U.S. Supreme Court, which is created by the Constitution itself. President Adams appointed Federalist judges to all of the new judicial positions.

When Jefferson took office, he refused to pay the salaries of some of these "midnight judges" appointed by Adams. This led to the famous court case of ''Marbury v. Madison'' (1803), where the Supreme Court held in Jefferson's favor by declaring a provision of the Judiciary Act to be unconstitutional. This was the first time that the Supreme Court held a federal law to be unconstitutional, but since then the Supreme Court has held many federal laws to be unconstitutional.

== Jefferson Administration ==

Jefferson encouraged westward expansion more strongly than any previous president. To reach this goal, he made purchasing land very easy, and the population west of the Appalachians grew rapidly. He believed that the Indians should be taught to farm, hoping that they would eventually become citizens of the United States.

In 1803, Jefferson appointed the former anti-Federalist [[James Monroe]] to negotiate terms for the purchase of New Orleans and West Florida from France, and to offer $2 million for this land but to go as high as $10 million if necessary for those two parcels of property.

But by this time [[Napoleon]] had suffered a costly failure in connection with a successful slave revolt in [[Haiti]], and he had decided that France should not try to colonize the New World any further. So France asked Monroe how much he would pay for ''all of'' France's territory on the North American continent, which included the vast tract of land northwest of Louisiana (stretching all the way along the Missouri River, to what is now Oregon on the Pacific coast). Monroe was able to negotiate extremely favorable terms of $11.25 million to France for ''all of'' the property (which translates to only a few pennies per acre), and not merely West Florida and New Orleans. This enormous tract of land was as large as the entire United States at the time. The overall purchase price was $15 million because Monroe also agreed that the United States would assume nearly $4 million in debts owed by France to American citizens at the time.

But the Constitution does not give the President the power to buy new territory. As a strict constructionist, Jefferson needed to violate his own principles about the Constitution in order to accept this unexpected, but extremely attractive, offer.

'''Debate: Was this "Louisiana Purchase" an improper exercise of power?'''

The Senate approved this "Louisiana Purchase" by a vote of 24-7, ratifying it by more than the 2/3rds required by the Constitution to approve treaties. Then, in 1804, Jefferson arranged for Meriwether Lewis, who was his secretary, to explore the territory west of Mississippi acquired in this Louisiana Purchase. Lewis chose William Clark, a soldier, as his assistant and their joint effort became known as the Lewis and Clark Expedition (1804–1806).<ref>Later, in 1809, Lewis was found dead of multiple gunshot wounds and it remains a mystery to this day whether he was murdered; President Clinton refused a request to exhume his body to aid a modern investigation.</ref> This expedition took about two years to complete, as the explorers traveled all the way to the Pacific Ocean and back.

In 1812, Louisiana because the first state admitted to the United States from this new territory. Much later, in 1828, the Supreme Court held that the power of the federal government to govern new territories implicitly included the initial power to acquire new territories first.<ref>''American Insurance Co v. Canter'' (1 Peters 511).</ref>

Let's return to 1804. Burr was then running for Governor of New York, which was one of the biggest and most powerful states. By then, Hamilton published a newspaper in New York (the ''New York Post''), which still exists and is still conservative today. Hamilton ran stories to defeat Burr. After Burr lost, he challenged Hamilton to a duel. In those days, one man could challenge anyone to a duel to fight to the death, and the other man had to defend his honor by accepting the challenge and fighting. Duels were illegal in New York, but Burr insisted that they fight in New Jersey, where the law was less clear. Many of our future Presidents were challenged to duels and fought in them, including [[Andrew Jackson]] and [[Abraham Lincoln]]. It was considered dishonorable to decline a challenge to a duel, but 50 years later (perhaps after duels had lost their grip on society) [[Stonewall Jackson]] did refuse to duel a student who had a conflict with him at the [[Virginia Military Institute]].

In 1804, Hamilton had no real choice but to accept Burr's challenge to a duel, and they met at dawn in Weehawkin, New Jersey. As was customary in duels, they walked twenty or so paces away from each other and then turned to shoot at each other. This time only one of the men fired to kill his opponent. Hamilton purposely did not try to kill Burr, feeling that it would be wrong to do so. But Burr shot and killed Hamilton. Burr then fled, having murdered one of the greatest [[Founding Fathers]] of all.

Later, Burr was indicted for murder, and he moved west to avoid jail. There, he and a military governor plotted to break Louisiana away from the United States. The plan failed, but it left behind a deep division in the United States.

Meanwhile, Jefferson had his hands full with foreign conflicts. Pirates were harassing and looting American shipping off the coasts of the Northern African countries of Morocco, Algiers and Tunis, which had a large port city known as "Tripoli" (it is now the capital city of Libya). When Tripoli demanded more payoffs to stop the pirating, Congress declared war against it in 1805, known as the First Barbary War (or the War with Tripoli). This war was actually unsuccessful for the United States, ending with a payment of a huge ransom to free the release of 270 sailors captured by the enemy. It was not until 1815 that brute force ended the harassment by the pirates of American shipping,<ref>http://www.indepthinfo.com/articles/tripoly-war.shtml</ref> although note that pirates captured and killed an American couple just recently. History books tend to give Jefferson preferential treatment and declare that he won the War with Tripoli. This war did inspire the opening lyric in the Marines' hymn, "From the halls of Montezuma, to the ''shores of Tripoli''."<ref>"Montezuma" is a reference to the Mexican War and the Battle of Chapultepec.</ref>

In 1807, bigger troubled occurred between the United States and England. The British Orders in Council forbade any trade by the United States with France unless the trade first touched English ports. The British also added insult to injury. In 1807, the "Chesapeake Affair" was a humiliating seizure by the British ship H.M.S. Leopard of an American ship the Chesapeake, in international waters where American shipping should have free travel. The British forcibly boarded the ship looking for other British sailors on it.

Jefferson tried to deal with the British Orders in Council by supporting and signing the Embargo Act in 1807. That law forbade all exports by the United States, and was a misguided attempt to hurt England. Jefferson also supported and signed the Non-Intercourse Act, which forbade trade with Britain and France while authorizing President Jefferson to end the boycott once the European countries stopped violating the rights of Americans. These bans on exports were a huge failure, and hurt the American economy more than it hurt the European countries. By the end of Jefferson's two terms in office (a total of 8 years), he was no longer popular and he followed Washington's example of voluntarily leaving office. He resigned in 1809. The British burden on American shipping continued until it caused the War of 1812, although ironically England finally rescinded the Orders slightly before Congress declared war. (Keep in mind that there was no internet or telephones then to facilitate speedy communications!)

Only one additional state joined the United States during Jefferson's presidency: Ohio, in 1803. Jefferson is credited with eliminated unnecessary taxes such as the whiskey tax and decreasing the size of the federal government.

Jefferson passed way decades later, on July 4, 1826, a few hours before his political rival John Adams also died. They had become friends years late in life. Jefferson was in financial ruin when he died, despite having been born into an extremely wealthy family.

== The Marshall Court ==

Meanwhile, in another branch of government, the Supreme Court was expanding its power under Chief Justice [[John Marshall]]. Marshall was a Federalist appointed by President John Adams, and Marshall served as Chief Justice for an astounding 35 years. Virtually every important decision rendered by his Court, starting with ''Marbury v. Madison'', expanded federal power. There was no "check and balance" on Marshall's expansion in judicial power for many decades, until near the end of Marshall's career when President Andrew Jackson stood up to him and ignored Marshall's decision on an Indian issue.

The expansion in ''federal'' power by the "Marshall Court" from 1801 to 1835 included the following decisions (note on nomenclature: "''Smith v. Jones''" is the terminology used to describe legal papers filed, for example, by John Smith against Tom Jones):

*''Marbury v. Madison'' (1803): established the new power of judicial review to declare an Act of Congress unconstitutional.
*''Fletcher v. Peck'' (1810): established the new power to invalidate a state law as unconstitutional (it held that a Georgia law violated the [[Contract Clause]] in the U.S. Constitution)
*''Dartmouth College v. Woodward'' (1819): established that the Constitution prevents a state from altering the charter of a private corporation (Dartmouth College)
*''McCullough v. Maryland'' (1819): established that States may not tax a federal bank, and also that a federal bank is authorized by the "necessary and proper" clause in the Constitution
*''Cohens v. Virginia'' (1821): established the supremacy of federal law, by allowing D.C. lottery tickets to be sold in all states except those prohibiting it
*''Cherokee Nation v. Georgia'' (1831): holding that the Cherokees are not a nation in the normal sense,and could not sue in federal court. The court ruled that the Cherokee were a "domestic, dependent nation," a status that would guide federal Indian relations for the next forty years.
* ''Worcester v. Georgia'' (1832): The court ruled that Indian relations were the exclusive domain of the federal government and that the laws of the state of Georgia had no force within the boundaries of the Cherokee nation. Georgia ignored the ruling, and the Jackson administration made no attempt to enforce it.

When Marshall finally died in office after serving a record 35 years as Chief Justice, he was replaced by Roger Taney. The Taney Court did not expand ''federal'' power as much, but it did expand government power at the State level. For example, its decisions included:
*''Charles River Bridge v. Warren Bridge'' (1837): allowing Massachusetts to fund a free bridge for the public good, despite hurting a private toll bridge established under a prior state charter. This destroyed private toll bridges and led to public financing of bridges and roads.

There will be more about Chief Justice Taney later in the course.

== The War of 1812 ==

James Madison was elected in 1808 to succeed Jefferson. Madison was a bit of an egghead, one of the few presidents who did not serve in war as others his age had. Madison was in over his head as a president. Madison was a thinker, not a commander-in-chief. England was still the most powerful country in the world, and not someone to pick a fight with, regardless of what an intellectual might think.

England was still in Canada and some "War Hawks" in Congress (led by Henry Clay) accused it of inciting Indian attacks against the United States. A Shawnee Indian named Tecumseh began to unite many of the tribes, and American settlers were terrified. It was believed that the British were arming the Indians and encouraging them to attack. In 1811, General William Henry Harrison (a future president) attacked Tecumseh's village. Of course, this only heightened tension between the Indians and settlers.

Meanwhile, England was also harassing American sailors and "impressing them," which means enlisting them as sailors for England against their will. Adding insult to injury, England invaded D.C. itself and burned down the Capitol and the White House. President Madison was befuddled and almost helpless. His wife Dolly at least showed some initiative by saving the portrait of George Washington as they fled the White House. The British sacked the entire city.

In 1814, in the harbor at Baltimore, a battle was fought at Fort McHenry, during which the British shelled the American fortress. An amateur poet named Francis Scott Key was detained during the battle and put his idle time to good use. He penned the ''Star-Spangled Banner'' in honor of how the American flag continued to fly throughout the bombardment. The words were immediately set to music, and became immensely popular. In 1931, over 100 years later, it became the official National Anthem.

Despite thrashing the United States in battle, England did not want to continue fighting. So on Christmas Eve, England agreed to end the war with the Treaty of Ghent, and the U.S. did not have to give back any land. The Treaty, which was negotiated by the Czar of Russia (a country depicted as a bear in political cartoons), arranged for the long, open Canadian-U.S. border that remains to this day. Sometimes the [[War of 1812]] is called the Second Revolutionary War because it permanently resolved disputes lingering from the Revolutionary War itself. Madison is frequently blamed by historians for allowing the War of 1812 to happen in the first place.

But news of the peace treaties traveled slowly in those days, and on Jan. 8, 1815, the British assaulted General Andrew Jackson's troops down in New Orleans. Jackson had hated the British ever since he was a teenager, when a British soldier ordered Jackson to shine the soldier's shoes in a complete humiliation to Jackson. Jackson refused and the soldier took out his sword and smacked Jackson across his face, leaving a scar he bore for the rest of his life. Jackson would never forget where that scar came from.

Jackson had settled in Tennessee where there were many woodsmen and hunters. The Americans in Tennessee and Kentucky had rifles and were very good with them. They were expert marksmen. People in Tennessee also volunteer for military service in huge percentages, giving it the nickname the "Volunteer State" that it still uses to this day. Jackson called on these marksmen to help him in New Orleans against the British, and the residents of Tennessee and Kentucky answered his call. They rallied to Jackson's United States Army.

Jackson led his group of marksmen down to New Orleans to settle his nation's score against the British, and perhaps to settle his personal grudge against them as well. Great Britain was the mightiest nation in the world and her soldiers were confident they could charge and destroy the rag-tag American army.

The British soldiers began an all-out charge against the American troops led by Jackson, but the Americans were ready for them. The British were no match for the marksmen from Tennessee and Kentucky, who used their own rifles to mow down and decimate the charging British in the Battle of New Orleans. Jackson became an overnight hero to the entire country for destroying the British there. This was the finest and most notable victory the young nation had enjoyed up to that time.

The battles with Indians also created a war hero. William Henry Harrison had defeated the Indians at Tippecanoe Creek several years earlier, in November 1811. Then Harrison destroyed Indian confederacy in Ohio. But Jackson was a bigger hero for defeating the British. Years later, first Jackson would become president based in his popularity as a hero, and later Harrison would also be elected president.

There was a surprise effect of the War of 1812 as well. Near the end of the war there was an extraordinary meeting called the Hartford Convention, which Federalists convened in Hartford, Connecticut, in late 1814. They drew up plans to oppose the war and perhaps even secede from the United States, out of friendship with England. But around the same time the United States signed the peace treaty with England and the Federalists looked like traitors. This ended the Federalist Party. They would never again be a factor in American politics.

Before leaving office, the Democratic-Republican James Madison vetoed the Bonus Bill in 1817, which would have required a bonus made available by the Second Bank of the United States to be spent on internal improvements.

== The Conservative President: James Monroe ==

The most conservative president of the 19th century (1801-1900) was [[James Monroe]], who was elected in 1816 (after President James Madison served his two terms and then retired). Monroe was so much against national (federal) power that he had even opposed the ratification of the Constitution as an "Anti-Federalist." But that was decades earlier, and by 1817 he was ready to be President. In many ways he became one of the best presidents in history.

His accomplishments were numerous and continue to shape our nation to this day, although he does not always receive the credit he deserves. Often tests ask about key achievements that happened under Monroe's leadership, but without mentioning his name.

In 1817, the United States and Britain agreed to limit armaments on the Great Lakes and waterways, which led to complete demilitarization of our border with Canada, which remains today. This is known as the "Rush-Bagot Treaty," and it saved both sides much money in military costs.

In 1819, Monroe completed the Adams-Onis Treaty to annex Florida to the United States, and also added property north of the southern border of current Oregon (which we now call the "Northwest").

In 1820, the successful "Missouri Compromise" resolved for several decades disputes about whether slavery would be permitted in new territories, and how to admit new states. This Compromise was between the North and the South, neither of which wanted to give up power by adding a state friendly to the other side. The Senate was evenly balanced at this time, and adding just one new state on one side would tip the balance in its favor. At the time there were 11 free states and 11 slave states (note that, perhaps surprisingly, Delaware and Kentucky were slave states).

So the Missouri Compromise added Maine as a free state (which would side with the North), and Missouri as a slave state (which would side with the South until the Civil War, when it refused to join the southern Confederacy). The other new states to be added from the Louisiana Purchase (once they had enough population) would be free: slavery was banned by this Compromise above the latitude of 36 degrees, 30 minutes.

The most lasting contribution of James Monroe was his "Monroe Doctrine" in 1823, which stated that Europe should not add any new colonies in North or South America because Europe's political and economic systems are vastly different from those in America. In fact, Monroe stated that Europe should not interfere further in the Western Hemisphere. To this day presidents continue to cite the Monroe Doctrine whenever a European country tries to do something in our hemisphere.

America was immensely prosperous under Monroe's conservative leadership. The "Era of Good Feelings" overtook our country. Roads and canals were built. The economy blossomed. Monroe vetoed the Cumberland Road Bill (calling for more government-built roads) and under his leadership the House rejected most spending bills on internal projects.

By the time Monroe retired after two successful terms, there was only one political party in the United States: Monroe's Democratic-Republican Party. In fact, Monroe was so successful that he had no opposition for his reelection in 1820, and became the only president ever elected unopposed after George Washington.

== The Election of 1824, also the Steamboat ==

After Monroe served two terms and retired just like Washington, a bitter race for president developed. Jackson started his own Democratic Party and ran against John Quincy Adams of Massachusetts, the son of the former President John Adams. Other candidates, such as Senator Henry Clay of Kentucky, also ran. John Quincy Adams, a Democratic-Republican (and later a National Republican), was a former Federalist who supported a strong national government. He had previously served as a minister to Russia when it acted as mediator to help negotiate the Treaty of Ghent to end the War of 1812.

Until 1824 presidential candidates were nominated by congressmen in an informal political meeting called a "caucus" (a favorite political term of John Adams). The caucus is still used today at some political conventions. As a presidential candidate in 2008, [[Barack Obama]] did better than [[Hillary Clinton]] in States that used caucuses (rather than an election by voters), which enabled Obama to defeat Clinton for the Democratic nomination despite Clinton having defeated Obama in many States that used open primaries. But in 1824, all the leading candidates for president were from the same political party (the Democratic-Republican Party), everyone who was nominated by the congressional caucus was on the ballot on Election Day for the voters to decide.

Jackson won more votes than Adams on Election Day but not enough to become president, so the election went into the House of Representatives. There Clay apparently struck a private bargain with Adams, whereby Clay persuaded congressmen to vote for Adams, and Adams, after he won, appointed Clay to be Secretary of State. Supporters of Jackson ("Old Hickory") harshly criticized this as the "corrupt bargain." Jackson, campaigning four years later against this "corruption", crushed Adams in the next presidential election.

'''Debate: Is it wrong for a politician to cut a deal with another politician like the "corrupt bargain" between Adams and Clay?'''

Under the John Quincy Adams Administration, Congress continued to pass tariffs to increase its funding, such as the Tariff of 1824. Henry Clay adopted a term, the "American System," to justify use of protective tariffs along with nationwide internal improvements, in order to expand the domestic economy and decrease our dependence on foreign nations.

The steamboat, invented in 1807 by Robert Fulton, with the first one constructed in America called the ''Clermont'', had a major effect on economy by 1820s. The steamboat enabled goods to be transported quickly and cheaply over water. Canals were then built. The most important canal was the Erie Canal, finished in 1825, to connect the Hudson River and New York City with the Great Lakes. Spectacular economic success enabled our nation's economy to grow immensely. The Erie Canal allowed New York City to become the financial center and biggest city in the United States. That canal cost $7 million but was soon generating profits of $3 million per year!

Another tariff was passed in 1828, partly due to a misguided attempt to help Jackson in the upcoming presidential election. Discussed in greater detail below, the supporters of free trade in the South were outraged and called this the Tariff of Abominations. John Quincy Adams left Andrew Jackson a big political problem for him to deal with.

After serving only one term as President, John Quincy Adams was remarkable in how he then continued to participate in politics. While virtually all other presidents and vice presidents felt that Congress was beneath them after they served, John Quincy Adams returned to Congress as a member of the House of Representatives from Massachusetts. There he fought for 17 more years against slavery and in favor of abolitionism, though the "gag rule" (see below) muzzled his anti-slavery efforts for some of that time. He also ran unsuccessfully for the position of governor of Massachusetts. John Quincy Adams eventually died by collapsing on the floor of the House of Representatives as he prepared to give a speech, and is interred in Quincy, Massachusetts.

== Jacksonian Democracy ==

The Democrat Andrew Jackson was the first president to have been born in a log cabin, and he cultivated his image to represent the "common man." His landslide victory in the presidential election of 1828 was a triumph of democracy -- now called "Jacksonian Democracy" -- because the middle and lower class voters loved Jackson as much as the upper class disliked him. During his inauguration Jackson welcomed the public into the White House, and the common folk trashed it, with farmers and frontiersmen with muddy boots standing on antique White House furniture that once graced figures like George Washington and Alexander Hamilton.

There was never a dull moment in the eight years of the Jackson Administration, as he fought with anyone who disagreed with him. His political opponents began to characterize him as a king or a tyrant, but most voters felt that Jackson was looking out for the public against the self-serving government types. Jackson was a firm supporter of the "spoils system," which means that "to the victor goes the spoils": the winner gets to fire all the government workers and replace them with his friends and supporters, no matter how incompetent. (Today conservatives tend to prefer a spoils system because the alternative of an entrenched bureaucracy unresponsive to voters is worse.)

Jackson particularly disliked banks, supposedly because a banker refused to give him a loan as a young man. Jackson vetoed renewal of the national bank, despite the insistence of wealthy bankers (similar to the insistence by Wall Street types today for the $700 billion bailout legislation).

Jackson vetoed federal road projects because he was a strict constitutionalist: if the power is not expressly in the Constitution, then it did not exist, Jackson felt. Jackson's most famous veto of a road construction project was his Maysville Road Veto in 1830, which would have sent money to Kentucky, the State of the influential Senator Henry Clay (known as the "Great Compromiser"). Jackson said there was no ''national'' benefit to justify federal funding for the project. Obviously future presidents did authorize interstate highways, because there are so many today.

Jackson disliked others in addition to bankers. For example, Jackson hated the Indians, and treated them very harshly. In 1830, Jackson forcibly evicted Indian tribes as part of the "Indian Removal," which increased Jackson's popularity in the Western frontier States having the most conflicts with Indians.

Jackson did not care much for Southerners who talked about nullifying federal law or seceding (leaving) the United States. Jackson, like President Abraham Lincoln 30 years later, was determined to hold the United States together.

A serious conflict between the North and South began before Jackson was even inaugurated. In 1828, Congress passed the "Tariff of Abominations," which raised tariffs despite a bitter protest by South Carolina, which was an exporter dependent on the good will of foreign countries in accepting its products. Raising tariffs on imports often caused other countries to retaliate, and also made it more expensive for farmers in the United States to buy the goods they needed. The North favored tariffs to reduce competition from foreign goods; the South opposed tariffs and wanted competition to reduce its costs in producing cotton. When the North raised the tariffs in 1828, John Calhoun of South Carolina secretly wrote the "South Carolina Exposition and Protest" in 1828, which stated that the:<ref>http://ehistory.osu.edu/world/articles/ArticleView.cfm?AID=23</ref>

:"whole system of legislation imposing duties on imports,--not for revenue, but the protection of one branch of industry at the expense of others,--is unconstitutional, unequal, and oppressive, and calculated to corrupt the public virtue and destroy the liberty of the Country...."

This Exposition and Protest embraced the concept of nullification, such that a State, if it decided that a federal law was unconstitutional, could nullify the law and not enforce it within the State. This Exposition and Protest was then adopted by South Carolina legislature as a formal protest against the federal law, and brought South Carolina a step closer to seceding from (leaving) the United States altogether. Georgia and Mississippi followed South Carolina in passing resolutions protesting the tariff.

Calhoun was Jackson's Vice President beginning in 1829, and Jackson was furious at this defiance by a State against federal authority. At a big political dinner in 1830, Jackson stared down Calhoun with the following toast: "Our Federal Union: It must be Preserved!"<ref name="Toast">http://www.ushistory.org/us/24e.asp</ref> Calhoun then rose and offered his different view as a toast: "The Union — ''next to our liberty'', the most dear!"<ref name="Toast"/> Jackson was irritated by this, and by 1832 Jackson would take the unusual step of dropping Calhoun from his ticket and replacing him with a new Vice President when Jackson ran for reelection.

In 1831, gossip and social scandal hit the White House, demonstrating that "National Enquirer" or tabloid-style stories were just as big back then as today. The White House was like a social club, with members of the President's Cabinet of advisers and their wives being the members of this club. In what became known as the "Peggy Eaton Affair," gossip about the wife of the Secretary of War caused others in the Cabinet (and particularly the wives of Cabinet members) to turn against Peggy Eaton and her husband-Secretary of War. Jackson, who still resented gossip about his now-deceased wife which occurred before he was elected president, instinctively defended Peggy Eaton. Much of the Cabinet then resigned, forcing Jackson to form an entirely new Cabinet.

The North-South conflict boiled over in late 1832. The South Carolina legislature went one step further and passed the Ordinance of Nullification, prohibiting the collection of federal duties and declaring that the use of force by the federal government would be justification for South Carolina to secede from the Union. Jackson issued a proclamation that "disunion by armed force is treason." But South Carolina remained defiant. Jackson was furious, declaring that "if a single drop of blood is shed there in opposition to the laws of the United States, then I will hang the first person I can lay my hand on, upon the first tree I can reach."<ref>[http://books.google.com/books?id=_34AAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA363&lpg=PA363&dq=%22Andrew+Jackson%22+tree+hang+Calhoun&source=web&ots=Q_px3n4woz&sig=44JZJpNJNxKrQjFAbYlVCj0nv_4&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=5&ct=result "A Students' History of the United States," By Edward Channing]</ref> In running for reelection, Jackson replaced Calhoun with Martin Van Buren as his Vice President.

In early 1833, Jackson requested the Force Bill in order to authorize federal troops to enforce the revenue laws, but Jackson also approved lowering the tariff to appease South Carolina. South Carolina then suspended its ordinance of nullification and the conflict was defused.

'''Debate: Can a State nullify an act of Congress? Can a State secede (withdraw) from the United States?'''

In 1836, Jackson followed the precedent set by George Washington and retired after two terms in office. Jackson's presidency has been described as follows by an historian:<ref>[http://www.pbs.org/kcet/andrewjackson/themes/reinventing_presidency.html Quoting Jon Meacham, an historian]</ref>

:Andrew Jackson was the first modern president, because he was the first one who asserted that the president was not merely a member of the government's symphony: he was its conductor.

Jackson remained powerful in the Democratic Party in his retirement. For example, eight years after Jackson retired (in 1844) he switched his support from Van Buren to James K. Polk, and this enabled Polk to win the Democratic nomination for president and then win the general election also in order to become president. Jackson died a year later, in 1845.

Jackson, perhaps more than anyone else, established the powerful tools of the modern presidency. These included vetoing bills of Congress to prevent them from becoming law (Jackson vetoed more bills than all the presidents before him ''combined''), removing people from office when the President disagreed with them, and using executive orders as President to give his views the power of law.<ref>http://ap.grolier.com/article?assetid=0151440-0</ref>

== Post-Jackson ==

A new political party arose just to defeat Jacksonian Democrats: the Whig Party, founded by the powerful Senator Henry Clay from Kentucky in 1834. This party absorbed the Antimasonic Party, which had been founded in 1832 in order to oppose the influential Masons. The Whig Party, which included bankers, states' rights supporters, established politicians like Daniel Webster and John Calhoun, and everyone who disliked Jackson, became a formidable political force and would ultimately elect Presidents William Henry Harrison and Zachary Taylor prior to the Civil War.

In the first post-Jackson presidential election, his popularity remained too strong for the Whig Party to defeat. Martin Van Buren won election as president in 1836 by riding Jackson's "coattails" (i.e., his popularity). Until the election of Barack Obama as president in 2008, Van Buren was the only president ever elected who was not of predominantly British (including Irish) descent. But Van Buren was hurt by the financial Panic of 1837. Some felt that the financial panic was due to a lack of a national bank to prevent many local bank failures.

Van Buren was defeated for reelection in 1840 by clever slogans created by the Whig Party such as "Van, van the used up man" and "Tippecanoe and Tyler Too!" (Harrison was a military hero for defeating the Indians at Tippecanoe, and Tyler was his running mate.)

== Slavery 1800-1840 ==

The ''importation'' of slaves into the United States was banned by Congress at its first available opportunity, in 1808, as allowed by the slavery compromise in the Constitution. But slavery remained the foundation of the economy of many southern States, particularly South Carolina. The dispute over slavery increasingly divided the North, many of whom opposed it, from the South, many of whom relied on it.

An example of the divisiveness of the slavery issue was the Tallmadge Amendment proposed in the Senate in 1820. It would have outlawed further slave importation into Missouri and also would have freed older slaves. But it was defeated because the South was insistent that slavery continue, and even expand.

Why would some want to expand slavery? One reason was that the South feared being outvoted by the North in the Senate if the States abolishing slavery outnumbered the States using it. Slavery thereby became caught up in politics and many bitter conflicts over it continued to occur. The Missouri Compromise of 1820, discussed above, settled some issues but by no means all of them.

In 1831, Nat Turner led slave revolt in Virginia, and 57 whites died. That same year William Lloyd Garrison, a fiery Puritan abolitionist in Massachusetts, started the "Liberator" newspaper to demand an end to slavery. Two years later, he founded the American Antislavery Society along with others who opposed the institution of slavery.

By 1836 it became nearly impossible for Congress to function due to the repeated conflicts that would arise over slavery and many other issues that were related to slavery. Paralyzed, Congress instituted a "gag rule" from 1836 to 1844 to prohibit its members from circulating proposals concerning slavery, especially abolitionism (prohibition on slavery).

Then, in 1837, a horrific murder demonstrated that the continued existence of slavery threatened the constitutional rights of free speech and freedom of the press. Elijah Lovejoy, an antislavery newspaper publisher, was murdered in Alton, Illinois by a pro-slavery mob that had crossed the river from the slave State of Missouri. Lovejoy thereby became the first white martyr for abolitionist movement.

In 1841, the former President John Quincy Adams represented slaves who were being prosecuted for unlawfully taking control of a Spanish ship and killing its captain and crew (the serious crime of mutiny). The slaves ended up in the United States. Under President Martin Van Buren, the United States Department of Justice sought to deport these slaves to Cuba, where they would likely have been executed by the Spanish controlling that island. Adams argued that the slaves should be freed in the United States, even though they were not American citizens, because the U.S. had prohibited the slave trade by this time. The Supreme Court held in favor of the slaves and John Quincy Adams in ''United States v. The Amistad Africans''. The slaves were freed and welcomed by a community in Connecticut.

== Other Developments 1800-1840 ==

[[Image:1840 map.gif|thumb|600px|right|The United States in 1840 ([http://www.smithsonianeducation.org/educators/lesson_plans/borders/map1a.html Smithsonian Center for Education and Museum Studies])]]
 There were other significant developments as the United States grew immensely in population and wealth from 1800 to 1840. Not everything in history is politics, war and foreign policy!

From 1811 to 1818, the first national road was built. Known as the Cumberland Road, it connected Cumberland, Maryland with Wheeling, now in West Virginia (then in Virginia). It was built using funds obtained from the sale of lands in Ohio.

The Second Bank of the United States was chartered by Congress because of financing failures during War of 1812. The owners of the bank included both government and private companies. Andrew Jackson refused to continue to allow this national bank to continue when he was president (Jackson vetoed a bill to recharter this bank).

The wealthiest man in the United States around 1840 was John Jacob Astor, who amassed his fortune first through fur trading and then by acquiring real estate in Manhattan. He helped the United States pay for the War of 1812, and even earned a profit from that! However, his great-grandson drowned when the Titanic sunk in 1912.

A bit of Indian history during this time: Tecumseh was an Indian leader who built an Indian confederacy from 1791-1813 in order to fight against the United States in the Ohio valley. He allied with the British during War of 1812.

In 1838, the "Trail of Tears" was a forced march of Cherokees to relocate them from Tennessee to Oklahoma, which tragically killed thousands of Indians during the grueling ordeal.

In 1836, Texas fought and won its independence from Mexico. The Texans sought independence based on Mexico's violation of settlers' rights under Mexico Constitution. In March of 1836, the Mexicans massacred the Texans at the Alamo (including Davey Crockett, who came from Tennessee to help), but in April the Texans defeated the Mexican army and its General Santa Anna. Sam Houston was elected the first President of the Republic of Texas (it did not yet join the United States). General Santa Anna was released from captivity in November of 1836, and traveled to Washington, D.C., to meet with federal officials.<ref>http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/alamo/timeline/timeline2.html</ref>

There were social changes in the early-to-mid 1800s worth noting. In 1826, the Lowell System consisted of factory-based cities, with the planning of the city and its housing based on the existence of jobs in the local factory. Lowell, Massachusetts, was the first example.

There were reform movements worth noting: a movement to help the disabled flourished from 1817-1851; a movement to ban alcohol ("prohibition", or the "temperance movement") began in 1826 and lasted until the 18th Amendment passed in 1919 to ban alcohol nationwide (it was later repealed by the 21st Amendment during the [[Great Depression]]); and there were many experimental communities ("utopias") established from the 1820s to the 1840s. The largest religion founded entirely in America, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormon), began during the 1830s; Mitt Romney is one of its leading members and a leading candidate to be elected president in 2012.

And the most influential (and perhaps the most harmful) movement of all gained steam in the 1830s: public school education. Horace Mann, a member of the Whig Party from New England, established the first state school board. But public school would not reach its full extent as seen today until the 20th century.

== References ==

<references/>

[[Category:American History lectures]]
{{DEFAULTSORT:American History Lecture 04}}

American History Lecture Four

2011-07-24T00:59:28Z

Rscaritt:

{{HS_American_History}}
[[American History Lecture Four|Lecture]] - [[American_History_Homework_Four|Questions]] - [[American History Homework Four Answers|Student Answers]]

Here are a few more tips on answering multiple-choice history questions:

#First determine the general time period of the question. Was it before the Revolutionary War, or after? Was it before the Civil War, or later? If possible, eliminate any answers from the wrong time period.
#Next determine who was president, simply as a landmark for recalling other events. Was there a war going on? If it was before there were any presidents (i.e., during colonial times), what else was going on?
#Just as you use landmarks for finding your way to a location, use easy-to-recall events to find your "way around" history. If you know when the Constitutional Convention was (1787), then it becomes easier to estimate when George Washington first became president (elected in late 1788, and sworn into office in early 1789).

After 1788, the easiest "landmark" for each period is the president. That does not mean he is the most important person, but being able to identify the president is an easy way to organize the important events. '''I should be able to name any date and you should be able to say who was president.''' Or, if you prefer, you can organize events around the numerous wars, but that may not be as easy because there were long periods in American history without ''any'' wars.

Let's try it now: 1798: who was president?<ref>John Adams.</ref>1793?<ref>George Washington.</ref> 1790?<ref>Also George Washington.</ref>

Throughout the late 1700s and all of the 1800s the federal or national government raised money for its operations primarily through tariffs, which are taxes on imports. When a foreign country sent goods to be sold in the United States, our federal government would impose a tariff (tax) on those goods. The more goods that were imported, the more revenue there would be from the tariffs. Tariffs were ultimately replaced by the income tax on individuals as the primary means for supporting our government, because President Woodrow Wilson thought tariffs caused conflicts and wars between nations.

Tariffs helped protect the domestic (United States) businesses by increasing the costs of the foreign competition, and thus are called "protective tariffs." If you were to own a factory that produces computers, and if there were a tariff imposing a $100 tax on all imported computers, then you would be thrilled because you could undersell the competition and make more profits. The North liked tariffs because the tariffs protected their manufacturing companies against competition by foreign manufacturers; the South disliked tariffs because it caused their cotton farmers to pay more for equipment, and because foreign nations would retaliate by imposing similar tariffs on the cotton exported by the South, which reduced the southern farmers' revenue.

An example of a protective tariff today would be a surcharge of $2000 on every foreign car sold in the United States. American car manufacturers would benefit from such a tariff, and the government would benefit from the extra revenue, but buyers of cars would not be happy about it. People in the North in 1800 were like the car manufacturers today that would support tariffs; people in the South in 1800 were like car buyers today who would oppose the tariffs. The conflict between the North and the South over tariffs was a major economic cause of the Civil War.

By 1800 decisions about tariffs and all other federal laws were being made in the marshy land now known as the District of Columbia. This, too, was a compromise between the North and the South. Our capital was initially in New York City, but then Alexander Hamilton brokered a compromise with Thomas Jefferson whereby the capital would move to Philadelphia in 1791 for ten years, and then to D.C. starting in 1800. In order to obtain support by northerners for moving the capital towards the South, Hamilton agreed to arrange for the federal government to assume debts incurred by the States for the Revolutionary War. So Washington actually suppressed the Whiskey Rebellion by riding from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, not from Washington, D.C., because the capital was in Philadelphia at that time.

In this class we focus on the period from 1800 to 1840.

== Revolution of 1800 ==

Jefferson learned the art of politics by first serving in the House of Burgesses in Virginia (an early Virginia legislative system similar to what became Congress). Jefferson was a brilliant writer, but a terrible speaker. In fact, he avoided public speaking whenever possible. He rarely spoke when he served in the Continental Congress, and when he did speak he expressed anti-religious views that were not shared by others. John Adams wrote about Jefferson:<ref name="Jefferson">http://wiki.monticello.org/mediawiki/index.php/Public_Speaking</ref>

:Mr. Jefferson had been now about a Year a Member of Congress, but had attended his Duty in the House but a very small part of the time and when there had never spoken in public: and during the whole Time I satt [''sic''] with him in Congress, I never heard him utter three Sentences together. The most of a Speech he ever made in my hearing was a gross insult on Religion, in one or two Sentences, for which I gave him immediately the Reprehension, which he richly merited.

After becoming president, Jefferson remained so afraid of speaking that he refused to read his annual address to Congress, instead insisting on sending it to Congress in written form.<ref name="Jefferson"/> On other occasions he would have someone else read his speech for him.

Jefferson benefited enormously from the formation of political parties. John Adams, the incumbent president in 1800, was a member of the "Federalist Party," which was strong in the northeast (especially Massachusetts). It favored a strong national government, friendly dealings with England, and a liberal interpretation of the Constitution (known as "loose constructionism," because it "loosely" interpreted or construed the Constitution). In opposition to this party, the Democratic-Republican Party formed to represent the opposite: a weak national government (keeping the power at a local level, which Virginia preferred), friendly dealings with France, and a strict interpretation of the Constitution ("strict constructionism"). The Democratic-Republican Party was strongest in Virginia. Politics is a team sport, and the fortunes of political candidates rose or fell based on the strength of the political party to which they belonged. The same is true today, and this system works reasonably well.

In 1800, when the Federalist Party leader John Adams was President, the Democratic-Republican Party ran Thomas Jefferson (who had founded the party) against Adams in the upcoming presidential election.

This presidential election of 1800 became known as the "[[Revolution of 1800]]," because it was the first '''''peaceful''''' change in power due to an election in modern history: the group in power, the Federalist Party, was defeated by a group not in power, the Democratic-Republican Party. The Democratic-Republican candidates, Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr, were victorious over the incumbent (Federalist) John Adams.<ref>Thomas Jefferson had been John Adams' Vice President, which seems odd today.</ref> The victory by Jefferson and Burr against Adams was a victory for limited government and a "strict constructionist" interpretation and implementation of the Constitution.

At the time, the Electoral College voted for both President and Vice President. Jefferson and his running mate, Aaron Burr, each received 73 electoral votes. It made sense that everyone who voted for Jefferson would also vote for his running mate, since both were with the same political party, the Democratic-Republicans. But the inability of this early election system to resolve this "tie" reflected a flaw in the Constitution in how Presidents and Vice Presidents were chosen. This was fixed by the [[12th Amendment]], but before that was ratified, the House of Representatives had to resolve the tie between Jefferson and Burr.

In the House of Representatives, many Federalists supported Burr and liked him more than Jefferson. But Burr was actually a bad guy, despite being the grandson of [[Jonathan Edwards]]. Burr had access and wealth, and a good deal of charm, but was as evil as anyone. Even the charitable [[George Washington]], who got along well with nearly everyone, felt compelled to banish Burr for misbehavior during the Revolution. Now the House of Representatives needed to choose between Burr and Jefferson as to who would be President.

Hamilton had fought Jefferson in politics for over a decade, and they disliked each other intensely. But Hamilton knew that Burr was rotten to the core. So Hamilton persuaded congressmen to choose Jefferson as President. Hamilton said that Burr was "the most unfit man in the United States for the office of president." Some suspect that Jefferson privately cut a deal with the Federalist Hamilton to act like more like a Federalist as President than Jefferson would have otherwise. Whether Hamilton and Jefferson cut a deal remains a mystery to this day. Regardless, after many "ballots" (votes), the House of Representatives at long last elected Jefferson on the thirty-sixth (36th) ballot.

Jefferson had a surprise waiting for him when he was sworn into the office of President. Before President Adams left office, Congress had passed a Judiciary Act to create many new federal courts below the U.S. Supreme Court, which is created by the Constitution itself. President Adams appointed Federalist judges to all of the new judicial positions.

When Jefferson took office, he refused to pay the salaries of some of these "midnight judges" appointed by Adams. This led to the famous court case of ''Marbury v. Madison'' (1803), where the Supreme Court held in Jefferson's favor by declaring a provision of the Judiciary Act to be unconstitutional. This was the first time that the Supreme Court held a federal law to be unconstitutional, but since then the Supreme Court has held many federal laws to be unconstitutional.

== Jefferson Administration ==

Jefferson encouraged westward expansion more strongly than any previous president. To reach this goal, he made purchasing land very easy, and the population west of the Appalachians grew rapidly. He believed that the Indians should be taught to farm, hoping that they would eventually become citizens of the United States.

In 1803, Jefferson appointed the former anti-Federalist [[James Monroe]] to negotiate terms for the purchase of New Orleans and West Florida from France, and to offer $2 million for this land but to go as high as $10 million if necessary for those two parcels of property.

But by this time [[Napoleon]] had suffered a costly failure in connection with a successful slave revolt in [[Haiti]], and he had decided that France should not try to colonize the New World any further. So France asked Monroe how much he would pay for ''all of'' France's territory on the North American continent, which included the vast tract of land northwest of Louisiana (stretching all the way along the Missouri River, to what is now Oregon on the Pacific coast). Monroe was able to negotiate extremely favorable terms of $11.25 million to France for ''all of'' the property (which translates to only a few pennies per acre), and not merely West Florida and New Orleans. This enormous tract of land was as large as the entire United States at the time. The overall purchase price was $15 million because Monroe also agreed that the United States would assume nearly $4 million in debts owed by France to American citizens at the time.

But the Constitution does not give the President the power to buy new territory. As a strict constructionist, Jefferson needed to violate his own principles about the Constitution in order to accept this unexpected, but extremely attractive, offer.

'''Debate: Was this "Louisiana Purchase" an improper exercise of power?'''

The Senate approved this "Louisiana Purchase" by a vote of 24-7, ratifying it by more than the 2/3rds required by the Constitution to approve treaties. Then, in 1804, Jefferson arranged for Meriwether Lewis, who was his secretary, to explore the territory west of Mississippi acquired in this Louisiana Purchase. Lewis chose William Clark, a soldier, as his assistant and their joint effort became known as the Lewis and Clark Expedition (1804–1806).<ref>Later, in 1809, Lewis was found dead of multiple gunshot wounds and it remains a mystery to this day whether he was murdered; President Clinton refused a request to exhume his body to aid a modern investigation.</ref> This expedition took about two years to complete, as the explorers traveled all the way to the Pacific Ocean and back.

In 1812, Louisiana because the first state admitted to the United States from this new territory. Much later, in 1828, the Supreme Court held that the power of the federal government to govern new territories implicitly included the initial power to acquire new territories first.<ref>''American Insurance Co v. Canter'' (1 Peters 511).</ref>

Let's return to 1804. Burr was then running for Governor of New York, which was one of the biggest and most powerful states. By then, Hamilton published a newspaper in New York (the ''New York Post''), which still exists and is still conservative today. Hamilton ran stories to defeat Burr. After Burr lost, he challenged Hamilton to a duel. In those days, one man could challenge anyone to a duel to fight to the death, and the other man had to defend his honor by accepting the challenge and fighting. Duels were illegal in New York, but Burr insisted that they fight in New Jersey, where the law was less clear. Many of our future Presidents were challenged to duels and fought in them, including [[Andrew Jackson]] and [[Abraham Lincoln]]. It was considered dishonorable to decline a challenge to a duel, but 50 years later (perhaps after duels had lost their grip on society) [[Stonewall Jackson]] did refuse to duel a student who had a conflict with him at the [[Virginia Military Institute]].

In 1804, Hamilton had no real choice but to accept Burr's challenge to a duel, and they met at dawn in Weehawkin, New Jersey. As was customary in duels, they walked twenty or so paces away from each other and then turned to shoot at each other. This time only one of the men fired to kill his opponent. Hamilton purposely did not try to kill Burr, feeling that it would be wrong to do so. But Burr shot and killed Hamilton. Burr then fled, having murdered one of the greatest [[Founding Fathers]] of all.

Later, Burr was indicted for murder, and he moved west to avoid jail. There, he and a military governor plotted to break Louisiana away from the United States. The plan failed, but it left behind a deep division in the United States.

Meanwhile, Jefferson had his hands full with foreign conflicts. Pirates were harassing and looting American shipping off the coasts of the Northern African countries of Morocco, Algiers and Tunis, which had a large port city known as "Tripoli" (it is now the capital city of Libya). When Tripoli demanded more payoffs to stop the pirating, Congress declared war against it in 1805, known as the First Barbary War (or the War with Tripoli). This war was actually unsuccessful for the United States, ending with a payment of a huge ransom to free the release of 270 sailors captured by the enemy. It was not until 1815 that brute force ended the harassment by the pirates of American shipping,<ref>http://www.indepthinfo.com/articles/tripoly-war.shtml</ref> although note that pirates captured and killed an American couple just recently. History books tend to give Jefferson preferential treatment and declare that he won the War with Tripoli. This war did inspire the opening lyric in the Marines' hymn, "From the halls of Montezuma, to the ''shores of Tripoli''."<ref>"Montezuma" is a reference to the Mexican War and the Battle of Chapultepec.</ref>

In 1807, bigger troubled occurred between the United States and England. The British Orders in Council forbade any trade by the United States with France unless the trade first touched English ports. The British also added insult to injury. In 1807, the "Chesapeake Affair" was a humiliating seizure by the British ship H.M.S. Leopard of an American ship the Chesapeake, in international waters where American shipping should have free travel. The British forcibly boarded the ship looking for other British sailors on it.

Jefferson tried to deal with the British Orders in Council by supporting and signing the Embargo Act in 1807. That law forbade all exports by the United States, and was a misguided attempt to hurt England. Jefferson also supported and signed the Non-Intercourse Act, which forbade trade with Britain and France while authorizing President Jefferson to end the boycott once the European countries stopped violating the rights of Americans. These bans on exports were a huge failure, and hurt the American economy more than it hurt the European countries. By the end of Jefferson's two terms in office (a total of 8 years), he was no longer popular and he followed Washington's example of voluntarily leaving office. He resigned in 1809. The British burden on American shipping continued until it caused the War of 1812, although ironically England finally rescinded the Orders slightly before Congress declared war. (Keep in mind that there was no internet or telephones then to facilitate speedy communications!)

Only one additional state joined the United States during Jefferson's presidency: Ohio, in 1803. Jefferson is credited with eliminated unnecessary taxes such as the whiskey tax and decreasing the size of the federal government.

Jefferson passed way decades later, on July 4, 1826, a few hours before his political rival John Adams also died. They had become friends years late in life. Jefferson was in financial ruin when he died, despite having been born into an extremely wealthy family.

== The Marshall Court ==

Meanwhile, in another branch of government, the Supreme Court was expanding its power under Chief Justice [[John Marshall]]. Marshall was a Federalist appointed by President John Adams, and Marshall served as Chief Justice for an astounding 35 years. Virtually every important decision rendered by his Court, starting with ''Marbury v. Madison'', expanded federal power. There was no "check and balance" on Marshall's expansion in judicial power for many decades, until near the end of Marshall's career when President Andrew Jackson stood up to him and ignored Marshall's decision on an Indian issue.

The expansion in ''federal'' power by the "Marshall Court" from 1801 to 1835 included the following decisions (note on nomenclature: "''Smith v. Jones''" is the terminology used to describe legal papers filed, for example, by John Smith against Tom Jones):

*''Marbury v. Madison'' (1803): established the new power of judicial review to declare an Act of Congress unconstitutional.
*''Fletcher v. Peck'' (1810): established the new power to invalidate a state law as unconstitutional (it held that a Georgia law violated the [[Contract Clause]] in the U.S. Constitution)
*''Dartmouth College v. Woodward'' (1819): established that the Constitution prevents a state from altering the charter of a private corporation (Dartmouth College)
*''McCullough v. Maryland'' (1819): established that States may not tax a federal bank, and also that a federal bank is authorized by the "necessary and proper" clause in the Constitution
*''Cohens v. Virginia'' (1821): established the supremacy of federal law, by allowing D.C. lottery tickets to be sold in all states except those prohibiting it
*''Cherokee Nation v. Georgia'' (1831): holding that the Cherokees are not a nation in the normal sense,and could not sue in federal court. The court ruled that the Cherokee were a "domestic, dependent nation," a status that would guide federal Indian relations for the next forty years.
* "Worcester v. Georgia" (1832): The court ruled that Indian relations were the exclusive domain of the federal government and that the laws of the state of Georgia had no force within the boundaries of the Cherokee nation. Georgia ignored the ruling, and the Jackson administration made no attempt to enforce it.

When Marshall finally died in office after serving a record 35 years as Chief Justice, he was replaced by Roger Taney. The Taney Court did not expand ''federal'' power as much, but it did expand government power at the State level. For example, its decisions included:
*''Charles River Bridge v. Warren Bridge'' (1837): allowing Massachusetts to fund a free bridge for the public good, despite hurting a private toll bridge established under a prior state charter. This destroyed private toll bridges and led to public financing of bridges and roads.

There will be more about Chief Justice Taney later in the course.

== The War of 1812 ==

James Madison was elected in 1808 to succeed Jefferson. Madison was a bit of an egghead, one of the few presidents who did not serve in war as others his age had. Madison was in over his head as a president. Madison was a thinker, not a commander-in-chief. England was still the most powerful country in the world, and not someone to pick a fight with, regardless of what an intellectual might think.

England was still in Canada and some "War Hawks" in Congress (led by Henry Clay) accused it of inciting Indian attacks against the United States. A Shawnee Indian named Tecumseh began to unite many of the tribes, and American settlers were terrified. It was believed that the British were arming the Indians and encouraging them to attack. In 1811, General William Henry Harrison (a future president) attacked Tecumseh's village. Of course, this only heightened tension between the Indians and settlers.

Meanwhile, England was also harassing American sailors and "impressing them," which means enlisting them as sailors for England against their will. Adding insult to injury, England invaded D.C. itself and burned down the Capitol and the White House. President Madison was befuddled and almost helpless. His wife Dolly at least showed some initiative by saving the portrait of George Washington as they fled the White House. The British sacked the entire city.

In 1814, in the harbor at Baltimore, a battle was fought at Fort McHenry, during which the British shelled the American fortress. An amateur poet named Francis Scott Key was detained during the battle and put his idle time to good use. He penned the ''Star-Spangled Banner'' in honor of how the American flag continued to fly throughout the bombardment. The words were immediately set to music, and became immensely popular. In 1931, over 100 years later, it became the official National Anthem.

Despite thrashing the United States in battle, England did not want to continue fighting. So on Christmas Eve, England agreed to end the war with the Treaty of Ghent, and the U.S. did not have to give back any land. The Treaty, which was negotiated by the Czar of Russia (a country depicted as a bear in political cartoons), arranged for the long, open Canadian-U.S. border that remains to this day. Sometimes the [[War of 1812]] is called the Second Revolutionary War because it permanently resolved disputes lingering from the Revolutionary War itself. Madison is frequently blamed by historians for allowing the War of 1812 to happen in the first place.

But news of the peace treaties traveled slowly in those days, and on Jan. 8, 1815, the British assaulted General Andrew Jackson's troops down in New Orleans. Jackson had hated the British ever since he was a teenager, when a British soldier ordered Jackson to shine the soldier's shoes in a complete humiliation to Jackson. Jackson refused and the soldier took out his sword and smacked Jackson across his face, leaving a scar he bore for the rest of his life. Jackson would never forget where that scar came from.

Jackson had settled in Tennessee where there were many woodsmen and hunters. The Americans in Tennessee and Kentucky had rifles and were very good with them. They were expert marksmen. People in Tennessee also volunteer for military service in huge percentages, giving it the nickname the "Volunteer State" that it still uses to this day. Jackson called on these marksmen to help him in New Orleans against the British, and the residents of Tennessee and Kentucky answered his call. They rallied to Jackson's United States Army.

Jackson led his group of marksmen down to New Orleans to settle his nation's score against the British, and perhaps to settle his personal grudge against them as well. Great Britain was the mightiest nation in the world and her soldiers were confident they could charge and destroy the rag-tag American army.

The British soldiers began an all-out charge against the American troops led by Jackson, but the Americans were ready for them. The British were no match for the marksmen from Tennessee and Kentucky, who used their own rifles to mow down and decimate the charging British in the Battle of New Orleans. Jackson became an overnight hero to the entire country for destroying the British there. This was the finest and most notable victory the young nation had enjoyed up to that time.

The battles with Indians also created a war hero. William Henry Harrison had defeated the Indians at Tippecanoe Creek several years earlier, in November 1811. Then Harrison destroyed Indian confederacy in Ohio. But Jackson was a bigger hero for defeating the British. Years later, first Jackson would become president based in his popularity as a hero, and later Harrison would also be elected president.

There was a surprise effect of the War of 1812 as well. Near the end of the war there was an extraordinary meeting called the Hartford Convention, which Federalists convened in Hartford, Connecticut, in late 1814. They drew up plans to oppose the war and perhaps even secede from the United States, out of friendship with England. But around the same time the United States signed the peace treaty with England and the Federalists looked like traitors. This ended the Federalist Party. They would never again be a factor in American politics.

Before leaving office, the Democratic-Republican James Madison vetoed the Bonus Bill in 1817, which would have required a bonus made available by the Second Bank of the United States to be spent on internal improvements.

== The Conservative President: James Monroe ==

The most conservative president of the 19th century (1801-1900) was [[James Monroe]], who was elected in 1816 (after President James Madison served his two terms and then retired). Monroe was so much against national (federal) power that he had even opposed the ratification of the Constitution as an "Anti-Federalist." But that was decades earlier, and by 1817 he was ready to be President. In many ways he became one of the best presidents in history.

His accomplishments were numerous and continue to shape our nation to this day, although he does not always receive the credit he deserves. Often tests ask about key achievements that happened under Monroe's leadership, but without mentioning his name.

In 1817, the United States and Britain agreed to limit armaments on the Great Lakes and waterways, which led to complete demilitarization of our border with Canada, which remains today. This is known as the "Rush-Bagot Treaty," and it saved both sides much money in military costs.

In 1819, Monroe completed the Adams-Onis Treaty to annex Florida to the United States, and also added property north of the southern border of current Oregon (which we now call the "Northwest").

In 1820, the successful "Missouri Compromise" resolved for several decades disputes about whether slavery would be permitted in new territories, and how to admit new states. This Compromise was between the North and the South, neither of which wanted to give up power by adding a state friendly to the other side. The Senate was evenly balanced at this time, and adding just one new state on one side would tip the balance in its favor. At the time there were 11 free states and 11 slave states (note that, perhaps surprisingly, Delaware and Kentucky were slave states).

So the Missouri Compromise added Maine as a free state (which would side with the North), and Missouri as a slave state (which would side with the South until the Civil War, when it refused to join the southern Confederacy). The other new states to be added from the Louisiana Purchase (once they had enough population) would be free: slavery was banned by this Compromise above the latitude of 36 degrees, 30 minutes.

The most lasting contribution of James Monroe was his "Monroe Doctrine" in 1823, which stated that Europe should not add any new colonies in North or South America because Europe's political and economic systems are vastly different from those in America. In fact, Monroe stated that Europe should not interfere further in the Western Hemisphere. To this day presidents continue to cite the Monroe Doctrine whenever a European country tries to do something in our hemisphere.

America was immensely prosperous under Monroe's conservative leadership. The "Era of Good Feelings" overtook our country. Roads and canals were built. The economy blossomed. Monroe vetoed the Cumberland Road Bill (calling for more government-built roads) and under his leadership the House rejected most spending bills on internal projects.

By the time Monroe retired after two successful terms, there was only one political party in the United States: Monroe's Democratic-Republican Party. In fact, Monroe was so successful that he had no opposition for his reelection in 1820, and became the only president ever elected unopposed after George Washington.

== The Election of 1824, also the Steamboat ==

After Monroe served two terms and retired just like Washington, a bitter race for president developed. Jackson started his own Democratic Party and ran against John Quincy Adams of Massachusetts, the son of the former President John Adams. Other candidates, such as Senator Henry Clay of Kentucky, also ran. John Quincy Adams, a Democratic-Republican (and later a National Republican), was a former Federalist who supported a strong national government. He had previously served as a minister to Russia when it acted as mediator to help negotiate the Treaty of Ghent to end the War of 1812.

Until 1824 presidential candidates were nominated by congressmen in an informal political meeting called a "caucus" (a favorite political term of John Adams). The caucus is still used today at some political conventions. As a presidential candidate in 2008, [[Barack Obama]] did better than [[Hillary Clinton]] in States that used caucuses (rather than an election by voters), which enabled Obama to defeat Clinton for the Democratic nomination despite Clinton having defeated Obama in many States that used open primaries. But in 1824, all the leading candidates for president were from the same political party (the Democratic-Republican Party), everyone who was nominated by the congressional caucus was on the ballot on Election Day for the voters to decide.

Jackson won more votes than Adams on Election Day but not enough to become president, so the election went into the House of Representatives. There Clay apparently struck a private bargain with Adams, whereby Clay persuaded congressmen to vote for Adams, and Adams, after he won, appointed Clay to be Secretary of State. Supporters of Jackson ("Old Hickory") harshly criticized this as the "corrupt bargain." Jackson, campaigning four years later against this "corruption", crushed Adams in the next presidential election.

'''Debate: Is it wrong for a politician to cut a deal with another politician like the "corrupt bargain" between Adams and Clay?'''

Under the John Quincy Adams Administration, Congress continued to pass tariffs to increase its funding, such as the Tariff of 1824. Henry Clay adopted a term, the "American System," to justify use of protective tariffs along with nationwide internal improvements, in order to expand the domestic economy and decrease our dependence on foreign nations.

The steamboat, invented in 1807 by Robert Fulton, with the first one constructed in America called the ''Clermont'', had a major effect on economy by 1820s. The steamboat enabled goods to be transported quickly and cheaply over water. Canals were then built. The most important canal was the Erie Canal, finished in 1825, to connect the Hudson River and New York City with the Great Lakes. Spectacular economic success enabled our nation's economy to grow immensely. The Erie Canal allowed New York City to become the financial center and biggest city in the United States. That canal cost $7 million but was soon generating profits of $3 million per year!

Another tariff was passed in 1828, partly due to a misguided attempt to help Jackson in the upcoming presidential election. Discussed in greater detail below, the supporters of free trade in the South were outraged and called this the Tariff of Abominations. John Quincy Adams left Andrew Jackson a big political problem for him to deal with.

After serving only one term as President, John Quincy Adams was remarkable in how he then continued to participate in politics. While virtually all other presidents and vice presidents felt that Congress was beneath them after they served, John Quincy Adams returned to Congress as a member of the House of Representatives from Massachusetts. There he fought for 17 more years against slavery and in favor of abolitionism, though the "gag rule" (see below) muzzled his anti-slavery efforts for some of that time. He also ran unsuccessfully for the position of governor of Massachusetts. John Quincy Adams eventually died by collapsing on the floor of the House of Representatives as he prepared to give a speech, and is interred in Quincy, Massachusetts.

== Jacksonian Democracy ==

The Democrat Andrew Jackson was the first president to have been born in a log cabin, and he cultivated his image to represent the "common man." His landslide victory in the presidential election of 1828 was a triumph of democracy -- now called "Jacksonian Democracy" -- because the middle and lower class voters loved Jackson as much as the upper class disliked him. During his inauguration Jackson welcomed the public into the White House, and the common folk trashed it, with farmers and frontiersmen with muddy boots standing on antique White House furniture that once graced figures like George Washington and Alexander Hamilton.

There was never a dull moment in the eight years of the Jackson Administration, as he fought with anyone who disagreed with him. His political opponents began to characterize him as a king or a tyrant, but most voters felt that Jackson was looking out for the public against the self-serving government types. Jackson was a firm supporter of the "spoils system," which means that "to the victor goes the spoils": the winner gets to fire all the government workers and replace them with his friends and supporters, no matter how incompetent. (Today conservatives tend to prefer a spoils system because the alternative of an entrenched bureaucracy unresponsive to voters is worse.)

Jackson particularly disliked banks, supposedly because a banker refused to give him a loan as a young man. Jackson vetoed renewal of the national bank, despite the insistence of wealthy bankers (similar to the insistence by Wall Street types today for the $700 billion bailout legislation).

Jackson vetoed federal road projects because he was a strict constitutionalist: if the power is not expressly in the Constitution, then it did not exist, Jackson felt. Jackson's most famous veto of a road construction project was his Maysville Road Veto in 1830, which would have sent money to Kentucky, the State of the influential Senator Henry Clay (known as the "Great Compromiser"). Jackson said there was no ''national'' benefit to justify federal funding for the project. Obviously future presidents did authorize interstate highways, because there are so many today.

Jackson disliked others in addition to bankers. For example, Jackson hated the Indians, and treated them very harshly. In 1830, Jackson forcibly evicted Indian tribes as part of the "Indian Removal," which increased Jackson's popularity in the Western frontier States having the most conflicts with Indians.

Jackson did not care much for Southerners who talked about nullifying federal law or seceding (leaving) the United States. Jackson, like President Abraham Lincoln 30 years later, was determined to hold the United States together.

A serious conflict between the North and South began before Jackson was even inaugurated. In 1828, Congress passed the "Tariff of Abominations," which raised tariffs despite a bitter protest by South Carolina, which was an exporter dependent on the good will of foreign countries in accepting its products. Raising tariffs on imports often caused other countries to retaliate, and also made it more expensive for farmers in the United States to buy the goods they needed. The North favored tariffs to reduce competition from foreign goods; the South opposed tariffs and wanted competition to reduce its costs in producing cotton. When the North raised the tariffs in 1828, John Calhoun of South Carolina secretly wrote the "South Carolina Exposition and Protest" in 1828, which stated that the:<ref>http://ehistory.osu.edu/world/articles/ArticleView.cfm?AID=23</ref>

:"whole system of legislation imposing duties on imports,--not for revenue, but the protection of one branch of industry at the expense of others,--is unconstitutional, unequal, and oppressive, and calculated to corrupt the public virtue and destroy the liberty of the Country...."

This Exposition and Protest embraced the concept of nullification, such that a State, if it decided that a federal law was unconstitutional, could nullify the law and not enforce it within the State. This Exposition and Protest was then adopted by South Carolina legislature as a formal protest against the federal law, and brought South Carolina a step closer to seceding from (leaving) the United States altogether. Georgia and Mississippi followed South Carolina in passing resolutions protesting the tariff.

Calhoun was Jackson's Vice President beginning in 1829, and Jackson was furious at this defiance by a State against federal authority. At a big political dinner in 1830, Jackson stared down Calhoun with the following toast: "Our Federal Union: It must be Preserved!"<ref name="Toast">http://www.ushistory.org/us/24e.asp</ref> Calhoun then rose and offered his different view as a toast: "The Union — ''next to our liberty'', the most dear!"<ref name="Toast"/> Jackson was irritated by this, and by 1832 Jackson would take the unusual step of dropping Calhoun from his ticket and replacing him with a new Vice President when Jackson ran for reelection.

In 1831, gossip and social scandal hit the White House, demonstrating that "National Enquirer" or tabloid-style stories were just as big back then as today. The White House was like a social club, with members of the President's Cabinet of advisers and their wives being the members of this club. In what became known as the "Peggy Eaton Affair," gossip about the wife of the Secretary of War caused others in the Cabinet (and particularly the wives of Cabinet members) to turn against Peggy Eaton and her husband-Secretary of War. Jackson, who still resented gossip about his now-deceased wife which occurred before he was elected president, instinctively defended Peggy Eaton. Much of the Cabinet then resigned, forcing Jackson to form an entirely new Cabinet.

The North-South conflict boiled over in late 1832. The South Carolina legislature went one step further and passed the Ordinance of Nullification, prohibiting the collection of federal duties and declaring that the use of force by the federal government would be justification for South Carolina to secede from the Union. Jackson issued a proclamation that "disunion by armed force is treason." But South Carolina remained defiant. Jackson was furious, declaring that "if a single drop of blood is shed there in opposition to the laws of the United States, then I will hang the first person I can lay my hand on, upon the first tree I can reach."<ref>[http://books.google.com/books?id=_34AAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA363&lpg=PA363&dq=%22Andrew+Jackson%22+tree+hang+Calhoun&source=web&ots=Q_px3n4woz&sig=44JZJpNJNxKrQjFAbYlVCj0nv_4&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=5&ct=result "A Students' History of the United States," By Edward Channing]</ref> In running for reelection, Jackson replaced Calhoun with Martin Van Buren as his Vice President.

In early 1833, Jackson requested the Force Bill in order to authorize federal troops to enforce the revenue laws, but Jackson also approved lowering the tariff to appease South Carolina. South Carolina then suspended its ordinance of nullification and the conflict was defused.

'''Debate: Can a State nullify an act of Congress? Can a State secede (withdraw) from the United States?'''

In 1836, Jackson followed the precedent set by George Washington and retired after two terms in office. Jackson's presidency has been described as follows by an historian:<ref>[http://www.pbs.org/kcet/andrewjackson/themes/reinventing_presidency.html Quoting Jon Meacham, an historian]</ref>

:Andrew Jackson was the first modern president, because he was the first one who asserted that the president was not merely a member of the government's symphony: he was its conductor.

Jackson remained powerful in the Democratic Party in his retirement. For example, eight years after Jackson retired (in 1844) he switched his support from Van Buren to James K. Polk, and this enabled Polk to win the Democratic nomination for president and then win the general election also in order to become president. Jackson died a year later, in 1845.

Jackson, perhaps more than anyone else, established the powerful tools of the modern presidency. These included vetoing bills of Congress to prevent them from becoming law (Jackson vetoed more bills than all the presidents before him ''combined''), removing people from office when the President disagreed with them, and using executive orders as President to give his views the power of law.<ref>http://ap.grolier.com/article?assetid=0151440-0</ref>

== Post-Jackson ==

A new political party arose just to defeat Jacksonian Democrats: the Whig Party, founded by the powerful Senator Henry Clay from Kentucky in 1834. This party absorbed the Antimasonic Party, which had been founded in 1832 in order to oppose the influential Masons. The Whig Party, which included bankers, states' rights supporters, established politicians like Daniel Webster and John Calhoun, and everyone who disliked Jackson, became a formidable political force and would ultimately elect Presidents William Henry Harrison and Zachary Taylor prior to the Civil War.

In the first post-Jackson presidential election, his popularity remained too strong for the Whig Party to defeat. Martin Van Buren won election as president in 1836 by riding Jackson's "coattails" (i.e., his popularity). Until the election of Barack Obama as president in 2008, Van Buren was the only president ever elected who was not of predominantly British (including Irish) descent. But Van Buren was hurt by the financial Panic of 1837. Some felt that the financial panic was due to a lack of a national bank to prevent many local bank failures.

Van Buren was defeated for reelection in 1840 by clever slogans created by the Whig Party such as "Van, van the used up man" and "Tippecanoe and Tyler Too!" (Harrison was a military hero for defeating the Indians at Tippecanoe, and Tyler was his running mate.)

== Slavery 1800-1840 ==

The ''importation'' of slaves into the United States was banned by Congress at its first available opportunity, in 1808, as allowed by the slavery compromise in the Constitution. But slavery remained the foundation of the economy of many southern States, particularly South Carolina. The dispute over slavery increasingly divided the North, many of whom opposed it, from the South, many of whom relied on it.

An example of the divisiveness of the slavery issue was the Tallmadge Amendment proposed in the Senate in 1820. It would have outlawed further slave importation into Missouri and also would have freed older slaves. But it was defeated because the South was insistent that slavery continue, and even expand.

Why would some want to expand slavery? One reason was that the South feared being outvoted by the North in the Senate if the States abolishing slavery outnumbered the States using it. Slavery thereby became caught up in politics and many bitter conflicts over it continued to occur. The Missouri Compromise of 1820, discussed above, settled some issues but by no means all of them.

In 1831, Nat Turner led slave revolt in Virginia, and 57 whites died. That same year William Lloyd Garrison, a fiery Puritan abolitionist in Massachusetts, started the "Liberator" newspaper to demand an end to slavery. Two years later, he founded the American Antislavery Society along with others who opposed the institution of slavery.

By 1836 it became nearly impossible for Congress to function due to the repeated conflicts that would arise over slavery and many other issues that were related to slavery. Paralyzed, Congress instituted a "gag rule" from 1836 to 1844 to prohibit its members from circulating proposals concerning slavery, especially abolitionism (prohibition on slavery).

Then, in 1837, a horrific murder demonstrated that the continued existence of slavery threatened the constitutional rights of free speech and freedom of the press. Elijah Lovejoy, an antislavery newspaper publisher, was murdered in Alton, Illinois by a pro-slavery mob that had crossed the river from the slave State of Missouri. Lovejoy thereby became the first white martyr for abolitionist movement.

In 1841, the former President John Quincy Adams represented slaves who were being prosecuted for unlawfully taking control of a Spanish ship and killing its captain and crew (the serious crime of mutiny). The slaves ended up in the United States. Under President Martin Van Buren, the United States Department of Justice sought to deport these slaves to Cuba, where they would likely have been executed by the Spanish controlling that island. Adams argued that the slaves should be freed in the United States, even though they were not American citizens, because the U.S. had prohibited the slave trade by this time. The Supreme Court held in favor of the slaves and John Quincy Adams in ''United States v. The Amistad Africans''. The slaves were freed and welcomed by a community in Connecticut.

== Other Developments 1800-1840 ==

[[Image:1840 map.gif|thumb|600px|right|The United States in 1840 ([http://www.smithsonianeducation.org/educators/lesson_plans/borders/map1a.html Smithsonian Center for Education and Museum Studies])]]
 There were other significant developments as the United States grew immensely in population and wealth from 1800 to 1840. Not everything in history is politics, war and foreign policy!

From 1811 to 1818, the first national road was built. Known as the Cumberland Road, it connected Cumberland, Maryland with Wheeling, now in West Virginia (then in Virginia). It was built using funds obtained from the sale of lands in Ohio.

The Second Bank of the United States was chartered by Congress because of financing failures during War of 1812. The owners of the bank included both government and private companies. Andrew Jackson refused to continue to allow this national bank to continue when he was president (Jackson vetoed a bill to recharter this bank).

The wealthiest man in the United States around 1840 was John Jacob Astor, who amassed his fortune first through fur trading and then by acquiring real estate in Manhattan. He helped the United States pay for the War of 1812, and even earned a profit from that! However, his great-grandson drowned when the Titanic sunk in 1912.

A bit of Indian history during this time: Tecumseh was an Indian leader who built an Indian confederacy from 1791-1813 in order to fight against the United States in the Ohio valley. He allied with the British during War of 1812.

In 1838, the "Trail of Tears" was a forced march of Cherokees to relocate them from Tennessee to Oklahoma, which tragically killed thousands of Indians during the grueling ordeal.

In 1836, Texas fought and won its independence from Mexico. The Texans sought independence based on Mexico's violation of settlers' rights under Mexico Constitution. In March of 1836, the Mexicans massacred the Texans at the Alamo (including Davey Crockett, who came from Tennessee to help), but in April the Texans defeated the Mexican army and its General Santa Anna. Sam Houston was elected the first President of the Republic of Texas (it did not yet join the United States). General Santa Anna was released from captivity in November of 1836, and traveled to Washington, D.C., to meet with federal officials.<ref>http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/alamo/timeline/timeline2.html</ref>

There were social changes in the early-to-mid 1800s worth noting. In 1826, the Lowell System consisted of factory-based cities, with the planning of the city and its housing based on the existence of jobs in the local factory. Lowell, Massachusetts, was the first example.

There were reform movements worth noting: a movement to help the disabled flourished from 1817-1851; a movement to ban alcohol ("prohibition", or the "temperance movement") began in 1826 and lasted until the 18th Amendment passed in 1919 to ban alcohol nationwide (it was later repealed by the 21st Amendment during the [[Great Depression]]); and there were many experimental communities ("utopias") established from the 1820s to the 1840s. The largest religion founded entirely in America, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormon), began during the 1830s; Mitt Romney is one of its leading members and a leading candidate to be elected president in 2012.

And the most influential (and perhaps the most harmful) movement of all gained steam in the 1830s: public school education. Horace Mann, a member of the Whig Party from New England, established the first state school board. But public school would not reach its full extent as seen today until the 20th century.

== References ==

<references/>

[[Category:American History lectures]]
{{DEFAULTSORT:American History Lecture 04}}

Benjamin Franklin

2011-07-24T00:39:47Z

Rscaritt:

{{Founding Fathers
|image=Benjamin.jpg
|State:=Pennsylvania
|Religion:=Christian- Episcopalian (Deist) <ref>http://www.adherents.com/gov/Founding_Fathers_Religion.html</ref>
|Founding Documents:=[[Declaration of Independence]], [[United States Constitution]]
}}

'''Benjamin Franklin''' (January 17, 1706, [[Boston]] - April 17, 1790 [[Philadelphia]]), was an American [[polymath]], printer, inventor, statesman, and one of the most prominent scientists in the world of the [[Enlightenment]], famed for his discoveries in electricity.

He was known as "the First American" because his efforts were critical to the formation of a new nation, the success of the [[American Revolution]] and the unification of the 13 colonies into the United States of America. Serving as the American minister to France, he secured decisive military and financial support for the Revolution, while asserting the values of democracy and [[republicanism]]. He assisted [[Thomas Jefferson]] in writing the [[Declaration of Independence]] in 1776 and helped legitimize the [[U.S. Constitution]] in 1787. His effective diplomacy, creative nationalism, promotion of civic virtue and devotion to [[republicanism]] earned him the top tier as a [[Founding Father]].

==Early Life==
Franklin was born on January 17, 1706 in [[Boston]], [[Massachusetts]] into a Puritan family. His father was Josiah Franklin, a soap and candle maker, who was married twice and had 17 children. Benjamin briefly attended the very good South Grammar School (affiliated with the Boston Latin School), then at age 10 was pulled out by his father. He was apprenticed at age 12 to his brother James Franklin (1697-1735), one of the first American printers. James published ''[[New England Courant]]'' and it became Ben's first public forum for his essays, written under the pseudonym "Silence Dogood." Ben, pretending to be a widow, wrote 14 essays in 1722. The essays drew the anger of the local authorities, who prohibited James from publishing it, citing that it mocked religion. Ben, now aged 17, was under legal obligation to his brother but broke with him, and ran away to Philadelphia on his own. Franklin thus was an unhappy and rebelliousness teenager, who had to escape Boston to transform himself into an industrious young tradesman.<ref> Ben in 1733 visited his many relatives in Boston and reconciled with his brother, and when James died at the age of 38, Ben helped his widow and took charge of James' oldest son.</ref>

==Philadelphia Printer ==
Franklin found work at a print shop in Philadelphia and soon was patronized by governor William Keith, who persuaded Franklin that he needed to go into business for himself and offered him letters of credit in London to purchase equipment. When he arrived in London in December 1724, he learned that Keith's letters of credit were useless. Ben stayed in London, working in the local print shops. In 1726, he returned to Philadelphia and again worked in print shops. In 1728, Franklin partnered with Hugh Meredith to opened their own print shop. Franklin soon bought out Meredith and in 1730 began publishing ''The Pennsylvania Gazette'' newspaper, which he bought from his former employer, Samuel Keimer. Besides the newspaper and almanac, he was a job printer and churned out pamphlets, religious tracts, playbills, tickets, advertisements, legal forms, soap wrappers, election notices, currency, carrier addresses, government documents, book labels, and other ephemeral items. In his leisure moments he taught himself to read French, Spanish, Italian, and Latin.

===Almanack===
In late 1732, he began writing and publishing ''Poor Richard's Almanack'', under the guise of "Poor Richard Saunders" and his wife, Bridget, both fictional characters. The almanack provided useful information on the seasons while enlightening the reader with witty short sayings. Franklin had a knack for rewording and improving old proverbs in a wittier manner. The almanac appeared annually from 1732 to 1758, selling over 250,000 copies.

''Poor Richard's Almanack'' shaped provincial society by trumpeting the virtuous common man and by pushing such men into active roles in the public sphere. ''Poor Richard'' outsold competing almanacs published by Atkins, Leeds, Taylor, Jerman, Birkett, and Godfrey by appealing to and providing information for the masses. In the process, Franklin spread the Whig ideology that became American [[republicanism]] to his readers. He praised them for having a better intuitive political knowledge and devotion to republican virtue than those in higher social positions. While trying to open the public sphere to men of ability (like himself), Franklin closed it to women, the poor, and non-English nationalities and races. By discussing Pennsylvania politics and other issues, ''Poor Richard's Almanack'' sought to transform its readers into diligent citizens who would help develop a politically active private sphere within colonial America.<ref> William Pencak, "Politics and Ideololgy in Poor Richard's Almanack". ''Pennsylvania Magazine Ideologyof History and Biography'' 1992 116(2): 183-211</ref>
==National communications network==
One long-term project was creating a network of printers, especially using his own apprentices who would move to other cities to establish themselves. The network of allied printer-publishers extended from New England to the West Indies and lasted from 1729 to the 1790s. It composed his relatives and business associates. It financed printers, played a vital role in developing American journalism, and influenced American morals and ethics by widely disseminating Franklin's ideology of virtue.

Upon finding apprentices whose diligence, skill, and character impressed him, Franklin would make them partners, often setting them up in printing businesses of their own. Subsequently, he would use them to expand his business associations, and as deputy postmaster-general for North America he would set up his associates as postmasters in their local areas. Postmasters were the first to receive news and could communicate it quickly to Franklin through their free use of the postal system. By building and using his communications network Franklin was able to both keep abreast of important developments in the colonies and build a network of supporters and admirers who influenced public opinion in their own cities. As the revolutionary era began, Franklin opposed colonial independence from Britain. Network infighting ensued, pitting Loyalist printers Thomas Wharton and Joseph Galloway against pro-independence publisher William Goddard, who created a private system to deliver his papers that became a model for the US Postal Service. The Continental Congress later appointed Franklin postmaster general, and he, not Goddard, received credit for America's postal system. In 1768, reacting to the Stamp and Townshend acts, Franklin became an activist in the Patriot cause. Many network printers, such as David Hall and James Holt, followed suit, as the colonists polarized between Patriots and Loyalists. As revolt approached, network newspapers became influential foes of Britain. War, turmoil, and Franklin's diplomatic absence while in France caused the network eventually to dissolve, and be replaced by networks of party newspapers.<ref> Ralph Frasca, "'The Glorious Publick Virtue so Predominant in Our Rising Country': Benjamin Franklin's Printing Network During the Revolutionary Era." ''American Journalism'' 1996 13(1): 21-37. 0882-1127; Frasca, ''Benjamin Franklin's Printing Network: Disseminating Virtue in Early America'' (2006) [http://www.questia.com/read/111742668?title=Benjamin%20Franklin's%20Printing%20Network%3a%20Disseminating%20Virtue%20in%20Early%20America online edition]</ref>

==Marriage==
In September 1730, Franklin entered a common law marriage with Deborah Read. No legal ceremony was possible because Deborah was still legally married; her husband had deserted to avoid paying a debt. Around this time, Franklin fathered an illegitimate son by an unknown woman; [[William Franklin]] was raised in his new household. In 1732, his first son with Deborah, Francis died of smallpox at the age of 4, leading Franklin to become an advocate of vaccinations. Sarah Franklin, who went by Sally, was born 11 years later in 1743.

==Civic leader==
Franklin became Philadelphia's leading citizen, founding and leading many civic organizations. He was the founder of the American tradition of boosterism, as well as a systematic thinker who analyzed urban problems in the context of rapid population growth. Franklin's understanding of and solution for the urban problems of a growing Philadelphia shaped his later ideas about city-country relationships and his pessimism regarding the future of the United States. Beginning in the 1730s, Franklin actively and publicly addressed such issues as the link between the environment and disease, fire prevention, pollution from tanneries, and restoring the water system in the center of the city (called the Dock) through various engineering projects. Franklin helped improve fire safety and waste handling by mid-century, but manufacturing interests could not be controlled. Franklin believed America would eventually exhaust its vast supply of open, unpopulated land and become increasingly urbanized and demographically imbalanced, thereby making Philadelphia's problems the nation's.<ref> A. Michal McMahon, "'Small Matters': Benjamin Franklin, Philadelphia, and the 'Progress of Cities.'" ''Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography'' 1992 116(2): 157-182. 0031-4587 </ref>

After 1727 Franklin typically operated through "the Junto", an informal club comprising friends, civil leaders and fellow tradesmen. He established America's first subscription library, the Library Company of Philadelphia, in 1731. In 1736, he organized the first volunteer fire department, the Union Fire Company. In 1743, he expanded the idea of the Junto to all of the colonies by organizing the [[American Philosophical Society]]. He helped fund the first hospital and planned a professional police force.
===Moral reform===
During the 1730s Franklin made a determined effort to use the emerging power of his press to clean up both private character and public space by writing against the excesses of drink, alehouses, fairs, gambling, and other idle pursuits. Franklin's focus on the body and its potential excess is reflective of a transformation in body image and self-image that was part of a broader range of religious, economic, and political transformations that emerged in the 18th century. All were part of a challenge to the traditional authority of church and state; the growth of commerce, the market, and the print public sphere; and the proliferation of a political ideology that presaged the Declaration of Independence. In his ''Autobiography'' (1771) Franklin utilized the body and its "inclinations" to drive his narrative. In contrast to [[Thomas Jefferson]], who appealed to abstract human rights, and [[John Adams]], who invoked historical precedent and English canon law, Franklin portrayed the Revolution as an ongoing struggle between inclination and reason.<ref> Betsy Erkkila, "Franklin and the Revolutionary Body." ''ELH'' (English Literary History) 2000 67(3): 717-741. [http://www.jstor.org/pss/30031934 in JSTOR]</ref>

Franklin did not derive his ideas on ethics and virtue from Puritan thought. The orthodox Puritans stressed the concept of a "double calling," one which distinguishes between an outward calling and an inward one. For the Puritan, the inward calling - through which man is justified by God's grace - took precedence over the outward calling - man's commitment to the world. [[Cotton Mather]]'s "Bonifacius," which Franklin cites as an influence in the development of his own philosophy, maintains this distinction. Franklin's commitment is to the outward calling. He rejects the central doctrines of Puritanism: Providence, Election, and Original Sin. Franklin actually retained few Puritan ideals.<ref>Campbell Tatham, "Benjamin Franklin, Cotton Mather and the Outward State." ''Early American Literature'' 1972 6(3): 223-233. [http://www.jstor.org/pss/25070534 in JSTOR]</ref>

Franklin's moral theories stemmed from a commonly held concept among 18th-century [[Enlightenment]] philosophers: that the development of habit can be used for achieving behavioral change. Franklin's approach to the gaining of moral progress was neopagan rather than Christian in its orientation. It stressed the gradual modification of the person's observable actions instead of an emphasis on internal spiritual change. In essence, Franklin's attitude toward habit and moral improvement was almost identical to that later espoused by [[John Stuart Mill]] and the utilitarian and associationist schools of philosophy.<ref>Norman S. Fiering, "Benjamin Franklin and the Way to Virtue". ''American Quarterly'' 1978 30(2): 199-223. [http://www.jstor.org/pss/2712323 in JSTOR]</ref>

===Library===
Franklin was the main organizer of the Library Company of Philadelphia, founded in 1731 by middle class "artificers," (craftsmen, like printers, and owners of small businesses). They sought to improve their condition and status through self-education. The library reflected Franklin's belief that reading could change expectations and positions in society. The books at the library were extremely important in Franklin's intellectual development, and his experience there strengthened his beliefs about education. Through the library, members pursued many interests and became involved in natural science through Peter Collinson of London, who acted as its book agent. Nonmembers of both sexes also used the library.<ref>George Boudreau, "'Highly Valuable And Extensively Useful': Community and Readership among the Eighteenth-Century Philadelphia Middling Sort." ''Pennsylvania History'' 1996 63(3): 302-329.</ref>

===Education===
Franklin's 1749 "Proposals for the Education of Youth in Pensilvania," in which he proposes the formation of an academy and discusses its basically secular curriculum. Religion is to be taught under the rubric of history:
:"History ''will also afford frequent Opportunities of showing the Necessity of a ''Publick Religion,'' from its Usefulness to the Publick; the advantage of a Religious Character among private Persons; the Mischiefs of Superstition, &c. and the Excellency of the CHRISTIAN RELIGION above all others, ancient and modern."''

Not a college man, Franklin proposed educational changes that broke decisively with many traditional educational practices of his day. His proposals reflect his own view of the Enlightenment and its perception of the human mind. He helped establish of the "College of Philadelphia" (now the [[University of Pennsylvania. Unlike Harvard and Yale it was nonsectarian and did not primarily train clergy. Instead it educated students for careers in the professions and business and for public service. It established America's first modern liberal arts curriculum."<ref> George W. Boudreau, "'Done by a Tradesman': Franklin's Educational Proposals and the Culture Of Eighteenth-Century Pennsylvania." ''Pennsylvania History'' 2002 69(4): 524-557. 0031-4528; see [http://www.upenn.edu/about/heritage.php online]</ref>
===Militia===
Franklin helped create the Pennsylvania Militia, independent of the colonial government. The repeated [[French and Indian Wars]] were a threat to the frontier, as the French based in Canada organized and armed Indians who raided the frontier settlements. The government was controlled by the Penn family and the [[Quakers]], who refused to organize any military defense. In November 1747, Franklin wrote ''Plain Truth'' advocating the creation of a defense force, since the government would not do so. The pamphlet was enthusiastically received and Franklin organized the "Association" in 1747 to defend against attacks on settlements along the Delaware River. It was the first volunteer militia in Pennsylvania. By the end of 1747 ten volunteer regiments, composed of 124 volunteer companies (designed to have 50-100 men each), had been raised. But the militia was organized only after long debate, much of which involved biblical comparisons and religious justifications from both supporters (including Franklin) and opponents of military preparedness. The debate foreshadowed the ultimate demise of Quaker rule in Pennsylvania, since the Quaker legislators realized their refusal to defend the colony meant they had to resign office.<ref> Barbara A. Gannon, "The Lord is a Man of War, The God of Love and Peace: The Association Debate, Philadelphia 1747-1748." ''Pennsylvania History 1998'' 65(1): 46-61. </ref>

===Opposes multiculturalism===
Franklin had a vision of an ethnically homogeneous America, and so he had negative views on the large and expanding German community in Pennsylvania (usually called the "Pennsylvania Dutch.") Franklin's first contacts with the Pennsylvania Germans concerned business. In 1731 he printed two books in German for German Baptists; he also printed into pamphlet form a letter from Conrad Weiser, an Indian negotiator, to Christopher Sauer, a German-language publisher. However, in from the late 1740s into the 1750s, Franklin believed that the Germans could not be assimilated into Englishmen and thus would always be aliens. He disliked the failure of the Germans to assimilate--they had their own language, religion and customs, and showed no interest in becoming like Englishmen or in joining the militia. In "Observations on the Increase of Mankind" (1751), Franklin expressed his opposition toward German immigrants, whom he ridiculed:
:"why should the Palatine Boors be suffered to swarm into our Settlements and, by herding together, establish their Language and Manners, to the Exclusion of ours? Why should Pennsylvania, founded by the English, become a Colony of Aliens, who will shortly be so numerous as to Germanize us instead of our Angli-fying them .. .?"

Despite Franklin's fears, German settlers helped secure the colony's borders against France's Indian supporters during the French and Indian War. Franklin's 1751 remarks came back to haunt him during the 1764 election to determine whether Pennsylvania would remain a proprietary colony or become a royal one (as Franklin advocated) when Franklin's opponents used his comments about the German colonists to defeat his position. Franklin kept silent about the Germans. He was pleased that the Reformed and Lutheran Germans supported the French and Indian War (1757-63) and, even more important, the American Revolution (1775-1783), even as the numerous German pacifist sects like the Dunkers, Amish and Mennonites remained neutral. Franklin and the Germans finally were reconciled in 1787 when Franklin College (now Franklin and Marshall College), was established to promote an better knowledge of the German and English languages, and was named in his honor by the Germans.<ref> John B. Frantz, "Franklin and the Pennsylvania Germans" ''Pennsylvania History'' 1998 65(1): 21-34. 0031-4528; Glenn Weaver, "Benjamin Franklin and the Pennsylvania Germans," ''William and Mary Quarterly'' Vol. 14, No. 4 (Oct., 1957), pp. 536-559 [http://www.jstor.org/stable/1918520 in JSTOR]</ref>

In response to British conquest of French-speaking Quebec in 1759, he wrote "The Canada Pamphlet." It stands as one of the most complex and sophisticated pieces of pre-Revolutionary American thought. In it, Franklin entertained ideas of a homogeneous American population in manners, language, and religion as a reaction against ethnic and political warfare within Europe. Drawing on the ideas of [[Thomas Hobbes]], [[David Hume]], and [[Baruch Spinoza]], Franklin believed that political and ethnic relations were exclusively dominated by power, leaving no room for multiculturalism in America, preferring instead the implementation of the British Crown model to foster internal peace in the colonies. Having a reputation as anti-German hurt Franklin politically, and he dropped the nativism after 1765.<ref> Alberto Lena, "Benjamin Franklin's 'Canada Pamphlet' or 'The Ravings of a Mad Prophet': Nationalism, Ethnicity and Imperialism." ''European Journal of American Culture'' 2001 20(1): 36-49. 1466-0407 </ref>
===Demography===
In 1751 Franklin wrote "Observations Concerning the Increase of Mankind, Peopling of Countries, Etc." in which he both anticipated the [[Robert Malthus|Malthusian]] theory of population growth and quite accurately predicted the rate of American population increase for the following century and a half. He showed that the American population doubled every 25 years, while Europe and Asia were static or grew very slowly. England's population supposedly took 360 years to double. There is a paradox in Franklin's treatment of population. He maintained that the tendency of populations to expand until checked by the lack of subsistence was a cause of European miseries, yet he advocated rapid population growth for the American colonies. When his population theory is highlighted, he appears as a Malthusian pessimist; when his population values are highlighted, he appears as an ardent pro-natalist. <ref>Dennis Hodgson, "Benjamin Franklin on Population: From Policy to Theory," ''Population and Development Review,'' Vol. 17, No. 4 (Dec., 1991), pp. 639-661 [http://www.jstor.org/stable/1973600 in JSTOR]; Alfred Owen Aldridge, "Franklin as Demographer," ''Journal of Economic History,'' Vol. 9, No. 1 (May, 1949), pp. 25-44 [http://www.jstor.org/stable/2113719 in JSTOR] </ref>

==Science and invention ==
By age 42, Franklin was wealthy enough to retire from publishing and devote most of his time to his scientific pursuits, keeping in touch with the leading scientists in Britain and the Continent. Franklin combined commonsense empiricism, always paying very close attention to details and carefully recording his measurements. At the same time he was insatiably speculative, theoretical, and conjectural.

Franklin's numerous inventions include bifocal glasses<ref> see [http://www.antiquespectacles.com/topics/franklin/franklin.htm illustration]</ref>, the glass armonica, the flexible catheter, the odometer, and swimming fins.
===Stove===
In 1742 he invented a device inserted into a fireplace that gave more warmth at a lower fuel cost. His idea, worked out with his friend Robert Grace, consisted of a low stove, equipped with loosely fitting iron plates through which air circulated and was warmed before it entered the room. This "New Pennsylvania Fireplace" avoided drafts, gave more even temperatures throughout the room, and checked loss of heat through the chimney. It was an insert in an already existing hearth, and did not resemble what are now called "Franklin stoves".

===Meteorology===
The first contributions to scientific meteorology in America were Franklin's famous experiments regarding lightning, atmospheric electricity, cyclone theory, and ocean circulation, during the years from 1748 to 1775. Franklin designed the experiment that proved that electric sparks created artificially in the laboratory were similar to deadly and destructive lightning bolts, except in magnitude. He proved that there were electric charges in the atmosphere both in cloudy (or thunder) weather and in fine weather. Franklin showed that storms may move progressively "into the wind," by observing that a cyclonic storm with a northeast wind hit Philadelphia a day or so before it hit Boston, which lies to the northeast of Philadelphia. Finally, while crossing the Atlantic between 1746 and 1775, and after discussions with his cousin a ship captain, he reported there is a warm current off the New England coast setting to the northeast--the [[Gulf Stream]]--and was able to chart its boundaries fairly accurately.

===Discovering electricity===
Franklin's great scientific achievement came in his experiments and theories regarding [[electricity]]. He was first intrigued by the concept after meeting Archibald Spencer and witnessing his demonstrations on the creation of static electricity. In 1747, Spencer donated a glass tube and information on generating electricity to the Library Company. Franklin had several of these glass devices made for his experiments. He theorized that electricity was one "fluid." He discovered that when a "positive" charge is created that a "negative" charge is created as well, which became known as the [[conservation of charge]]. He also began using [[Leyden jar]]s, a glass jar with foil on the outside and a conductor such as water or metal on the inside that could be charged with a wire. Franklin determined that the charge was not stored in the conductor, as was previously thought, and was held in the glass.<ref>We now know that the Leyden jar is an early form of the [[capacitor]], that the charge is contained in a layer of the conductor facing the glass and that the glass (the [[dielectricum]]) increases the [[capacitance]] of the jar (amount of charge that can be held).</ref> Based on this knowledge, he invented the first electrical battery, which was a series of glass planks that were flanked by metal and wired together.
[[Image:Franklin - kite.jpg|left|360px]]
Franklin began noticing the similar properties of [[lightning]] and electrical sparks, which led to his most famous experiment. In 1750, Franklin outlined his proposal in two letters to Peter Collinson, which were published and presented to the Royal Society in London. On May 10, 1752 French scientist [[Thomas-François D'Alibard]] successfully performed Franklin's experiment outside of Paris. In June, before word of success had crossed the Atlantic, Franklin performed his kite and key experiment with his son, William, with similar success, which has become a popular part of American folklore.<ref> See [http://www.mos.org/sln/toe/kite.html], [http://www.thebakken.org/electricity/franklin-kite.html] and [http://www2.fi.edu/exhibits/permanent/electricity.php]</ref> This led to the invention of lightning rods [http://fi.edu/franklin/inventor/images/rod.jpg], which became widespread in the colonies, as well as Europe, bringing international fame to Franklin almost overnight. In 1753, he received honorary degrees from both Harvard and Yale, and the Royal Society in London awarded him the prestigious [[Copley Medal]].

Franklin is responsible for the nomenclature of "positive" and "negative" charge. He believed he could tell the direction in which electricity traveled by observing sparks. He was wrong; the electrons, which are the particles carrying ordinary [[electricity]], move in the opposite of the direction he thought they did. As a result, when electrons were discovered, according to Franklin's designation they had to be considered as having a negative charge.
===Controversies===
There were many rivalries among scientists of the day and Franklin joined in energetically. At every point of Franklin's career, rival scientists disputed his claims to inventions and disagreed with his scientific results. Abbé Nollet, the leader of the French scientific community, reported on experiments which he believed illustrated the shortcomings of Franklin's research on electricity. Nollet maintained that Franklin's lightning rods might ignite fires by attracting electricity. Various European scientists claimed to have thought of Franklin's kite or lightning rod experiments before Franklin. Leading British experimenter William Watson claimed that most of Franklin's ideas had their origins in his own work. Political controversy swirled in England in 1772 when members of the Royal Society debated whether lightning rods should be "points" or "blunts." George III entered the controversy by demanding that blunts should be placed on the royal palace after an official committee, of which Franklin was a member, recommended pointed rods to protect the government powder magazine.<ref> I. Bernard Cohen, "Franklin's Scientist Enemies: Real or Imagined" ''Pennsylvania History'' 1998 65(1): 7-20. 0031-4528 </ref>

==Albany Plan of Union 1754==
While Franklin thought of himself as a loyal subject, and was comfortable with monarchy and aritocracy, he did express an emerging sense of Americanism. In 1753, London promoted Franklin to the position of Deputy Postmaster for the Colonies. The industrious Franklin, who frequently took inspection tours throughout the colonies, revamped the postal system to be more efficient, speeding up delivery times and creating the home delivery system. From visiting the colonies first hand, coupled with the increasing need for frontier defense, Franklin realized that some form of unification of the colonies was necessary. In June 1754, a conference was called by the London Board of Trade to meet in Albany, New York to discuss a more unified defense. He proposed the "Albany Plan of Union", which would have united the colonies under a royal governor, and given the colonies the power to tax themselves. Delegates from several colonies had come together to discuss ways to restore harmonious relations with the Indians but soon found themselves debating Franklin's plan of union, which would have created a unified colonial entity. The Plan was approved by the conference but was unanimously rejected by the colonial assemblies and by London. It was twenty years too soon for the colonies to give up their smug complacency and dependence upon London, rather than each other. In 1754 colonists assumed Britain was a benevolent empire run for the benefit of colonists, but within twenty years realized their error. The Albany plan formed much of the basis for the later American governments established by the [[Articles of Confederation]] and the Constitution.

==Politician==
In 1751, after serving as a clerk 15 years, Franklin was elected to the Pennsylvania Assembly. He used his new position to advance civic projects such as pushing legislation to maintain and light the streets. One of the primary issues faced by the Assembly was keeping their frontier border safe from Indian attacks orchestrated by the French. There was frequent conflict between the Assembly and the Proprietary leadership of the Penn family. The Penns controlled a vast majority of the lands in Pennsylvania, however, forbid them to be taxed which hampered the Assembly's ability to build an adequate militia. Penn repeatedly fought the Penn family and tried, without success, to have the King take direct control of Pennsylvania.
==Colonial agent in London==

In 1757 Franklin was sent to London as the paid representative or lobbyist of the Pennsylvania Assembly to present the colony's side of its controversy with the Penn family, which still owned the colony.

His attempts to persuade this to both Thomas Penn and Parliament failed. Although his mission was over by 1758, Franklin lingered in London for another four years. He enjoyed his time meeting with the local intellectuals and political radicals, and with a touch of regret returned to Philadelphia in 1762. His return to Philadelphia was to be short-lived. In the 1764 elections, Franklin failed to be reelected after a vicious pamphlet war labeled him as anti-German and Scottish, which made up a majority of Pennsylvania's frontier population. He found this to be a blessing in disguise when the Assembly elected to send him back to London to serve as their agent once again. He tried and failed to obtain a recall of the Penn charter. Franklin also became the paid agent in London for Georgia in 1768, for New Jersey in 1769, and for Massachusetts in 1770. These appointments, together with his wide reputation, made Franklin a sort of ambassador extraordinary from the American colonies to Britain.

He remained abroad for eighteen years, not returning to American until 1775. He was invited to join the "Lunar Society" in [[Birmingham]], where he met many intellectuals and leaders of the emerging [[Industrial Revolution]]

===Stamp Act===
[[File:Benjamin Franklin 1767.jpg|thumb|Benjamin Franklin, 1767.]]
In 1765, he blundered by assuring British politicians that Americans would accept the [[Stamp Act]]. He sent a letter to Philadelphia that was made public urging the colonies to simply make the best of it, leading to the misconception that Franklin had something to do with authoring the Stamp Act. News of colonial protest caused him to reverse his position and he helped negotiated trepeal of the hated tax. Afterwards, Franklin regularly opposed British attempts to tax the colonies, arguing that the colonists had the same rights as other British subjects, with the ability to govern and tax through an elected legislature.

In June 1767, Parliament passed the [[Townshend Act]], another tax on colonial goods. Franklin, still loyal to the crown, took a moderate approach - simultaneously criticizing the rash colonials and the rash government. Increasing the great divide was representation in parliament. Americans had none.
===Hutchinson letters===
In 1773, Franklin somehow obtained the originals of secret letters written written 1767-1769 by Thomas Hutchinson when he was Chief Justice of Massachusetts to a member of the British government soliciting troops and urging abridgment of American liberties. Franklin sent the letters to friends in the colony, who in turn published them. His intent was to pin the blame on people like Hutchinson for encouraging the unpopular policies, which he hoped would promote a spirit of reconciliation with Britain. He misjudged the situation, however, which led to the Massachusetts Assembly demanding that Parliament remove Hutchinson from his governorship. London by now had lost all patience with the American colonies and had embarked on a series of punishments designed to humiliate the Americans and make them stay in their inferior places. London sent more troops to Boston and brought Franklin before the Privy Council where he was viciously humiliated in public on January 29, 1775. He was stripped of his position of postmaster.

Franklin's political roles in London in 1757-62 and 1764-75 reshaped his political views. Although he loved the scientists and intellectuals, he hated the politicians. He came to see Britain as vain and corrupt, and he returned to his native America in 1775 with the hope that in a still-uncorrupted republic virtue might prevail.<ref> Esmond Wright, "'The Fine and Noble China Vase, The British Empire': Benjamin Franklin's 'Love-Hate' View of England". ''Pennsylvania Magazine of History And Biography'' 1987 111(4): 435-464.</ref>

===Continental Congress===
Franklin arrived back in Philadelphia on May 5, 1775, and the next day was chosen a member of the Second Continental Congress. Fighting had broken out near Boston, and the New England militia had trapped the British army in the city. The Congress became the voice of the Americans, setting up shadow governments in each colony, getting ready for a major revolt. Militia units up and down the 13 colonies began drilling for war.

Franklin, following the lead of [[John Adams]], began preparing for independence. On July 21, 1775, he presented his scheme for the [[Articles of Confederation]], similar to his Albany Plan, which called for a strong central government and a congress with proportional representation. However, few of his ideas were included in the Articles Congress adopted in 1777. The Patriots now controlled every colony, and incited by the clever reasoning of [[Thomas Paine]], realized that their [[republican]] values and way of life were incompatible with conytrol by foreign aristocrats in London. As popular sentiment for independence swelled in late spring 1776, Franklin, joined [[Thomas Jefferson]], [[John Adams]], [[Roger Sherman]], and [[Robert Livingston]] as a committee to prepare a [[Declaration of Independence]]. Jefferson, the best writer, did the drafting, with Franklin offering his editorial commentary. A new nation emerged on July 4, 1776. It had driven out all the British officials. But they returned in force in August, 1776, seized New York City, and offered to negotiate on everything except independence. Patriots demanded independence and refused to negotiate any other terms. Help was needed from France, so in December of 1776 Franklin was sent to Paris, along with [[Silas Deane]] and [[Arthur Lee]], to secure aid for the new nation.

Franklin had made his illegitimate son William Franklin, the Royal Governor of [[New Jersey]], but he remained loyal to the Crown, and father and son never reconciled.

He understood the risks the [[Founding Fathers]] were taking and told them, "We must all hang together, or we shall hang separately."

==Ambassador==
[[Image:Franklin - France.jpg|right|340px]]
Franklin was America's first minister (ambassador) to King [[Louis XVI]] in [[France]], where where he was instrumental in obtaining military and economic support for the struggle against Britain. Franklin arrived to great fanfare in France. Already well-known for his lightning experiment, his flirtatious manner and wit made him a favorite among the courtiers. Franklin systematically mingled with scientists, writers, intellectuals and government officials in Paris. He avoided court costumes and cultivated the image of a rustic American, sometimes wearing a coonskin cap. The French loved every bit of it and his popularity helped in securing recognition, money and armies and navies to fight Britain.
===Diplomat===
Franklin proved himself to be a crafty diplomat. By the end of 1777, after the great American victory at [[Battle of Saratoga|Saratoga]], the French became confident the Americans were strong enough to prevail. The French favored an alliance with the Americans, but their ally Spain was opposed, fearing that anti-imperial republicanism might emerge ion Spain's many colonies. Franklin played on the traditional hatred between the British and the French, using the press to get his messages across. On February 5, 1778 he officially signed a treaty of alliance with France with the stipulation that the U.S. must have France's approval to negotiate peace with Britain. The American revolution was now a world war, and as the Netherlands and Spain joined France, and the rest remained neutral, Britain was outnumbered on land and sea and had little hope of defeating the Allies.

Franklin and John Adams did not get along. Adams that Franklin was "too old, too infirm, too indolent and dissipated for the discharge of all the important duties of ambassador, board of war, board of treasury, commissary of prisoners...." Adams did admit that the power of Franklin's name and fame made him essential, and historians generally agree Franklin did a very good job.<ref>Gorodon Wood, ''The Americanization of Benjamin Franklin'' (2004) p 192; Stacy Schiff, ''A Great Improvisation: Franklin, France, and the Birth of America'' (2005)</ref> French aid proved to be critical to the Americans success, most notably in the decisive victory at Yorktown in October 1781. The Revolutionary war was now won, but negotiations dragged on until the Peace of Paris was signed on Sept. 3, 1783. Franklin remarked, about this time: "There never was a good war nor a bad peace."

Franklin was the most traditional American diplomat of era in his tendency to approach diplomacy as a search for compromise, his use of diplomacy as a tool for peace, his insistence on working through proper channels, and his adherence to the norms of good manners and civility. He played a central role in the peace negotiations in Paris, and to the amazement of observers at the time--and historians ever since--won highly favorable terms from the British, especially ownership of all the lands east of the Mississippi River (except Florida, which went to France's ally Spain.) Assisted by diplomats [[John Jay]] and [[John Adams]], Franklin demonstrated great foresight and diplomatic aplomb in negotiating the treaty. While military victory certainly influenced the outcome, the envoys' tenacity and adroit craftsmanship nonetheless frustrated much of the great power intrigue aimed at blocking united American independence. By 1783, few European diplomats visualized an independent United States. The American emissaries, steeped in revolutionary fervor and confident after military victory, would not settle for less.<ref> Richard Morris, ''The Peacemakers: The Great Powers and American Independence'' (1965) is the definitive history.</ref>

===Disinherits his son===
In 1789 Franklin disinherited his only living son, William, who had been Franklin's close personal friend and, beginning in the 1750s, his political protégé. Franklin used his contacts in London to have William named royal governor of New Jersey, a lucrative and highly prestigious position. In 1774, when Franklin was fired as head of the American postal system and publicly humiliated at Whitehall, he believed his son would resign as governor to protest his father's treatment. When William failed to do this and even admonished his father to accept his fate and take a comfortable retirement, an irreparable breach was created between father and son, a rift widened by the son's loyalty to the British crown during the Revolutionary War. Although William attempted to reestablish a father-son relationship, Benjamin refused and could never forgive his son for the public nature of the humiliation he felt William had caused him.<ref>Sheila L. Skemp, "Benjamin Franklin, Patriot, and William Franklin, Loyalist." ''Pennsylvania History'' 1998 65(1): 35-45. </ref>

==Building a stronger nation==
Franklin returned home in September 1785. Like all nationalists he could see that the Articles of Confederation created a government that was too weak to survive in a dangerous world It had no president and no tax base, for example. Franklin's ideas for an American republic provided a reconciliation of classical republicanism and 18th-century economic life. Franklin's demographic view put America and Britain in contrast. He criticized the British emphasis on manufacturing for export, and he preferred agriculture as the best source of national wealth. Although favoring self-sufficiency, as a means for a virtuous independence, Franklin recognized the need for encouraging a vigorous foreign commerce (with free trade). Open space and open markets were essential for republicanism to work.<ref> Drew R. McCoy, "Benjamin Franklin's Vision of a Republican Political Economy for America." ''William and Mary Quarterly'' 1978 35(4): 607-628. 0043-5597</ref>

Franklin can be compared favorably with [[Frederick Jackson Turner]] as a promoter of the [[Frontier Thesis]], the idea of the significance of the West in the shaping of American character. Franklin used the words frontier and West interchangeably and generally equated both of them with free land. He believed that the West was decisive in producing the phenomenal population growth of the society of his day and its "middle-class agrarianism." His frontier-inspired ideas had a demonstrable effect on public events and contributed to the coming of the American Revolution. Americans eagerly gave wide currency to Franklin's ideas. His political and diplomatic exertions contributed considerably to insure that the West would be a part of the new nation he was helping to create.<ref>James H. Hutson, "Benjamin Franklin and the West". ''Western Historical Quarterly'' 1973 4(4): 425-434. 0043-3810 </ref>

In 1787 the [[Constitutional Convention]] convened in Philadelphia to write a new Constitution. Franklin, at age 81 the oldest delegate, played an honorific role and his support helped legitimize the project.

==Slavery==
Franklin in the 1750s owned two slaves, whom he eventually freed, and also ran advertisements for slave sales in his ''Pennsylvania Gazette''. As a youth he had been a runaway himself. As a diplomat he supported slavery, but for Franklin slavery was always more of a political than a moral problem. Late in life he reversed directions and supported the abolition of the slavery trade (but not slavery itself). He joined the Pennsylvania Abolition Society and became their president in 1787; his was primarily honorific. The Society had hoped he would bring up the issue of slavery at the Constitutional Convention, which he declined to do, realizing that it would be too contentious of an issue. In November 1789, he published his ''Address to the Public'' which appealed for the emancipation of slaves and the further education of free blacks. <ref>David Waldstreicher, ''Runaway America: Benjamin Franklin, Slavery, and the American Revolution''(2004)</ref>

==Death==
Franklin died on April 17, 1790 at the age of 84 and was buried at Christ Church in Philadelphia. Civic-minded to the end, Franklin's will established a 200 year trust fund for Boston and Philadelphia which was to be used to train and educate young craftsmen. Both cities have held true to Franklin's wishes, providing aid to students and establishing the Franklin Institute of Boston.

==Religious Beliefs==

Franklin progressed from a skepticism towards Puritanism as a youth to a strong belief in God and prayers for His intervention. At all times Franklin believed in God, but was unable to define what God meant for his soul; he never joined a church. Like most in Pennsylvania, he respected freedom of religion by others, but also emphasized the importance of religion in maintaining a society; much of his writing was designed to promote moral behavior. [[Liberals]] often like to bring up that he stated "lighthouses are more helpful than churches", as if that is some kind of "proof" that Franklin was only a Deist. It is merely [[liberal deceit]]. The British political system at the time of the American rebellion was based very firmly on Anglican Protestantism. Laws stated very clearly the monarch had to be a protestant, and also that they were the head of The Church of England; even Protestants who were not Anglican had to pay for their own priests and build their own churches. Catholics were still denied the vote. To gather enough support among the colonists to successfully achieve independence, their leaders had to offer them something different, and to belittle the Anglican church in particular, so as to undermine the foundation of the British political system that ruled the American colonies. So, Franklin was saying that functional, useful things (such as lighthouses) contributed more to the safety and well-being of the individual than buildings that provided spiritual things (such as churches). It was his clever means of motivation, not some far-reaching personal belief of his.

Young Ben was an avid reader. "From a child I was fond of reading, and all the little money that came into my hands was ever laid out in books. Pleased with the ''[[Pilgrim's Progress]],'' my first collection was of [[John Bunyan]]'s works in separate little volumes. My old favorite author, Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress ... has been translated into most of the languages of Europe, and suppose it has been more generally read than any other book, except perhaps the Bible."''

In 1728, the twenty-two-year-old printer wrote "Articles of Belief and Acts of Religion," which Walters (1999) argues is the most crucial text of all Franklin’s religious writings.<ref> for the text see [http://www.beliefnet.com/resourcelib/docs/65/Articles_of_Belief_and_Acts_of_Religion_1p.html "Articles of Belief and Acts of Religion" by Benjamin Franklin, November 20, 1728]</ref> Franklin embraced a concept that sanctioned the value of different religions. Walters argues this “theistic perspectivism” is the key to understanding Franklin’s religion, for it allowed him to maintain his most basic belief in a divinity as the "First Cause" while also allowing him to understand different religions and sects as different ways to honor and serve the primary creator. Franklin’s lifelong advocacy of religious tolerance and his refusal to dogmatize resulted from his understanding that all religions helped bring the "First Cause" closer to humanity, bridging the immense gulf between Creator and creation.<ref> Kerry S. Walters, ''Benjamin Franklin and His Gods,'' (1999)</ref>

Franklin left behind the [[deism]] of his youth. In a draft autobiography written mostly in 1771, nearly 20 years prior to his death, Franklin described how he came to deism as a teenager. He recalled that his ''"parents had early given me religious impressions, and brought me through my childhood piously in the Dissenting way. But I was scarce fifteen, when, after doubting by turns of several points, as I found them disputed in the different books I read, I began to doubt of Revelation itself. Some books against Deism fell into my hands; they were said to be the substance of sermons preached at Boyle's Lectures. It happened that they wrought an effect on me quite contrary to what was intended by them; for the arguments of the Deists, which were quoted to be refuted, appeared to me much stronger than the refutations; in short, I soon became a thorough Deist."'' <ref>http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/etcbin/toccer-new2?id=Fra2Aut.sgm&images=images/modeng&data=/texts/english/modeng/parsed&tag=public&part=all The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin, p.57</ref>

Franklin then abandoned his youthful deism in favor of a strong belief in an interventionist God, as reflected by his prayer request during a troubled period of the [[Constitutional Convention]]. In a letter dated March 9, 1790, the last letter Franklin ever wrote, he expressed his strong faith in God and the possibility of heaven:
:''"Here is my Creed: I believe in one God, Creator of the Universe. That he governs it by Providence. That he ought to be worshipped. That the most acceptable Service we render to him is doing good to his other Children. That the soul of Man is immortal, and will be treated with Justice in another Life respecting its conduct in in this. These I take to be the fundamental Principles of all sound Religion, and I regard them as you do in whatever sect I meet with them.

:''"As to Jesus of Nazareth, my Opinion of whom you particularly desire, I think the system of Morals and His Religion, as he left them to us, the best the world ever saw, or is likely to see; but I apprehend it has received various corrupting Changes, and I have, with most of the present Dissenters in England, some doubt as to his Divinity; tho' it is a question I need not dogmatize upon, having never studied it, and think it needless to busy myself with it now, when I expect soon an Opportunity of knowing the Truth with less Trouble. I see no harm in its being believed, if that belief has the good Consequence, as probably it has, of making his Doctrines more respected and better observed; especially as I do not perceive, that the Supreme takes it amiss, by distinguishing the Unbelievers in his Government of the world with any peculiar Marks of his Displeasure."'' <ref>http://personal.pitnet.net/primarysources/franklin-stiles.html</ref>
===Whitefield===
Franklin admired [[George Whitefield]], who first visited the colonies in 1738 and played a major role in the [[First Great Awakening]]. Franklin saw Whitefield as a fellow intellectual, but thought Whitefield's plan to run an orphanage in Georgia would lose money. Franklin published several of Whitefield's tract. He was intrigued and himself moved by Whitefield's ability to preach and speak with clarity and enthusiasm to crowds ranging in the thousands. Franklin was an ecumenist and approved of Whitefield's ability to appeal to members of many denominations. Franklin was not moved by the Methodist evangelist's revivals, but did conclude that religiosity was a good thing for other people, so at the Constitutional Convention in 1787, he proposed a prayer for divine intervention to aid the troubled proceedings. After one of Whitefield's sermons, Franklin noted the:
:"wonderful...change soon made in the manners of our inhabitants. From being thoughtless or indifferent about religion, it seem'd as if all the world were growing religious, so that one could not walk thro' the town in an evening without hearing psalms sung in different families of every street."<ref>''The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin,'' p.104-108; Samuel J. Rogal, "Toward a Mere Civil Friendship: Benjamin Franklin and George Whitefield." ''Methodist History'' 1997 35(4): 233-243. 0026-1238 </ref>

A lifelong close friendship developed between the revivalist preacher and the worldly, secular humanist. Looking beyond their public images, one finds a common charity, humility, and ethical sense embedded in the character of each man. True loyalty based on genuine affection coupled with a high value placed on friendship helped their association grow even stronger over time.

==Fame==
By 1776 Franklin was the most famous American in the world. He was one of the most prominent of the Founding Fathers, early political figures and statesmen of the [[United States]].

In the years immediately following his death, Franklin's reputation fell upon evil days. His political enemies, as well as [[Federalist Party]], journalists systematically emphasized the less attractive aspects of his character and minimized his achievements. The calumny was repeated until the 1850s, when the first real attempts were made to paint a broader portrait of this many-sided man. Franklin's "rags to riches" career had a natural attraction in the go-getter mood of the [[Gilded Age]] and he became the patron saint of "getting on," a role that he has not yet lost. The xenophobia of the period also affected the image of Franklin in that his prudential philosophy appeared less an expression of selfishness than a means of achievement expressive of the best in the American national character. The late 19th century also saw the beginning of real Franklin scholarship.<ref> Richard D. Miles, "The American Image of Benjamin Franklin" ''American Quarterly'' 1957 9(2): 117-143. [http://www.jstor.org/pss/2710628 in JSTOR]</ref>

Franklin is one of the few non-presidents whose likeness appears on U.S. currency. Franklin graces the $100 bill while [[Alexander Hamilton]] appears on the $10 bill.

In 1933, Isamu Noguchi (1904-88) designed a monument to Franklin. For years, the project languished. It finally came to fruition in Philadelphia in 1984 as “Bolt of Lightning . . . Memorial to Ben Franklin.”

Franklin was highly regarded throughout Europe as a leader in science and diplomacy, and as the representative American and the symbol of the New World's integrity and progress. The intellectual, poltiical and scoial leaders of France viewed Franklin as the epitome of the enlightened legislator, a brilliant inventor, and perceptive economist. He inspired his contemporaries and successive generations of Frenchmen to eulogize him in the arts. His unassailable reputation also encouraged divergent political factions to claim Franklin as a mentor after his death in 1790. Franklin was a figure of the Enlightenment, two countries, and two revolutions and there are still reminders of him in France today.<ref> J. A. Leith, "Le Culte de Franklin en France avant et pendant la Révolution Française," ["France's Cult of Franklin before and during the French Revolution"]. ''Annales Historiques de la Révolution Française,'' 1976 226 48(4): 543-571. 0003-4436 </ref>

While most historians have admired Franklin's achievements, British literary critic [[D. H. Lawrence]] ridiculed Franklin as excessivelyt middle class. Lawrence spent time in the United States in the 1920s but came to dislike the country. He focused on Franklin as a personification of American culture in two essays. Lawrence's disdain for Franklin was based largely in their different philosophies. Franklin felt man was perfectable, and could excel through hard work, while Lawrence saw man as an imperfect, creative, fragmented being, for whom the body and emotions are central to achieving happiness.<ref> Ormond Seavey, "D. H. Lawrence and 'The First Dummy American'." ''Georgia Review'' 1985 39(1): 113-128. 0016-8386; D. H. Lawrence, ''Studies in Classic American Literature'' (1923), [http://xroads.virginia.edu/~hyper/LAWRENCE/dhlch02.htm online edition of ch. 2 on Franklin]</ref>
===Join or Die===
[[Image:Join-die.jpg|thumb|290px|left]]
The famous cartoon entitled "Join, or Die," printed on 9 May 1754 in Franklin's ''Pennsylvania Gazette'', shows a sliced up rattlesnake that forms a map of the colonies. It is impotent unless it joins together, as nature clearly intended. Rattlesnakes--powerful and dangerous creatures that were not found in Britain--were often used to represent America. Georgia, the newest colony, is missing, as is Delaware (then part of Pennsylvania). The cartoon alludes to an old myth that a snake that had been cut into pieces would come back to life if the sections were reassembled before sunset, Franklin based his cartoon on a 17th-century French emblem book by Nicolas Verrien which includes a snake divided into two parts with the motto: 'Se rejoindre ou mourir' ('Join or die').

While the idea behind the illustration was Franklin's, historians have not discovered who did the actual engraving. In form the illustration follows the plan of an emblem book illustration, with a motto, a symbolic picture, and an explanatory text; Franklin even referred to it in correspondence as an "emblem." Franklin was responsible for many visual creations, such as cartoons, designs for flags and paper money,
emblems and devices. He possessed an extraordinary knowledge of symbols and heraldry. The snake image may be a composite of those found in Mark Catesby's ''The Natural History of Carolina, Florida, and the Bahama Islands'' (1731-43). The iconic image of national unity became widespread in political illustrations concerning the [[Stamp Act]] of 1765, the American Revolution, and both the Union and Confederate causes in the American Civil War.<ref>Karen Severud Cook, "Benjamin Franklin and the Snake that would not Die," ''British Library Journal'' 1996 22 (1): 88-112. 0305-5167; Mark Bryant, "The First American Political Cartoon," ''History Today'' v. 57#12 (December 2007) pp 58+. [http://www.questia.com/read/5024806593?title=The%20First%20American%20Political%20Cartoon online edition]</ref>

==Autobiography==
A year after Franklin's death, his unfinished draft autobiography, entitled "Memoires De La Vie Privee," was published in Paris in March of 1791, and portions soon appeared in English. The first complete edition appeares in 1868. It was one of the first and greatest American autobiographies and appears in many editions. Historians have treated the ''Autobiography'' as an allegory for the paradigm of American upward social mobility as well as representing the early economic and political success of America. Beyond this basic representativeness, it endorses the economic promise of free enterprise by using Franklin's life experience to advocate the new nation's economic potential and creditworthiness. Franklin aligns his own history with that of the fledgling United States, in effect equating his ability to successfully capitalize on credit with that of the nation. By depicting his own public credibility, Franklin was able to translate his reputation and promise of success into an endorsement of the viability of American life, intertwining self- and national promotion. In sharp contrast to Jefferson's glorification of the yeoman farmer as the carrier of republican virtue, Franklin looked to the cosmopolitan city for the advancement of mankind, as he tells how the youth arrives in the idyllic city of Philadelphia, where adherence to principles of independence, morality, and industry bring him success.<ref> Jennifer Jordan Baker, "Benjamin Franklin's Autobiography and the Credibility of Personality." ''Early American Literature'' 2000 35(3): 274-293. 0012-8163; James L. Machor, "The Urban Idyll of the New Republic: Moral Geography and the Mythic Hero of Franklin's Autobiography." ''Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography'' 1986 110(2): 219-236. </ref>

The ''Autobiography'' gave an incomplete view of Franklin. The persona that Franklin assumed here was merely another of the several public roles he adopted in his writings and political activities. He believed that personal growth could only be accomplished by surrendering to a public function, and that the public forum should be a community for discourse rather than a marketplace for personal competition and acquisition.

==Quotes==
* From a letter in April 1787: "Only a virtuous people are capable of freedom. As nations become corrupt and vicious, they have more need of masters." and "it would end in despotism, as other forms have done before it, when the people shall have become so corrupted as to need despotic government, being incapable of any other."

* "We must hang together, or most assuredly, we will hang separately." <ref>[http://books.google.com/books?id=7mgAwXas5xIC&pg=PA49&dq=We+must+hang+together,+or+we+will+assuredly+hang+separately.&ei=hqEySrf_N5jeyAThoNSCBg
Beyond political correctness: social transformation in the United States‎ - Page 49] by Michael S. Cummings</ref>

*"Work as if you were to live a hundred years. Pray as if you were to die tomorrow." <ref>[http://www.ushistory.org/franklin/quotable/quote29.htm The Quotable Franklin] USHistory.org</ref>

*"Words may show a man's wit but actions his meaning." <ref>[http://books.google.com/books?id=A5kEAAAAYAAJ&pg=RA2-PA601&dq=Words+may+show+a+man%27s+wit+but+actions+his+meaning&ei=Azw8SvyjM5-8zASKj7y6BQ The life of Benjamin Franklin‎ - Page 601] by Benjamin Franklin, John Bigelow</ref>

*"I think the best way of doing good to the poor, is not making them easy in poverty, but leading or driving them out of it." <ref>[http://books.google.com/books?id=SrIEAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA430&dq=I+think+the+best+way+of+doing+good+to+the+poor,+is+not+making+them+easy+in+poverty,+but+leading+or+driving+them+out+of+it.&ei=VfNySvOGJ6bAygTw7q2TAw Memoirs of Benjamin Franklin‎ - Page 430]</ref>

==Basic readings==
* Becker, Carl Lotus. "Benjamin Franklin," ''Dictionary of American Biography'' (1931) with hot links [http://tigger.uic.edu/~rjensen/franklin.htm#becker online]
* Brands, Henry. ''The First American: The Life and Times of Benjamin Franklin'' (2000)- excellent long scholarly biography [http://www.amazon.com/First-American-Times-Benjamin-Franklin/dp/0385495404/ref=pd_bbs_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1203222697&sr=8-3 excerpt and text search]
* Isaacson, Walter. ''Benjamin Franklin: An American Life'' (2004) - good popular biography [http://www.amazon.com/Benjamin-Franklin-American-Walter-Isaacson/dp/074325807X/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1203222697&sr=8-1 excerpt and text search]
* Ketcham, Ralph. ''Benjamin Franklin'' (1966) 228 pp[http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=34300175 online edition], by short biography by a scholar
* Morgan, Edmund S. ''Benjamni Franklin'' (2003) the best short introduction [http://www.amazon.com/Benjamin-Franklin-Yale-Nota-Bene/dp/0300101627/ref=pd_bbs_10?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1203222697&sr=8-10 excerpt and text search]
* Van Doren, Carl. ''Benjamin Franklin'' (1938), standard older biography [http://www.amazon.com/Benjamin-Franklin-Carl-Van-Doren/dp/193154185X/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1203222991&sr=8-6 excerpt and text search]
* Wright, Esmond. ''Franklin of Philadelphia'' (1986) - excellent scholarly study [http://www.amazon.com/Franklin-Philadelphia-Belknap-Esmond-Wright/dp/0674318102/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1203223116&sr=8-2 excerpt and text search]

==Detailed Bibliography==
===Biographies===
* Becker, Carl Lotus. "Benjamin Franklin," ''Dictionary of American Biography'' (1931) - vol 3, with hot links [http://tigger.uic.edu/~rjensen/franklin.htm#becker online]
* Brands, Henry. ''The First American: The Life and Times of Benjamin Franklin'' (2000)- excellent long scholarly biography [http://www.amazon.com/First-American-Times-Benjamin-Franklin/dp/0385495404/ref=pd_bbs_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1203222697&sr=8-3 excerpt and text search]
* Isaacson, Walter. ''Benjamin Franklin: An American Life'' (2004) - well written popular biography [http://www.amazon.com/Benjamin-Franklin-American-Walter-Isaacson/dp/074325807X/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1203222697&sr=8-1 excerpt and text search]
* Ketcham, Ralph. ''Benjamin Franklin'' (1966) 228 pp[http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=34300175 online edition]
* Morgan, Edmund S. ''Benjamni Franklin'' (2003) the best short introduction [http://www.amazon.com/Benjamin-Franklin-Yale-Nota-Bene/dp/0300101627/ref=pd_bbs_10?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1203222697&sr=8-10 excerpt and text search]
* Van Doren, Carl. ''Benjamin Franklin'' (1938), standard older biography [http://www.amazon.com/Benjamin-Franklin-Carl-Van-Doren/dp/193154185X/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1203222991&sr=8-6 excerpt and text search]
* Wood, Gordon. ''The Americanization of Benjamin Franklin'' (2005), influential intellectual history by leading conservative historian. [http://www.amazon.com/Americanization-Benjamin-Franklin-Gordon-Wood/dp/0143035282/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1236327205&sr=1-1 excerpt and text search]
* Wright, Esmond. ''Franklin of Philadelphia'' (1986) - excellent scholarly study [http://www.amazon.com/Franklin-Philadelphia-Belknap-Esmond-Wright/dp/0674318102/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1203223116&sr=8-2 excerpt and text search]

===Specialized Scholarly Studies===
* Anderson, Douglas. ''The Radical Enlightenments of Benjamin Franklin'' (1997) - fresh look at the intellectual roots of Franklin
* Buxbaum, M.H., ed. ''Critical Essays on Benjamin Franklin'' (1987)
* Chaplin, Joyce. ''The First Scientific American: Benjamin Franklin and the Pursuit of Genius.'' (2007)
* Cohen, I. Bernard. ''Benjamin Franklin's Science'' (1990) - Cohen, the leading specialist, has several books on Franklin's science
* Conner, Paul W. ''Poor Richard's Politicks'' (1965) - analyzes Franklin's ideas in terms of the Enlightenment and republicanism
* Dull, Jonathan. ''A Diplomatic History of the American Revolution'' (1985)
* Ford, Paul Leicester. ''The Many-Sided Franklin'' (1899) [http://www.questia.com/library/book/the-many-sided-franklin-by-paul-leicester-ford.jsp online edition] - collection of scholarly essays
* Lemay, J. A. Leo, ed. ''Reappraising Benjamin Franklin: A Bicentennial Perspective'' (1993) - scholarly essays
* Lemay, J. A. Leo. ''The Life of Benjamin Franklin'' the most detailed scholarly biography, with very little interpetation; 3 volumes appeared before the author's death in 2008
** ''Volume 1: Journalist, 1706-1730'' (2005) 568pp [http://www.amazon.com/Life-Benjamin-Franklin-Journalist-1706-1730/dp/0812238540/ref=pd_bxgy_b_text_b excerpt and text search]
** ''Volume 2: Printer and Publisher, 1730-1747'' (2005) 664pp; [http://www.amazon.com/Life-Benjamin-Franklin-Publisher-1730-1747/dp/0812238559/ref=pd_bxgy_b_text_b excerpt and text search]
**''Volume 3: Soldier, Scientist, and Politician, 1748-1757'' (2008), 768pp [http://www.amazon.com/Life-Benjamin-Franklin-Scientist-Politician/dp/0812241215/ref=pd_bbs_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1236306986&sr=8-1 excerpt and text search]
* McCoy, Drew R. "Benjamin Franklin's Vision of a Republican Political Economy for America." ''William and Mary Quarterly'' 1978 35(4): 607-628. [http://www.jstor.org/pss/1923207 in JSTOR]
* Skemp, Sheila L. ''Benjamin and William Franklin: Father and Son, Patriot and Loyalist'' (1994)- Ben's son was a leading Loyalist

===Primary Sources===
* Franklin, Benjamin. ''Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin'', ed. L.W. Labaree et al. (1964) [http://www.earlyamerica.com/lives/franklin/ online edition] - there are many editions
* Franklin, Benjamin. ''Franklin: Writings'', ed. J.A. Leo Lemay, Library of America (1987) [http://www.amazon.com/Franklin-Writings-Library-America-Benjamin/dp/0940450291/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1207333906&sr=8-1 excerpt and text search]; [http://infomotions.com/alex/?cmd=search&query=creator:Franklin complete text online free]
*Labaree, Leonard W., et al., eds., ''The Papers of Benjamin Franklin'' 35 vols. to date (1959-2002) - definitive edition, through 1781. This massive collection of BF's writings, and letters to him, is available in print form at large research libraries. [http://www.franklinpapers.org/franklin/index.jsp?src=g1&gclid=CJ6my-GEwpICFSgwiQodDQldrA the complete text, searchable, is online free from Yale] It is most useful for detailed research on very specific topics.
*[http://franklinpapers.org/franklin/ Yale edition of complete works of Benjamin Franklin]
*[http://www.tufts.edu/as/wright_center/fellows/bob_morse_04/ The Electrical Writings of Benjamin Franklin] Collected by Robert A. Morse, 2004.
*[http://sln.fi.edu/franklin/family/lastwill.html Franklin's Last Will & Testament] Transcription.

==Notes==
<references/>

==External links==
* [http://tigger.uic.edu/~rjensen/franklin.htm "Guide to Benjamin Franklin" by Richard Jensen January 2007]
*[http://www.english.udel.edu/lemay/franklin/ Leo Lemay, ed. ''"Benjamin Franklin: A Documentary History"]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Franklin, Benjamin}}

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