Gordon Wood
“The Americanization of Benjamin Franklin”
October 18, 2004 at the New-York Historical Society
Running Time: 1:06:3
Benjamin Franklin is one of America’s best known Founding Fathers, yet he spent fewer years of his life in the country he helped to found than Washington or Jefferson. A self-made man who made a fortune as a printer, he became a cosmopolitan anglophile, scientist, and consummate eighteenth-century gentleman. After his death in 1790, Franklin became a standard bearer for the values of hard work and temperance. Gordon Wood is Alva O. Way University Professor and Professor of History at Brown University and the author of The Americanization of Benjamin Franklin.
Historians on the Record: Podcasts from the Guilder Lerhman Institute
Directions: Listen to the podcast and then submit your well thought out comments.
Consider the following questions: What is Benjamin Franklin's legacy? Does the historical record match up with the idea of Franklin in our popular consciousness?
