• Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Urn Garden Home
  • About

Life in the Garden

Matters of Life and Death

  • Blog Home
  • Confessions
  • Featured Products
  • Memorial Service Ideas
  • Pets
You are here: Home / Confessions / Ben Franklin, Radical Genius

Ben Franklin, Radical Genius

July 3, 2007 urngarden.com

In 1776 Ben Franklin was 70 years old and suffering from a variety of ailments. Unlike the younger founding fathers, Franklin was 26 years older than Washington, 29 years older than John Adams, and 37 years older than Jefferson. He had half a century on Madison and Hamilton. Talk about a generation gap, he lived longer under British rule and was more deeply committed to the British Empire.

After spending the past two decades living in London, he was bitterly disliked by his fellow commissioners and viewed with suspicion by many Americans back home, some even thought he might be spying for the British. His son William, the former royal governor of New Jersey, was a notorius Loyalist, was under arrest in America.

But the French loved him, and he was able to persuade France to support our cause.

Franklin returned to America in 1785 and died five years later. Washington’s published eulogies numbered in the hundreds, Ben Franklin received only one public eulogy delivered by Franklin’s arch enemy Reverend William Smith (he was assigned the task by Jefferson).

France honored Franklin with a eulogy by Mirabeau, delivered in the French National Assembly, published it and declared three days of mourning. By contrast, the U.S. Senate refused to joining the House in endorsing a resolution honoring Franklin.

Franklin’s image improved after the release of his Autobiography in 1794, and Americans finally appreciated the patriot and scientist. They discovered that Franklin had been a symbol for their cause, a self-made man and a shaper of his own destiny.

Our destiny.

Source: Revolutionary Characters, What Made the Founders Different by Gordon S. Wood

Filed Under: Confessions

Primary Sidebar

See More Memorial Ideas

cremation urns

At Urn Garden, we have experience working with families as they experience the loss of a loved one. Our hope is that the articles and resources below will help make this process just a little easier.

If you’re looking to purchase a cremation urn, feel free to browse our collection, which includes keepsake urns, urns for pets, cremation jewelry, and more.

If there’s anything we can help you with, feel free to contact us or give us a call at 1-888-876-1467.

Recent Posts

  • Kiss My Ash Cremation Urn Collection-Some of Our Craziest Engraved Urns
  • Planning a Funeral for a Suicide
  • What you need to know about buying an urn online
  • Death with Dignity
  • Cremation & Religion: What Religions Believe in Cremation?

Pages

  • About Us

Death in the Digital Age

  • Beyond Indigo Grief Forum
  • Find A Grave
  • Seven Ponds
  • Talking to Children About Death
  • The Daily Undertaker

Copyright © 2023 Urn Garden · Log in