Benjamin Franklin was the oldest member of the Founding Fathers. Aside from serving as a politician, Franklin was also an author, publisher, scientist, and activist. In the period that the book covers, Franklin was already old and frail. He mainly appears through his involvement with the Pennsylvania Abolition Society, which delivered a petition to Congress calling for the immediate abolition of slavery. The fact that Franklin signed the petition gave it significantly more authority than it otherwise would have had. He died in 1790.
Benjamin Franklin Quotes in Founding Brothers
The Founding Brothers quotes below are all either spoken by Benjamin Franklin or refer to Benjamin Franklin. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Note: all page numbers and citation info for the quotes below refer to the Vintage edition of Founding Brothers published in 2002.
Chapter 3
Quotes
What Voltaire was to France, Franklin was to America, the symbol of mankind’s triumphal arrival at modernity. When the two great philosopher-kings embraced amid the assembled throngs of Paris, the scene created a sensation, as if the gods had landed on earth and declared the dawning of the Enlightenment. The greatest American scientist, the most deft diplomat, the most accomplished prose stylist, the sharpest wit, Franklin defied all the categories by inhabiting them all with such distinction and nonchalant grace.
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Benjamin Franklin
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Benjamin Franklin Character Timeline in Founding Brothers
The timeline below shows where the character Benjamin Franklin appears in Founding Brothers. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Preface: The Generation
...“eight most prominent political leaders” of the time: Abigail and John Adams, Aaron Burr, Benjamin Franklin, Alexander Hamilton, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and George Washington. The book focuses on a series...
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Chapter 3: The Silence
...and challenged the constitutional ban on restricting the slave trade. It was signed by Benjamin Franklin.
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Franklin’s support meant that Madison was wrong; the problem would not go away simply by ignoring...
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In March 1790, Benjamin Franklin was weak and unwell, though had lived so long that he seemed “immortal.” He had...
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Franklin argued that slavery violated the ideals of the revolution, and wrote a scathing parody of...
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...have been too late to institute gradual emancipation. Yet it is beyond question that when Franklin died on April 17, 1790, the possibility of gradual emancipation died with him.
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Chapter 4: The Farewell
...1789, at a time when he was the only realistic candidate for the role. After Franklin’s death in 1790, Washington was alone at the top of the “Mount Olympus” of American...
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Chapter 5: The Collaborators
...role in 1776 and 1789. The four people who stood out were George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, and Thomas Jefferson; because Washington had already served and Franklin was dead, this...
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