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Benjamin Franklin remarks on Native Americans and colonists
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Red Jacket and Benjamin Franklin both supported and defended the Native Americans. In the writing the author talks about Red Jacket and how he talked about the Indians sharing their land with the settlers, and that not being enough for the settlers they wanted it all. Red Jacket also explains how the Indians were being forced into a religion one they didn’t not want. In Red Jackets reply to the Missionary Jacob Cram he states “The Great Spirit has made us all, but He has made a great difference between his white and red children” (Jacket , 1758-1830 p.231). Meaning that they were all created and should be able to follow and worship him in the various different ways they choose. Benjamin Franklin supported the Indians in the similar way of letting the Native Americans are different and that it is okay for them to their own customs they …show more content…
He writes about the relationship between society and government and how he views each of those separately. He believes that the British system does not work for the American colonies, as the monarchy is granted too much power. He lists many reasons on why he feels the system is also full of contradictions to the American people. How Franklin structures his argument is he is trying to persuade his readers. He is really making sure the audience understands his ideas and is open to them. What I feel his most persuasive point in the argument is his viewpoint on the relationship between America and Britain. “We have boasted the protection of Great Britain without considering that her motive was interest not attachment; and that she did not protect us from our enemies on our account; but from her enemies on her own account.” (Paine, 1776 p.326). That quotes shows how he feels the British interest in the relationship, is only at the hands of their benefit and not truly at the
In closing, Kemp--and I must agree with her-- adamantly stressed that Franklin sent the Hutchinson/Oliver letters, though it was a lack of judgment, in order to calm the storm. Which was a mistake, at least in my view. As Kemp states,”If anything, Franklin’s fundamental error was the direct result of his emotional attachment to the Empire and of his naive assumption that men more sympathetic to the colonies might yet rise to positions of power in England.” (Kemp, 94). In her next two chapters Kemp largely focused on the internal insecurities of the British Government, and the ramifications of the Cockpit incident.
Gordon S. Wood delves into Benjamin Franklin’s philosophical, political, and personal legacies in the biography, The Americanization of Benjamin Franklin. The book travels through Franklin’s experiments, his travels in Europe, and his role in the American revolution. The book begins when Franklin retires from business and becomes a gentleman. It was when he became a gentleman, it allowed him to analyze the world around him. “Indeed, he could not drink a cup of tea without wondering why the tea leaves at the bottom gathered in way rather than another,” a quote from Edmund S. Morgan’s book, Benjamin Franklin. Franklin spent a great deal of time in Britain before returning to America. When he returned, he threw himself into the American revolution, which sent him to France. After he accomplished his duties in France, he returned back home to America where he ran for public office.
Benjamin Franklin, one of the Founding Fathers to the United States, was not a patriot but a mere loyalist to England before the dissolution between England and the colonies occurred. Sheila L. Skemp's The Making of a Patriot explores how Benjamin Franklin tried to stay loyal to the crown while taking interest in the colonies perception and their own representation in Parliament. While Ms. Skemp alludes to Franklin's loyalty, her main illustration is how the attack by Alexander Wedderburn during the Privy Council led to Franklin's disillusionment with the British crown and the greater interest in making the Thirteen Colonies their own nation. Her analysis of Franklin's history in Parliament and what occurred on the night that the council convened proves the change behind Franklin's beliefs and what lead to his involvement in the Declaration of Independence and the American Revolution.
While writing a letter to his son, he begins to explain his reasoning for writing in a somewhat formal fashion, stating what he felt was the purpose of his life. His light hearted nature would show through when he lightly mocked previous statements he had written. He shows a lot of pride in all of the accomplishments he had made in his life. He refers to his past mistakes as ‘errata’ which is a term used for correcting printing mistakes. This suggests that he simply viewed his errors in life as easily replaced with the greater things he has gone on to do. He stressed the importance of hard work and that it would certainly lead to greatness and wealth. In part two, a seemingly older Franklin focuses his tone away from entertaining himself and his son. He goes on to explain a series of models and virtues that would lead to a happy and fulfilling life. Lastly in part three, a slightly older Franklin encourages people so stop thinking in self-interest and to join together to encourage social
Did you find the table in Franklin's essay helpful to see how he was trying to track and improve his faults? I found it useful at a glance I could see where he had marked his faults at and how many he had for the ones that was tracked on that specific page.
During this time in the mid-1700s Colonial America, there were two extreme views of colonists regarding independence: the Patriots and the Loyalists. The Patriots were those who rallied for freedom and independence from Great Britain. On the other end of the spectrum, the Loyalist believed that remaining ties with Britain would be beneficial. Thomas Paine, a Patriot at this time, strongly believed that cutting connections with Great Britain is detrimental to the success of the colonies/states; to stray away from the constant and unfair
Life was prosperous in America. Great Britain, who had a tremendous amount of war debt, needed to find new sources of revenue in the colonies. This was something that sparked the colonies reason for independence. They no longer needed to be obedient to Britain. The British government began to rely on the colonies and their money. The new revenue raising acts that Britain was enforcing hurt the colonies. This gave them more of a reason to rebel. The Stamp Act single handedly hurt the colonies thoughts on Great Britain. William Smith Jr said, “This single stroke has lost Great Britain the affection of all her Colonies.” I like this quote, and agree that at this point, the colonies were completely done caring for Britain. It was obvious they were not going to let their anger go, they wanted to stand up to Britain. Something I really got out of Gordon S. Wood’s writing was how quickly life was changing. His paragraphs went back and forth about the excitement of the emigrants to create a new nation, then the hardships they had to overcome. At first it seemed as if the lives of the emigrants were simple. Like they were taking a vacation to somewhere great. He made sure to prove his
One of his important virtues was humility. It was simply stated: “Imitate Jesus and Socrates.” From the beginning of Franklin’s life, when he went to grammar school he was always interested in learning. His father took him from grammar school and his next move was to be an apprentice to his brother as a printer. With undying love for knowledge he continued to learn how to read and write well. “From a child I was fond of reading, and all the little money that came into my hands was ever laid out in books” (Franklin 13). He continually got books from other print shops and stores to read on the side of working. One of the writings that touched him the most was the Socratic dialogue that he read in the back of a grammar book that he borrowed. He continued his research on Socrates, and therefore the Socratic method became a driving force in his beliefs. That is why he states that we should ‘Imitate Jesus and Socrates’. Their views must have some basis in common in order for him to look up to them that much.
The second half of Franklin’s letter employs the mode of example to illustrate Franklin’s premise. One by one, we are introduced to people who “pay too much for their whistle.” In paragraph 5, he describes a man who gave too much for his whistle, “when I saw another fond [...] constantly employing himself in political bustles, neglecting his own affairs [...] He pays, indeed [...] too much for his whistle.” Franklin argues that sometimes people get caught up in society and worldly affairs that they fail to see their own true values and life. He also describes in a second example how we pay too
Benjamin Franklin describes the culture of Native American in such a way so that it looks like ideal for everyone. Despite with the use of word “savages”, Franklin had an undeniable respect for the people of Native Americans. Franklin tried to explain that Indian men are the backbone of the culture of Native Americans. Franklin has huge admiration towards the Indian men because they were hard worker and disciplined. “The Indian men, when young, are hunters and warriors; when old, counselors; for all their government is by counsel of the sages, there is no force, there are no prisons, no officers to compel obedience, or inflict punishment.” (Franklin 468) Franklin had huge admiration towards the culture due to fact that there are no prisoners, no force and no police officers to impose obedience. Just imagine this country without law enforcement, prisoners and prisons? What would this country be similar, to those of the Native Americans? Would our behaviors be comparable, to those of the Native
All men were created by God with certain God-given rights, life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. It is the right of the people to eradicate this form of government when it becomes destructive to these rights. The Declaration then goes on to state many things that the king of England has done wrong or against America. He has not allowed Governors to pass laws that are of great importance. He has made judges dependent upon him for their salaries; they must do what he says is right in order to get paid. He has cut off their trade from other parts of the world. He has waged war against them. He has done numerous things that have not been taken care of after multiple petitions have been set out to be received by the king. They want to be enemies in times of war and friends in times of peace. It is the right of these colonies to be free and independent states, and they have freedom to do that of which all independent states have to do. They end with the statement that they have a firm belief that this is the Providence of God to be
I chose to focus my posting on the “Red Jacket Defends Native American Religion, 1805” by Red Jacket. The summary of the reading is about a person named Red Jacket because he would repeatedly wear red coats given to him by his British allies. Red Jacket sided with the British in the American Revolution. Red Jacket was part of an Indian tribe, the Senecas, and the tribe was a part of the Iroquois Confederacy. Also, Red Jacket was a strong supporter of his native religion. The religion Red Jacket and the Senecas believed in was the Great Spirit, and they would thank the Great Spirit for everything they had like the sun and the ability to hear words. They believed the Great Spirit gave the land to them (the Senecas). Also, they believed the Great
Summarizing the statements found, we can presume that Ben Franklin wanted to show the flaws of the Constitution that would most likely never be in a more perfect form. He believed that our opinions drove us apart and at the same time, allowed the Constitution to benefit us. Ben Franklin said we must make our agreement obvious if they planned to take notice of his address. He delivers his opinion firmly by revealing what the Constitution does and can do. Without it, we would be fighting amongst each other and with it, we can work to improve
To this day, the American Revolution stands out as a pivotal moment in the emergence of the United States of America. The eighteen year struggle between Great Britain and the thirteen American colonies exemplified the power of will through the defeat of the strongest military force of the time. The American Revolution is often deducted down into the fight for life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness or property. Yes, these Lockean philosophies played a crucial part in the revolution but they were not the sole motive in pursuing independence. Before convincing ideology was introduced, money and economics stood at the center of the unsound relationship between Britain and the colonies. After the Seven Years’ War, Britain was in a very delicate economic situation. Though they were regarded as the “world’s great commercial and imperial nation”, the depletion of their national funds paired with immense debts and new responsibilities created tensions that largely affected the American colonies. The resulting pressure placed on the colonial economy by the British Parliament sparked criticisms that, eventually, transformed into the full-blown revolution known today. Money set the foundation for the revolution that ideology eventually developed and validated. The economic restrictions enacted by the British government
The basis of political views of Benjamin Franklin is the concept of the natural and inalienable rights of an individual. Franklin attributes life, liberty, and property to such natural rights. According to Benjamin Franklin, a man is simply “a tool-making animal,” a creature, whose freedom and, thus, independence is limited (Houston 45). In his Dissertation on Liberty and Necessity, Pleasure and Pain, Benjamin Franklin put the statement that every...