by Effie Moore Salem

Created on: July 07, 2008   Last Updated: August 01, 2008

The United States owes a huge debt to its founding fathers, especially Benjamin Franklin. He contributed to our country in its formative years as no other patriot has. Who among us in the United States do not know of him and his many quotations and his entrepreneurial spirit and genuine love for his countrymen? His magnanimous spirit has never been allowed to fade too far away from the American's conscience. When confronted with conflicting emotions about some governmental practice many ask: what would Ben Franklin have done?

He is the kind of hero that evokes a true sentiment of patriotism, yet is immensely human and approachable. We can laugh at him and even sometimes make him the subject of our jokes without even thinking of ridiculing him. He loved jokes and often played a few pranks on his friends and associates, therefore he would have understood and would have laughed at ours against him. He did all this while at the same time being a trusting and loyal American. He was often sent to Europe to see if he could garner support for our freedom choices.

He was an excellent writer and it was in this way that the then emerging independent country got to know him. One of his legacies - and there are many - is his gift of history that he left for future generations. In the "United States in Literature", a text book, is an example of his writing style. He not only left us with his scientific experiences in the field of electricity, but he freely tossed out his knowledge on how to do it for those who needed to know.

In the example in this text book he is being asked by David Hume, a Scottish philosopher and historian to help out a friend who wanted to know how to protect his house from lightening strikes. Franklin writes him a letter from London January 24th 1762. He is quite detailed in his description of how to build a lightening rod and how to attach it to his chimney and how to ground it. It is a serious matter and none of his provocative manner shows through in this letter. (He is in London as a representative of his beloved company and he minds his manners.)

Yet what shows through is his dedication to frugality that was so much a part of his life. He wants to not only show the way to construct a lightening rod; he wants it to last a long time. ". . . It may also be proper to paint the iron, to render it more durable by protecting it from rust. . ." This insistence on durability and making things last longer stemmed from the times. He grew up poor and had to make

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