Here's a Page from Franklin's Newspaper

Does this change your thinking of Franklin's ideas?

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN READING NOW DUE ON MONDAY

We are not quite ready to discuss the reading on Friday. We'll continue discussing other mid century challenges on Friday and then talk all about your BFFBF on Monday. Now you have the weekend to finish this fabulous book.

Mid-Century Challenges to British Authority

I. Great Awakening and American Enlightenment

II. French and Indian War

III. Economic Shift

IV. Land Conflicts
A. Susquehannah Company(Pennamite Wars)
B. Paxton Boys
C. South Carolina Regulators
D. North Carolina Regulators
E. The Boston Fire of 1860

V. FOCUS ON BEN FRANKLIN:

Colonial Virginia

I. Founding Pains
A. Settlement
B. Headright
C. House of Burgesses
D. Royal Colony

II. Economy: “The Crop that Cureth”
A. The Chesapeake
B. Labor trouble
1. Indentured Servants
2. Early Colonial Slavery

III. Cavalier Culture
A. Violence
B. Bacon’s Rebellion

IV. Significance

The Duties of Children to their Parents

The heavy Curse of God, Will fall upon those Children, That make Light of their Parents.Oftentimes the Fathers have the Wisdom to keep up their Authority, and keep themselves above the Contempt of their Children.But the Mothers do more frequently by their Fondness, and Weakness, bring upon themselves, the Contempt of their Children, and Lay themselves Low, by many Impertinencies.Now, behold, the Admonition of Heaven; the Children which cast Contempt upon their Mothers do also bring themselves under the Curse of God.The Curse of God! The Terriblest Thing that ever was heard of; The First born of Terribles! Can't I mention this Tremendous Thing, The Curse of God; and, Oh, My Children, Will not you Tremble at it?1) Maintain in your own Spirits, a Dread of those Dreadful Curses, with which the God of Heaven uses to take Vengeance on the Children, who put not Respect, but Contempt, upon their Parents. Beyond, how dreadfully the Judgments of God follow the Children that Set Light by their parents; and Oh, my Warned Children, upon the sight of those Warnings, cry out, Lord, my Flesh trembles for fear, and I am afraid of those Judgments!Indeed there is no Sin more usually Revenged, with the Sensible and Notable Curses of God, than that Sin, The Contempt of Parents.Exasperated Parents themselves, do sometimes Imprecate Curses upon their Children; and the Invisible World with a strange, but a quick work, usually says, Amen, to those Curses.First. Undutiful Children, for the Sin of the Contempt they cast upon their Parents, are often Cursed by God, with being Left unto yet more Sin against Him. I could not have spoken a more Terrible word! This is most certain, The more Sinful any man is, the more Cursed is that man. It is an amazing Vengeance of God, that gives a Sinner up to Sin for Sin, and Curses a Sinner for one Sin, by Leaving him to another.But Undutiful Children, are commonly Cursed, and Banned by such a Vengeance of God. We read of some Sinners, whom the Justice of God gives up to Sin, and this is one Brand upon those doleful Sinners, in Rom. 1:30: Disobedient unto Parents.The Fifth Commandment stands in the Front of all Six, upon the Second Table of the Law. Children, If you break the Fifth Commandment, there is not much Likelihood, that you will keep the rest; No, there is Hazard, that the Curse of God, will give you up to break every one of them all.Undutiful Children soon become horrid Creatures, for Unchastity, for Dishonesty, for Lying, and all manner of Abominations: And the Contempt which they cast upon the Advice of their Parents, is one thing that pulls down this Curse of God upon them.They who sin against their Parents, are sometimes by God given up to Sin against all the world beside. Mind the Most Scandalous Instances of Wickedness and Villainy; You'll ordinarily find, they were first Undutiful Children, before they fell into the rest of their atrocious Wickedness.Secondly, Undutiful Children for the Contempt they cast upon their Parents are often Cursed by God, with a Mischief brought upon all their Affairs. A Strange Disaster uses to follow Undutiful Children, much Evil pursues that kind of Sinner; there is a secret Vengeance of God, perplexing their Affairs; through that Vengeance of God, None of their Affairs do prosper with them.When David was vexed with one of his Undutiful Children, he could foretell, in Psal. 55:19. God shall Afflict them. There is a Secret Blast of God, upon Undutiful Children.They are Afflicted in their Estates: It is the Curse of God upon them, for their being Loathe, to do what they could for their Parents, with their Estates.They are Afflicted in their Bodies: It is the Curse of God upon them, for their Dishonouring the Parents of their Bodies.They are followed with one plague after another, by the Irresistible Wrath, and Curse of God: they can't comprehend, how they come to be so plagued in all their Interests: 'Tis it may be their Contempt of their Parents, that has been the Worm at the Root, which causes all to wither with 'em. And if these Undutiful Children, ever Live to have Children of their own, God pays 'em home in their own Coin; God pays 'em in the Undutifulness of their own Children, in the Undutifulness of their own Children, God makes 'em to possess the Iniquities of their Youth.Thirdly, Death; Yea, an Early Death, and a Woeful Death, is not seldom the Curse of God upon Undutiful Children for their being so. It is the Tenour of the Precept, Honour thy Father and thy Mother, that thy Days may be long upon the Land. Mind it, Children; Your Days are not like to be long upon the Land, if you Set Light by your Father or Mother.Children that cast Contempt on the Parents, who have been the Instruments of their Life, do thereby, what, but make Forfeitures of their Life?It is a memorable passage, in Prov. 30:17: The Eye that mocks at his Father, and despises to obey his Mother, the Ravens of the Valley shall pick it out, and the young Eagles shall Eat it. It seems, an Untimely and a Tragical Death, often Exposes the Carcasses of those Children, to the Carnivorous Fowls of Heaven.There was a Law in Israel, Deut. 21:21: That the Rebellious Child should be put to Death. After Stoning, he was Hang'd up; for in Israel they Hang'd up none, till they had first otherwise kill'd him; and no doubt, his Corpse being taken down, as it was to be done before Sunset, it was thrown into a Noted Pit, such an one as that, into which they threw the Corpse of Judas over the Precipice; and there the Fowls of Heaven prey'd upon it. Agur perhaps alludes to This; And we often see it so, that the Rebellious Child, is left of God, unto those Crimes, for which he is put to Death, e're it be long.More than so; Undutiful Children are Unnatural Children; And the Curse of God sometimes gives over Unnatural Children to commit the most Unnatural Murders. They have Murdered themselves, and been Self-Destroyers: As they have Sinn'd against Nature, so they Die the most against Nature, that can be.A Young man in this Country Drown'd himself; but he Left behind him a Writing to his Father, wherein he complain'd, O Father, I have kept my Soul, as long as I could; My Ruin was the pride and stubbornness of my Tender Years!But is this all? No; Lastly; All the Curse of God upon Undutiful Children hitherto, is but the Death, riding the Pale Horse in the Revelation; whereof 'tis said, Hell followed. I am after all to tell you, That the Vengeance of Eternal Fire, will be the portion of Undutiful Children after all; Children that cast Contempt upon their Parents, God will cast into the Vengeance of Eternal Fire at the Last, and into Everlasting Contempt.Surely, the Damned, are the Cursed of God! Hear, O Children; If you are the Children of Rebellion, the Curse of God will make you the Children of Perdition, throughout Eternal Ages.

Reading Guide for The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin

READING DUE FRIDAY THE 22ND

You will not turn these questions in, but will should guide your reading and aid your understanding of this book. The more specific page numbers you use, the better our discussion will be.

1. Describe the tone of this autobiography. Point to examples of Franklin’s tone sounding arrogant. Point to examples of Franklin’s humility.

2. How would you describe young Ben's attitude toward education, work, and financial success? Give an example or two to illustrate your answer.

3. In Part 3 of the Autobiography Franklin reflects on the problems encountered when governments are in the hands of people who pursue their own private interests at the expense of the public good. What solution does he advocate? How realistic do you think it is? 

4. Give some examples of how Franklin spends his time making society better. Why do you think he does this? What is the purpose of the Junto club?

5. Give some examples of how Franklin spends time trying to improve himself.

6. What was Franklin’s daily life like?

7. Describe Franklin’s religious beliefs. What does the passage about George Whitefield say about Franklin’s view of religion?

8. And finally, do you think he was right in recognizing the tendency of politicians to seek after their own interest at the expense of the public good? Can you cite examples of such behavior in our current state, local, and national government?

9. Can values be taught in schools? Should they be? Is it possible to agree on a single list of “virtues”? Former Secretary of Education and sometime Republican presidential candidate, William Bennett, in his best selling Book of Virtues, suggests that every American school boy and girl should be made to read and study the values contained in this eighteenth-century book. What are those values? Are they still applicable today?

DOCUMENTS: COLONIAL EPITAPHS

In Memory ofMr JOHN GOODSPEEDWho departed thisLife Aug ye 28 1786in ye 66th yearof his Age. Mark traveller this humble stone'Tis death's kind warning to prepareThou too must hasten to the tombAnd mingle with corruption there

In memory ofFreeman Kingman Son ofSimeon Kingman& Rebecca his wifewho was drowned Jan 14 1793in the 12th yearof his age. Also in memory oftheir infant daughterwho died Oct 13 1791

In Memory ofMrs Abigail SturgisRelict ofSam'l Sturgis Esq'rof Barnstable whowho died February 9 1795in the 63 Yearof her Age

Philander ShawSon ofthe Rev Philander Shaw& Mrs Lucy his wifedied Jan'y 27th 1800aged 7 weeksfootstonePhilander Shaw

In Memory ofPrince Son to Mr John& Mrs Mary Bodfishhe died Oct'r 4 1793in ye 3 year of his age. Come now behold and shed a tearTo see a first born slainWho liv'd and died in innocenceAnd turned to dust again

Here lies Ye Body ofABIGAIL WINSLOW LEWISDaug'r of Mr WINSLOW& Mrs MARY LEWISdied June 30th 1767Aged 12 Years

Here lies the Body ofMrs ABIGAIL ADAMSthe amiable Consort ofDr SAMUEL ADAMSwho died in ChildbedJuly 8th 1774in the 24th Yearof her Age

Here lie the Remains ofRev Mr JOHN AVERYWho Departed this Life ye23d of April 1754 in the69th Year of His Age and44th of His Ministry and the First Pastor Ordained inthis Place.
In this dark cavern, in this lonesome GraveHere lies the honest, pious, virtuous FriendHim, Kind Heav'n to us priest and doctor gaveAs such he lived, as such we mourn his end

Here are deposited the Remains ofMr BENJAMIN BANGSwho departed this LifeOctober 31st Anno Domini 1769Aged 48 Years and 4 Months. Some hearty friend shall drop his tearOn my dry Bones and say"These once were strong as mine appearAnd mine must be as they"
Thus shall our moulding Members teachWhat now our Senses learnFor Dust and Ashes loudest preachMan's infinite Concern

In Memory ofCapt SOLOMON BANGSwho died Jan'y 19th1797Aged 68 Years

EDMOND FREEMANBORN IN ENGLAND 1590DIED IN SANDWICH 1682. A FOUNDEROF THETOWN OF SANDWICHIN 1637. ASSISTANT TOGOVERNOR BRADFORD1640 - 1647

HERE LYES BURIEDTHE BODY OF MrsRUTH CHIPMANAGED 71 YEARSDIED OCTOBER Ye 4th1713. Blessed are ye DeadThat die in the Lord

Here lieth Jesseye Son of MerinaNegro Servantto Melatiah BourneEsq died Septye 17 1737 Aged2 Years and 6 Mo

HERE LYETH Ye BODYOF SHEARJASHUB BOURNESQ'R WHO DEPARTED THISLIFE MARCH Ye 7th 1718/19IN THE 76 YEAR OF HIS AGE HE WAS A VIRTUOUS RIGHTEOUS & MERCIFUL MANAND A GREAT FRIEND TO Ye INDIANS.PRECIOUS IN Ye SIGHT OF Ye
LORDIS Ye DEATH OF THIS SAINT