Benjamin Franklin: President of Pennsylvania, minister to France, first Postmaster General, famously struck by lightning while flying a kite, and coined as “The First American”. Franklin’s growth from printer to one of the most powerful advocates of the new American nation granted him his aforementioned title. Franklin’s life has allowed him to be seen as a major figure on the American cultural philosophy of self destiny and reliance. A student of history could utilize Franklin's reputation as preliminary research into the roots, evolution, and present state of American society. This being accomplished by utilizing Franklin's autobiography, understanding his place on the American psyche, and understand how his everyday life varies from today’s.
The prevalent ideas that many readers take away from reading the autobiography of Franklin is his self motivation. Thus marking the definition of the “American way.” However, another aspect that modern readers could find is how this so defined “quintessential American,” placed women in the fabric of a new country. With the country being a vastly different place from the epoch of the “first American” we will explore how different American society is now. To summarize, this essay will explore how Benjamin Franklin’s life was used to cement the American way, furthermore using a researcher’s point of view to compare how life has evolved in the past 200 years by using gender roles as the marker for social change.
Before we begin, we must understand that the “differences” between men and women that will be stated in this essay stem from sociological understanding and a series of historical examples that will be collected from Franklin’s autobiography in order for there to be conclusive evidence, based on a scholarly science, on social change in America.
In sociology, there is an understanding that men and women have vastly different roles in the social hierarchy and fabric. The most ubiquitous understanding of the difference between men and women are the “traditional roles”: the man is the worker and the woman the wife and child bearer. These roles in society have been largely challenged in the last century, whereby first, second, and third waves of feminism have formed to advocate for the equality of women. Feminism is tackling the issues of votes for women and equal pay; however, in the time of early American feminism was nowhere near the power it has now.
On the introduction of the book it states how Americans devour any book that contains information on success – to many in America, success means financial security. This is evident on the very first chapter of the book. He credits his father in a lot of his success and early life. Franklin states his family were not wealthy but managed to be comfortable. A credit he gives his father. His mother is not mentioned in great detail nor appears as much as the father. While the structure of his family was that of the modern American atomic family, I would like to use this point to show this recurring theme on the small role of women on the book. While he may credit the women who were a part of his life, it is clear how much social norms can affect one regardless of one’s efforts to undo them.
Further on in the book, Franklin states his education. He talks on the development of his writing style and his thirst for knowledge. He talks on how he adored to consume books and how he managed to finance his love of reading. Franklin’s intelligence and developed writing style is clear on his work, yet it’s when he talks about his education that we catch a glimpse into the role of women in the 18th century. Franklin goes into detail on his debate with a colleague with whom he discussed the issue of women’s education. Both learned men, Franklin’s colleague argues that women are not equal to men and are not compatible to receive an education. Franklin, in turn took, as he mentioned, the role of “devil’s advocate.” To the modern reader this might seem abysmal – how can anyone believe that any human person is unworthy of knowledge? Yet it is here where we can take pleasure in knowing that women are no longer subjugated to such limitations. For Example, in the U.S there are more women in universities than men.
One of the most popular, yet infamous, aspects of Franklin are the rumors of his many amorous affairs with women. However, having a liking for women is different from having them be a part of social power positions. As Franklin explains on the growth of his career, he spends time with men with positions of power, such as governors, wealthy men, and educated men. Franklin, speaks how he gained the favor of these men and how he thanks them for their influence on his life. It is here where we can see the “patriarchy” at work. “Patriarchy,” a term here meaning on the nature of males being the ones who are ubiquitous in the ranks of power. Herein lies another social change from Franklin’s time, in modern America we have seen more women on the American legislature, governorships, Supreme Court, and we have seen a woman be nominated for the presidency by a major party. The American society has evolved and has allowed for greater chances of equality for women. Of course this change didn’t come by chance. It came by fighting for progress, the right to vote, and equality.
To view women as equals in almost all aspects of life is somewhat of a modern idea, in the western world. Franklin speaks about the women in his life only in the limited aspect of how they were kind to him. The women, however, were mostly wives, mothers, and one a nun. Herein lies the limited jobs that women could gather. Equality in the workplace is a fight that we are seeing to this day. The fight for equal pay for equal work, to be a bigger part of certain industries, and the protection from sexual harassment in the workplace.
In conclusion, the work of Benjamin Franklin should be independent of any modern prejudice or bias. The work of Franklin can be used to try and comprehend American history with the modern ideas of understanding the present. If Benjamin Franklin’s reputation of the first American is true, then it is up to the students and professors of history to utilize his work as the foundation of American society and hope to use it on understanding the past of American society see how it has and can evolve.