Benjamin Franklin

The Sociologist

What was the reaction to Rules by Which a Great Empire can be Reduced to a Small One?

From 1757 to 1775, Benjamin Franklin served in England as a general ambassador for several of the American colonies. His job was to convince the King and Parliament to change their policies towards America. Despite his attempts for most of those eighteen years, Franklin was not having success. There was a lot of tension between England and America during this time when the British Parliament passed the Tea Act (1773), which hurt the colonial merchants. Franklin then turned to political satire to make his point. He wrote “Rules by Which a Great Empire May Be Reduced to a Small One”, which was published in the London Public Advisor in 1773 (http://www.benfranklin300.org/etc_timeline_6.htm). Using irony and reverse logic, Franklin laid out the American case. He began by comparing the British Empire to a great cake: “most easily diminished from the edges.” He continued the analogy by saying England was acting like a gingerbread maker. To facilitate a division, the baker cuts through the dough before baking, creating a perforation of sorts, the cooked gingerbread then breaking at the designated place. Even though English policy seemed to be set against any American interests, there was a small pro-American party in England. These people saw that the Colonies brought immense wealth to England, and keeping the Colonies happy and working were the right thing to do. Unfortunately, Franklin’s satire antagonized these supporters. No doubt comparing the mighty British Empire to a cake did not sit well. While Franklin’s expressiveness helps us today to understand the colonial position, it did not bring the results he hoped for.

In 1773 in the Americas Franklin was exposed as a dishonest schemer, Franklin was denounced before the Privy Council in January 1774 and stripped of his postmaster general's office. Although he continued to work for conciliation, the Boston Tea Party and Britain's oppressive response to it soon doomed such efforts. In March 1775, Franklin sailed for home, sure "the extream corruption in this old rotten State" would ensure "more Mischief than Benefit from a closer Union" between Britain and its colonies.

http://www.history.com/shows/10-things-you-dont-know-about/videos/ben-franklin

Then Franklin served on the Pennsylvania Committee of Safety and in the Continental Congress, submitted articles of confederation for the united colonies, proposed a new constitution for Pennsylvania, and helped draft the Declaration of Independence. He readily signed the declaration, thus becoming a revolutionist at the age of 70 (http://chemistry.mtu.edu/~pcharles/SCIHISTORY/BenjaminFranklin.html).

Emerson/Thoreau

Transcendentalism is the belief that truths about life and death can be reached by going outside the world of the senses. Henry David Thoreau was the prime example of transcendentalism and this is one of my favorite quotes. “Our life is frittered away by detail. Simplify, simplify, simplify! I say, let your affairs be as two or three, and not a hundred or a thousand; instead of a million count half a dozen, and keep your accounts on your thumb-nail.”  

Thoreau believed living simple was the best way to live. At the age of 28 he went to Walden pond and built his cabin on land owned by Emerson. While at Walden, Thoreau did an incredible amount of reading and writing, yet he also spent much time "sauntering" in nature. This is where he wrote his book Walden (http://www.vcu.edu/engweb/transcendentalism/authors/thoreau/).  

Thoreau’s beliefs and ideas influenced many civil rights leaders from Ghandi to Martin Luther King Jr. Ghandi credits Thoreau with helping the abolition of slavery. Martin Luther King Jr. credits Thoreau with giving him his first experience at non-violent protest. Because of this experience, Martin Luther King Jr. was inspired to become one of the most influential civil rights leaders in our nation's history. Once again, the basic counter-cultural impulses can be seen in the early years of the 21st century. People are beginning to explore old and new ideas about self-sufficiency, sustainable living, ecological concerns, a desire for harmony with the natural environment and exploration of new age philosophies and religions. The concerns of the time may have changed, but the push back against public consistency remains the same (http://www.ehow.com/facts_7394279_transcendentalism-affects-today.html).  Today there are also many ways people make things not simple. One example of this is the massive use of technology. It is not simple at all and there wasn’t any less than a hundred years ago. Many things have changed since Thoreau’s time, but many things are still the same.