Ben Franklin's America

3 units

In this course, we will explore Ben Franklin's America, from the earliest stirrings of political and religious dissent in the first decades of the eighteenth century to the post-Revolutionary debates over the meaning of republican virtue, American character, and representative government. We will read primary sources from a variety of figures who contributed to the century-long debate over these subjects, and then we will hear from Franklin himself, as he offers his own insight into these issues, observing the changes taking place around him.