How did Benjamin Franklin embody the American Enlightenment?
What will be an ideal response?
Answer: The ideal answer should include:
1. For many Americans, the appeal of the Enlightenment was its focus on a search for useful
knowledge, ideas, and inventions to improve the quality of human life.
2. Benjamin Franklin had little formal education, but as a young man he kept up with the latest
intellectual trends.
3. After he moved to Philadelphia in 1723, Franklin devoted himself to the pursuit of useful
knowledge, ideas that would increase the happiness of his fellow Americans.
4. Franklin was never satisfied with his scientific explorations until they yielded practical
applications.
5. Franklin promoted the spread of reason by organizing groups that discussed the latest European literature, philosophy, and science.
6. The members of these societies communicated with Americans in other colonies, providing them not only with new information but also with models for their own clubs and associations.
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