The characters of many poems, stories, and other works of art act as critics or representations of the author's society. American writers Benjamin Franklin and Herman Melville both commented on their respective eras using this method. Franklin...

One of Benjamin Franklin’s most memorable aphorisms in The Way to Wealth is the phrase “There are no gains, without pains” (2). This phrase has entered the American lexicon and become an established aphorism that represents the American work ethic...

In eighteenth-century America, a veritable tossed salad of people were coalescing into one place, forming a new nation with a unique identity. The world was watching to see what they would become – some with anticipation, some ready for mockery....

Reasons for seeking out the relative comfort of the United States of America are many; some do so in order to utilize its economic advantages, others yearn to flee oppressive governmental regimes, and so on. However, one overarching motivation...

Benjamin Franklin has a reputation in American – and around the world – as a self-made man for rising from indentured servitude to become a wealthy, independent man. As a founding father of the United States, Franklin’s independence and industry...

Benjamin Franklin, America’s proud representative of a self-made man, was truly of a character considered a genius and ahead of his time. His autobiography consists of an array of themes that influence and highlight American culture and identity....

Two of the most profoundly influential and respected figures of the American Revolution are Thomas Paine and Benjamin Franklin. Both held views about religion and morality that defied orthodoxy, giving rise to the new emphasis on the individual’s...

Benjamin Franklin’s Autobiography has remained an important piece of early American literature not only because it gives the history of one of the founding fathers but also portrays the American ideology of meritocracy. Franklin’s Autobiography is...

Benjamin Franklin’s Autobiography presents the life of its author from his early years until he worked as an Agent of Pennsylvania in London. The biography starts as he writes to his son about his success, his mistakes, and most of the important...