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LETS DO LUNCH: BENJAMIN FRANKLIN AND THE AMERICAN CHARACTER

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The Americanization of Benjamin Franklin. By Gordon S. Wood New ... H.W. Brands began this trend with his biography running to some 765 pages ...

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LETS DO LUNCH: BENJAMIN FRANKLIN AND THE AMERICAN CHARACTERPage 1AUSTRALASIAN JOURNAL OF AMERICAN STUDIES82REVIEW ESSAYLETS DO LUNCH: BENJAMIN FRANKLIN AND THEAMERICAN CHARACTERPETER BASTIANThe First American. By H.W.Brands New York Doubleday 2000 pp. 765$US 17.00 (paper).Benjamin Franklin. By Edmund S Morgan New Haven Yale UniversityPress 2002 pp. xi + 339 $US 28.00 (cloth).Benjamin Franklin: An American Life. By Walter Isaacson New YorkSimon and Shuster 2003 pp. 590 $US30.00 (cloth).The Americanization of Benjamin Franklin. By Gordon S. Wood NewYork The Penguin Press 2004 pp. xvi + 287 $US 25.95 (cloth).Even before the first generation of revolutionaries had passed from thescene some were already jealous of the importance given to BenjaminFranklins role in the achievement of American independence. John Adamscould hardly contain his disgust in his 1791 prediction when he claimed thatFranklin and Washington would be remembered as the two heroes of therevolution. Interestingly for many subsequent generations of AmericansFranklin would be remembered as a prototype for American national virtuesand values rather than for his revolutionary contributions. Nineteenthcentury Americans in particular were taken with his entertainingautobiography that demonstrated how a poor boy could make good and withhis practical Poor Richard aphorisms that seemed so apt for anincreasingly middle class and prosperous democratic society. For thosecritics of American society Franklins apparent crass materialism providedan easy focus for their attacks on twentieth century Babbittry. Although the later part of that century saw a decline in admiration for Franklin he neverwent completely out of favour with historians or with the general public.The approaching tercentenary of Franklins birth in 2006 has seen a plethora of recent works aiming to once again interpret Franklins career andrelevance to American society in the twenty first century.H.W. Brands began this trend ...

Source: anzasa.arts.usyd.edu.au

 

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