Changes

After 1727 Franklin typically operated through "the Junto", an informal club comprising friends, civil leaders and fellow tradesmen.  He established America's first subscription library, the Library Company of Philadelphia, in 1731.  In 1736, he organized the first volunteer fire department, the Union Fire Company.  In 1743, he expanded the idea of the Junto to all of the colonies by organizing the [[American Philosophical Society]].  He helped fund the first hospital and planned a professional police force.

After 1727 Franklin typically operated through "the Junto", an informal club comprising friends, civil leaders and fellow tradesmen.  He established America's first subscription library, the Library Company of Philadelphia, in 1731.  In 1736, he organized the first volunteer fire department, the Union Fire Company.  In 1743, he expanded the idea of the Junto to all of the colonies by organizing the [[American Philosophical Society]].  He helped fund the first hospital and planned a professional police force.

===Moral reform===

===Moral reform===

During the 1730s Franklin made a determined effort to use the emerging power of his press to clean up both private character and public space by writing against the excesses of drink, alehouses, fairs, gambling, and other idle pursuits. Franklin's focus on the body and its potential excess is reflective of a transformation in body image and self-image that was part of a broader range of religious, economic, and political transformations that emerged in the 18th century. All were part of a challenge to the traditional authority of church and state; the growth of commerce, the market, and the print public sphere; and the proliferation of a political ideology that presaged the Declaration of Independence. In his ''Autobiography'' (1771) Franklin utilized the body and its "inclinations" to drive his narrative. In contrast to [[Thomas Jefferson]], who appealed to abstract human rights, and [[John Adams]], who invoked historical precedent and English canon law, Franklin portrayed the Revolution as an ongoing struggle between inclination and reason.<ref> Betsy Erkkila, "Franklin and the Revolutionary Body." ''ELH'' (English Literary History) 2000 67(3): 717-741. 0013-8304</ref>

During the 1730s Franklin made a determined effort to use the emerging power of his press to clean up both private character and public space by writing against the excesses of drink, alehouses, fairs, gambling, and other idle pursuits. Franklin's focus on the body and its potential excess is reflective of a transformation in body image and self-image that was part of a broader range of religious, economic, and political transformations that emerged in the 18th century. All were part of a challenge to the traditional authority of church and state; the growth of commerce, the market, and the print public sphere; and the proliferation of a political ideology that presaged the Declaration of Independence. In his ''Autobiography'' (1771) Franklin utilized the body and its "inclinations" to drive his narrative. In contrast to [[Thomas Jefferson]], who appealed to abstract human rights, and [[John Adams]], who invoked historical precedent and English canon law, Franklin portrayed the Revolution as an ongoing struggle between inclination and reason.<ref> Betsy Erkkila, "Franklin and the Revolutionary Body." ''ELH'' (English Literary History) 2000 67(3): 717-741. [http://www.jstor.org/pss/30031934 in JSTOR]</ref>

 

Franklin did not derive his ideas on ethics and virtue from Puritan thought. His theories stemmed from a commonly held concept among 18th-century [[Enlightenment]] philosophers: that the development of habit can be used for achieving behavioral change. Franklin's approach to the gaining of moral progress was neopagan rather than Christian in its orientation. It stressed the gradual modification of the person's observable actions instead of an emphasis on internal spiritual change. In essence, Franklin's attitude toward habit and moral improvement was almost identical to that later espoused by [[John Stuart Mill]] and the utilitarian and associationist schools of philosophy.<ref>Norman S. Fiering, "Benjamin Franklin and the Way to Virtue". ''American Quarterly'' 1978 30(2): 199-223. [http://www.jstor.org/pss/2712323 in JSTOR]</ref>

 

===Library===

===Library===

Franklin was the main organizer of the Library Company of Philadelphia, founded in 1731 by middle class "artificers," (craftsmen, like printers, and owners of small businesses). They sought to improve their condition and status through self-education. The library reflected Franklin's belief that reading could change expectations and positions in society. The books at the library were extremely important in Franklin's intellectual development, and his experience there strengthened his beliefs about education. Through the library, members pursued many interests and became involved in natural science through Peter Collinson of London, who acted as its book agent. Nonmembers of both sexes also used the library.<ref>George Boudreau,  "'Highly Valuable And Extensively Useful': Community and Readership among the Eighteenth-Century Philadelphia Middling Sort." ''Pennsylvania History'' 1996 63(3): 302-329.</ref>

Franklin was the main organizer of the Library Company of Philadelphia, founded in 1731 by middle class "artificers," (craftsmen, like printers, and owners of small businesses). They sought to improve their condition and status through self-education. The library reflected Franklin's belief that reading could change expectations and positions in society. The books at the library were extremely important in Franklin's intellectual development, and his experience there strengthened his beliefs about education. Through the library, members pursued many interests and became involved in natural science through Peter Collinson of London, who acted as its book agent. Nonmembers of both sexes also used the library.<ref>George Boudreau,  "'Highly Valuable And Extensively Useful': Community and Readership among the Eighteenth-Century Philadelphia Middling Sort." ''Pennsylvania History'' 1996 63(3): 302-329.</ref>