January 17th marks the 300th birthday of Benjamin Franklin. Many volumes have been written since his death 216 years ago that explore his many accomplishments in a wide variety of endeavors. Despite this much time passing, Franklin’s list of achievements and his life’s work still stands up against the many generations of Americans that have followed him.
More impressive than any one achievement was his versatility in his ability to contribute in so many areas of daily 18th century life. If you lived in the colonies during that period more than likely your home was heated by a Franklin stove, your church was protected by Ben’s lightning rod, and your money was printed by him.
If you lived in Philadelphia you might have read books printed by him, or took them out of a library he started. Your buildings were protected by his fire brigade, fire insurance company or the night watch that he started. In his spare time he led a militia that protected your frontier.
Many a young man over the last two centuries has been lectured on Franklin’s industriousness and his axioms on how to lead a productive life. For today however it is another group of Americans that can take a lesson from Franklin.
The first of the baby boomers are entering their sixties and beginning the end game of their lives. As in every phase of their lives this demographic crowd will have a major impact on the future of the United States. How will the aging of this population contribute in a productive way for themselves and to our country?
It is useful to look back at Franklin and observe that his achievements in his old age are the ones that are likely to be the most indelibly etched in American history as more centuries go by.
In an era when the average life span was somewhere in the forties Franklin lived to be 84. It wasn’t an easy 84 as he was beset with maladies common to the times however despite these setbacks he was undaunted.
Just after his seventieth birthday Franklin was busy as a revolutionary involved by presiding at the constitutional convention, editing Jefferson’s work on the Declaration of Independence and becoming its oldest signer.
To put Franklin’s age in context it might be useful to compare him to some of the historical founding luminaries of the time, John Adams 41, Sam Adams 54, Thomas Jefferson 33, George Washington 44, John Jay 31, and John Hancock 39.
At 70 Franklin only BEGAN his contribution to the birth and defense of the fledgling nation. He spent the next nine years in Europe tirelessly working to provide financial and material support for the battle and subsequent peace back home. In 1782, he along with John Jay and John Adams negotiated The Treaty of Peace with Great Britain.
In 1785 he made his last voyage home however he still wasn’t done with his contributions. In 1787, he was elected president of the Pennsylvania Society for Promoting the Abolition of Slavery; as well servings as delegate to the Constitutional Convention.
As we all contemplate the aging process and where we fit in the scheme of things we might stop and once again take a very hard look at the old Ben Franklin. We can’t be him nor can we duplicate his achievement but we certainly can try to think like he did in his approach to all aspects of our lives.
