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Review
| Franklin: The Autobiography and other Writings on Politics, Economics, and Virtue, by Alan Houston, ed. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2004. 371 pages. $70.00, cloth.
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| This collection of forty-five documents written by Benjamin Franklin is a recent addition to the Cambridge Texts in the History of Political Thought Series. The documents included were selected to illuminate Benjamin Franklin's thoughts on the three often closely related subjects of politics, economics, and virtue and are selected from several significant works by Franklin: his Autobiography, Observations Concerning the Increase of Mankind, Peopling of Countries, Information to Those That Would Remove to America, An Edict by the King of Prussia, Rattle-Snakes for Felons, A Modest Enquiry into the Nature and Necessity of a Paper-Currency, Dialogue Between Two Presbyterians and many of his other essays and letters. By reading from this collection students could also be exposed to many of the ideas, beliefs, and issues of the Colonial period and the American Revolution because the book contains sources about colonial economic and social life. It also includes sources pertinent to the study of the French and Indian War and sources that provide insight into immigration into the colonies and the Slave Trade. Moreover this work incorporates sources that are salient to the study of constitutionalism via the Articles of Confederation and the Constitutional Convention. |
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This publication would be a useful resource for students in a high school history classroom. Although the documents use eighteenth century spellings which could be a little difficult for some weaker students, the book should still be within the reading ability of most eleventh or twelfth grade students. Literature from this book could be used effectively in student reports and research projects. Additionally the structure of a document like Dialogue Between Two Presbyterians lends itself to many "drama in the classroom" type activities, wherein two or more students perform the roles of the participants in the dialogue before the class. Moreover, many of the documents within this collection of Franklin's writings are essentially arguments for or against some issue. For example A Modest Enquiry into the Nature and Necessity of a Paper-Currency is an argument for an expansion of the colonial money supply. Such a document could be used effectively as a starting point for a student debate. In conclusion Franklin: The Autobiography and other Writings on Politics, Economics, and Virtue is a useful resource for high school teachers who wish to expose their students to the use of more sources pertaining to the American Colonial Experience or the American Revolution with their students. |
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| Patrick County High School, Stuart, Virginia |
Jonathan Turchek |
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