Corruption: The Founders Warned Us About Ourselves
“This can only end in despotism.” Benjamin Franklin didn’t offer that as a theory. It was a sentence – and prophetic. He knew exactly what happens when a people trade virtue for vice: liberty dies, and tyranny takes its place. Not by accident. Not by force. But...
Poor Richard’s Almanac: Benjamin Franklin’s Timeless Guide to Life, Liberty, and Frugality
On Dec. 28, 1732, at just 27 years of age, Benjamin Franklin published the first edition of Poor Richard’s Almanac. He went on to publish it annually for 25 years, and it garnered him wealth and fame. It also played a big part in elevating him to the status of “the...
The Albany Plan: Benjamin Franklin’s Forgotten Call for Colonial Unity
On May 9, 1754 – just about a month before the Albany Congress was set to meet – Benjamin Franklin published his famous Join or Die political cartoon in The Pennsylvania Gazette, symbolizing his now long-forgotten call for a colonial union. Although it was...