


The Founders and the Constitution: Benjamin Franklin
Benjamin Franklin was born in Boston on Jan. 6, 1706, the youngest son among a tradesman’s 15 children by two successive wives. He had two years of formal education. At the age of 12 he was apprenticed to his older brother James, a printer. Five years later, he ran...
A Republic. But They Didn’t Keep it
A Republic, if you can keep it. We’ve all heard this phrase – it’s almost legendary. People have used it in campaigns, slogans, as a book title, in support or against all kinds of things. First of all, considering the fact that we live under the largest...
Neither Liberty Nor Safety
Benjamin Franklin’s famous one-liner about the relationship between liberty and safety has intrigued me since I first read it in high school. Why would anyone sacrifice personal liberty? And how does that sacrifice equate to temporary safety? When Franklin...