Ben franklin quotes democracy

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Benjamin Franklin was a big believer in democracy. Many of his ideas would be expressed in the numerous writings and speeches he wrote over the years.

To him, democracy was the most important vessel of the common man.

"Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch. Liberty is a well-armed lamb contesting the vote!"

Franklin's commitment to democracy was declared in this quote:

"Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety."

THE PERILS OF AUTHORITARIANISM

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Franklin lived in a world full of tyranny and authoritarianism.

Franklin's was against the centralized concentration of power. He was a staunch advocate for the dispersion of power. He believed in the need for checks and balances. These things were needed to safeguard the world against tyranny.

Franklin's cautionary tales helped call for vigilance and resistance of the early Americans.

He believed that too much power was in the hands of the few. There would be no freedom for the many.

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THE SACRED FLAME OF LIBERTY

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Benjamin Franklin's advocacy for the rights of the individual came from many areas. But mainly he believed humans were virtuous beings and deserved liberty.

He thought liberty and democracy would create the backbone of the American experiment.

Many of his insights came from him living in Great Britain and being exposed from many famous people and ideas from the Enlightenment.

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THE ENLIGHTENMENT'S SHAPING HAND

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The Enlightenment, a European intellectual and cultural movement characterized by a focus on reason, science, and the pursuit of knowledge, played a pivotal role in shaping Franklin's political and philosophical views.

The movement's emphasis on individual liberty and the rights of the individual struck a resonant chord with Franklin, who absorbed thes

Given Franklin’s interest in science and inventing it is not surprising that the young Franklin would liken the government to a building whose utility depended on how well it had been constructed. He was able to publish his views in the journal he began publishing 1729, The Pennsylvania Gazette. In two short articles he wrote in April 1736 he outlined such a “constructionist” interpretation of “Good Government” in which he argued that if the “superstructure” of the government is too heavy (presumably because it had too many public servants in its employ and thus imposed heavy taxes to fund them) then it would weaken the foundation of the building and perhaps lead to its ultimate collapse. As a democrat he was convinced that only the people were wise enough to choose legislators who would ensure that the political superstructure was in proportion to the strength of the country’s foundation. Furthermore, he was convinced that only the British had discovered this principle of sound government, which had of course been passed on to their American colonial cousins, and that the French were too “enslaved” by their own despotic government to understand this. It is intriguing to ask whether this notion of political “superstucture” influenced Karl Marx in his thinking.

The day began with a prepared speech from Franklin (PA) who, eighty-one years old and painfully afflicted with gout and kidney stone, was unable to read it himself and delegated that task to Wilson (PA).

While the speech was formally addressed to Washington (VA), the Convention’s president, its purpose was to convince the three delegates who had announced their refusal to sign the Constitution—Gerry (MA), Randolph (VA), and Mason (VA)—to abandon their opposition. Franklin began on a note of humility. “I confess that there are several parts of this Constitution which I do not at present approve, but I am not sure I shall never approve them. For having lived long, I have experienced many instances of being obliged by better information, or fuller consideration, to change opinions even on important subjects, which I once thought right, but found to be otherwise. It is therefore that, the older I grow, the more apt I am to doubt my own judgment, and to pay more respect to the judgment of others.”

“In these sentiments, Sir, I agree to this Constitution, with all its faults, if they are such; because I think a General Government necessary for us, and there is no form of government, but what may be a blessing to the people if well administered; and believe further, that this is likely to be well administered for a course of years, and can only end in despotism, as other forms have done before it, when the people shall become so corrupted as to need despotic government.”

He didn’t think another Convention (which Mason and Randolph had argued for) would do any better than the first had. He admitted that the men in the room were all well-reasoned and had a diversity of opinions, making it difficult to find common ground. “From such an assembly can a perfect production be expected? It therefore astonishes me, sir, to find this system approaching so near to perfectio