Sections: Introduction - A Cause For Revolution - Break With Britain - Continental Congress
Treaty of Paris - The New Republic - Scientist and Inventor - Printer and Writer - Epitaph
Overview
"A small leak can sink a great ship." "A good conscience is a continual Christmas." "Honesty is the best policy." "Little strokes fell great oaks." "Three may keep a secret, if two of them are dead." "The used key is always bright."
Benjamin Franklin's life was far more complex, creative, and accomplished than can be suggested by such succinct quotations, no matter how accurate. Before Franklin's long life and multiple careers were finished he had achieved fame as a printer, author, philanthropist, inventor, politician, diplomat, abolitionist, and scientist. This exhibition, Benjamin Franklin: In His Own Words, indicates the depth and breadth of Franklin's public, professional, and scientific accomplishments through important documents, letters, books, broadsides, and cartoons. Marking the tercentenary of Franklin's birth, this exhibition, concentrates on his achievements as a printer and writer, an inventor and scientist, and, particularly, as a politician and statesman.