What did Benjamin Frankin say?,

Benjamin Franklin on a visit from the USA to the UK, before he went off to visit German and France.

Benjamin Franklin

Americans and visitors to America are familiar with Benjamin Franklin. He has appeared many times on postage stamps, notes.






When I visited Philadelphia, the lovely city in the USA, I went an exhibition about Benjamin Franklin, who is known as a Founding Father and The First American.


He was born in a house which is not longer there but a statue honouring him is on the building standing on the same site.


Signing


Benjamin Franklin National Memorial



Every day I am grateful to Benjamin Franklin. He invented bifocals.

Bifocals made by Benjamin Franklin

And the lightning conductor.

To protect buildings.
And freestanding objects such as statues.


I also like to quote him. Did he really say, "a place for everything and everything it its place"?

Did he really say,"We must all hang together, or we shall all hang separately"?

He said this in reply to somebody else who said, 'We must all hang together".

I was given a table topic (impromptu speech topic) at a Toastmasters meeting. J K Rowling said something similar.

I quoted Benjamin Franklin.

My Friend at Toastmasters, Eliya, sent me this in the chat box:

On July 2, 1776, the Continental Congress agreed upon the content of the Declaration of Independence. Two days later, on July 4, the document was signed the document. We do not know exactly what was said and done the day the Declaration was signed. What we do know, however, is that only John Hancock, president of the Continental Congress, and Charles Thomson, Secretary of the Congress, signed the Declaration on July 4th. Most delegates signed the Declaration on August 2, and one didn't sign it until 1781. Nevertheless, we know that the delegates knew they were taking a major step. Mary Katherine Goddard, publisher of the Maryland Journal, made the first printed copy of the Declaration of Independence with the names of all the signers, and distributed the document across the colonies. Having declared their freedom, the American patriots had to win it in battle. By signing the Declaration of Independence, the delegates were putting their lives on the line. If they were to lose the war for independence, then ...

From Eliya Narasinghan
The British government would execute them in a very painful and nasty way. Thus, although we do not know if Benjamin Franklin actually said, "we must all hang together, or ... we shall all hang separately," it is likely that that idea was in the minds of the delegates that day in July.

Visit the Benjamin Franklin Museum in Philadelphia, USA, if you can get to it when it is open.



Useful Websites
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benjamin_Franklin
https://www.nps.gov/inde/planyourvisit/benjaminfranklinmuseum.htm

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About the Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker.
Angela Lansbury is the author of Quick Quotations; and Who Said What When.

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