Benjamin Franklin and the Hudson Valley

is the fall tour, September 30-October 4, sponsored by the Friends of Franklin. The tour will explore Franklin's New York connections in the scenic Hudson Valley and consider the 3 themes connecting Franklin to this area: his 1754 Albany Plan of Union, his 1776 visit of Canada to advance the American Revolution, and the Indian treaties he negotiated at Fort Stanwix. For further information contact Kathy DeLuca at 856-854-7257.

Fourth of July is Independence Day

Check out the U.S. government's web page replete with histories, quizzes, recipes, and more, even the founding document.

What kind of computer would Dr. Franklin own?

Dr. Alan Houston's Amazing Discovery at the British Library

Dr. Houston, a political science profesor at the Unversity of California at San Diego, came across copies of 47 letters writen by Benjamin Franklin. His Spring,2007 find is reported in the April issue of the William and Mary Quarterly.

NEH Funds Benjamin Franklin Summer 2009 Teachers' Workshops in Philadelphia

Teachers from across the United State will have the chance to walk in the footsteps of Benjamin Franklin this summer as part of a major National Endowment for the Humanities initiative. The $175,000 Landmarks of American History grant will bring eighty teachers to historic Philadelphia for a week.

Penn State Harrisburg will sponsor "A Rising People: Benjamin Franklin and the Americans," to be held June 28-July 4 and July 5-10. Teachers will study with major scholars of early America, visit sites that Franklin knew, peruse documents in Franklin's own hand, and experience the host of historic opportunities Philadelphia has to offer in the weeks surrounding Independence Day.

Illlinois' Impeachment of Blagojevich

Ron Grossman, a Chicago Tribune Reporter, traces the origins of America's use of impeachment, first discussed by the Founding Fathers. Mr. Grossman describes Benjamin Franklin's view of this extraordinary power to remove the executive. Governor Blagojevich was impeached by unanimous vote of the Illinois Senate, 59-0, on Thursday, Januaary 29, 2009.

Edward Gibbon and Benjamin Franklin

In his 11/23/2008 NYT book review on p. 12 of Piers Brendon's recent "The Decline and Fall of the British Empire 1781-1997," Geoffrey Wheatcroft wrote, "Shortly before (1781),Gibbon himself declined an invitation to dine with Benjamin Franklin in Paris since he represented an enemy country. Franklin genially replied that he would like to 'furnish materials to so excellent writer for the Decline and Fall of the British Empire,' so the idea isn't new."

Gibbon was inspired while visiting Rome in 1764 to write his "The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire" which he completed in 1788.