Reflection: Tuckerman Critique of Franklin

Although many believe that Benjamin Franklin’s thirteen virtues were just a test to accomplish, they stood for much more. Franklin believed that following all thirteen virtues would result in a happy and healthy life. The virtues did take a lot of focus and hard work to accomplish, but they were worth so much more than a trophy or plaque. Living the thirteen virtues showed determination and a better life.

Benjamin Franklin knew that it would be impossible to create the thirteen virtues, and then attempt to live all thirteen on his first day. Instead he started with one, Temperance, and added another each week. By the thirteenth week, Franklin was living every virtue. This was a smart form of propaganda because it allowed Franklin to focus on one at a time and layer them at appropriate times. He compares his technique to that of a gardener, “And like him, who, having a garden to weed does not attempt to eradicate all the bad herbs at once, which would exceed his reach and his strength, but works on one of the beds at a time, and, having accomplished the first, proceeds to a second” (Franklin 154).

Franklin used charts and schedules to keep track of his work (Franklin 152). Judging by these charts, Benjamin struggled with the virtues of order and silence the most. However, by the thirteenth week, Franklin was able to live every virtue with any mistakes. Because every virtue covers an important topic and/or polite manner, Benjamin Franklin would have truly become a better person throughout the experiment.

Henry T. Tuckerman, a critic of The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin, agrees that Franklin showed a lot of achievement during the journey through the virtues. Tuckerman’s critique of Franklin’s autobiography had very few, if any, negatives to it. He admires Benjamin Franklin’s fine political works and his patriotism towards the colonies. Tuckerman also honor the industrious side of Benjamin Franklin claiming, “He was indisputably one of the greatest benefactors of mankind” (Bloom). In the following, Tuckerman views Franklin as some sort of holiness.

The grand simplicity of his theory, the familiar apparatus by which it was tested, the accuracy of his foresight, and the unpretending spirit with which he received the fame incident to so great a result, form together one of those memorable instances of the conquest of mind over matter, of human intelligence over the secret facts of nature, which add the cognizance of new laws to the domain of knowledge, and brighter names to the catalogue of her immortal disciples.

There is no doubt that Benjamin Franklin had a fan in Henry T. Tuckerman.

By following the thirteen virtues, Benjamin Franklin lived a better life for himself. For others, the achievement that was the thirteen virtues showed Franklin’s determination and work ethic. Most ordinary people would never be able to survive the thirteen virtues for a week, let alone a lifetime. One could agree with Henry T. Tuckerman when he says that all thirteen virtues were accomplished because of the time and effort that Benjamin Franklin showed (Bloom).

Bloom, Harold, ed. "The Character of Franklin." Benjamin Franklin, Classic Critical Views. New York: Chelsea House Publishing, 2008. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc.

Franklin, Benjamin. The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin. Henry Altemus, 1895. Print.