Ben Franklin

[danluen]

I AM BIG BEN FRANKLIN AND IT SHANT BE PRETTY!

[PrincessofChaoticEnt]

Lol at the ppl staring at him like wtf?

[craigf50100]

Biblical references in lives of most founders blessed our nation. Separation of church/ state was to keep Govnt out of religion NOT to keep religion out of Govnt.

[BigdogWitBigdog]

@craigf50100 Separation of Church and State is supposed to keep Religion out of Government, but it doesn't. Our government is full of Bible thumping fuck heads with no repercussion on their part.

[CaptinAwesome15]

YOU COULDN't BREAK A PIECE OF BALSA!!

[FIGHTFANNERD3]

Ben Franklin was scientist thats why he was so good

[FreakyKing2]

SLAP CHOP YOUR FACE MAKE A DOUBLE CHIN SALSA

[murija2]

Thumbs up if the Epic Rap Battles of History brought you here.

[MrGoku526]

i love history

[gamblemadman]

@Omnicron777 Ben Franklin was a puritan

[aThinkingChristian]

@Omnicron777 You're right. But I don't believe anyone can make a solid claim that America was founded on freemasonry. Whereas, they could make a valid historical claim that it was founded on Christianity. The Founders clearly stated so themselves.

[kdbest8830]

@aThinkingChristian The design of the Master of the lodge and all of it's officers is refected in the design of the US Goverment. It was the Masons and thier free elections in the lodges of which Franklin was a member gave the founding fathers the idea a country of free men could govern themselves with the help of GOD.

[aThinkingChristian]

@Omnicron777 If that were true then we should see freemasonry clearly and deeply woven in the fabric of early America. But we don't. While it is true that some of the Founders were free masons, not all were. And, yes, some of the symbolism has remained, but it's not the prevailing foundation of this nation. Most of the Founders were Christians and they founded this nation, not on freemasonry or secular principles, but upon Christianity.

[nectorunion]

He saw religion strictly as a way to control the mob he himself didn't have a belief in it, and Thomas Jefferson and John Adams quite despised religion, and by the way all these men would of hated the "Tea Party"

[saicastico]

mistake... minute 3:40 on 1752 he discovered the way light travels. n he died on 1709.? minute 7:09  go back n redo the video.. ok? ok . any ways everything else is great. minute.4:30 thru 4:40 very funny ha haaa.... well I was just saying.....

[KarenLFranklin]

I am a decendant of Ben Franklin

[domerloughran]

hje died in 1709??? yah that makes sense!

[shpeke]

Ok, nice screw up. At 7:10, he says BF died 1709.... um no he died April 17, 1790! not 1709.... ;-)

[PorcelainedHeart]

"Rolled into one loveable, little fat man and then stuffed into a nice pair of breeches and white stockings." Ahahahaha!

[kevinofeville]

it was not ridiculous, and you can't give your opinion of what Benjamin Franklin believed in or not.

Most likely he was an athiest, he was nothing like any of the people of his age.

[jonking00]

He was not an atheist, a deist, or a Bible-quoting Christian He is best regarded as a proponent of what might be called "natural" religion: he believed in God as a First Mover, the creator of Earth and life ... but he also believed that insight to be one that all people could share in, without respect to particular dogmas. Essentially, he saw religion as a moral force for good among peoples, that would allow them to live together without schismatic conflicts.

[boss2662]

yup he was a this and a that but i think this dude forgeting to mention the ten bodies they dug up from under his house was no slip of the mind lol.....4 adults 6kids...london 36 craven st......1757 1762

[shelbiwallis19]

Why in his book that he wrote says he Reads the christian Bible? I believe he was Christian

[godslander]

Benjamin Franklin was undoubtedly a Christian. All you have to do is read his works, study his life. There is no other conclusion one could come to.

[frezno71087]

@godslander "The way to see by faith is to shut the eye of reason." - Benjamin Franklin

"Lighthouses are more helpful than churches." - Benjamin Franklin

"In the affairs of the world, men are saved, not by faith, but by the want of it." - Benjamin Franklin

"I have found Christian dogma unintelligible. Early in life, I absenteed myself from Christian assemblies." - Benjamin Franklin.

[CocoandVelvet]

@godslander pretty sure he was a deist

[godslander]

Benjamin Franklin was undoubtedly a Christian. Read his work, study his life. There is absolutely no other conclusion one could make.

[Johnny2691]

7:10 hhahahah wat? he dies in 1709, he was born a few years before that,?

haha?

[edthewave]

didn't know there were cars and jeans in the 18th century....

[BLARGHALT]

Ben Franklin was the pimpinest pimp that ever did pimp.

Oh, and I guess he helped found the country.

[2550505]

Franklin was a womanizer

[Applebaum]

@2550505 and a Frankiln was also a Slave Owner

[marigonyfragina]

he really died in 1790!!!!!!!!

[skatelibtech]

i love how he said that he died in 1709 when he was born in 1706 but i guess he got the age right

[Octanol8888]

I love Benjamin Franklin. He was the best man. How did he developed his personality.

[skyhighlifeit]

histroy itself developed it

[thenjr99]

One of the greatest Atheists of all time

[pmiller1967]

LOL! What proof do you have that Franklin was an atheist? He wasn't a Christian, but he certainly wasn't an Atheist. He was a deist.

Most of the Founders held to some type of religion.  Atheism was too ridiculous for men of this stature. Would that thinking men would reject the same ridiculous ideas of atheism today. We'd have a much better world.

[thenjr99]

Atheist or not Franklin believed Christianity was a load of BS, as well as all of the other religions..thats all that counts.

[pmiller1967]

Ok, so first you're admitting that at best you were misinformed about Franklin's religious background, and at worst lying about it. Second, can you provide any statements by Franklin himself that show that he thought Christianity was a "load of BS"? Third, Franklin was truly an amazing man, but that doesn't mean he was right in every matter. He certainly knows NOW that he was wrong on Christianity--the Christianity that was the foundation of America.

[thenjr99]

"I have found Christian dogma unintelligible. Early in life, I absenteed myself from Christian assemblies."

"In the affairs of the world, men are saved, not by faith, but by the want of it."

"The way to see by faith is to shut the eye of reason." Poor Richard's Almanack, 1758

[pmiller1967]

He sure was way off base there! LOL. It's too bad, too. He knows now that he was wrong. He had a constant Gospel witness in his life for many years. The great evangelist George Whitefield was very good friends with Franklin and attempted to lead him to the Lord many times. Too bad Franklin's fallen human reasoning got in the way of God's simple plan of salvation.

Just imagine, all of that and he still wasn't foolish enough to embrace atheism.

[crazy4buble]

While it's true that he says in his autobiography pg 93 "I early absented myself from the Public Assemblies of the Sect[Presbyterianism]", he goes on to say "I never was without some religious Principles; I never doubted, for instance, the Existance of the Deity, that he made the World," etc. He didn't consider himself a Christian, but he didn't disdain religion as you make it seem at all.

[PowerbaseUser]

@thenjr99

You're a liar. Your remarks are a load of BS.

[rokee1979]

@pmiller1967 He was also a freemason and atheists cannot be masons lol

[frezno71087]

@pmiller1967 I'm an Atheist because I am intellectually superior. Society improves every year as more and more people accept secular ideals. Benjamin Franklin in public said he was deist and that he rejected Christianity as being anything logical, but Atheism as an ideal really started around this time period. Many people that were Atheists didn't show it publicly because people of that time were incapable of understanding it. Franklin could have been Atheist and not shown it for his protection.

[pmiller1967]

@frezno71087 Intellectually superior to who? I live today, too, and so do a lot of very intelligent Christians. It's pretty arrogant to claim yourself intellectually superior, not only to those in the past, but your contemporaries. Furthermore, you have no basis whatsoever to assert that a society improves with the acceptance of secularism. History just doesn't agree with you. The French Revolution and communism some to mind. And, no, atheism didn't start in the 18th century. Read Psalm 14:1.

[pmiller1967]

@frezno71087 You're also not giving much credit to men like Franklin, who were certainly intelligent enough to understand atheism. Franklin made a clear choice to reject it & actually prayed to God to deliver him from it. No matter what period you live, atheists don't pray to God. Franklin was not a man concerned about his "protection" when it came to his philosophy of life. Was he a "Christian"? I don't think so, but he certainly wasn't an atheist. There were NO influential atheist founders.

[AngryScissor]

@pmiller1967 I've studied Franklin's autobiography and actually written a paper concerning his Virtues and morality, and Franklin actually does seem to be teetering on the edge of atheism. He converted to Deism at a young age but rejected it later. He talked of God and His importance his entire life, but ALWAYS framed it as a way to convince men to do good works... he never actually argued for God based on truth, just on practical outcome of convincing people he was real.

[pmiller1967]

Have you not read his speech to the Constitutional Convention where he said, "I have lived, Sir, a long time and the longer I live, the more CONVINCING PROOFS I see of this truth -- that God governs in the affairs of men...I FIRMLY BELIEVE THIS."

Did you miss in his "Autobiography" where he said, "I NEVER DOUBTED...the existence of the Deity; that he made the world, and governed it by his providence."

"That I may be PRESERVED FROM ATHEISM and infidelity." -Articles of Belief & Acts of Religion

[AngryScissor]

@pmiller1967I did not assert that he WAS an atheist. I think it is a real possibility. Of course the man would say he wasn't--there was zero tolerance back then. And apparently you missed the part of his autobiography where he said that Deism was a mistake of his youth. He went denying the divinity of Christ, he denied 'deism,' and yet he had a curious belief in a divine creator. You should read D.H. Lawrence's reaction to Ben Franklin's Virtues and religion.

[pmiller1967]

@AngryScissor I wasn't trying to imply that you said he was an atheist. But I was trying to provide proof via his own words that that was highly unlikely. There are may other statements that could be given to back me up. I don't think you give him much credit. Ben Franklin wasn't worried about what others thought of him. He certainly was comfortable with speaking his mind.

Bottom line: we can only go by what they said, and Franklin made it clear he was no atheist.

[AngryScissor]

@pmiller1967 "Ben Franklin wasn't worried about what others thought of him." Actually, might I direct you to the section of the Autobiography concerning his arrival in Philadelphia? He tells how he tips the boat even though he doesn't have much money, because he doesn't want to be thought not to have much money. Then he goes to the bakery and accidentally overpays, but acts like he wanted to buy three whole loaves because he didn't want the baker to think him unfamiliar with what he was doing.

[pmiller1967]

@AngryScissor LOL. I'm saying he wasn't human. But he was the great man he was because he asserted himself and his ideas, and we are all glad he did.

Look, here is my challenge for you. Without speculating about his life from a 2010 worldview, demonstrate that he leaned towards atheism. What evidence to you have of this? Can you even see subtle leanings? If so, where?

Remember his advice to Thos. Paine about Paine's skeptical book "The Age of Reason"? "Burn it," Franklin said.

[AngryScissor]

@pmiller1967 What exactly is the 2010 worldview? We can either choose to speculate or take everything exactly at face value without consideration, which to me seems perfectly naive. Here is a subtle leaning for you: "Henceforth be masterless. Be ye each one his own master unto himself, and don't let even the Lord put his spoke in."

[pmiller1967]

@AngryScissor There is an ever-prevalent mistake in academia and on these boards, and that is that history is interpreted by the present. There is no way to accurately interpret the past that way. All that will be accomplished is that history will be rewritten, which is exactly what we see in America today.

You can take everything at face value when EVERYTHING is examined. Context determines that. But speculation cannot be taken as fact at all.

Please post the source for that quote. Thx.

[NearTheReviewer]

@pmiller1967 yeah let's reject a logical answer for how the world was created

there are only 2 good answers to the god debate Agnostic or Athiest(me myself am an agnostic)

[pmiller1967]

@NearTheReviewer The Founders, including Franklin, would have disagreed with you. For they were neither agnostics or atheists.

Furthermore, your argument is illogical. Without the obvious third option, that there is a God, the other two are irrelevant. How can you debate the existence of something that doesn't exist? LOL. It makes your own position void.

[aimeelea87]

@pmiller1967I can say that without a doubt Franklin believed in god because at least three times during his going through the degrees of Masonry he openly declared his belief in the almighty GOD. With his hands on the holey bible. 

[Mcmotherfuckingrory]

@pmiller1967 " Would that thinking men would reject the same ridiculous ideas of atheism today. We'd have a much better world."

Whatthefuckamireading?

[Team4omena]

Ben Franklin Roosevelt XD lol

[billyysands]

.Benjamin Franklin (17 January 1706 17 April 1790) was an American inventor, journalist, printer, diplomat, and statesman.

he died in 1790 not 1709

[christophergretchen]

You spotted it too!! Shakes me up when errors like that are made.

[billyysands]

that was a big one no?

and i admire Franklin tremendously.

such disrespect! :(

[billyysands]

1790!

[eysblog1fan]

I <3 Drive thru History its so funny! :)

[Eskie101]

Great video but the birth date and the date of his death; as stated in the movie, would have Mr. Franklin achieving incredible feats for a toddler. This clip has Ben Franklin born in 1706 and dying in 1709... An honest mistake to be sure but just thought future viewers should take note... Cute thought though...Benjamin, a kite and diapers...

[TheClassicalLiberal]

I like the candid shot and the woman's stuck up reaction.

[edwardwbalen]

Ben Franklin was a genius of a man. He wasn't but should have been a president. I for one wear bifocals, which he invented. In my opinion, he was to our Founding Fathers what Ben Kenobi is to Luke Skywalker in the Star Wars Saga.

[loushky619]

George Washington= IRA = Taliban = Al Quaeda = Bin Laden = Ben Franklin = Sadam Hussein = terrorists = United Kingdoms Enemy :) Rule Britania

[blink7777777]

need to know the answer to this... i believe that benjamin said "people are motivated through their own self-interests"......(not verbatim)... what did he actually say?? am i thinking of the right person????????

[bebobaby1996]

me too lilgil234 !!

[koalaluvr27]

He died on April 17, 1790.

[wombatthing]

He died in 1790

[TheClassicalLiberal]

Awe, I didn't know he died. I'm sad now. :(

[BlackRose4445]

i watched this video'cus i had 2 do a report about him.(i got a 73%:*( )

[flytieabc]

Thats because on the report, you wrote "2" instead of "to". Textspeak, is an automatic F with educated people. Do not do it anywhere.

[GreenRobotStudios]

Ben franklyn was a rebel indeed

He liked to get naked while he smoked on the weed

He was a genious but if he was here today

The government would #@*! him up his righteous aayyy

[Panchonancho]

minute (7:10)He didn't die in 1709. Maybe 1809

[clearvision5]

I thought the same thing!

[CoCaDragonfly33]

Same.

[CoCaDragonfly33]

He died on April 17, 1790

[sammiexxx21]

did you know he used to dress up whores as nuns and have orgies and get drunk he was not a nice person at all but made alot of money from the revolution like the rest of the men who signed the declaration of indpen made alot of money while the poor struggled along guess that was there motives for the whole war

[HmtanaFreack12]

to Sammiexxx21,

First of all, the revolutionary war happened caused becaused of british taxes and other stuff. Ben did not make money of the war, they had no money to make the war cost us thousands of dollars. He was a very nice man. He was in france during the war to pursuade the king to send help to the colonies. Try thinking before you type stuff (or looking it up because apperintly you know nothing about american history) and mabey you wont sound like an idiot.

[JOEROSH24]

he died in 1790, not 1709 (as the video states).

[bornscjm]

I saw the final video and they fixed the date. The show airs on GCN as well as History Channel and TBN. This clip came out before the show was in final edit.

[Bati1307]

this man was great u can't say anything bad about him he's the reason we can even go on our computers

[killgreed]

Wow did you think of that all by yourself or did your mother help you!

[kingnord]

My mother added her two cents m8

[tanginumin00]

its not like "without benjamin frankin there would be no electricity"

surely someone out there could discover it someday if franklin didn't...though it could take a few more years

[clearvision5]

True, he was just the first one to make a point of it. They even said that a man came to town and showed them static electricity.

[happybugz64]

Omg there would b no u-tube!

[lisasamulas]

i found a benjamin franklin penny 1708-1790 and i need a website that talks about old old penny plz somenone email me

[Kristen11794]

here did u get that hat, WALMART. Its so sexy. wanna meet?

[killgreed]

1998, workmen restoring Franklin's London home dug up the remains of six children and four adults hidden below the home. The London Times reported on February 11, 1998:

"Initial estimates are that the bones are about 200 years old and were buried at the time Franklin was living in the house, which was his home from 1757 to 1762, and from 1764 to 1775. Most of the bones show signs of having been dissected, sawn or cut. One skull has been drilled with several holes.

[ronnie23332]

perhaps he was a murder killgreed

[killgreed]

Perhaps, He was known for his exploits, whores, and hell fire club, grand master and elite eccentric aristocrate. it is possible that he donated some space to science and medicine, who knows?

[killgreed]

comment for bati1 307

[happybugz64]

wow thats kinda creapy. but wasent it ileagel 2 do that kinda thing 2 dead bodies 2 find out about medical stuff @ that time?

[mumbels24]

volume is all fucked up

[originaldylan]

This was a great video. Very informative and entertaining. The host did botch the year he dies though but even so I give this 5 stars

[ieif]

Did anyone else notice that, at the end, the host says Ben died in 1709, instead of 1809? He would have been dead at 4, instead of 84. Ha. Still a great video, though.

[glitchero5]

i like my benjamin franklin better

[benotiz]

i know what your thinking your gay so shut up and whoever posted this is gay

[imanoob4]

if the jolt of elctricity was any stronger in the kite wouldnt he die?and impact the U.S.?

[imanoob4]

i have to do a report about him...but since of this i get lots of info

[BobTheChainsawMan]

What the hell? Benjamin didn't sell us out. I just finished reading his biography, too.

[youRomeo21]

Why does he say Franklin was born in 1706 and died 1709? Franklin died in 1790, age 84

[xxgrav3yardxx]

u didint hear! ben died at the age of 3

lol. u have a nack for hearing mixed up facts

[Rhonda9]

Benjamin Franklin has always been one of my favorite historical figures. Thanks for the great video.

[Norsk1224]

benjamin franklin should've been lynched he sold his own country out whcih was britain..

[MOS101]

How did he sell his own country which was Britain?

He was born in America..........

[KingNordy]

BRitish parents like all the americans at that time and also they were considered british so he sold us out.

[FlashAcesDesign]

He was a member of the Committee of Five that drafted the Declaration of Independence..but he "sold us out" lol you are proof you need to study history.

[ronnie23332]

no shit all i'm saying is that hewas british

[neothomist1275]

British Intelligence referred to Franklin as "Moses" -- hardly derogatory. Franklin, like other liberator conmen such as Marat, Voltaire and Ghandi, was set trained for his function in London.

[IveGotTheCure]

Norsk1224 He was born in America genius.

[Bati1307]

U used him when we rebelled and closed our ports u guys went to him and asked him how to get us to open our ports he said repeal the tax and what do u do after that set in place a worse one he helped u when u asked for it u never made him a member of parliment

[erichwaldorf]

chocolate?? where did u aquire such a delocousy?