why benjamin franklin described as the first american?

Answer 1

Hmm... never heard that.....BUT

Was he the first to sign the Declaration of Independence? Because if he was it is because he was the first to sign and he was technically the first person to be free from England and actually be an American. He took the first step and he was the first true American.

Good luck and hope I helped!

Answer 2

If ye be asking:

"Why is Ben Franklin described as the "First American" then the answer would be seen.

yahoo search or Google:

"First American" Franklin

http://www.pbs.org/thinktank/transcript956.html

Visit the URL above.

MR. BRAND: I use the term in three senses. One is that in his lifetime he was the most illustrious American, he was the best-known American of his day. Secondly, he began a model for the American character. He was practical. He was self-reliant, self-educated, unimpressed with wealth and title, optimistic, he had a sense of humor, and he was a great enthusiast of civic virtue. And thirdly, I see him really as the one to have—the first to have a real sense of an American identity separate from that of Englishmen.

Answer 3

Franklin earned the title of "The First American" for his early and indefatigable campaigning for colonial unity, first as an author and spokesman in London for several colonies. As the first United States Ambassador to France, he exemplified the emerging American nation.[4] Franklin was foundational in defining the American ethos as a marriage of the practical values of thrift, hard work, education, community spirit, self-governing institutions, and opposition to authoritarianism both political and religious, with the scientific and tolerant values of the Enlightenment. In the words of historian Henry Steele Commager, "In a Franklin could be merged the virtues of Puritanism without its defects, the illumination of the Enlightenment without its heat."[5] To Walter Isaacson, this makes Franklin "the most accomplished American of his age and the most influential in inventing the type of society America would become."[6]

Answer 4

Im not sure. I was watching something on the history channel about him last night. And they were saying he was already famous when we declared independence because he had made scientific and philosophical discoveries. Before he signed the declaration of independence, he was trying to preserve colonial ties with England. I myself don't consider him the first american.

Answer 5

Probably because in many ways, he emphatized what the essential american dream was. He went to Philadelphia and really created his being, who he really was and who he turned out to be.

Answer 6

Sadie is correct on all EXCEPT #5, the correct answer is NATURAL RIGHTS!! (it says so in the lesson)

Answer 7

I've never heard that description before.

Answer 8

He was? I always thought it was Washington