Important People
- John Locke was a philosopher and medical researcher. He is famous for his political work on the subject of natural rights and social contract, as well as for calling for the separation of Church and State. Locke inspired Franklin with the mindset that everyone should use reason to search after truth than accept the opinions of authorities as a truth. Locke believed that logic and reason would optimize self-improvement and modernize civilization.
- Cotton Mather was a Puritan minister. At the age of eleven, Franklin read Mather's book, Essays to Do Good (or Bonifacius). The book's impact on Franklin was lasting and indirectly influenced his ideas. Essays to Do Good instructed others in humanitarian acts. At seventeen, whilst working as an apprentice in his brother James's printer shop, Franklin returned to Boston and visited Mather. As he was leaving from his visit, Mather began shouting at him, "Stoop, stoop!" Not stopping (or stooping) Franklin banged his head on a low doorjamb, to which Mather said, "You are young, and have the world before you; stoop as you go through it, and you will miss many hard thumps." These words inspired Franklin to be humble, for he was quite vain at times, and he later said, "I often think of [Mather's words] when I see pride mortified, and misfortunes brought upon people by carrying their heads too high."
- The Junto was a group organized by Benjamin Franklin which originally was made up of twelve of Franklin's friends. The members of the Junto gathered for similar purposes, mainly to improve themselves, and their communities. The purpose of the Junto was to debate questions of morals, philosophy, and politics. The debates were often used as a springboard for improving the community. The members' ideas often influenced Benjamin Franklin's own, and he had them write an essay once every three months on any subject they pleased.