Personal Definition Of Morality By Benjamin Franklin And...

Think about your personal definition of morality. Is it a set of independent morals or are they applicable to the community as a whole? Virtue refers to high moral standards. In the pre-revolutionary American colonies, the idea of virtue was central to the idea of the â€Å"quintessential American†. Benjamin Franklin and John Winthrop created their own set of virtues to live by. Both of the prominent colonists drew from their past experiences, religious beliefs, and their beliefs about the foundation of human nature. Because he took an individualistic approach motivated by divine reward, Benjamin Franklin changed Boston’s idea of virtue from the Puritanical, community based morals set by John Winthrop decades previously. Examining the virtues†¦show more content†¦Conversely, Franklin seems to disregard honesty. In his virtue of silence, Franklin instructs himself to only speak when it benefits himself and others (Franklin 428). This idea of partial honesty does not directly contradict true honesty but still differs from the idea of truth that Winthrop preached. Most obviously, Franklin and Winthrop disagreed about who virtues should apply to. Franklin’s virtues are, at the time of their creation, purely for his independent self betterment. Discordantly, Winthrop’s virtues are for his entire community, aligning with the intense fellowship developed in Puritan societies. Franklin prioritizes himself above others. He views himself as a moral example for his community. In his autobiography, he reveals that he wrote down his account of his life so that his Posterity could imitate it (Franklin 381). Presumably, Franklin wants to better himself to set an example of superior morality for his community. This change in the sense of community in Boston can be attributed to the time between Winthrop and Franklin. In less than 90 years, the Massachusetts Bay Colony experienced King Philip’s War and became a royal colony. These changes caused Boston to slowly become less and less of a puritanical society. Even the first non-Puritan t own, Oxford, was established (Massachusetts History Timeline). It can be inferred that Boston lost the