What a great turnout. A professor of history and the director of the institute on democracy. Thank you to cspan for being your. We are doing something a little differently because of cspan being your. For instance, im going to say a little bit more about what the institute is at the beginning for the tv audience. Founded in 2014, it is a joint project of the Political Science and history departments in cooperation with other scholarly groups on campus. Dedicated to research, teaching, and Community Engagement on american political thought and wide variety of perspectives. It is created from a generous der foundationkin and we are thankful that they made this one of their philanthropies among many others they could choose. And learns to teach about american constitutional democracy as the founders created it, but not just that. We want to understand the ideas that inspired the founders as well as those they disagreed with. We want to understand public shortcomings as well as accomplishments. And we want to model what we like to think is the true spirit democracyutional practiced, working intellectually toward enlightenment, liberty, and justice for all and the renewal of our democracy through vigorous discussion, such as which i am sure we will have right now. Have programse for graduate and undergraduate students. We have an extensive series of public talks end like and lectures such as the series were kicking off today. Come back forck, constitution week next week where we will be hearing from speakers about Thomas Jefferson and james madison. And i need to say you can find all about the institute and all programs online or on twitter. Lets move on to todays speaker. Is professorer craig smith from William Woods university. They are about 30 miles near. Craig is an assistant professor of history and director of the History Program at William Woods. He graduated from st. Johns university in new york. And here and his phd at Brandeis University where he studied with the great and hackett fischer. Studied at numerous areas around the boston area and has won numerous awards and fellowships, including the fred study of George Washington that is at mount vernon. He has also won the above and beyond award and has only been there for a year. Good job, craig. One of the reasons craig is here is he has a book coming out in april from the university of North Carolina press called american honor the creation of the nations ideals during the revolutionary era. It promises a return to the ideas of the American Revolution from the publisher credibly arguing the revolution was not only a revolution for liberty and freedom, but a revolution for ethics of the good kind. Much has been written about concepts like virtue and honor as they relate to early american thought and culture and maybe of maybeabout hamilton. You have heard of that . Craig has returned to these topics with bold, new thoughts and we would like [no audio] [applause] [applause] prof. Smith thank you for that kind introduction. Thank you for everyone for turning up. I usually set back there and i get to relax. Now i actually have light and people watching me. I have to Pay Attention of the next hour or so. Thanks so much for the candor. They welcomed me with open arms. I am new to the missouri area. I have felt at home here. They have invited me to every single talk may have had. It is a great community. The professors, staff, the graduate students, and i see many new faces. Hopefully i get to meet you. Thanks for that kind introduction. I am thrilled to be here to talk about my ideas drawn from my new book, which is a shameless plug coming out come april 23, up for amazon preorder next week. Done with shameless plug, for now. Thank you for coming. I think it was a good introduction about looking the looking at the American Revolution based on ideas of honor, of virtue, of ethics. Things that are often dismiss. Today we are talking about ben franklin. Benjamin franklin and the creation of a sending honor. Right now, you are probably wondering what on earth is a sending honor . You will wonder a little more. In 1784, r story eightyearold Benjamin Franklin has been in paris for nine years on a diplomatic mission. 78yearold Benjamin Franklin has been in paris for nine years on a diplomatic mission. A stopping off point to the royal splendor of versailles. Benjamin franklin resided in le petit hotel. He was the nonpaying guest of friend of king louis. He has been here for all nine years. Terrace andd on the overlooking, he could watch as the waters meandered past the isle. But, the end of the war, three months after the piece of paris, a war that ravaged his native country. Not begrudge him a moment of her spite to watch the river flow. Inside, his mind did not meander as the river did. Inside, he wrote to his firstborn daughter, and the words he put down in 1784 fundamentally revolutionized the concept of honor, the concept of aristocracy, the concept of birth status that had a basically consumed europe for most of its history. Inside, he wrote, honor does not ascend but descent. Nd. Esce he is saying, honor, merit become linked. No longer are you honorable because of who your parents were. Are responsible for your own action. Not just that. Those who talk to you to behave that way are also due credit. Started, shameless plug, i heard he did that, moving on the question i have often asked is what is honor . This is a question i am asked by academics, by my family, so what is honor . It is a very difficult thing to define. Door a graphically, it is understood as many different things. No reallem is that point in history has anyone been particularly clear. You probably think of this. I am not going to rap for you. Honor as the concept of reputation, what one thought of you was the honor you had you had to defend it, risk being shot anywhere to defend your position. Is only ato say this small, small part of it. In fact, it is a part that was dismissed by most of the key members of the founding generation. Franklin, washington, among others. So, lets look at some supporting evidence. There is no easy understanding to explain a word which is used by all men very unsteadily and by most without any meaning at all. It is very difficult to define honor. Even in the 18th century. It was a concept that was understood, but what exactly did it mean . Cambridge ord at honor is a vague expression to which custom is given different meanings. A literary fan from the history of time jones by henry fieldings, true honor and true virtue are almost synonymous. Honor with any particular virtue much valued. I also do not know why my slide got moved. Anyway. Honor is dignity and reputation. In pamela, a novel that was once that was published in america by Benjamin Franklin, says your notions of honor and mine are very different from one another. Even in the 18th century, it was confusing as to what these concepts were. Quick definitions for clarity, honor was probably Something Like reputation. Virtue, probably similar to her to morality. Ethics, was a term not a very much used in the 18th century. It was reserved for literally talking about aristotle. In fact, one of the earliest references to the word ethics in america is made by ben franklin. Where does this leave us . If anyone is familiar with google and grams, you can search it says lots of books. Anything published from 1500 to 2008. I have done this. Before we get to that, i cant remember my slides, quick rule of thumb, the further north you go, honor and virtue are separate. Virtue takes precedence over honor moore can to religion. The further south, the terms are almost used interchangeably. Im here to argue that honor is it wass ethics, as understood in the 18th century. When i say ethics, i am thinking in the modern context, doing what is right, doing what you believe is proper. Speaking of google and grams, plug in the words honor, the spelling changes in the early 19th century. And virtue. What you notice, the spikes right around the revolutionary era, curious why that was. Looking into this, the basic premise of my book is that honor literally is a cause, and also of the American Revolution and helps to shape how the founders go into work and how they leave it. Why do we not think of honor anymore . Take a look at the top slide. You see on her is slowly, slowly dying. But ethics is rising. You will see in the early 20th century, there is a moment where honor and ethics and her sect and change intersect and change. Consider the possibility that when the founders are speaking of honor, they do not mean just reputation. They dont mean just character. They mean something more. Born theranklin was youngest son of the youngest son of for five generations back at a time where birth status actually mattered. He was the son of a soap maker and he is born right about there. On that star. If someone can tell me what address that represents, good for you. Beginnings. His parents could not afford to send him to school. He only had to bring formal years. Two formal years. He turned to literature. New england had a 75 literacy rate. One of the most literate places on earth. He turns to literature. Are usuallyhose going to be religious texts, including bunions pilgrims progress. Here, he learns that honor and virtue are connected to religion. Man may cry out against a sin of policy, but you cannot abort by a virtue of a godly antipathy against it. I have heard many cry out against sin in the pulpit, who yet can abide it well enough in the heart, house, and conversation. What does that mean . Speak aboutough to virtue, it is not enough to speak about honor, you actually have to live it. Who is the perfect example . Jesus was a perfect example. Cotton mather, leading puritan figure, one of the big families in theton areas boston area, he is going to say that his invaluable honor to do good is an incomparable pleasure a man must look upon himself is dignified and gratified by god when an opportunity to do good is put into his hands. A divine element. It is a service to god. Without christ, you are not christian. Is by christ. So, franklin, from an early age has this idea of puritan honor where virtue is something akin to religion. But, he also has to struggle with his own birth. And ancient history of the classical figures, greece, rome, alexander, that sort of stuff. In there, he finds a reference of a spartan king granting honor and prestige to persons of worth and virtue. But who were miserably poor. This is one of the early references that franklin finds that if you are a virtuous person, if you behave well, you can make your way into society. He takes this to heart. Andof the chief and points factors for franklin was a gentlemans magazine called the spectator. They collected witty essays and things he would hang out at a with pure the spectator, by Addison Richard absence deal is going to make the following claims. These are all in volume three. It is the first volume that franklin picked up. In the founders of great families, such attributes of honor are generally corresponded with the virtues of that person to whom they are applied. But in the descendents, they are too often the marks rather of grandeur than of merit. Prestige, theank, first person to earn them, the idea that it comes from merit, then after that, it whittles down to the person who may hold the generations from now may have literally nothing to do with that initial action. Keep this in mind about ascending dirt versus descending. If you are doing something for euro means, also. Already which is not founded on merit or virtue, so by birth, it is supported by stratagem. It is a way to advance. Franklin, if you can see the backdrop, it is silence do good letters. Teenager, he disguises himself as an older woman by the name of silence dogood. You may remember this from such films as national treasure. Fromkes the name dogood cotton mathers essays, to do good. He is understanding breath status and of the rules of honor. He makes sure in his fake introduction where he is posing as a middleaged woman, to point out that people need to know who it is that is speaking before they actually listen to him. Are they a person of status or are they lowly . He makes sure to remind his readers that she, i should say, is a friend to virtue. Therefore, she must be telling the truth. Everything, except the identity, i suppose. In there, he also takes aim at what he sees as more unworthy, nonmeritorious. He targets one particular institution of higher learning, and that is harvard college. Says let students get and only because of the purses of my parents, rather than their capabilities. Harvard produces nothing but dunces and blockheads. To carrylearn is how themselves handsomely and enter a room genteel he. Can see there is a little bit of angst because he does not get into harvard. Of aews this as the idea sending based on your familys position as inherently wrong. 1723, the new england current, in the guise of the minutes of a Gentlemans Club meeting, franklin introduces his concept scending honor. On titles of honor. Honoprhonor properly ascends ant descends. Basically, he flipflops this in 1704. He takes my words got cut off. It takes he takes issue with this concept of had honor. What is hacked honor . Anyone know . Doffing a cap to your superior. Franklin says, i am going to hi honor ishe says false. Because honor exists from the beginning. But hats were an invention of man. Is there for therefore, hat honor must be newer and therefore not be true. To show you the comparison, this is very much modeled after the spectator. You will see the idea of virtue as the most reasonable and genuine source of honor and it comes from merit. Franklin here, uses the bible. He says look at the bible, there are no titles of honor, it is not my lord abraham, the right honorable abraham. But is he not entitled to disposition . Thes taking issue and using accepted ideology of the time to counter. This is 1723. He does not say another word about a sunday honor until 1784. Away from hisns apprenticeship and heads to philadelphia. Then he goes to london. In london, he has a different sense of his own morality. Time, lord chesterfield who is going to write a very young mendyad for how need to live their lives is going to be there at the same time. This is giving you a sense of what would have been understood the honor and virtue alone could help you advance in society. This is what franklin takes to heart. This is his way in. While in london he is going to come to the conclusion that nothing could possibly be wrong in the world and that device and virtue were empty distinctions, no such things exist. I ask you, was he one of those gentlemen, or that gentleman . He would not be the first young man to come to these conclusions, or at least wish them to be true. On his return to philadelphia, quaker dominated area, he suddenly recounts of his hedonistic guide to virtue. He comes to something that is closer to the greater good. The idea that actions are not right or wrong based on any sort of greater ideas, but because they are good for the community. Tos is something he is going advance for the rest of his life. The idea of something honorable must serve the community. Must serve the general good. The broaders community in different ways. He forms the jintao, which is a joint meeting where they talk about morality, virtue, and politics. He forms the Library Company of philadelphia, which is still in existence. To allow people who cannot afford to purchase books to have access. Spore Richard Stallman act, where he has his witty oneliners. And the pennsylvania gazette, where he publishes pieces on morality and he also publishes many of the early works that to deal with it, including novels. Like pamela. He lists them as books of ethics. This is one of the first term ethics,he something other than related to aristotle. Well, he also comes up with his 13 names of virtue. Got cut off. The last one is humility, something you could argue and franklin never had in his life. He comes out with this end he has a specific plan. Literally create a spreadsheet. He walks around with a notebook with columns. He marks off which of these he excels in every day, and one market he does not. But, it gets better. You can only do it one at a time. Man is only human. You have to go down the list, you will notice chastity is number 12. Even when we get there, his loose interpretation, chastity allows for affairs and premarital sex, as long as no one finds out, therefore no one can be hurt. These are coming from his audio biographies. They do not become public until it is published in the 1790s. This is what is he is this is what he is doing in his life. He comes to other conclusions, that selfdenial is not the essence of virtue. This is going against a self flagellating christian culture. You can be wealthy, you can enjoy life. It is nothing sinful. Ive he said, stop putting yourself on the cross, anyone not practicing this idea of selfdenial is a lunatic. Im sorry that got cut off. Imagine it was good. Literally, insane. He also wants to form what is called a knighted party of virtue. He imagines a world in which men of Different Countries get together, men of morals based on virtue, and they run this sort of wider World Community based on this concept of the general good. We are still waiting. He found sleek college of philadelphia. Which is based on the concept of honor and reputation, depend on the morals of the youth. The ideas that the college has to instruct the students and how the students behave. And it reflects back on the college. Similar to his idea of a sending honor which he does ascending honor. This is the ben franklin we think of. The whole kite thing. This is how we pictured right when he retires from being that is what he actually looked like. Franklin became a gentleman when he retired, because he no longer had to work with his head. He lived like one. And he acted like one. And he dressed like one. Why . His learning had helped him advance in the world. It went to his head. Take the line from the spectator to heart and he says, titles and honors are the rewards of virtue. Had he not been virtuous, he has a notebook that says so. Therefore, he is entitled to the honors. He gets made a kernel of the a colononia militia el of the pennsylvania militia. Apparently, this is a procession that is reserved only for the princes of the royal blood. For a man who just became a gentleman. He isin is going to clai