Month: March 2016

It has been awhile, but before spring break, the class conducted its first Benjamin Franklin experiment where we attempted to make electricity and create a charge on either balloons or combs. For the experiment, each person blew up there own balloon to their preferred size or received a comb. Everyone then received a square of felt, which was used to rub the entire balloon or comb for practically the whole class period. By rubbing the balloon or comb with the piece of felt, we were each trying to generate some sort of electrical charge. The way it was determined on whether or not we were successful was when Professor Allison would walk around the classroom holding a piece of cardboard, and attached to it was foil dangling from a wire. He would come over and hold the contraption close to the balloon or comb, and the foil would either remain still or pull towards the object that was rubbed by the felt. The more it pulled toward the object, the more electrical charge that was generated.

I found that I was somewhat successful with the experiment. I spent the entire class rubbing my balloon with the felt, however, only seemed to generate a little bit of a charge as the foil pulled only slightly towards my balloon. There could be a few reasons for this. I blew the balloon up to a pretty big size, so it could be possible that if I blew the balloon up smaller, more electricity would be generated as I would be dealing with a smaller area.  The other reason is that I was holding the balloon from the top, not from where the tie was, so it is also possible that the charges were transferring from the balloon to my hand as I continued to rub the felt on the balloon, causing only the slight pull by the foil to my balloon.

Overall, it was a simple, fun, and successful experiment, and I enjoyed being a mini Benjamin Franklin for the class.

Benjamin Franklin has been accredited for famous quotes involving freedom, liberty, and innovation, but one of his more known quotes regards none of the latter, but instead the alcoholic beverage we all love or hate – beer.  Breweries and street vendors in Massachusetts and across the United States have no problem selling you a shirt or sign with the quote, “Beer is proof that god loves us and wants us to be happy”, while claiming that one of the greatest Americans to live, Benjamin Franklin, was its origin.  Unfortunately for those who may have purchased one of these items, the quote may not actually come from Franklin.

According to numerous sources, including Anchors Brewing, a San Francisco based brewing company, there is no historical evidence that Ben Franklin is the source of the quote.  The only evidence of this quote comes from Wikipedia, brewing companies selling merchandise, and street vendors that scatter the streets of Boston – Franklin’s birthplace.  Anchors Brewing writes, “Although he enjoyed beer—especially small beer, perfect for long sessions devoted to discussions of political philosophy, economic theory, science, and the arts—Ben Franklin was first and foremost a great lover of wine.”  There is significant historical records that show Franklins love of wine, and possibly how a quote pertaining to wine may have adapted into the quote about beer.  Franklin wrote in a letter to a friend, “Behold the rain which descends from heaven upon our vineyards, and which incorporates itself with the grapes to be changed into wine; a constant proof that God loves us, and loves to see us happy!”  It is easy to see how, maybe after a few drinks, the final part of Franklin’s quote about wine could be manipulated to talk about beer.

Through this evidence it is safe to say that Benjamin Franklin’s famous quote about beer is not actually Franklin’s quote.  Instead, this quote is either a product of someone trying to make money selling t-shirts and bar signs, or a simple mistake based on other quotes from Franklin.  With this myth disproved, people will hopefully stop spreading false history, while also saving a few dollars at the brewery.

 

Sources:

https://www.anchorbrewing.com/blog/say-what-says-who-benjamin-franklin-on-beer-or-not/

http://beer.about.com/od/historyofbeer/f/Did-Benjamin-Franklin-Really-Say-Beer-Is-Proof-That-God-Loves-Us-And-Wants-Us-To-Be-Happy.htm

 

The quote “Beer is proof that God loves us” has been attributed to Benjamin Franklin for many years. All over the internet one can find posters, shirts, cups, with the quote printed, giving Franklin credit for those words.

Upon further examination, it is apparent that Franklin never said these exact words, although something vaguely similar. In an undated letter to Abbe Morellet, Franklin said “We hear of the conversion of water into wine at the marriage in Cana, as of a miracle.  But this conversion is, through the goodness of God, made every day before our eyes.  Behold the rain which descends from heaven upon our vineyards, and which incorporates itself with the grapes to be changed into wine; a constant proof that God loves us, and loves to see us happy!”

It is easy to see how these words could be manipulated into Franklin implying that beer is proof of God’s love for us. Although, it seems from the above quote that he was actually referring to wine and the process of making wine. It is not surprising that breweries and beer sellers alike would take these words and twist them to mean beer specifically, and then put Franklin’s “stamp of approval” on it before selling merchandise with his name and words all over it.

 

 

“Beer is proof that God loves us and wants to see us happy.”

In the modern age, where misinformation spreads like wildfire through the internet, and people take little time to fact check their findings, it is hard to know if what you read is true or fake. This applies double to quotes, as anyone can easily open up a program such as MS paint and put a string of words next to a historical person’s face and claim it to be true.

This is what many people are curious about, as a quote allegedly said by the famous Benjamin Franklin surfaced, on the topic of beer. This quote of course was “Beer is proof that God loves us and wants to see us happy.” 

As the American people seem to love anything alcohol related this “quote” quickly spread, with people ordering t-shirts, posters, and signs with this phrase. Few people however, stopped to look into the origin and source of this quote.

With a quick look into it, multiple sources seemed to debunk this quote, but its origins have become more clear. There is evidence to show that in a letter to a colleague Franklin wrote a passage that roughly translates to:

“Behold the rain which descends from heaven upon our vineyards, there it enters the roots of the vines, to be changed into wine, a constant proof that God loves us, and loves to see us happy.”

Focusing on the later part  “…wine, a constant proof that God loves us, and loves to see us happy.” One could make a claim that “Beer is proof that God loves us and wants to see us happy.” is a misstranslation, or actually a alternative translation, as the two quotes are very similar. While Franklin never did in fact say, or write the line about beer (atleast in english), its easy to understand how this quote began, and grew in popularity, and surley alot of those who enjoyed the fake quote would be delighted to hear that Franklin did once say something along the same lines.

There is a famous quote found in all sorts of media involving the alcoholic beverage of beer, “Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy.” Many people attribute this quote to Benjamin Franklin without even asking the question, did he really say it?

Anyone who asks themselves this question and decides to do research, is going to be disappointed. Benjamin Franklin did not actually say or use this particular phrase. In fact, Benjamin Franklin was not much of a beer lover. However, he did like wine. The quote that is constantly attributed to Benjamin Franklin is actually a misquote of a letter that he wrote in 1779 to the Abbe Morellet, addressing one of his friends. In the letter Franklin mentions the origin of wine and that before wine, man had only water to drink. He says that in this time, man could not discover the truth and instead went astray. Then, after the great flood, God gave man wine in order to quench their thirst and this allowed them to discover many truths. Here is the actual quote from Benjamin Franklin, “We hear of the conversion of water into wine at the marriage in Cana as of a miracle. But this conversion is, through the goodness of God, made every day before our eyes. Behold the rain which descends from heaven upon our vineyards; there it enters the roots of the vines, to be changed into wine; a constant proof that God loves us, and loves to see us happy.  The miracle in question was only performed to hasten the operation, under circumstances of present necessity, which required it.” In the actual quote about wine, is the infamous wording of the misquote, “Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy.”

From this, we can see that sadly, this very famous quote is actually false. However, Franklin was not against alcoholic beverages and instead possessed a love of wine; something which he considered to be very important and a sign of God’s love for mankind.

 

Sources:

http://www.thefederalistpapers.org/founders/franklin/benjamin-franklin-on-wine-to-the-abbe-morellet

Quotes Uncovered: Beer or Wine as Proof?

http://beer.about.com/od/historyofbeer/f/Did-Benjamin-Franklin-Really-Say-Beer-Is-Proof-That-God-Loves-Us-And-Wants-Us-To-Be-Happy.htm

 

 

“Beer is proof that God loves us and wants to see us happy.”

Many of us have probably seen this quoted at least one time in our life whether it be on a t-shirt, a mug, a poster, etc. with a picture of Benjamin Franklin above or below it. However, contrary to popular belief Benjamin Franklin did not in fact ever say these alleged words. This has created a common misconception about Franklin being a lover and avid consumer of beer.

This quote originally came from a letter that Franklin wrote to his friend Abbe Morellet where Franklin wrote: “We hear of the conversion of water into wine at the marriage in Cana, as of a miracle.  But this conversion is, through the goodness of God, made every day before our eyes.  Behold the rain which descends from heaven upon our vineyards, and which incorporates itself with the grapes to be changed into wine; a constant proof that God loves us, and loves to see us happy”. It has been difficult for historians to find when exactly Franklin began being misquoted and when the subject of the quote changed over to beer. Regardless, historians can confirm that the infamous quote from Franklin has been misinterpreted and changed from its original content.

Therefore, one can conclude that though Franklin may not have been as big a fan of beer that people have made him out to be; he apparently possessed a deep passion for wine and felt that it was a sheer sign that God wanted humans to be happy.

Source: http://freakonomics.com/2011/03/24/quotes-uncovered-beer-or-wine-as-proof/

http://beer.about.com/od/historyofbeer/f/Did-Benjamin-Franklin-Really-Say-Beer-Is-Proof-That-God-Loves-Us-And-Wants-Us-To-Be-Happy.htm

“Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy.” We’ve all seen this quote among mugs and shirts in various trinket shops around Boston, but has anyone actually questioned the legitimacy of this famous quote? If one decides to research this quote, curious of the authenticity of it’s origin, they are in for a surprising conclusions. This famous quote, attributed to our founding father Benjamin Franklin, is actually false.

As it turns out, Franklin was never a huge lover of beer, though he did enjoy it in moderation. In fact, when Franklin was writing his autobiography, he specifically mentions distaste for his fellow printers when they would drink beer while working. As Franklin said: “At my first Admission into this Printing House, I took to working at Press, imagining I felt a Want of the Bodily Exercise I had been us’d to in America, where Presswork is mix’d with Composing. I drank only Water; the other Workmen, near 50 in Number, were great Guzzlers of Beer. “However, that does not mean Franklin had an aversion towards all alcohol, in fact Franklin was a great lover of wine. As for how the confusion with the quote began, one could speculate that it was the result of a letter Franklin wrote to one on his friends.

In 1779, while in France, Franklin wrote to his friend, André Morellet, a famous writer and philosopher, among other things (1727–1819). The quote read as such:

We hear of the conversion of water into wine at the marriage in Cana, as of a miracle. But this conversion is, through the goodness of God, made every day before our eyes. Behold the rain which descends from heaven upon our vineyards, and which incorporates itself with the grapes to be changed into wine; a constant proof that God loves us, and loves to see us happy!¹

This quote certainly helps spread some insight into how this quote may have started, but it still doesn’t explain how it got misinterpreted. As we know, history can be similar to a very long game of telephone, where information gets broken up and distorted as it is passed down from person to person. Because of this, we may never know how this quote was first misinterpreted and spread out.

Still, as it happens, there may be an answer after all. In 1778, Franklin came back to his London printshop which he had operated 40 years prior. After finding the same printer which Franklin had worked on, Franklin is said to have celebrated with his fellow printers by ordering rounds of beer for all of them. This provides a little more insight into the history behind this quote and a somewhat feasible explanation for how it became so misconstrued. Regardless, even though Franklin may not have actually said ” Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy”, it’s safe to say that the quote is not going anywhere anytime soon and neither is the legacy of one of the most famous people in American history, Benjamin Franklin.

As opposed to popular belief, it is actually a misconception that Benjamin Franklin loved beer to the point that he coined the quote “Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy.”

If Franklin was here now and heard us say this, he would probably look at us like ummm… 

But anyway, Franklin ACTUALLY said, “Behold the rain which descends from heaven upon our vineyards, there it enters the roots of the vines, to be changed into wine, a constant proof that God loves us, and loves to see us happy.” He also once said “In wine there is wisdom, in beer there is freedom, and in water there is bacteria.” It makes sense that someone, at some time, was trying to remember what Franklin said about alcohol and accidentally made up the wrong quote and attributed it to him.

However, just because Franklin never actually said that beer quote doesn’t mean he didn’t know how to party and have a good time. Below is a real historical picture of Franklin and Friends enjoying the first beer bong. (Just kidding it’s for laughs.)

By Gabriella Roostaie, Melody Torres, and Edwin Romero

It is commonly mistaken that Franklin once said, “Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy.” However, Franklin apparently did not like beer very much and was much more of a wine lover. The quote originally came from a letter that Franklin wrote to his friend André Morellet while he was in France. He stated,

“Behold the rain which descends from heaven upon our vineyards, and which incorporates itself with the grapes to be changed into wine; a constant proof that God loves us, and loves to see us happy!”

http://www.ushistory.org/franklin/quotable/singlehtml.htm

Although Franklin does love wine, here, he may be referring to the greatness of God and the wonders of the rain and the vineyards, rather than the greatness of wine. However, either way, the quote never had anything to do with beer.

It is still unknown who started this rumor, or when his words got twisted since it it so hard to trace the roots to a rumor that started so long ago. However, according to beer.about.com/od/historyofbeer, the rumor may have spread so broadly because so many people commonly use the quote, and after hearing it so often, it is automatically is believed to be true. Also, since Franklin is known to have a satirical side to him, it would not be preposterous to believe that he may have said such a thing. However, today the false quote is still printed on-shirts all around the world.