Entry 2 passage analysis

“But such mistakes are not new; History is full of errors of states and princes.” Ben Franklin (132).

This quote is discussing how throughout history there have been many examples of a country or a ruler making mistakes that have affected a country, or its people in many ways.  Franklin says this while referring to the mistakes the English made while dealing with America that lead to the revolution in which England lost, he talks about this because he is trying to say a situation in which the government or a ruler has made a mistake that caused a revolution.  When he says “errors of states and princes.”(132) Franklin doesn’t meant states like the unites states he means the government or body of leadership for example parliament in England and when he says princes he really means just the actual ruler not just the prince for example in this case he means king George the third.

Benjamin Franklin talks about this because it leads to his discussion about how the revolutionary war could have been avoided, this is important because it relates to him personally in the sense that the war is one of the most important parts of his life.  It allowed for him to make many European connections as he was dispatched to France as the first U.S. ambassador this allowed him to meet many French scientists, and also have access to many of the great works of the French philosophers such as Voltaire or Rousseau which assisted him in his discoveries later in life, also with these connections and his diplomatic experience he was able to establish good relations with the French which would be one of the many reasons why France came to America’s aid in our revolution, this would be a key factor in our victory.  Another part of this quote’s significance is that it serves as a lesson for him and his collogues so they know not to make the same mistakes England made to cause a revolution.