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Benjamin Franklin's Quote Analysis

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Upon doing some research on the quote I found out that was is written in number nine is not actually the quote, nor is it the context that Benjamin Franklin met it in. The actual quote is “Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety.” Ironically enough this quote was met very literally to a situation that Benjamin Franklin was writing about. The quote was a part of a letter written in 1755 on behalf of the Pennsylvania Assembly to the colonial governor. The assembly wished to tax the lands of the Penn family in order to raise money against the French and Indian attacks. The quote meant exactly what it said about giving up the freedom of their land, in reference to taxes, for defense. …show more content…

We have given up our freedom of speech to holler what we want, where we please, in order to keep ourselves and everyone else on that plane safe. To agree with Benjamin Franklin’s quote in this situation would be illogical. Do we not deserve to be safe just because we are willing to make the necessary sacrifices of our freedom to get it? Yes, we have ordered some of our freedom, but it is for the greater good of ourselves and others. To reference to John locke's social contract, the purpose of the government is to protect our rights and keep us safe, but it does that by setting laws and punishing those who break those laws and infringe on other's rights. This goes to show that the same government that gives us safety is also the same government that sets laws that limit our freedoms and is to punish us if we do wrong. It is also the same government that monitors us for our safety and the safety of others. To submit to a government that can incarcerate us, monitor us and do many other things the government does, can be viewed as giving up our liberty, but at the same time, everyone in America does this to be

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