Chapter 34

This chapter discusses Franklin's philosophy of meritocracy and social mobility through education, contrasting his vision with that of Jefferson and explaining how Franklin's approach to education was more democratically egalitarian than creating a filtered elite class.

Isaacson examines Franklin's concept of meritocracy, noting that the term itself was coined later by Michael Young as a dismissive critique of societies that create new elite classes based on narrow credentials. Franklin's actual vision was broader and more democratic than what later thinkers like Jefferson proposed. While Jefferson advocated for identifying exceptional individuals early and grooming them as a "natural aristocracy" to replace hereditary elites, Franklin believed in providing opportunities for all people to succeed based on diligence, hard work, virtue, and talent. This distinction becomes apparent in their different approaches to founding universities. Jefferson's University of Virginia was designed as a filtering mechanism to identify and develop future leaders, while Franklin's vision for what became the University of Pennsylvania aimed at enriching and educating all aspiring young men regardless of their potential for leadership. Franklin's approach thus embodied a more egalitarian principle—one that valued education not merely as a means to produce a trained workforce but as a way to enrich the personal and social lives of individual citizens. The chapter positions Franklin's philosophy as fundamentally more expansive and democratic in its commitment to universal opportunity rather than elite selection.