Benjamin Franklin was the first true all-American hippie. I know what you're thinking - I'm calling one of our beloved founded fathers a hippie, a term that wasn't even coined in the 18th century. Hear me out though - Benjamin Franklin was a trailblazer; he was ahead of his time and the scary thing is, is that even today some of good ol' Benny Boy's ideas of social justice and equality still aren't completely established today.

So why do I think that Benjamin Franklin was the first hippie in American history? Well, there are a few reasons why and they all relate to the history of the education system in the United States. First of all, a hippie, by definition is "a person of unconventional appearance, typically having long hair and wearing beads, associated with a subculture involving a rejection of conventional values" (thank you Google). In case, you didn't know, Benjamin Franklin had long hair and he rejected many conventional values of the late 1700s culture, however, he did not wear beads (at least to my knowledge). Secondly, Ben Franklin opened up a school that promoted a co-ed education in the 1760s. It was one of the first schools of its kind, and while you'd think there would be schools like this everywhere now that allow both boys and girls, there are plenty of places in the world that don't promote the education of both genders or simply even one. Finally, Franklin did not believe in learning Latin or classical Greek in schools because it is of no practical use. Instead, Benjamin Franklin advocated that students learn English and another popular spoken language like French or Spanish, solely for the purpose of trade, business relations, and profit.

So, Benjamin Franklin, the hellraiser and trailblazer, thank you for your service to social justice and social equality in the United States. Maybe you agree with me that Ben Franklin is a hippie, and maybe you don't. Either way, Benjamin Franklin was a pretty cool guy who was way ahead of his time.