Whenever I go camping, I naturally go to bed not too long after sunset and wake up early. In Franklin's time, without electricity, I imagine people weren't staying up until 2am. What were normal sleep cycles in the 18th century, and what might Franklin have recommended people adopt?
Relatedly, for people who had to get up before sunrise (e.g., bakers), how did they manage it before alarm clocks were commonplace?
Knock-on question - I saw an article yesterday about the need teenagers have for more sleep than adults. What were pre-modern attitudes about teenagers and how much they slept? Were they "lazy kids" or was there nuance?
Related to this: Ekirch has a theory of "segmented sleep" that he says dominated pre-industrial revolution western society. Basically, without universal, cheap artificial lighting sources, people went to bed when it was dark, and would often wake up for an hour or two in the pre-dawn hours to do various things, then go back to sleep.
Relatedly, for people who had to get up before sunrise (e.g., bakers), how did they manage it before alarm clocks were commonplace?
FYI, you'll find a few more examples in the FAQ
People were staying up late in Franlkin's time, possibly until 2am, but without electrical lighting they used lamps and candles. While in France Franklin wrote a satirical essay, An Econimical Project *, where after seeing a new type of lamp where he talks about how much money could be saved by using the free light of the sun. In the essay he states that candles are used for 7 hours at night, which if accurate (which is not a given due to the nature of the essay), would roughly put lights-out at around 1-3am depending on the time of year.
While in Paris Franklin himself was known for not getting up before 10am**.
*Source: John Adams by David McCullough p.198
**Source: An Econimical Project essay to The Journal of Paris, 1784
Follow up. Weren't human sleep patterns still biphasic at this time?