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Benjamin Franklin

By: History.com Editors

Updated: March 28, 2023 | Original: November 9, 2009

One of the leading figures of early American history, Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) was a statesman, author, publisher, scientist, inventor and diplomat. Born into a Boston family of modest means, Franklin had little formal education. He went on to start a successful printing business in Philadelphia and grew wealthy. Franklin was deeply active in public affairs in his adopted city, where he helped launch a lending library, hospital and college and garnered acclaim for his experiments with electricity, among other projects. During the American Revolution , he served in the Second Continental Congress and helped draft the Declaration of Independence in 1776. He also negotiated the 1783 Treaty of Paris that ended the Revolutionary War (1775-83). In 1787, in his final significant act of public service, he was a delegate to the convention that produced the U.S. Constitution .

Benjamin Franklin’s Early Years

Benjamin Franklin was born on January 17, 1706, in colonial Boston. His father, Josiah Franklin (1657-1745), a native of England, was a candle and soap maker who married twice and had 17 children. Franklin’s mother was Abiah Folger (1667-1752) of Nantucket, Massachusetts , Josiah’s second wife. Franklin was the eighth of Abiah and Josiah’s 10 offspring.

Did you know? Benjamin Franklin is the only Founding Father  to have signed all four of the key documents establishing the U.S.: the Declaration of Independence (1776), the Treaty of Alliance with France (1778), the Treaty of Paris establishing peace with Great Britain (1783) and the U.S. Constitution (1787).

Franklin’s formal education was limited and ended when he was 10; however, he was an avid reader and taught himself to become a skilled writer. In 1718, at age 12, he was apprenticed to his older brother James, a Boston printer. By age 16, Franklin was contributing essays (under the pseudonym Silence Dogood) to a newspaper published by his brother. At age 17, Franklin ran away from his apprenticeship to Philadelphia, where he found work as a printer. In late 1724, he traveled to London, England, and again found employment in the printing business.

Benjamin Franklin: Printer and Publisher

Benjamin Franklin returned to Philadelphia in 1726, and two years later opened a printing shop. The business became highly successful producing a range of materials, including government pamphlets, books and currency. In 1729, Franklin became the owner and publisher of a colonial newspaper, the Pennsylvania Gazette , which proved popular—and to which he contributed much of the content, often using pseudonyms. Franklin achieved fame and further financial success with “Poor Richard’s Almanack,” which he published every year from 1733 to 1758. The almanac became known for its witty sayings, which often had to do with the importance of diligence and frugality, such as “Early to bed and early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise.”

In 1730, Franklin began living with Deborah Read (c. 1705-74), the daughter of his former Philadelphia landlady, as his common-law wife. Read’s first husband had abandoned her; however, due to bigamy laws, she and Franklin could not have an official wedding ceremony. Franklin and Read had a son, Francis Folger Franklin (1732-36), who died of smallpox at age 4, and a daughter, Sarah Franklin Bache (1743-1808). Franklin had another son, William Franklin (c. 1730-1813), who was born out of wedlock. William Franklin served as the last colonial governor of New Jersey , from 1763 to 1776, and remained loyal to the British during the American Revolution . He died in exile in England.

Benjamin Franklin and Philadelphia

As Franklin’s printing business prospered, he became increasingly involved in civic affairs. Starting in the 1730s, he helped establish a number of community organizations in Philadelphia, including a lending library (it was founded in 1731, a time when books weren’t widely available in the colonies, and remained the largest U.S. public library until the 1850s), the city’s first fire company , a police patrol and the American Philosophical Society , a group devoted to the sciences and other scholarly pursuits. 

Franklin also organized the Pennsylvania militia, raised funds to build a city hospital and spearheaded a program to pave and light city streets. Additionally, Franklin was instrumental in the creation of the Academy of Philadelphia, a college which opened in 1751 and became known as the University of Pennsylvania in 1791.

Franklin also was a key figure in the colonial postal system. In 1737, the British appointed him postmaster of Philadelphia, and he went on to become, in 1753, joint postmaster general for all the American colonies. In this role he instituted various measures to improve mail service; however, the British dismissed him from the job in 1774 because he was deemed too sympathetic to colonial interests. In July 1775, the Continental Congress appointed Franklin the first postmaster general of the United States, giving him authority over all post offices from Massachusetts to Georgia . He held this position until November 1776, when he was succeeded by his son-in-law. (The first U.S. postage stamps, issued on July 1, 1847, featured images of Benjamin Franklin and George Washington .)

Benjamin Franklin's Inventions

In 1748, Franklin, then 42 years old, had expanded his printing business throughout the colonies and become successful enough to stop working. Retirement allowed him to concentrate on public service and also pursue more fully his longtime interest in science. In the 1740s, he conducted experiments that contributed to the understanding of electricity, and invented the lightning rod, which protected buildings from fires caused by lightning. In 1752, he conducted his famous kite experiment and demonstrated that lightning is electricity. Franklin also coined a number of electricity-related terms, including battery, charge and conductor.

In addition to electricity, Franklin studied a number of other topics, including ocean currents, meteorology, causes of the common cold and refrigeration. He developed the Franklin stove, which provided more heat while using less fuel than other stoves, and bifocal eyeglasses, which allow for distance and reading use. In the early 1760s, Franklin invented a musical instrument called the glass armonica. Composers such as Ludwig Beethoven (1770-1827) and Wolfgang Mozart (1756-91) wrote music for Franklin’s armonica; however, by the early part of the 19th century, the once-popular instrument had largely fallen out of use.

READ MORE: 11 Surprising Facts About Benjamin Franklin

Benjamin Franklin and the American Revolution

In 1754, at a meeting of colonial representatives in Albany, New York , Franklin proposed a plan for uniting the colonies under a national congress. Although his Albany Plan was rejected, it helped lay the groundwork for the Articles of Confederation , which became the first constitution of the United States when ratified in 1781.

In 1757, Franklin traveled to London as a representative of the Pennsylvania Assembly, to which he was elected in 1751. Over several years, he worked to settle a tax dispute and other issues involving descendants of William Penn (1644-1718), the owners of the colony of Pennsylvania. After a brief period back in the U.S., Franklin lived primarily in London until 1775. While he was abroad, the British government began, in the mid-1760s, to impose a series of regulatory measures to assert greater control over its American colonies. In 1766, Franklin testified in the British Parliament against the Stamp Act of 1765, which required that all legal documents, newspapers, books, playing cards and other printed materials in the American colonies carry a tax stamp. Although the Stamp Act was repealed in 1766, additional regulatory measures followed, leading to ever-increasing anti-British sentiment and eventual armed uprising in the American colonies .

Franklin returned to Philadelphia in May 1775, shortly after the Revolutionary War (1775-83) had begun, and was selected to serve as a delegate to the Second Continental Congress, America’s governing body at the time. In 1776, he was part of the five-member committee that helped draft the Declaration of Independence , in which the 13 American colonies declared their freedom from British rule. That same year, Congress sent Franklin to France to enlist that nation’s help with the Revolutionary War. In February 1778, the French signed a military alliance with America and went on to provide soldiers, supplies and money that proved critical to America’s victory in the war.

As minister to France starting in 1778, Franklin helped negotiate and draft the 1783  Treaty of Paris that ended the Revolutionary War.

Benjamin Franklin’s Later Years

In 1785, Franklin left France and returned once again to Philadelphia. In 1787, he was a Pennsylvania delegate to the Constitutional Convention. (The 81-year-old Franklin was the convention’s oldest delegate.) At the end of the convention, in September 1787, he urged his fellow delegates to support the heavily debated new document. The U.S. Constitution was ratified by the required nine states in June 1788, and George Washington (1732-99) was inaugurated as America’s first president in April 1789.

Franklin died a year later, at age 84, on April 17, 1790, in Philadelphia. Following a funeral that was attended by an estimated 20,000 people, he was buried in Philadelphia’s Christ Church cemetery. In his will, he left money to Boston and Philadelphia, which was later used to establish a trade school and a science museum and fund scholarships and other community projects.

More than 200 years after his death, Franklin remains one of the most celebrated figures in U.S. history. His image appears on the $100 bill, and towns, schools and businesses across America are named for him.

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Benjamin Franklin

Benjamin Franklin is best known as one of the Founding Fathers who never served as president but was a respected inventor, publisher, scientist and diplomat.

Quick Facts

Silence dogood, living in london, wife and children, life in philadelphia, poor richard's almanack, scientist and inventor, electricity, election to the government, stamp act and declaration of independence, life in paris, drafting the u.s. constitution, accomplishments, who was benjamin franklin.

Benjamin Franklin was a Founding Father and a polymath, inventor, scientist, printer, politician, freemason and diplomat. Franklin helped to draft the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution , and he negotiated the 1783 Treaty of Paris ending the Revolutionary War .

His scientific pursuits included investigations into electricity, mathematics and mapmaking. A writer known for his wit and wisdom, Franklin also published Poor Richard’s Almanack , invented bifocal glasses and organized the first successful American lending library.

FULL NAME: Benjamin Franklin BORN: January 17, 1706 DIED: April 17, 1790 BIRTHPLACE: Boston, Massachusetts SPOUSE: Deborah Read (1730-1774) CHILDREN: William, Francis, Sarah ASTROLOGICAL SIGN: Capricorn

Franklin was born on January 17, 1706, in Boston, in what was then known as the Massachusetts Bay Colony.

Franklin’s father, English-born soap and candlemaker Josiah Franklin, had seven children with first wife, Anne Child, and 10 more with second wife, Abiah Folger. Franklin was his 15th child and youngest son.

Franklin learned to read at an early age, and despite his success at the Boston Latin School, he stopped his formal schooling at 10 to work full-time in his cash-strapped father’s candle and soap shop. Dipping wax and cutting wicks didn’t fire the young boy’s imagination, however.

Perhaps to dissuade him from going to sea as one of his other sons had done, Josiah apprenticed 12-year-old Franklin at the print shop run by his older brother James.

Although James mistreated and frequently beat his younger brother, Franklin learned a great deal about newspaper publishing and adopted a similar brand of subversive politics under the printer’s tutelage.

When James refused to publish any of his brother’s writing, 16-year-old Franklin adopted the pseudonym Mrs. Silence Dogood, and “her” 14 imaginative and witty letters delighted readers of his brother’s newspaper, The New England Courant . James grew angry, however, when he learned that his apprentice had penned the letters.

Tired of his brother’s “harsh and tyrannical” behavior, Franklin fled Boston in 1723 although he had three years remaining on a legally binding contract with his master.

He escaped to New York before settling in Philadelphia and began working with another printer. Philadelphia became his home base for the rest of his life.

Encouraged by Pennsylvania Governor William Keith to set up his own print shop, Franklin left for London in 1724 to purchase supplies from stationers, booksellers and printers. When the teenager arrived in England, however, he felt duped when Keith’s letters of introduction never arrived as promised.

Although forced to find work at London’s print shops, Franklin took full advantage of the city’s pleasures—attending theater performances, mingling with the locals in coffee houses and continuing his lifelong passion for reading.

A self-taught swimmer who crafted his own wooden flippers, Franklin performed long-distance swims on the Thames River. (In 1968, he was inducted as an honorary member of the International Swimming Hall of Fame .)

In 1725 Franklin published his first pamphlet, "A Dissertation upon Liberty and Necessity, Pleasure and Pain," which argued that humans lack free will and, thus, are not morally responsible for their actions. (Franklin later repudiated this thought and burned all but one copy of the pamphlet still in his possession.)

In 1723, after Franklin moved from Boston to Philadelphia, he lodged at the home of John Read, where he met and courted his landlord’s daughter Deborah.

After Franklin returned to Philadelphia in 1726, he discovered that Deborah had married in the interim, only to be abandoned by her husband just months after the wedding.

The future Founding Father rekindled his romance with Deborah Read and he took her as his common-law wife in 1730. Around that time, Franklin fathered a son, William, out of wedlock who was taken in by the couple. The pair’s first son, Francis, was born in 1732, but he died four years later of smallpox. The couple’s only daughter, Sarah, was born in 1743.

The two times Franklin moved to London, in 1757 and again in 1764, it was without Deborah, who refused to leave Philadelphia. His second stay was the last time the couple saw each other. Franklin would not return home before Deborah passed away in 1774 from a stroke at the age of 66.

In 1762, Franklin’s son William took office as New Jersey’s royal governor, a position his father arranged through his political connections in the British government. Franklin’s later support for the patriot cause put him at odds with his loyalist son. When the New Jersey militia stripped William Franklin of his post as royal governor and imprisoned him in 1776, his father chose not to intercede on his behalf.

After his return to Philadelphia in 1726, Franklin held varied jobs including bookkeeper, shopkeeper and currency cutter. In 1728 he returned to a familiar trade - printing paper currency - in New Jersey before partnering with a friend to open his own print shop in Philadelphia that published government pamphlets and books.

In 1730 Franklin was named the official printer of Pennsylvania. By that time, he had formed the “Junto,” a social and self-improvement study group for young men that met every Friday to debate morality, philosophy and politics.

When Junto members sought to expand their reading choices, Franklin helped to incorporate America’s first subscription library, the Library Company of Philadelphia, in 1731.

In 1729 Franklin published another pamphlet, "A Modest Enquiry into The Nature and Necessity of a Paper Currency," which advocated for an increase in the money supply to stimulate the economy.

With the cash Franklin earned from his money-related treatise, he was able to purchase The Pennsylvania Gazette newspaper from a former boss. Under his ownership, the struggling newspaper was transformed into the most widely-read paper in the colonies and became one of the first to turn a profit.

He had less luck in 1732 when he launched the first German-language newspaper in the colonies, the short-lived Philadelphische Zeitung . Nonetheless, Franklin’s prominence and success grew during the 1730s.

Franklin amassed real estate and businesses and organized the volunteer Union Fire Company to counteract dangerous fire hazards in Philadelphia. He joined the Freemasons in 1731 and was eventually elected grand master of the Masons of Pennsylvania.

At the end of 1732, Franklin published the first edition of Poor Richard’s Almanack .

In addition to weather forecasts, astronomical information and poetry, the almanac—which Franklin published for 25 consecutive years—included proverbs and Franklin’s witty maxims such as “Early to bed and early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise” and “He that lies down with dogs, shall rise up with fleas.”

In the 1740s, Franklin expanded into science and entrepreneurship. His 1743 pamphlet "A Proposal for Promoting Useful Knowledge" underscored his interests and served as the founding document of the American Philosophical Society , the first scientific society in the colonies.

By 1748, the 42-year-old Franklin had become one of the richest men in Pennsylvania, and he became a soldier in the Pennsylvania militia. He turned his printing business over to a partner to give himself more time to conduct scientific experiments. He moved into a new house in 1748.

Franklin was a prolific inventor and scientist who was responsible for the following inventions:

• Franklin stove : Franklin’s first invention, created around 1740, provided more heat with less fuel.
• Bifocals : Anyone tired of switching between two pairs of glasses understands why Franklin developed bifocals that could be used for both distance and reading.
• Armonica : Franklin’s inventions took on a musical bent when, in 1761, he commenced development on the armonica, a musical instrument composed of spinning glass bowls on a shaft. Both Ludwig van Beethoven and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart composed music for the strange instrument.
• Rocking chair
• Flexible catheter
• American penny

Franklin also discovered the Gulf Stream after his return trip across the Atlantic Ocean from London in 1775. He began to speculate about why the westbound trip always took longer, and his measurements of ocean temperatures led to his discovery of the existence of the Gulf Stream. This knowledge served to cut two weeks off the previous sailing time from Europe to North America.

Franklin even devised a new “scheme” for the alphabet that proposed to eliminate the letters C, J, Q, W, X and Y as redundant.

Franklin’s self-education earned him honorary degrees from Harvard , Yale , England’s University of Oxford and the University of St. Andrews in Scotland.

In 1749, Franklin wrote a pamphlet concerning the education of youth in Pennsylvania that resulted in the establishment of the Academy of Philadelphia, now the University of Pennsylvania .

In 1752, Franklin conducted the famous kite-and-key experiment to demonstrate that lightning was electricity and soon after invented the lightning rod.

His investigations into electrical phenomena were compiled into “Experiments and Observations on Electricity,” published in England in 1751. He coined new electricity-related terms that are still part of the lexicon, such as battery, charge, conductor and electrify.

In 1748, Franklin acquired the first of several enslaved people to work in his new home and in the print shop. Franklin’s views on slavery evolved over the following decades to the point that he considered the institution inherently evil, and thus, he freed his enslaved people in the 1760s.

Later in life, he became more vociferous in his opposition to slavery. Franklin served as president of the Pennsylvania Society for Promoting the Abolition of Slavery and wrote many tracts urging the abolition of slavery . In 1790 he petitioned the U.S. Congress to end slavery and the trade.

Franklin became a member of Philadelphia’s city council in 1748 and a justice of the peace the following year. In 1751, he was elected a Philadelphia alderman and a representative to the Pennsylvania Assembly, a position to which he was re-elected annually until 1764. Two years later, he accepted a royal appointment as deputy postmaster general of North America.

When the French and Indian War began in 1754, Franklin called on the colonies to band together for their common defense, which he dramatized in The Pennsylvania Gazette with a cartoon of a snake cut into sections with the caption “Join or Die.”

He represented Pennsylvania at the Albany Congress, which adopted his proposal to create a unified government for the 13 colonies. Franklin’s “Plan of Union,” however, failed to be ratified by the colonies.

In 1757 Franklin was appointed by the Pennsylvania Assembly to serve as the colony’s agent in England. Franklin sailed to London to negotiate a long-standing dispute with the proprietors of the colony, the Penn family, taking William and his two enslaved people but leaving behind Deborah and Sarah.

He spent much of the next two decades in London, where he was drawn to the high society and intellectual salons of the cosmopolitan city.

After Franklin returned to Philadelphia in 1762, he toured the colonies to inspect its post offices.

After Franklin lost his seat in the Pennsylvania Assembly in 1764, he returned to London as the colony’s agent. Franklin returned at a tense time in Great Britain’s relations with the American colonies.

The British Parliament ’s passage of the Stamp Act in March 1765 imposed a highly unpopular tax on all printed materials for commercial and legal use in the American colonies. Since Franklin purchased stamps for his printing business and nominated a friend as the Pennsylvania stamp distributor, some colonists thought Franklin implicitly supported the new tax, and rioters in Philadelphia even threatened his house.

Franklin’s passionate denunciation of the tax in testimony before Parliament, however, contributed to the Stamp Act’s repeal in 1766.

Two years later he penned a pamphlet, “Causes of the American Discontents before 1768,” and he soon became an agent for Massachusetts, Georgia and New Jersey as well. Franklin fanned the flames of revolution by sending the private letters of Massachusetts Governor Thomas Hutchinson to America.

The letters called for the restriction of the rights of colonists, which caused a firestorm after their publication by Boston newspapers. In the wake of the scandal, Franklin was removed as deputy postmaster general, and he returned to North America in 1775 as a devotee of the patriot cause.

In 1775, Franklin was elected to the Second Continental Congress and appointed the first postmaster general for the colonies. In 1776, he was appointed commissioner to Canada and was one of five men to draft the Declaration of Independence.

After voting for independence in 1776, Franklin was elected commissioner to France, making him essentially the first U.S. ambassador to France. He set sail to negotiate a treaty for the country’s military and financial support.

Much has been made of Franklin’s years in Paris, chiefly his rich romantic life in his nine years abroad after Deborah’s death. At the age of 74, he even proposed marriage to a widow named Madame Helvetius, but she rejected him.

Franklin was embraced in France as much, if not more, for his wit and intellectual standing in the scientific community as for his status as a political appointee from a fledgling country.

His reputation facilitated respect and entrees into closed communities, including the court of King Louis XVI . And it was his adept diplomacy that led to the Treaty of Paris in 1783, which ended the Revolutionary War. After almost a decade in France, Franklin returned to the United States in 1785.

Franklin was elected in 1787 to represent Pennsylvania at the Constitutional Convention , which drafted and ratified the new U.S. Constitution.

The oldest delegate at the age of 81, Franklin initially supported proportional representation in Congress, but he fashioned the Great Compromise that resulted in proportional representation in the House of Representatives and equal representation by state in the Senate . In 1787, he helped found the Society for Political Inquiries, dedicated to improving knowledge of government.

Franklin was never elected president of the United States. However, he played an important role as one of eight Founding Fathers, helping draft the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution.

He also served several roles in the government: He was elected to the Pennsylvania Assembly and appointed as the first postmaster general for the colonies as well as diplomat to France. He was a true polymath and entrepreneur, which is no doubt why he is often called the "First American."

Franklin died on April 17, 1790, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, at the home of his daughter, Sarah Bache. He was 84, suffered from gout and had complained of ailments for some time, completing the final codicil to his will a little more than a year and a half prior to his death.

He bequeathed most of his estate to Sarah and very little to his son William, whose opposition to the patriot cause still stung him. He also donated money that funded scholarships, schools and museums in Boston and Philadelphia.

Franklin had actually written his epitaph when he was 22: “The body of B. Franklin, Printer (Like the Cover of an Old Book Its Contents torn Out And Stript of its Lettering and Gilding) Lies Here, Food for Worms. But the Work shall not be Lost; For it will (as he Believ'd) Appear once More In a New and More Elegant Edition Revised and Corrected By the Author.”

In the end, however, the stone on the grave he shared with his wife in the cemetery of Philadelphia’s Christ Church reads simply, “Benjamin and Deborah Franklin 1790.”

The image of Franklin that has come down through history, along with his likeness on the $100 bill, is something of a caricature—a bald man in a frock coat holding a kite string with a key attached. But the scope of things he applied himself to was so broad it seems a shame.

Founding universities and libraries, the post office, shaping the foreign policy of the fledgling United States, helping to draft the Declaration of Independence, publishing newspapers, warming us with the Franklin stove, pioneering advances in science, letting us see with bifocals and lighting our way with electricity—all from a man who never finished school but shaped his life through abundant reading and experience, a strong moral compass and an unflagging commitment to civic duty. Franklin illuminated corners of American life that still have the lingering glow of his attention.

• A house is not a home unless it contains food and fire for the mind as well as the body.
• Do not fear mistakes. You will know failure. Continue to reach out.
• From a child I was fond of reading, and all the little money that came into my hands was ever laid out in books.
• So convenient a thing it is to be a reasonable creature, since it enables one to find or make a reason for everything one has a mind to do.
• In reality, there is, perhaps, no one of our natural passions so hard to subdue as pride. Disguise it, struggle with it, beat it down, stifle it, mortify it as much as one pleases, it is still alive, and will every now and then peep out and show itself; you will see it, perhaps, often in this history; for, even if I could conceive that I had compleatly overcome it, I should probably be proud of my humility.
• Human felicity is produced not so much by great pieces of good fortune that seldom happen, as by little advantages that occur every day.
• There never was a good war or a bad peace.
• In this world nothing is certain but death and taxes.
• Freedom of speech is a principal pillar of a free government; when this support is taken away, the constitution of a free society is dissolved, and tyranny is erected on its ruins.
• He does not possess wealth, it possesses him.
• Experience keeps a dear school, yet fools will learn in no other.

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Benjamin Franklin Biography

Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) was a scientist, ambassador, philosopher, statesmen, writer, businessman and celebrated free thinker and wit. Franklin is often referred to as ‘America’s Renaissance Man’ and he played a pivotal role in forging a united American identity during the American Revolution.

Early life Benjamin Franklin

At an early age, he also started writing articles which were published in the ‘New England Courant’ under a pseudonym; Franklin wrote under pseudonyms throughout his life. After several had been published, he admitted to his father that he had written them. Rather than being pleased, his father beat him for his impudence. Therefore, aged 17, the young Benjamin left the family business and travelled to Philadelphia.

“The Constitution only guarantees the American people the right to pursue happiness. You have to catch it yourself.”

-— Benjamin Franklin

In Philadelphia, Benjamin’s reputation as an acerbic man of letters grew. His writings were both humorous and satirical, and his capacity to take down powerful men came to the attention of Pennsylvania governor, William Keith. William Keith was fearful of Benjamin’s satire so offered him a job in England with all expenses paid. Benjamin took the offer, but once in England, the governor deserted Franklin, leaving him with no funds.

Benjamin Franklin frequently found himself in awkward situations, but his natural resourcefulness and determination always overcame difficult odds. Benjamin found a job at a printer in London. Here he was known as the “Water American” – as he preferred to drink water rather than the usual six pints of beer daily. Franklin remarked there was ‘more nourishment in a pennyworth of bread than in a quart of beer.’

In 1726, a Quaker Merchant, Mr Denham offered him a position in Philadelphia. Franklin accepted and sailed back to the US.

On his journey home, Benjamin wrote a list of 13 virtues he thought important for his future life. Amongst these were temperance, frugality, sincerity, justice and tranquillity. He originally had 12, but, since a friend remarked he had great pride, he added a 13th – humility (Imitate Jesus and Socrates.)

Virtues of Benjamin Franklin

1. “TEMPERANCE. Eat not to dullness; drink not to elevation.”

2. “SILENCE. Speak not but what may benefit others or yourself; avoid trifling conversation.”

3. “ORDER. Let all your things have their places; let each part of your business have its time.”

4. “RESOLUTION. Resolve to perform what you ought; perform without fail what you resolve.”

5. “FRUGALITY. Make no expense but to do good to others or yourself; i.e., waste nothing.”

6. “INDUSTRY. Lose no time; be always employed in something useful; cut off all unnecessary actions.”

7. “SINCERITY. Use no hurtful deceit; think innocently and justly, and, if you speak, speak accordingly.”

8. “JUSTICE. Wrong none by doing injuries, or omitting the benefits that are your duty.”

9. “MODERATION. Avoid extremes; forbear resenting injuries so much as you think they deserve.”

10. “CLEANLINESS. Tolerate no uncleanliness in body, cloaths, or habitation.”

11. “TRANQUILLITY. Be not disturbed at trifles, or at accidents common or unavoidable.”

12. “CHASTITY. Rarely use venery but for health or offspring, never to dullness, weakness, or the injury of your own or another’s peace or reputation.”

13. “HUMILITY. Imitate Jesus and Socrates.”

Franklin sought to cultivate these virtues throughout the remainder of life. His approach to self-improvement lasted throughout his life.

Back in America, Franklin had many successful endeavours in business, journalism, science and statesmanship.

Scientific Achievements of Benjamin Franklin

Science experiments were a hobby of Franklin. This led to the:

• Franklin stove – a mechanism for distributing heat throughout a room.
• The famous kite and key in the thunderstorm. This proved that lightning and electricity were one and the same thing.
• He was the first person to give electricity positive and negative charges
• The first flexible urinary catheter
• Glass harmonica (also known as the glass armonica)
• Bifocal glasses.

Franklin never patented his inventions, preferring to offer them freely for the benefit of society. As he wrote:

“… as we enjoy great advantages from the inventions of others, we should be glad of an opportunity to serve others by any invention of ours; and this we should do freely and generously.”

Benjamin Franklin as Ambassador

Franklin was chosen as an ambassador to England in the dispute over taxes. For five years he held conferences with political leaders as well as continuing his scientific experiments and musical studies.

Later on, Franklin played a key role in warning the British government over the dangers of taxing the American colonies. In a contest of wills, Franklin was instrumental in encouraging the British Parliament to revoke the hated Stamp Act. However, this reversal was to be short-lived. And when further taxes were issued, Franklin declared himself a supporter of the new American independence movement.

In 1775, he returned to an America in conflict. He was one of the five representatives chosen to draw up the American Declaration of Independence with Thomas Jefferson as the author.

Franklin was chosen to be America’s ambassador to France, where he worked hard to gain the support of the French in America’s war effort. During his time in French society, Franklin was widely admired, and his portrait was hung in many houses.

At the age of 75, the newly formed US government beseeched Franklin to be America’s representative in signing a peace treaty with Great Britain which was signed in 1783.

He was finally replaced as French ambassador by Thomas Jefferson, who paid tribute to his enormous capacity Jefferson remarked; “I succeed him; no one can replace him.”

Religious Beliefs of Benjamin Franklin

Benjamin Franklin believed in God throughout his life. In his early life, he professed a belief in Deism. However, he never gave too much importance to organised religion. He was well known for his religious tolerance, and it was remarked how people from different religions could think of him as one of them. As John Adams noted:

“The Catholics thought him almost a Catholic. The Church of England claimed him as one of them. The Presbyterian’s thought him half a Presbyterian, and the Friends believed him a wet Quaker.”

Franklin embodied the spirit of the enlightenment and spirituality over organised religion.

Franklin was a keen debater, but his style was to avoid confrontation and condemnation. He would prefer to argue topics through the asking of awkward questions, not dissimilar to the Greek philosopher Socrates .

Citation: Pettinger, Tejvan . “Biography of  Benjamin Franklin ”, Oxford, UK.  www.biographyonline.net , 5th Feb 2010. Last updated 5 March 2019.

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Benjamin Franklin

January 17, 1706–April 17, 1790

Benjamin Franklin was a Founding Father, member of the Continental Congress, signer of the Declaration of Independence, and signer of the United States Constitution. Arguably, the most accomplished individual in American history, he was also a successful printer, publisher, scientist, inventor, diplomat, civic leader, statesman, philosopher, and helped negotiate French support during the American Revolutionary War.

Portrait of Benjamin Franklin by Joseph Duplessis. Image Source: Wikimedia.

Biography of Benjamin Franklin

Benjamin Franklin was an American printer, scientist, inventor, politician, diplomat, statesman, author, and one of the most colorful characters of the American Revolution.

Franklin was born in Boston, Massachusetts in 1706 to Josiah Franklin and Abiah Folger. He was the 15th and youngest son of Josiah’s seventeen children.

Franklin learned the printing trade while working for the weekly Boston newspaper, New England Courant . The paper was owned by his brother James. When the brothers quarreled over letters young Benjamin published under a pseudonym, he left Boston before his apprenticeship expired. Franklin ran off to Philadelphia.

To London and Back

In Philadelphia, Franklin worked as a printer at several different shops. Encouraged by the Governor of Pennsylvania, Sir William Keith, he traveled to London to purchase equipment to start his own newspaper. Unfortunately, this did not work out and Franklin found employment as a typesetter in the Smithfield area of London. A Quaker merchant, Thomas Denham, loaned him the money for passage on a ship back to Philadelphia.  In debt to Denham, Franklin worked in his shop until he passed away.

Franklin in Philadelphia

Franklin formally attended school for less than three years, but he read a considerable amount and in 1727 he created the Junto. The Junto was a group of “like minded aspiring artisans and tradesmen who hoped to improve themselves while they improved their community.” The members of the Junto created a library, which eventually led to the creation of the Library Company. In 1731, Franklin chartered the Library Company of Philadelphia.

Marriage to Deborah Read

In 1730, Franklin married Deborah Read by common-law and adopted his illegitimate son, William. The identity of William’s mother remains unknown. Franklin had two other children with Deborah, Francis, born in 1732, and Sarah, born in 1743.

Business Success and Political Connections

Franklin began saving money and became a successful businessman selling books and publishing the weekly Pennsylvania Gazette . He also clerked for the House of Representatives and promoted civic enterprises, such as the library, that still thrive today. He was on good terms with Lord Thomas Penn and was rewarded with local offices. He aligned himself with Penn’s secret agent, William Smith, in opposition to a large influx of German immigrants from the Rhineland, which seemed to threaten English sovereignty. The Germans had been aided by the Quakers in their move to the colony, and in return, the Germans supported Quaker politicians. Franklin was ambivalent toward the Quakers, who were pacifists. Although he respected their toleration, he hated their pacifism. During King George’s War (1744–1748), he organized an extralegal military association that helped him gain popular support, to the dismay of Penn, who feared popular leaders.

Franklin Gains Fame with the Kite Experiment

Franklin’s most famous scientific experiment is likely that of flying a kite in a thunderstorm with a key attached to a piece of twine. The purpose of the experiment was to prove that lightning is a form of electricity. He published the proposal for the experiment in 1750, although there is some debate as to whether or not he actually conducted the experiment himself, due to the danger of electrocution. His experiments and research into electricity, a new science at the time, led the London Royal Society to award him the Copley Gold Medal. As a result, his name became well-known both in America and abroad.

Deputy Postmaster and Pennsylvania Assembly

Franklin was appointed as deputy postmaster of the colonies in 1753 and served in that capacity until 1774. During his tenure, he made the post offices profitable and essentially franchised several printers by supplying them with equipment on a profit-sharing basis. In 1751 he was elected to the Assembly, where he had to cooperate with the dominant Quakers. In 1755 he persuaded German farmers to rent their heavy wagons to Major General Edward Braddock for his doomed campaign against the French and Fort Duquesne.

Albany Congress and Plan of Union

In 1754, the  French and Indian War , pitting Great Britain against France and its allies from the Native Tribes, loomed on the horizon.  Sensing the need to strengthen the alliance with the powerful Iroquois Confederacy , British officials called for a conference between the American colonies and Iroquois leaders in Albany, New York. Franklin was selected as a delegate from Pennsylvania for the Albany Congress .

The most significant part of the conference was the development of the Albany Plan of Union , which Franklin proposed. The plan outlines a permanent federation of the colonies, as a means to reform colonial-imperial relations and to more effectively address shared colonial interests. The plan was introduced on June 19, and the commissioners adopted a final version on July 10.

Despite the support of those who attended the Albany Congress, the Albany Plan of Union was rejected by King George II and by all of the individual colonial governments that considered its adoption. The Congress and the plan were significant milestones, however, as they marked the first official attempts to develop inter-colonial cooperation among the American colonies.

Franklin Organizes and Leads Pennsylvania Militia

During the French and Indian War (1754–1763), Franklin served in the Pennsylvania Assembly. He helped to organize a legal militia and was chosen as its commanding colonel. He used Tun Tavern in Philadelphia as a recruiting station. The Pennsylvania Militia was organized as Pennsylvania’s 103rd Artillery and 11th Infantry Regiment at the Continental Army. He set up a ring of garrisoned forts for defense against Indian raids and eventually learned that the Indians were upset over being cheated out of their lands by Lord Thomas Penn. This led to Franklin eventually turning against the Quakers.

Franklin Opposes the Stamp Act

In 1764, Franklin found himself embroiled in disputes between members of the Pennsylvania Assembly and the heirs of William Penn. He was dispatched to London where in 1765 he was on hand to voice American opposition to the Stamp Act . His testimony to the House of Commons helped lead to its repeal and he emerged as a leading voice for American interests in England.

Franklin Leaks Massachusetts Letters

For several years, Franklin traveled throughout Europe, where his popularity continued to grow due to his eccentric personality. Yet while in England he grew weary of corruption and was able to obtain the private letters of Massachusetts Governor Thomas Hutchinson and Lieutenant Governor, Andrew Oliver. These letters made it clear that they were encouraging the British to come down hard on the rights of the citizens of Boston. He left London in March 1775.

Second Continental Congress and Declaration of Independence

Upon arriving in America, he became a leading figure in the Second Continental Congress , which led to the Declaration of Independence . He served on the Committee of Five, which was tasked with drafting a document that would proclaim to the world the reasons for removing the colonies from the British Empire. The other members were John Adams , Thomas Jefferson , Robert Livingston , and Roger Sherman . Jefferson produced a draft that was reviewed by Adams and Franklin, who recommended minor changes. The document was presented to Congress on Friday, June 28, 1776. At the signing, he supposedly said “Yes, we must, indeed, all hang together, or most assuredly we shall all hang separately.”

Peace Negotiations

In December of 1776, Franklin was sent to France to serve as an ambassador of the United States, in an effort to gain aid from the French in the Revolutionary War. He helped negotiate the Treaty of Paris in 1783, which brought peace with Great Britain.  He returned to the United States in 1785.

Governor of Pennsylvania

On October 18, 1785, he was elected the sixth President of the Supreme Executive Council of Pennsylvania, a role that is equivalent to Governor. He replaced fellow Founding Father John Dickinson . He was re-elected to a full term on October 29, 1785, then again in the Fall of 1786 and 1787.

Constitutional Convention of 1787

In 1787 he served as a delegate to the Philadelphia Convention which resulted in the United States Constitution. Franklin signed the Constitution, becoming the only Founding Father to have signed the four major documents that helped to found and establish the nation. The other documents were the Declaration of Independence, Treaty of Paris, and Treaty of Alliance with France.

Supporter of Abolition

In his later years, Franklin wrote several essays concerning the abolition of slavery. Those essays were, An Address to the Public , published in 1789, A Plan for Improving the Condition of the Free Blacks , also in 1789, and  Sidi Mehemet Ibrahim on the Slave Trade in 1790.

On April 17, 1790, Franklin passed away. His body was laid to rest at Christ Church Burial Ground in Philadelphia.

Significance

Benjamin Franklin is important because he helped write the Declaration of Independence, was involved in negotiating the Treaty of Alliance with France, helped negotiate the Treaty of Paris with Britain that ended the American Revolutionary War, participated in the Constitutional Convention, and signed the United States Constitution. Very few Americans participated in so many key moments in American history and the founding of the nation.

Founding Father

Benjamin Franklin is considered a Founding Father for all of his dedication to the cause of American liberty and freedom. He represented American interests in Europe during the Stamp Act Crisis and after the War for Independence. During the war, he played a vital role in helping shape the direction of the Second Continental Congress, which culminated in the Declaration of Independence. It is quite possible that no other American played as important a role in the political formation of the United States of America as Benjamin Franklin.

Benjamin Franklin — Quick Facts

• Born January 17, 1706, Boston, Massachusetts.
• Attended Boston Latin School from 1714 to 1716.
• Began working as a printer apprenticed to his brother from 1718 to 1723.
• Moved o Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1724.
• Bought the Pennsylvania Gazette in 1729.
• Began publishing Poor Richard’s Almanac in 1733.
• Helped launch the American Philosophical Society in 1743.
• Conducted experiments and verified the nature of electricity during the 1750s.
• Credited with inventing the Franklin Stove, bifocal glasses, and the lightning rod.
• Was instrumental in establishing a library, hospital, fire company, and an insurance company in the City of Philadelphia.
• Moved to London and represented the interests of Pennsylvania, Georgia, New Jersey, and Massachusetts before Parliament from 1757 to 1775.
• Elected to the Second Continental Congress and worked on a committee of five that helped to draft the Declaration of Independence.
• Signed Declaration of Independence in 1776.
• Served as the American Ambassador to France during the American Revolution and during the Confederation Era.
• Signed the Treaty of Paris, which ended the American Revolution, in 1783.
• Served as a delegate to the Constitutional Convention and signed the U.S. Constitution.
• Died April 17, 1790, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
• Buried at Christ Church Burial Ground, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Benjamin Franklin Quotes from “Poor Richard’s Almanack”

“God heals, and the doctor takes the fees.”

“God helps them that help themselves.”

“Work as if you were to live 100 years; pray as if you were to die tomorrow.”

“Keep your eyes open before marriage, half shut afterwards.”

“My father convinced me that nothing was useful which was not honest.”

“Freedom is not a gift bestowed upon us by other men, but a right that belongs to us by the laws of God and nature.”

“Virtue alone is sufficient to make a man great, glorious and happy.”

“Only a virtuous people are capable of freedom. As nations become corrupt and vicious, they have more need of masters.”

• Content for this article has been compiled and edited by American History Central Staff .

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Franklin was not only the most famous American in the 18th century but also one of the most famous figures in the Western world of the 18th century; indeed, he is one of the most celebrated and influential Americans who has ever lived. Although one is apt to think of Franklin exclusively as an inventor, as an early version of Thomas Edison , which he was, his 18th-century fame came not simply from his many inventions but, more important, from his fundamental contributions to the science of electricity . If there had been a Nobel Prize for Physics in the 18th century, Franklin would have been a contender . Enhancing his fame was the fact that he was an American, a simple man from an obscure background who emerged from the wilds of America to dazzle the entire intellectual world. Most Europeans in the 18th century thought of America as a primitive, undeveloped place full of forests and savages and scarcely capable of producing enlightened thinkers. Yet Franklin’s electrical discoveries in the mid-18th century had surpassed the achievements of the most sophisticated scientists of Europe. Franklin became a living example of the natural untutored genius of the New World that was free from the encumbrances of a decadent and tired Old World—an image that he later parlayed into French support for the American Revolution.

Despite his great scientific achievements, however, Franklin always believed that public service was more important than science, and his political contributions to the formation of the United States were substantial. He had a hand in the writing of the Declaration of Independence, contributed to the drafting of the Articles of Confederation —America’s first national constitution—and was the oldest member of the Constitutional Convention of 1787 that wrote the Constitution of the United States of America in Philadelphia . More important, as diplomatic representative of the new American republic in France during the Revolution, he secured both diplomatic recognition and financial and military aid from the government of Louis XVI and was a crucial member of the commission that negotiated the treaty by which Great Britain recognized its former 13 colonies as a sovereign nation. Since no one else could have accomplished all that he did in France during the Revolution, he can quite plausibly be regarded as America’s greatest diplomat.

Equally significant perhaps were Franklin’s many contributions to the comfort and safety of daily life, especially in his adopted city of Philadelphia. No civic project was too large or too small for his interest. In addition to his lightning rod and his Franklin stove (a wood-burning stove that warmed American homes for more than 200 years), he invented bifocal glasses, the odometer, and the glass harmonica (armonica). He had ideas about everything—from the nature of the Gulf Stream to the cause of the common cold . He suggested the notions of matching grants and Daylight Saving Time . Almost single-handedly he helped to create a civic society for the inhabitants of Philadelphia. Moreover, he helped to establish new institutions that people now take for granted: a fire company, a library, an insurance company, an academy, and a hospital.

Probably Franklin’s most important invention was himself. He created so many personas in his newspaper writings and almanac and in his posthumously published Autobiography that it is difficult to know who he really was. Following his death in 1790, he became so identified during the 19th century with the persona of his Autobiography and the Poor Richard maxims of his almanac—e.g., “Early to bed, early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise”—that he acquired the image of the self-made moralist obsessed with the getting and saving of money. Consequently, many imaginative writers, such as Edgar Allan Poe , Henry David Thoreau, Herman Melville , Mark Twain , and D.H. Lawrence , attacked Franklin as a symbol of America’s middle-class moneymaking business values. Indeed, early in the 20th century the famous German sociologist Max Weber found Franklin to be the perfect exemplar of the “ Protestant ethic ” and the modern capitalistic spirit. Although Franklin did indeed become a wealthy tradesman by his early 40s, when he retired from his business, during his lifetime in the 18th century he was not identified as a self-made businessman or a budding capitalist. That image was a creation of the 19th century. But as long as America continues to be pictured as the land of enterprise and opportunity, where striving and hard work can lead to success, then that image of Franklin is the one that is likely to endure.

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Benjamin Franklin

Introduction.

Printer and Inventor

Franklin was born in Boston, Massachusetts, on January 17, 1706. He left school at age 10. At age 12 he went to work in his brother’s printing shop.

In 1723 Franklin moved to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He worked there as a printer. His most popular publication was Poor Richard’s Almanack . The almanac featured Franklin’s witty sayings and verses. A famous one was “Early to bed and early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise.”

Franklin started many public services in Philadelphia. They included a fire department, a hospital, an insurance company, and a library. A school he founded became the University of Pennsylvania.

Franklin became a respected political leader in the years leading up to the American Revolution . In 1765 the British Parliament passed the Stamp Act, a tax on printing in the colonies. The act angered the colonists. Franklin persuaded the British to withdraw it.

In his last years Franklin wrote his autobiography. He also worked to end slavery. He died in Philadelphia on April 17, 1790.

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Introduction.

Benjamin Franklin is the kaleidoscopic personality of such immense talents and ability that summing up his life and work in a few lines or finding a label for him is next to impossible. He is one of the founding fathers of America and undoubtedly the most influential personality in the history of the country. His achievements are unbelievably vast and varied. He was a writer, printer, editor, linguist, musician, thinker, a genius inventor, an expert administrator, a leader and a diplomat par excellence.

More than 200 years after his death, Franklin remains one of the most celebrated figures in the US history. His image features on the $100 dollar bill and many towns, schools and educational and business institutes are named after him.

Franklin’s journey from the son of an ordinary soap maker to the most influential figure in the social and political history of America is an amazing tale of untiring hard work, steely determination, relentless efforts for self development and the tremendous courage to accept and overcome any challenge that may come along the way. His extraordinary intelligence, spirited attitude and refreshing wit saw him through many trials in his life and also proved instrumental in his great achievements.

The Humble Beginning

Benjamin Franklin was born in Boston on January 17, 1706, to Josiah and Abiah Franklin. Josiah was a poor soap and candle maker. Abiah was his second wife. He had seven children from his first wife and ten more from Abiah. Benjamin, their youngest son was named after his uncle who was very dear to his father.

Growing up with sixteen siblings, childhood was anything but comfortable for young Benjamin. His childhood probably had all the hardships that are part and parcel of being born to parents in unsound financial condition.

Even though Josiah was not a man of great means, he was well respected in the neighbourhood and people often consulted him on many community matters because of his profound understanding and great judgement. He often acted as a mediator between two quarrelling parties. He also had a flair for mechanical things that often came in handy around the house. Benjamin probably inherited these two traits from his father. Benjamin’s another important trait; the ability for toiling untiringly must have come from his mother. Josiah not only helped her husband with his business but also looked after household duties and fed seventeen children.

The Franklin shop and house was situated on the Milk Street opposite the Old South Church. Benjamin’s parents were members of this church. Probably that is the reason Josiah had this dream of making Benjamin a clergyman. He wanted each of his children to learn some skill to be able to earn well in future. But he had different expectations from Benjamin and hoped that he would become a well educated man. Thus, he enrolled him in a grammar school at the age of eight.

Little Benjamin grasped reading and writing very fast but faced difficulties with arithmetic. Benjamin’s struggle with arithmetic was such that he could not make any progress in school. His father was forced to remove him from school and his dream of making Benjamin a clergyman, was shattered.

After being pulled out of the school in 1715, Benjamin started helping his father with his soap-making business. But his mind was never into it. He had a fascination for the sea. He learnt swimming, rowing boats and fishing and enjoyed it very much. He became an expert swimmer and always looked for ways to swim faster.

Discovery of Swim Fins

Franklin invented swim fins in 1717 when he was merely 11. Being an avid swimmer it was very natural for him to think of something that would make swimming more efficient. He wanted to swim faster and felt that just as amphibians had webbed feet, having a webbed glove- like- fin in hands could do the trick. So, he invented special swim fins. Unlike today’s modern flippers, these fins were strapped to the swimmer’s hands to make each stroke more powerful. It was a very simple but practical and useful device.

Benjamin enjoyed being around the sea very much but his father was strictly against this fascination of his. He was not going to allow Benjamin to choose any profession that would enable him to be in and around the sea. So, the unexciting and tedious work of soap-making continued until Josiah realised that his son was yearning for something else and this was not the right profession for him. He also feared that if Benjamin was not occupied with something that interested him, he may run away from home.

Sensing his son’s unhappiness, Josiah thought of engaging him in his elder son’s printing press. In those days, a printer was supposed to be a writer as well as an editor. Since Benjamin was very fond of reading, Josiah thought that it would be a suitable profession for him. Josiah was accurate in his judgement as printing was to become Benjamin’s profession for life.

The Rookie Printer

Benjamin’s elder brother James had already established himself as a printer by 1718. James was 21 and Benjamin 12 at that time. After thinking of involving Benjamin in the printing business, his father made him sign a contract to work with his brother. The contract bounded Benjamin to work as an apprentice to his brother for the next nine years till he turned 21. This new occupation proved to be a bitter-sweet experience for Benjamin.

His brother treated him meanly and even beat him up from time to time but his dealings with booksellers also presented an opportunity for a good exposure to the world of literature and philosophy. The eager knowledge seeker in Benjamin loved every bit of it.

Benjamin used to borrow books from booksellers and stay up almost the entire night reading them. He also turned a vegetarian for some time as that saved him money and he could buy books with them. He developed a special liking for poetry and even started creating and printing some of his own. James even sold some of them but their father was totally against this idea. He told Benjamin that poets usually ended up as beggars and he should not stray on this path. And thus, the budding poet was nipped in the bud!

The Young Writer

Even though Benjamin was somehow convinced about not writing poetry, he continued writing prose. He devised many writing exercises for himself to improve his grammar and overall writing skills. These exercises and voracious reading in the early years nurtured Franklin’s writing talent and also shaped his thinking.

With the knowledge that Benjamin gained from varied reading, he also developed a liking for debating. He enjoyed victories in debating and realised that difference of opinions should be expressed modestly and in the most positive manner. He also felt that nobody should force one’s opinion and thinking as the only correct way of looking at things or as the final word on anything. He believed that the chief aim of any conversation should be to inform or be informed. He felt, that if you are informing the other person in a rigid manner, the other person may resist it or may not even pay attention to you. Also, sensible men who know more than you but do not like to argue may leave you with your wrong thinking and you will miss the opportunity to learn or be better informed. This learning was one of the most important aspects of the exceptional leadership and diplomacy that Franklin displayed in his later life.

The Silent Pseudonym

Fifteen year old Benjamin not only assisted in printing it but also had the responsibility of selling it to as many people as possible. As James was publishing articles written by his friends, Benjamin also wrote some articles of his own and hoped to get them published. But he knew that James did not think much of him and would never publish his articles. So, he wrote them under the pseudonym of ‘Mrs. Silence Dogood’. These articles were full of advice on societal issues especially the ones concerning how women should be treated. Benjamin used to slip his pieces from under the door at night time and enjoy the discussions by James and his friends about it, at the day time. Soon his brother found out about it and the differences arose again.

James usually treated Benjamin like a servant without giving any thought to his age or their relationship. Their disputes were often taken to their father who mostly ruled in Benjamin’s favour. This made James very angry and he would beat up Benjamin every now and then. Things were becoming very difficult for Benjamin and he did not want to continue with this apprenticeship. He was bound by the contract to do this job till he turned 21 but he wanted to get this period shortened by some means. Such an opportunity arose very soon in 1722 when James was prosecuted and jailed for a few days because of the offensive writing in his newspaper. Benjamin had to run the show in his absence.

Later, James was released from the jail on the condition that he would no longer print the newspaper with the name ‘The English Courant’ . This was a big setback for James. He was advised to change the name of the newspaper and continue publishing it but he did not like that idea. After much discussion, it was finally decided that the newspaper would run in Benjamin’s name.

Once Benjamin was made the editor of the newspaper, he wanted to take full charge of the affairs and do things his way while James still wanted to keep things in his control. The differences between the brothers went too far and by 1723, it was evident that they would not be able to work together for long. When James realised this, he spoke to other printers in the town and ensured that Benjamin did not get a job with any other printer. With the doors closed in Boston, Benjamin decided to move to New York and find a job. But this was not going to be easy. Benjamin was sure of his family’s resistance to this plan. So, he hatched a plan with his friend Collins; sold his books to raise some money and fled to New York by boat.

A Whole New World

Within three days, the boat took Benjamin 300 miles away from home to the city of New York. Without any knowledge of the place or people and with very little money in his pocket, 17 year old Benjamin went to a printer named Mr. William Bradford for a job. Mr. Bradford did not have a job for Benjamin but he asked him to go to his son in Philadelphia. It was a difficult journey that lasted several days and included suffering a bout of fever and rowing the boat by himself. Benjamin finally reached Philadelphia with almost no money and only a hope to find the job. While he was roaming around the streets in a dishevelled condition, Deborah Read who was to be his future wife; saw him for the first time.

Around this time in 1723, Philadelphia was just a small town with population of less than 10,000. In Philadelphia, Benjamin found work with a printer named Samuel Keimer. Very soon, young Benjamin impressed everybody with his skills and his hard work. Benjamin’s flair for mechanical things was witnessed here for the first time. While working for Keimer, Benjamin invented a new method of casting type and making ink. He found many new acquaintances, made friends and became quite popular around the town. He even made friends with the governor of the province, Mr. William Keith. Mr. Keith gave him a letter addressed to his father and urged him to return to Boston and start his own business. He promised him all the monetary help and asked him to visit London to buy printing machinery of his choice. Benjamin trusted Keith and actually set out for London. Later, he found out that Keith’s promises did not mean anything and his offer was nothing but a hoax. However, once in London, Benjamin found some employment and lived there for two years. He enjoyed the rich social and cultural life of the city very much. He also wrote his first essay titled ‘Dissertation on Liberty and Necessity, Pleasure and Pain’ in 1724, while he was in London.

Benjamin returned to Philadelphia in 1726 and once again started working with his former boss Samuel Keimer. He played a major role in making Keimer’s business a great success. When Keimer received an order from the Assembly in Burlington (New Jersey) to print the first paper currency ever created in the colonies, Franklin helped in the design of the currency notes and even constructed a copper plate press for the purpose. It was the first of its kind in America. However, later some differences arose between Keimer and Franklin that ended up in Franklin quitting his job. By now, Franklin had become such an expert at his craft that he faced no difficulty in finding a partner to start his own business. He started his own printing press in 1727 with the help of a partner, Hugh Meredith, and very soon earned a reputation of being ‘the most skilled and the most industrious printer in town’. Benjamin worked very hard and made it a point to spend all his waking hours working. People saw him working from early hours in the morning till very late in the evening. Around this time, Benjamin suffered his first pleurisy attack. He recovered quickly from it but this condition troubled him later in his life.

The Newspaper Man

After being a successful printer, Franklin was now eager to start his own newspaper. There were already two weekly journals in Philadelphia, one of them being published by Franklin’s rival and former boss Keimer. Keimer’s weekly with a strangely long name ‘ The universal Instructor in All Arts and Sciences: and Pennsylvania Gazette ’ was successful in the initial period but soon began stumbling. Franklin was the biggest critic of this paper. When Keimer landed in financial troubles, Franklin seized the opportunity and purchased the rights of the newspaper in 1729. He shortened the name of the paper to just ‘ The Pennsylvania Gazette’ . Due to Franklin’s creative thinking and outstanding writing talent, the paper soon started selling well and earning handsome profits for Franklin. In the same year, Franklin became the sole owner of his print shop by purchasing the entire share of his partner.

A year later, Franklin even started printing a German language newspaper. This newspaper named ‘ Philadelphia Zeitung ’ was America’s first German language newspaper. Unfortunately, it did not do well and Franklin had to stop publishing it after a few months.

Around 1730, Franklin started desperately looking for a marriage partner. By this time, he had already fathered a son named William out of wedlock. To this day, the identity of William’s mother is a mystery. Benjamin never ever revealed the name of his illegitimate child’s mother in order to avoid any embarrassment to her. While in Philadelphia, Franklin used to stay with one Mr. John Read and had got friendly with his daughter Deborah. Love blossomed between them and they wanted to get married. However, Deborah’s mother was strongly against this match as Franklin was only 18 then with no secure job and was also set to leave on a voyage to London. In his absence for a few years, Deborah married another man but soon got separated from him. In 1730, Deborah and Franklin met again and decided to get married. Deborah accepted his son William’s responsibility and Franklin and Deborah became man and wife under the common law. Deborah and Franklin’s was a very good match and Deborah stood by Franklin in all his endeavours and trials and tribulations. Although she did not understand everything that Franklin did, she was a dutiful and devoted wife. She helped Franklin in his print shop and also looked well after William and their two children; son Francis and daughter Sarah. She also readily accepted Franklin’s simple and frugal lifestyle and tried to support him in whatever way she could.

In 1736, Franklins suffered a great loss as their four year old son Francis died due to small pox. This loss deeply affected Franklin. He loved little Francis a lot and felt that he would have turned out to be the best among his children. Francis died because Franklin had not got him inoculated. This fact bothered Franklin all his life. Even fifty years after Francis’ death, Franklin would get all emotional and weep while remembering him.

Thirteen Virtues

It was around this time that Franklin got obsessed with the idea of arriving at moral perfection. It was his ambition to live without committing any mistake at any point of time in his life. Franklin was always making efforts for self development and was constantly on the lookout to bring out the best in him. His life experiences till then had convinced him that truth, sincerity and integrity in dealing with other people were the most important things for happiness in life. He drew up a list of thirteen virtues that he thought were desirable or ‘must have’ for a person to lead a happy, successful and morally correct life. He made an effort to follow them all his life. Franklin described these virtues as –

Temperance/Control – Eat not to dullness; drink not to elevation.

Silence – Speak not but what may benefit others or yourself; avoid trifling conversations.

Order – Let all your things have their places; let each part of your business have its time.

Resolution – Resolve to perform what you ought; perform without fail what you resolve.

Frugality – Make no expense but to do good to others or yourself.

Industry – Lose no time; be always employed in something useful; cut off all unnecessary action.

Sincerity – Use no hurtful deceit; think innocently and justly; and if you speak, speak accordingly.

Justice – Wrong none by doing injuries or omitting the benefits that are your duty.

Moderation – Avoid extremes.

Cleanliness – Tolerate no uncleanliness in body, clothes or habitation.

Tranquillity – Be not disturbed at trifles, or at accidents common or unavoidable.

Chastity – Rarely used venery but for health or offspring; never to dullness, weakness, or the injury of your own or another’s peace or reputation .

Humility – Imitate Jesus and Socrates.

Franklin also believed that a virtue was not secure unless it became a habit and therefore made a continuous effort to make these virtues a habit. He also maintained a register to check how far he succeeded in practicing these virtues. He was always concerned about the larger good of the society rather than the good of the individuals. He always kept public interest before self and thought that living virtuously was more important than any worldly achievement. He lived with this belief all his life. He could not completely master all the thirteen virtues himself but the mere effort made his calibre many notches higher than his contemporaries.

Industrious Hard Worker

Franklin gave utmost importance to using all his time fruitfully and not wasting any. He believed that time is the only thing we have and the time lost never comes back. He believed, “Lost time is never found again; and what we call time enough always proves little enough. Let us then up and be doing. Doing to the purpose; so by diligence, shall we do more with less perplexity. Sloth makes all things difficult but industry all easy. Laziness travels so slowly, that poverty overtakes him.” Astonishing number of Franklin’s achievements proves that he practiced what he preached.

The Practical Thinker

Franklin was blessed with the ability for ingenious and clear thinking. He had original and practical thoughts on various matters and was a discerning and wise man. His comments on day to day affairs, big and small things in life and human nature became the popular aphorisms and adages for many years to come. Most of us are not aware that many of the commonly used sayings are actually quotes by Benjamin Franklin. Franklin also had a great sense of humour and his wit is evident in some of these sayings as well. Here are some of Franklin’s famous quotes – Early to bed, early to rise makes a person healthy, wealthy and wise.

A penny saved is penny earned ( this is actually a twisted version of Franklin’s original quote “A penny saved is two pence dear” but it became popular as the above )

Never leave that till tomorrow what you can do today.

By failing to prepare you are preparing to fail.

Tell me and I forget, teach me and I remember, involve me and I learn.

When in doubt, do not.

Little strokes, Fell great oaks.

Glass, china and reputation are easily cracked and never well mended.

Fish and guests start stinking after three days.

Be slow in choosing a friend, even slower in changing.

He that is of the opinion money will do everything may well be suspected of doing everything for money.

Keep your eyes wide open before marriage, half shut afterwards.

A good deed is the best sermon.

He that is good for making excuses is seldom good for anything else.

Beware of the young doctor and the old barber.

He that would live in peace and at ease must not speak all that he knows and must not judge all that he sees.

If you would persuade you must appeal to interest rather than intellect.

Remember not only to say the right thing in the right place but also to leave a wrong thing unsaid even at the most tempting moment.

Anyone who trades liberty for security deserves neither liberty for security .

There are many more such pearls of wisdom by Franklin that are relevant even in the present times and that can guide us through many life situations. These quotes featured in Franklin’s various writings in his newspaper, pamphlets and an almanac that he published under the name ‘ Poor Richard’s Almanac’.

Franklin was coming up with different ideas to improve his earnings from the printing business. Publishing an almanac was one of them. Franklin wrote in various forms and for some strange reason, under various pseudonyms. It all started with Mrs. Silence Dogood and later he wrote with names such as Alice Addertongue, Harry Meanwell, Polly Baker, Busy Body, Timothy Turnstone, An American, A New England man, A Briton, London manufacturer etc. One of his most famous pseudonyms has been Richard Saunders. He published an almanac under the name ‘Poor Richard’s Almanac’ which became quite popular in those times. This Richard was supposed to be a poor man who needed money to keep his ever whining wife happy. Almanacs in those times were printed annually. They contained things like weather reports, recipes, household tips, poems, predictions and advice concerning practical matters. Franklin’s almanac stood apart due to his witty and lively writing. Many of Franklin’s famous quotes are from Poor Richard’s Almanac. Franklin felt that since common people usually do not read much, so, his almanac should try and give them the knowledge and wisdom that may come with exposure to books. This almanac became so popular that it sold around 10,000 copies in 1750’s. Some editions were translated in languages like French, Italian and Slovene etc. Franklin published ‘Poor Richard’s Almanac’ for 25 years from 1732 to 1758.

The Leader Rises

As Franklin established himself as a successful printer, his social life also started improving and he started taking active interest in matters pertaining to public life. With a lot of hard work and creative business practices, Franklin achieved success in business but he was not somebody who would remain satisfied with only making money. His intelligence, his high thinking and his interest and inclination towards public service, took him to public affairs and then to politics.

It all started with ‘Junto’ , a forum established by Franklin in Philadelphia in 1727. This used to be a gathering of all the likeminded people to discuss political, religious and business matters. They discussed how to improve both their individual lives as well as the lives of the society as a whole. ‘ Junto’ members were from diverse backgrounds and almost all of them were upcoming young citizens like Franklin himself. Junto became so popular that it became a matter of prestige to become a ‘Junto’ member. ‘Junto’ played a very important role in the social and political life of Philadelphia. This club and its activities went on for the next forty years. ‘Junto’ proved to be a turning point in Franklin’s life and also his first step towards the social and political leadership.

Franklin’s influence on Philadelphia’s public life was great and he is credited with starting many ground-breaking or innovative services that we take for granted today. He established the first circulation library in Philadelphia in 1730. He was instrumental in establishing an educational institute which later grew to become the University of Pennsylvania. He was actively involved in starting the first public hospital and also in establishing the first fire company in the country. He started a proper security system in the place of a haphazard and a corrupt system that was in place till that time. That was perhaps the beginning of the very basic policing. The list of such contributions by Franklin to Philadelphia’s public life is very long.

Franklin, the Fire-Fighter

Frequent fires were a big problem in Philadelphia back then. During the 18th century, fireplace was the main source of heat for homes. These fireplaces mostly used coal or wood and had a very basic design. Sparks flying out of them was a common phenomenon and also the greatest danger as these freely flying sparks used to cause fires. Houses used to catch fire due to various accidents related to the fireplace and sometimes also due to careless practices related to the fireplace.Franklin wrote an article addressing this issue and suggested various ways to avoid these accidents. His famous quote, ‘An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure’ isactually a fire fighting advice. He also came up with a new design of the fireplace which came to be known as the ‘Franklin Stove’. This new style of stove had a hood like enclosure in the front and an air-box at the back. Franklin also changed the basic structure a bit making it much more efficient. It used just one fourth of the wood as compared to earlier stoves and generated twice as much heat. This design became very popular and when people suggested that Franklin acquire a patent for his design, he refused to do so. He did not want to make profit from it but wanted people to benefit from it. ‘Franklin Stove’ soonbecame very popular and proved quite effective in preventing sudden fires.

In 1736, he also formed a company for quick response to fires and removing of goods in danger. This company ran on mutual assistance of members. The members kept the material like leather bags, buckets and baskets ready. They reached the place of fire as quickly as possible and carried out the relief operations. The company was named as ‘Union Fire Company’ . This was the cooperative fire brigade that started with Franklin’s efforts. People in many other parts of the country copied this model later.

In 1737, Colonel Spotswood, former governor of Virginia and the then Postmaster General, offered Franklin the job of his deputy. Spotswood was unhappy with his deputy’s work and his overall behaviour and negligence in keeping accounts. He felt that Franklin would be a good replacement as he had made quite a name for himself due to ‘Junto’ and its activities. Franklin accepted the offer readily and did a very good job of it. His position also helped him in improving the correspondence and distribution of his newspaper. Franklin always followed one rule – ‘Never ask, never refuse and never resign an office’ . Office of the Deputy Postmaster General was just the beginning.There were many more offers to come and many more opportunities to put this rule in practice.

Whenever Franklin faced some problem or a certain specific need arose, he went ahead and found a solution with his own practical invention. After ‘Franklin Stove’ , he showed this trait yet again when he prepared the ‘ Odometer’ . While serving as a Deputy to the Postmaster General, Franklin travelled extensively to study the postal routes. He wanted to know the exact distance between two places as that was a major criterion for fixing the postage. So, in 1744, he prepared this simple device that was attached to his carriage and which measured the distance travelled by the carriage. Till that time, Odometers were mainly used to measure the distance travelled by ships but Franklin was the first one to make Odometers for the horse carriages.

The American Philosophical Society as we know it today is an organisation of international repute that is involved in promoting knowledge in science and humanities through research, publications, meetings, library resources and public events. This organisation owes its establishment to Franklin as this society was a sister organisation of his ‘Junto’ . It was Franklin who proposed and established this organisation in 1744. Franklin simply called it ‘A Proposal for Promoting Useful Knowledge’.

America in those days was a group of British colonies. Colonies were free in certain aspects of governance but under the control of British crown on many major counts. The colonies did not have their own military force and were dependent on Britain for their security. Around 1747, Franklin felt that there was a great threat to the security of the colonies as France joined forces with another enemy of Britain, Spain. British governor’s attempts to bring the militia law for the colonies had failed already. Franklin felt something could be done in this regard with the help of voluntary efforts by the people. To create awareness about this and also to mobilise people, he wrote a pamphlet titled ‘The plain truth’ . In this paper, he described the gravity of the situation and very strongly emphasized the need for the military forces. This paper had a very good effect on people. Later, Franklin arranged a meeting of the citizens and garnered support of a large number of citizens. Very soon, about 10,000 people volunteered to be a part of this initiative and many military groups with a formal structure were formed all across Pennsylvania. Franklin not only preached about this but also became a part of the military force. He was offered the post of ‘Colonel’ of the Philadelphia region but he turned it down suggesting the name of a more deserving person and happily served as a common soldier.

Birth of a University

After the establishment of the military force, Franklin turned his attention to another of his pet projects of establishing an educational institute in Pennsylvania. There was no educational institute worth consideration for a proper and structured education in Pennsylvania and Franklin felt that Pennsylvanians should do something about this. He shared his thoughts with his friends in Junto and also wrote a paper titled ‘Proposals Relating to the Education of Youth in Pennsylvania’ to create awareness among people. After getting the initial support, he drew up a plan for the establishment of an academy and also collected the required subscriptions from the donors. His friends and associates helped him with this work. With the help of appointed trustees, Franklin drafted the constitution for the governance of the institution. Very soon a building was hired, teachers were engaged and in the year 1749, the institute started its operations. This institute later grew to become what we know today as University of Pennsylvania.

In 1751, Franklin’s friend Dr. Thomas Bond came to him with a proposal of building a public hospital in Philadelphia. The hospital was supposed to serve the poor and needy people from within or outside the province. This was a new idea in America of those times and therefore people could not really understand it. So, not much support came Dr. Bond’s way. But Franklin supported him wholeheartedly. He created awareness about this project, donated money and also helped in getting donations from other people. Thus, Philadelphia’s first public hospital was born.

While being fully active in his profession as well as in the public life, Franklin never stopped experimenting with science or things that he found interesting or stimulating. His creativity was not limited to his writing and his original thinking was not limited to social and political issues. Franklin had very little formal education but when something caught his fancy, he applied his mind and came up with amazing inventions.

Electricity caught Franklin’s fancy in the late 1740’s and along with his other activities he also started various experiments with electricity. The ‘Kite Experiment’ is the most famous among these. Franklin believed that lightening was nothing but electricity. And to prove his theory, he conducted an experiment with a kite made of silk. This kite was attached to a nylon string and at the end of the string, a key was attached. The kite was to be raised as and when the thunderstorm appeared to be approaching. As the kite got wet with rain and came in contact with electrically charged clouds, electricity was supposed to pass through the string and go to the key attached to the other end of the string. Franklin conducted this experiment in 1751 with his 21 year old son William. After waiting for a long time, Franklin saw a promising cloud and let his kite fly high in the sky. Suddenly, he observed lose strings attached to the tail of the kite standing erect. He understood that they were charged with electricity. He immediately touched the key with his knuckles and saw an electric spark and also experienced a mild electric shock. The experiment was complete and Franklin’s theory was proved. This experiment gave worldwide fame to Franklin.

Later, Franklin did many experiments in his house including installation of bells that tolled with lightening, cracking glasses with an electric current etc. Once, he tried to kill a Christmas Turkey with an electric current. He also suffered a strong electric shock himself but thankfully survived it.

Lightening Rod

During 1700s, lightning was a major cause of fires. Many buildings caught fire when struck by lightning and were burnt down completely as they were mostly made of wood. To overcome this problem, Franklin came up with a very practical invention called the ‘Lightning rod’. It was a tall and pointed rod of about 10-12 foot which was attached to the outside wall of the house and which was taller than the house by a few feet. A long cable was attached to this rod and the other end of the cable was buried about 10 feet under the ground. The rod attracted the lightning and sent the charge to the ground avoiding the danger of fire. This simple but creative invention proved that Franklin had a complete knowledge of the behaviour of electricity and also of the phenomenon called ‘earthing’.

Franklin also put forth a theory of electricity being capable of flowing like any liquid and passing from one body to another but never getting destroyed. This theory later became the basis for single fluid theory. The words like battery, charge, condenser, conductor, plus, minus, positive, negative etc. introduced by Franklin are still used in the field of electronics. Franklin turned the phenomenon of electricity that was a mere subject of curiosity, into a field of scientific study. About a year after the famous kite experiment, Franklin was awarded ‘Copley Medal of the Royal Society of London’ for his research in electricity. He also received honorary degrees from Harvard College, Yale College and the College of William and Mary around 1753.

With time, Franklin’s printing business prospered. His rise in public life and his success as a printer and an editor was taking place simultaneously. His newspaper became popular and very profitable. His contacts helped him get various printing assignments from currency notes to pamphlets to books. He was firmly established as a printer. He bought a lot of properties and land in the market area of Philadelphia. He also helped many of his employees to set up their own businesses. He provided them with the required capital and machinery and asked for a share of profit in return. This arrangement helped many of his employees to have their own business and also helped Franklin to have a steady stream of income without getting directly involved in their operations.

By 1750, Franklin almost totally withdrew himself from the day to day affairs of his business and was fully engaged in public affairs. By now, Franklin had accomplished so many things and in such a manner that people of Pennsylvania were not ready to let him be away from the public life. Some or the other office, some or the other responsibility was being put on Franklin’s shoulders and he was accepting it by being true to his rule of never refusing an office. ‘Common Council and Alderman in the Peace Commission’ , Burgess to represent people in the Assembly, Member of a commission to draw up a treaty with native Indians, Deputy Postmaster General of North America etc. were some of the offices that he served after 1750.

To understand Franklin’s contribution as a statesman, one must have some idea of the political situation in the 18th century America. In those days, America was a cluster of British colonies ruled mainly by the British Parliament. Colonies had powers regarding some internal governance issues but the real control rested with the British Parliament. There was a constant unrest in the colonies against various laws and regulations made by the British Parliament. There was also an ever growing demand for more power and self-rule for the colonies. It was politically a very crucial period in the history of America. Franklin, the able statesman and a top class diplomat represented the colonies for various petitions to the British Parliament and later played a very important part in the formation of the union of the colonies that we know as the ‘United States of America’ today.

Franklin participated in the final struggle between France and England in America. On the eve of the conflict in 1754, commissioners from several colonies were ordered to meet at Albany for a conference and Franklin was one of the representatives from Pennsylvania. On his way to Albany, he drew a plan for the union of all the colonies under one government for defence and other important purposes. This proposal was then rejected by the representatives of other states but later the same draft was used as a guide while drafting the Constitution of the United States.

In 1757, Franklin went to England to represent Pennsylvania in its fight against the proprietors of the colonies, the Penn family. The issue was who should represent the colony. The Pennsylvania legislature had formulated a petition for the king of England against the Penns. With the support of the Pennsylvanian legislature, Franklin set out for England to deliver the petition personally to the king of England. Franklin reached London in July 1757. He thought he would be there for a few months at the most but he ended up staying there for about five years and remained closely linked with the affairs in England and Europe in general.

The Music Lover and the Glass Armonica

Franklin had a keen interest in music and was a musician himself. He used to play the Harp, Guitar and Violin. His work and his engagements as a diplomat did not stop him from enjoying music or thinking about it. Once he was listening to a concert by Ms Marianne Davis in London where she played music with wine glasses tuned by filling water to different levels. This inspired Franklin to prepare his own version of a musical instrument that did not require tuning with water. He used the glass pieces cut in proper size and shape having just the required thickness so that they could create notes at a proper pitch. He arranged these pieces on a spindle in a very compact manner. This spindle could be turned by a foot treadle. Thus, Franklin’s new version of the instrument was complete and ‘Glass Armonica’ was born in 1761.

Franklin’s Armonica became popular in England as well as the rest of the Europe. Even Mozart and Beethoven composed music for it. Franklin was very proud of this invention and said, “Of all my inventions, the Glass Armonica has given me the greatest personal satisfaction”.

Meanwhile, Franklin’s diplomacy on the matters of the colony continued. Meeting with some of the most powerful leaders and parliamentarians in Briton, Franklin emphasized the importance of the American colonies. As per the aristocratic traditions, British Government was based on the principle that some individuals are by birth entitled to a greater authority and privilege than others. Colonial America on the other hand stood on ideals that were totally opposite to the British ideals. There, all men were considered equal. Franklin tried to make the British understand these fundamentals. But Franklin’s efforts were neither enough to convince the British rulers nor were they interested in playing the judge in the tussle for power between the Penn family and representatives of the colonies.

Disappointed, that the negotiations with the Penns failed, Franklin sailed home in January 1762. While in England, people of Philadelphia had elected Franklin to the Pennsylvania legislature in honour for his service to the colonies. In a clever bid to influence Franklin, the British appointed Franklin’s son William as the Governor of the New Jersey colony around the same time. The British thought that naming William to the post would help in gaining Franklin’s support but Franklin was not to be swayed so easily.

In 1763, British and French signed a peace treaty, temporarily suspending their ongoing conflict. But this treaty did not extend to the native Indians who continued to attack the colonies. Colonial forces retaliated and a riot like situation arose. But being a very kind and compassionate man, Franklin opposed the mindless killings of the Indians by armed forces or citizens of the colonies. He also handled the riotous mob very tactfully. People of Pennsylvania were overwhelmed by Franklin’s handling of the situation. As a mark of appreciation for this and also for the many years of service that he had given to the colony, he was elected as the speaker of the Pennsylvania legislature.

Franklin also served in various capacities in the postal department. He was a deputy to the Postmaster General of Philadelphia in 1737, Joint Postmaster General of the colonies for the crown from 1753 and Postmaster for the United Colonies in 1775. Franklin’s contribution to America’s postal service is invaluable. He changed the face of the postal service by improving the overall efficiency level in many ways. As the Postmaster General, he visited nearly all the post offices in the colonies and introduced many improvements in the service. He established new postal routes and reworked on the existing ones. He travelled extensively to find out the shortest possible or the most efficient routes between two places and worked out the postal department’s routes accordingly.

In 1762, while Franklin was back from England for a brief stint, he mapped all the postal routes of the colonies. His painstaking effort was also useful in determining postages. Some of the standards set by Franklin to calculate the postage according to the distance are still in use.

Franklin always wondered why sailing from America to Europe took less time than the journey back. Franklin probably got interested in this due to his concern about mail deliveries. He was the first scientist to study and map the Gulf Stream. He measured wind speeds, depth of the currents, temperature etc. and prepared the first ever map of the Gulf Stream around 1764-65.

The Diplomat Par Excellence

In 1764, Franklin was again sent to England to renew a petition for the royal Government for Pennsylvania and he became the representative of the American colonies against the king and the parliament.

The petition by the Pennsylvanian legislature was turned down by the king. In 1765, English Parliament passed the Stamp Act despite Franklin’s warning and objections raised by him. This act imposed duties on many things of common use in American colonies but denied any representation for them in the parliament. The colonies were dead against this. ‘No representation, No duty’ became the rallying cry of the colonies that opposed the Stamp Act. Franklin worked diligently for the revoking of this act. In order to achieve this, he gathered support from the British merchants who were suffering losses due to colonial boycott. He also wrote many pamphlets and articles in newspapers advocating the stand of the colonies and also presented arguments in the British Parliament. When the British claimed that the tax was in return for the protection given to the colonies, Franklin turned the table by arguing that it was the colonies that had in fact helped the British in the war effort. In March 1766, the Stamp Act was finally revoked and Franklin was hailed as a hero. Franklin was very happy to get the news but he remained pessimistic about the relation between the colonies and the British Parliament in the future. He knew that there were going to be many more differences.

Meanwhile, impressed with Franklin’s diplomacy, the colonies of Georgia, New Jersey and Massachusetts also chose him as their representative.

With each passing year, tension between the British rulers and their colonies in America was intensifying. Amidst all this turmoil, Franklin was accused of intercepting the letters of the then governor of Massachusetts, Thomas Hutchinson, through his informants. The British Parliament was outraged at this and Franklin was called before the ‘Lord’s Committee of His Majesty’s Privy Council for Plantation Affairs’ (Colonies were sometimes referred to as ‘plantations’). At the age of 68, Franklin was required to stand an hour and a half in parliament and face all the unfair allegations. Just a day after this, Franklin received a letter of his dismissal from the office of the Postmaster General. It was a blow that affected Franklin very deeply. He was very attached to this work and proud of the things that he could achieve there. Within a few months, in December 1774, Franklin received another blow as the news of his wife Deborah’s death back home, came. This was a difficult time for Franklin. The insults he faced at the hands of British rulers changed his perception. He no longer considered himself a British American but merely an American citizen.

Back To Where He Belonged

In May 1775, Franklin was back in Pennsylvania. The morning after his arrival, he was chosen as the delegate to represent Pennsylvania in the second Continental Congress. Before the Congress started, Franklin presented his ‘Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union’ which was a proposal to unite all thirteen American colonies under a single national confederation. This was the time when American colonies declared their independence from British colonists. Franklin was a part of the commission of five people who drafted this Declaration of Independence.

America’s most obvious potential ally at this time could have been France. France was England’s oldest enemy or colonial rival. So, John Adams, another prominent leader in America’s struggle for independence began drafting conditions for a possible commercial treaty between France and the future independent colonies of the United States. In September 1776, the Continental Congress ordered commissioners, led by Franklin to try and enter a treaty with France, based upon Adams’ draft. It was a difficult mission and only somebody of the stature and abilities of Franklin could handle it.

Franklin’s name had reached France much before he went there in person. People in France knew him due to his writings, his diplomacy with the British, his experiments with electricity and his various other inventions. They loved this simple, humble and witty American who was indifferent to his fame. Moreover, he also managed to speak their language though not very fluently. Franklin’s popularity in France was partly responsible for his being able to influence the French Government in signing the treaty of alliance in 1778. The Congress back home was also expecting financial assistance from the French for the ongoing revolutionary war. They were sending bills after bills to Franklin, and he, with all his tact and diplomacy was somehow convincing the French to meet them. This was a very difficult task of vital importance and Franklin managed it very well.

The American revolutionary war fought between Great Britain and America with its allies ended in September 1783 with signing of the ‘Treaty of Paris’ . The treaty was signed by Franklin, John Adams and John Jay as representatives of America and by member of the British Parliament David Hartley as the representative of the British king. The treaty acknowledged the United States to be free, sovereign and independent states. It also declared that the British crown and all heirs and successors relinquish claims to the Government and also all the territorial rights. It was a formal declaration of the end of the British rule. It was a dream come true for all the Americans. The relentless efforts of the likes of Franklin finally met with success.

By 1783-84, Franklin was an old man in his late seventies. He was quite active even at that age but was suffering from weak eyesight. He required glasses to look at both close and distant objects. He was tired of changing his glasses all the time. Franklin was not somebody who would accept the problem as it is, without coming up with a clever and practical solution. He had to work out a solution, so he cut both the glasses in half and put them in a single frame. The distance lens was put at the top and the close range lens was put at the bottom. The arrangement worked wonderfully. This is what we today know as a bi-focal lens.

Franklin spent a good amount of time in library in his later years. Due to his age, he started finding it difficult to take out books from the ceiling-high book selves. Climbing the ladders or stools frequently was very inconvenient for him. So, in 1786, he developed a simple device that would help him draw the books out of the shelf without climbing or probably even without getting off from his chair. It was a device which contained a long stick of wood or a long pipe. It had two protrusions or ‘fingers’ in the end. These fingers could be opened and closed by pulling a string that came down to the other end or the grip of the stick. This simple and practical device solved Franklin’s problem and became a very handy tool for whoever was willing to use it.

Drafting of the Constitution

Franklin stayed back in France for two years after the signing of the treaty of peace, as the Congress back home requested him to do so. When he finally returned home in 1785, he was immediately elected the President of the Council of Pennsylvania. In the next few years, he was re-elected twice for the same post and in 1787, he was sent to the conference arranged for drafting the Constitution of the United States. The drafting was marked by a lot of guidance and significant and useful suggestions from Franklin. Finally, the draft was ready and yet another document of monumental importance was signed by Franklin.

Even though Franklin owned slaves in his younger days, he became a strong critic of this practice in his later years. In 1789, he became the president of the ‘Pennsylvania Society for Promoting the Abolition of Slavery’. The society not only advocated the end of slavery but also made efforts for the rehabilitation of the freed slaves. Franklin wrote and published several essays supporting abolition of slavery. He sent a petition to Congress on behalf of this society and asked for the abolition of slavery and ending of the slave trade. The Congress was meeting in the city of New York in February 1790. Franklin requested in his petition to ‘ devise means for removing the inconsistency from the character of the American people’ and to ‘ promote mercy and justice towards this distressed race (of slaves).’

There was a hot debate on this petition in both the House as well as Senate. Some pro-slavery senators opposed it strongly. But finally in April 1790, the petition was tabled and eventually passed.

The Farewell

Benjamin Franklin was now 84. The old problem of pleurisy had resurfaced again. Franklin’s health became delicate but he never let his age or health affect his spirit. He always remained positive and calm with his famous wit intact till the very end. He was suffering from a condition called ‘Emphysema’ which resulted in his lungs filling with the pus. He had great difficulty in breathing and was almost suffocating. His suffering continued for a few days. One day he asked his domestic help to make up his bed so that he could have a dignified death. His daughter Sally told him that she hoped he would live many more years. “I hope not” was Franklin’s retort to this.

Franklin died on April 1790, with his grandsons William Temple and Bennie by his side. It seems Franklin thought of people and of doing good to the society even while on his death bed. In his will, he left a large sum of money for the cities of Boston and Philadelphia. It was later used to build a trade school and a science museum and to fund scholarships and other community projects.

As the news of Franklin’s death spread, not only the city of Philadelphia but the entire country went into mourning. Franklin’s funereal was a huge public affair. About 20,000 people including the leaders from business, politics and public affairs gathered to pay their last respects to the beloved leader. As Franklin’s biographer Carl Van Doren has rightly remarked, “No other town burying its great man, ever buried more of itself than Philadelphia with Franklin.”

When Franklin had arrived in Philadelphia port in 1723, he was a poor, broke runaway whom no one noticed. On his death, a big fleet of ships in the very same harbour paid a tribute to him by flying their flags at half mast.

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Benjamin Franklin by David Martin (1737-1797). Oil on canvas, 1767. Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia

Benjamin Franklin was America’s scientist, inventor, politician , philanthropist and business man . He is best known as the only Founding Father who signed all three documents that freed America from Britain. Franklin is credited with drafting the Declaration of Independence and the American Constitution. He also negotiated the Treaty of Paris which ended the Independence War against Britain.

Born in a middle class family, he was the 15 th of 17 children and the youngest son. With only 2 years of formal education he rose to the highest level of society. He never forgot where he started and always referred to himself as “B.F. of Philadelphia, Printer” as  in the opening of his will and testament. He had the talent of being at ease with any company, from tradesmen to scholars, merchants and the European elite.

Unlike the other Founding Fathers, Franklin began as an artisan, with minimal formal education, and was the architect of his own fortune. He was a self-made man representing American social mobility through frugality and industriousness. According to historian Perry Miller, Benjamin Franklin has become the most “massively symbolic” figures in American history.

Public Servant

Entrepreneur.

Benjamin Franklin genius is centered on the use of his network of business and social connections. He leveraged this network to the benefit of his variety of interests from science and politics to business and journalism. He was against slavery as an institution. For part of his life he held the usual prejudices against African Americans but he came to realize that they were “in every respect equal” to his own.

Benjamin Franklin died at age 84 , on April 17, 1790. The cause of his death was empyema brought by attacks of pleurisy, which he had suffered earlier in his life. During his later years Franklin’s health gradually deteriorated. He suffered from gout and had a large kidney stone which confined him to bed.

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Benjamin Franklin 1706 - 1790

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Born in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1706, Benjamin Franklin assisted his father, a tallow chandler and soap boiler, in his business from 1716 to 1718. In 1718 young Franklin was apprenticed to his brother James as a printer. Franklin ran away in 1723, heading for Philadelphia where he worked for the printer Samuel Keimer. After traveling to London in 1724 to continue learning his trade as a journeyman printer, Franklin returned to Philadelphia in 1726. By 1730, Franklin established himself as an independent master printer.

Franklin quickly became not only the most prominent printer in the colonies, but the figure who shaped and defined colonial and revolutionary Philadelphia. As one who believed that the phenomena of nature should serve human welfare, Franklin was greatly interested in applied scientific inquiry. Franklin’s groundbreaking discoveries and contributions to fundamental knowledge—most famously those involving lightning and the nature of electricity—made him internationally known for his experiments and insatiable curiosity. He was as renowned for the practical inventions that followed. Many of these profoundly altered everyday life for the better, including the lightning rod, bifocals, and the Franklin stove.

Franklin was equally interested in the improvement of individuals and society as well. He was the center of the Junto, an elite group of intellectuals who were at the core of Philadelphia politics and cultural life for some time and who became the basis for the American Philosophical Society. He was also instrumental in the improvement of the lighting and paving of Philadelphia and in the organization of a police force, fire companies, Pennsylvania Hospital, the Library Company of Philadelphia, as well as the Academy and College of Philadelphia.

Franklin was a key political leader at many levels. In 1736 he was chosen clerk of the Pennsylvania Assembly, which position he held until 1751. In 1737 he was made postmaster at Philadelphia. In 1754 he was sent to the Albany Convention where he submitted a plan for colonial unity. He provisioned Braddock’s army and in 1756 was put in charge of the northwestern frontier of the province by the governor. He was sent to London twice as agent for the Assembly, 1757-1762 and 1764-1775. With the outbreak of the Revolution, he was sent as commissioner to France, 1776-1785, and in 1781 was on the commission to make peace with Great Britain. Franklin was a member of the Continental Congress, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, and a framer of both the Pennsylvania and United States Constitutions. Franklin also served as the American ambassador to France.

Franklin was the primary founder and shaper of the new institution which became the University of Pennsylvania. His 1749 Proposals Relating to the Education of Youth in Pensilvania were the basis of the Academy which opened two years later. Franklin was responsible for the hiring of William Smith as the first provost in 1754. From 1749 to 1755 Benjamin Franklin was president of the Board of Trustees of the College, Academy, and Charitable School of Philadelphia, and he continued as a trustee of the College and then of the University of the State of Pennsylvania until his death in 1790. For most of this period he served as an elected trustee; but from 1785-1788 while president of Pennsylvania’s Supreme Executive Council (the equivalent of governor), Franklin was an ex officio trustee.

Franklin was also a well-known abolitionist later in life, but he only came to that position over many years. From as early as 1735 to as late as the 1770s, Franklin owned at least seven enslaved people. From 1729, when Franklin purchased the Pennsylvania Gazette , to 1790, the paper advertised slave auctions and notices of runaway slaves while also printing essays by authors deeply critical of slavery. In 1757, Franklin lent his vocal support for the creation of a school for African Americans in Philadelphia, the first of its kind in the colonies. In subsequent years, he began writing publicly against the institution of slavery. In 1787, Franklin became President of the Pennsylvania Society for Promoting the Abolition of Slavery. In February 1790, Franklin petitioned Congress for the abolition of slavery. In the petition, he argued that “the blessings of liberty” applied to all “People of the United States.”

It was among his final acts. Franklin died later that year in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and is buried in the Christ Church burial ground.

Benjamin Franklin’s Inventions

Benjamin franklin was many things in his lifetime: a printer, a postmaster, an ambassador, an author, a scientist, and a founding father. above all, he was an inventor, creating solutions to common problems, innovating new technology, and even making life a little more musical..

Despite creating some of the most successful and popular inventions of the modern world, Franklin never patented a single one, believing that they should be shared freely:

"That as we enjoy great Advantages from the Inventions of others, we should be glad of an Opportunity to serve others by any Invention of ours; and this we should do freely and generously."

Here are some of Benjamin Franklin’s most significant inventions:

Lightning rod.

Franklin is known for his experiments with electricity - most notably the kite experiment  -  a fascination that began in earnest after he accidentally shocked himself in 1746. By 1749, he had turned his attention to the possibility of protecting buildings—and the people inside—from lightning strikes. Having noticed that a sharp iron needle conducted electricity away from a charged metal sphere, he theorized that such a design could be useful:

"May not the knowledge of this power of points be of use to mankind, in preserving houses, churches, ships, etc., from the stroke of lightning, by directing us to fix, on the highest parts of those edifices, upright rods of iron made sharp as a needle...Would not these pointed rods probably draw the electrical fire silently out of a cloud before it came nigh enough to strike, and thereby secure us from that most sudden and terrible mischief!"

Franklin’s pointed lightning rod design proved effective and soon topped buildings throughout the Colonies. Learn more about the lightning rod .

Like most of us, Franklin found that his eyesight was getting worse as he got older, and he grew both near-sighted and far-sighted. Tired of switching between two pairs of eyeglasses, he invented “double spectacles,” or what we now call bifocals. He had the lenses from his two pairs of glasses - one for reading and one for distance - sliced in half horizontally and then remade into a single pair, with the lens for distance at the top and the one for reading at the bottom.

An avid swimmer, Franklin was just 11 years old when he invented swimming fins—two oval pieces of wood that, when grasped in the hands, provided extra thrust through the water. He also tried out fins for his feet, but they weren’t as effective. He wrote about his childhood invention in an essay titled “On the Art of Swimming”:

“When I was a boy, I made two oval [palettes] each about 10 inches long and six broad, with a hole for the thumb in order to retain it fast in the palm of my hand. They much resembled a painter’s [palettes]. In swimming, I pushed the edges of these forward and I struck the water with their flat surfaces as I drew them back. I remember I swam faster by means of these [palettes], but they fatigued my wrists.”

Franklin Stove

The Franklin Stove.

In 1742, Franklin—perhaps fed up with the cold Pennsylvania winters—invented a better way to heat rooms. The Franklin stove, as it came to be called, was a metal-lined fireplace designed to stand a few inches away from the chimney. A hollow baffle at the rear let the heat from the fire mix with the air more quickly, and an inverted siphon helped to extract more heat. His invention also produced less smoke than a traditional fireplace, making it that much more desirable.

Urinary Catheter

Franklin was inspired to invent a better catheter in 1752 when he saw what his kidney (or bladder) stone-stricken brother had to go through. Catheters at the time were simply rigid metal tubes—none too pleasant. So Franklin devised a better solution: a flexible catheter made of hinged segments of tubes. He had a silversmith make his design and he promptly mailed it off to his brother with instructions and best wishes.

"Of all my inventions, the glass armonica has given me the greatest personal satisfaction."

So wrote Franklin about the musical instrument he designed in 1761. Inspired by English musicians who created sounds by passing their fingers around the brims of glasses filled with water, Franklin worked with a glassblower to re-create the music (“incomparably sweet beyond those of any other”) in a less cumbersome way.

The armonica (the name is derived from the Italian for “harmony”) was immediately popular, but by the 1820s it had been nearly forgotten. Get the full story here .

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Revolutionary War

A colorful, story-telling overview of the American Revolutionary War

Benjamin Franklin Biography: His Life and Important Facts

Although Benjamin Franklin was not a soldier, his diplomacy secured French support during the Revolutionary War. This biography gives the important facts about his life and his role in the War for Independence.

Benjamin Franklin Childhood

Ben was born on January 17, 1706, the tenth of seventeen children. As a child, his father planned for him to be a clergyman, but they were in no financial state for that to happen.

Due to lack of money, Ben only ever attended one year of school. Instead of schooling him, his father sent him off to apprentice to his older brother at a printing shop. Ben loved to read, so he enjoyed printing, for he was able to read the many writings that came through their newspaper.

Benjamin Franklin: Printer and Writer

Ben wanted very badly to write for the paper, but his brother would not let him.

Being the bright young boy that he was, Ben found a way to write anyway. He posed as an old widow and wrote papers, which he slipped under the door at night.

The public loved this mysterious old woman who was very witty and most opinionated. Finally, after some weeks, he revealed himself. Although the public loved him and commended him for it, his brother was infuriated.

He was scolded and beaten for being such a rotten fellow. This was the last time he was to do this. A few years later his brother was put in jail for a very offensive writing he put in his newspaper about a certain family. Ben was left to run the printer shop alone until his brother was finished serving his time in jail.

Ben did an excellent job running the place and kept everything in good order. When his brother was released, instead of thanking Ben for keeping everything running, he paid no attention to him and went on to scold him later for some wrongdoing.

A few months later when Ben was beaten for being late, he decided to run away.

Benjamin Franklin: On His Own

Benjamin Franklin tried to get a job as a printer, but failed and ended up on a ship to Philadelphia. There he spent the last of his money to buy bread for a meal.

He was spotted wandering the streets by  Deborah Read , who after many twists and turns, would become his wife.

She saw him, felt bad for him, and he invited him into the house.

The Read family took him in and helped him get a job. He worked as an assistant printer for some time.

Eventually, the governor took notice of him and offered to get him started in his own shop if he would only go to England and buy fonts. Naturally, Ben took him up on this offer and headed to London.

While he was in London he received a letter stating that the governor backed down on his deal, so he would no longer pay for him to start his business.

Also while he was in London, Deborah wrote some letters suggesting that they consider getting married; however, Ben said he was not yet ready. Apparently, he took too long to get ready, for upon his return he discovered that she had married another man.

Benjamin Franklin decided to resume his old job as a printer’s apprentice. Soon, though, he realized that he was much better at printing than his master, so he quit his job and started his own printing shop.

Married Life

In the prime of his business he fathered a son named William. To this day only Ben knew who the mother was.

When William was two, Deborah’s husband ran off with another woman and was not seen again, so Benjamin Franklin took his childhood love to be his bride.

p>He and Deborah made off very well in the world. She ran a shop with all sorts of odd and ends, and he owned a printing shop and bookstore. People said they never saw a happier pair.

Declaration of Independence, with Benjamin Franklin’s signature

Ben did all sorts of things for the city of Philadelphia, so his social status grew. He was elected to represent the state of Pennsylvania in the  Second Continental Congress , a position he accepted.

Benjamin Franklin: Spy

He ended up being sent over to England on several occasions to spy out different things in parliament. Because of his family’s loyalty to the crown, it was not hard to get in and out of there without suspicion.

Unfortunately, when he shared his views of the revolution with his son William, they disagreed. This brought a permanent separation between them. Right after Benjamin Franklin, as part of the Committee of Five, finished helping  Thomas Jefferson  edit the  Declaration of Independence , he was forced to throw his own son in jail. This broke his heart, but freedom, at this time, was more important than family to him.

Benjamin Franklin: Inventor

During this time he developed a love for science.  He invented many different things , including the scuba diving flippers and the wood stove, but his most important invention was the lightning rod. This is what earned the title “The man who tamed lightning.”

Later Years

After his wife died in 1774 he became the French ambassador. When he went over to France everyone loved him. He was young rich, funny, smart, and flirtatious.

He stayed in France for quite some time before moving back to America. While he was there he was able to sign a treaty with the French and get them to fight on the Americans’ side for the war. He was very useful in that sense.

When the war was over Franklin worked as a printer again for a short while, then he went back into politics.

His last political jab was in 1789 when he published a writing against  slavery . He died in 1790 and had 20,000 people showed up at his funeral.

10 Facts: Benjamin Franklin

B. Franklin of Philadelphia L.L.D. F.R.S. / M. Chamberlin pinxt. ; E. Fisher fecit.

Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) was one of the of the leading figures of early American history. Learn about this famous American statesman, author, publisher, scientist, inventor and diplomat.

Fact #1. Ben Franklin was a printer and newspaper editor.

• Born in Boston, Massachusetts in 1706, at age 17 he left Boston for Philadelphia where he became a well-known printer of newspapers.  He began a popular almanac full of wit and wisdom called Poor Richard’s Almanac.

Fact #2: Franklin proposed the Albany Plan of Union in 1754, an early proposal to unite the American colonies.

• Ahead of his time, Franklin was looking to find a way to unite the disparate American colonies as early as the French and Indian War .  He created a famous cartoon of a snake divided with the phrase “Join or Die.”

Fact #3: Franklin was an important founding father.

• Franklin argued for American liberty abroad and at home.  He was appointed as the first Postmaster General by the Continental Congress.  He was both a signer of the Declaration of Independence and a signer of the United States Constitution .  He famously quipped after signing the Constitution to the people that they had created a republic but warned it would only be one “if you can keep it.”

Fact #4: Franklin represented America abroad and became the most well-known American internationally.

• Franklin spent a considerable amount of time abroad.  He spent years representing the colony of Pennsylvania in England and then later representing the United States in France.  He became universally admired and renowned and played an important role in securing a French alliance during the Revolutionary War.  He also helped to negotiate the Treaty of Paris that officially ended the Revolutionary War.

Fact #5: Franklin was a renaissance man.

• His accomplishments extended well beyond helping to secure American independence and forming the American government.  In addition to being a founding father, Franklin was an editor, author, inventor, scientist, scholar, philosopher, politician, diplomat, and benefactor.

Fact #6: Franklin was an inventor.

• Franklin was always looking to improve the world through new inventions.  Perhaps his most famous creations were the bifocal glasses and the Franklin stove.

Fact #7: Franklin’s famous kite experiment was one of his many scientific achievements.

• Perhaps the most famous of all his scientific discoveries was the discovery that lightning was electrical.  He proved this by flying a kite with a key attached to the line during a thunderstorm.  This discovery led to his invention of lightning rods for buildings.

Fact #8: Franklin’s son, William Franklin, was a loyalist, and their relationship was severed over the Revolutionary War.

• William Franklin became the last Royal Governor of New Jersey and was imprisoned by American patriots during the Revolutionary War.  He was exchanged and ultimately emigrated to England, and the two never reconciled their differences.

Fact #9: Franklin owned slaves and later was president of an abolitionist society.

• Franklin owned slaves but as he grew older became opposed to the institution, going so far as to write pamphlets arguing for abolition of the institution and becoming president of the Pennsylvania Abolition Society.

Fact #10: Franklin was the oldest of the founding fathers and the first to die.

• The eldest of the principal founding fathers, Franklin died in 1790.  He was universally mourned by the young country as one of America’s greatest heroes.  In Congress they eulogized him noting that he had “rendered distinguished services to the cause of science and of mankind in general,” and that his “patriotic exertions have contributed in a high degree to the independence and prosperity of this country in particular.

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