BenjaminFranklin

Benjamin Franklin was born in 1706 at Boston to a candle-maker. After being his father's apprentice from the age of 10 to 12, Benjamin worked for his half brother, James, who was a printer. While working for James, Benjamin secretly wrote 14 essays for the fourth newspaper in the colonies, the //New England Courant//, which his half brother wrote. In 1723, Franklin ran away to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania where he became a printer. Soon after, Benjamin sailed to London for 2 years, and then he came back to Philadelphia, where he published //The Pennsylvania Gazette// and created //Poor Richard's Almanac//, a well known favorite among the colonies which was second only to the Bible. In 1730, Franklin married Deborah Read, who in the future would give birth to a son and a daughter, but apparently he also had children with an unknown woman. In 1736, he served as clerk of the colonial legislature, and in 1737, Franklin took the post of deputy postmaster of Philadelphia, a job that would last until 1753. By 1748, Benjamin Franklin had enough money to be independent, and he had recognition for the money that he gave to libraries, educational institutions, and hospitals. He also created enough time in his schedule to pursue his interests, such as science. In 1751, Benjamin became a member of the colonial legislature. He also took on another post in 1753, becoming the deputy postmaster general of the colonies, which lasted until 1774. In addition, Franklin represented Pennsylvania in the Albany Congress in 1754, which was called together in order to unite the colonies during the French and Indian War. For the cause of the Patriots, in 1754, Franklin created a cartoon whose headline read, "//Join, or Die//" which shows a picture of a snake. From 1757 to 1762 and from 1764 to 1775, Benjamin Franklin resided in England as agent for Pennsylvania and in later years for Georgia, Massachusetts, and New Jersey as well. During these times, he underwent a complete change in his outlook of politics. He changed from a man who distrusted political movements to a celebrated spokesman of the colonies, which happened during the Stamp Act. While the colonies were rallying where all the action was, Franklin was helping their cause over in England. When Benjamin returned to Philadelphia in May of 1775, he immediately became a distinguished member of the Continental Congress. Thirteen months later, he was sitting down with a committee and signing his name on the //Declaration of Independence//. He also contributed to the government by serving as postmaster general and taking over the duties of the president of the Pennsylvania Constitutional Convention. Within less than a year and a half, Benjamin Franklin once again set sail for England. He would begin a career as a diplomat, which would be a job that he would have for most of the rest of his life. From 1776 to 1779, Franklin was one of the directors of the negotiations which would lead to treaties of commerce and alliance with France. Benjamin was the sole commissioner to France from 1779 to 1785, but in 1783 he and two other men, John Jay and John Adams, negotiated the Treaty of Paris. Meanwhile, in the U.S Franklin had become an important personage in the year 1785, the President of the Supreme Council of Pennsylvania. Two years later, Benjamin Franklin was elected as first president of the Pennsylvania Society for Promoting the Abolition of Slavery, a topic that he had committed himself to since the 1730s. Franklin then signed a memorial to Congress that recommended to take away the slavery system. Shortly after, in the year 1790 on April 17th, Benjamin Franklin passed away in Pennsylvania and was laid to rest in Christ Church Burial Grounds, leaving a mark upon the world that would last for generations. Through all of this politician work, Benjamin Franklin managed to find time to pursue his interests: science and inventing. One of his experiments that is most well is that which proved that lightning is electricity: the kite experiment. However, lightning wasn't the only topic that he studied. Benjamin studied a multitude of topics: electricity, weather, ocean currents, shipbuilding, bioscience, and the human body. From his science research, Franklin created many inventions listed below: bifocals, flexible urinary catheters, lightning rods, the Franklin stove, odometers, swim fins, glass armonicas (it was a kind of instrument), watertight bulkheads (for ships), and long claws, an invention that would allow him to reach things that were higher than his height would allow. Many of us today should be grateful for the many inventions and discoveries that Franklin made. I have created a Facebook Profile Page for Benjamin Franklin from the information that I have gathered: [|Benjamin Franklin's Facebook Profile Page] I have also created a Facebook Wall for Benjamin Franklin from the information that I have gathered: [|Benjamin Franklin's Facebook Wall] 1) "A penny saved is a penny earned." 2) "Lost time is never found again." 3) "Any fool can criticize, condemn, and complain and most fools do." 4) " All who think cannot but see there is a sanction like that of religion which binds us in partnership in the serious work of the world." 5) "They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." 6) "A learned blockhead is a greater blockhead than an ignorant one." (To find more of Benjamin Franklin's quotes, go to source 6 and when you're at the website, click more quotes) **Sources:** 1) [|Government Archives- Founding Fathers from Pennsylvania] 2) [|A Portrait of Benjamin Franklin] 3) [|The Independence Hall Association's Biography of Benjamin Franklin] 4) [|The Rattlesnake Reforms] 5) [|Massachusetts History Biographies] 6) [|The Brainy Quotes Website] 7) [|Benjamin Franklin's Electricity Experiments] 8) [|Benjamin Franklin, The Inventor] 9) [|Benjamin Franklin, The Scientist] 10) [|What Are Armonicas?] 11) [|Wikipedia's Biography of Benjamin Franklin]
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