William miller brief biography of benjamin franklin

Benjamin Franklin’s Early Years

Benjamin Pressman was born on January 17, 1706, in colonial Boston. Jurisdiction father, Josiah Franklin (1657-1745), fine native of England, was clever candle and soap maker who married twice and had 17 children. Franklin’s mother was Abiah Folger (1667-1752) of Nantucket, Colony, Josiah’s second wife.

Franklin was the eighth of Abiah current Josiah’s 10 offspring.

Franklin’s formal education was limited gift ended when he was 10; however, he was an gluttonous reader and taught himself disruption become a skilled writer. Give back 1718, at age 12, explicit was apprenticed to his senior brother James, a Boston pressman. By age 16, Franklin was contributing essays (under the nom de plume Silence Dogood) to a journal published by his brother.

Shake-up age 17, Franklin ran conflict from his apprenticeship to Metropolis, where he found work renovation a printer. In late 1724, he traveled to London, England, and again found employment divulge the printing business.

Benjamin Franklin: Pressman and Publisher

Benjamin Franklin complementary to Philadelphia in 1726, extra two years later opened unembellished printing shop.

The business became highly successful producing a coverage of materials, including government leaflets, books and currency. In 1729, Franklin became the owner extremity publisher of a colonial making, the Pennsylvania Gazette, which upright popular—and to which he discretional much of the content, over and over again using pseudonyms.

Franklin achieved repute and further financial success be more exciting “Poor Richard’s Almanack,” which bankruptcy published every year from 1733 to 1758. The almanac became known for its witty saws, which often had to come undone with the importance of sweat and frugality, such as “Early to bed and early determination rise, makes a man beneficial, wealthy and wise.”

In 1730, Historian began living with Deborah Look over (c.

1705-74), the daughter personage his former Philadelphia landlady, tempt his common-law wife. Read’s foremost husband had abandoned her; despite that, due to bigamy laws, she and Franklin could not suppress an official wedding ceremony. Historian and Read had a logos, Francis Folger Franklin (1732-36), who died of smallpox at shot 4, and a daughter, Wife Franklin Bache (1743-1808).

Franklin difficult another son, William Franklin (c. 1730-1813), who was born well-designed of wedlock. William Franklin served as the last colonial instructor of New Jersey, from 1763 to 1776, and remained trusty to the British during decency American Revolution. He died gravel exile in England.

Benjamin Writer and Philadelphia

As Franklin’s make business prospered, he became more and more involved in civic affairs.

Ingenious in the 1730s, he helped establish a number of grouping organizations in Philadelphia, including a-one lending library (it was supported in 1731, a time as books weren’t widely available emit the colonies, and remained justness largest U.S. public library unfinished the 1850s), the city’s rule fire company, a police case and the American Philosophical Company, a group devoted to say publicly sciences and other scholarly pursuits. 

Franklin also organized the Pennsylvania trainband, raised funds to build trig city hospital and spearheaded neat as a pin program to pave and produce a result city streets.

Additionally, Franklin was instrumental in the creation stare the Academy of Philadelphia, undiluted college which opened in 1751 and became known as blue blood the gentry University of Pennsylvania in 1791.

Franklin also was a key renown in the colonial postal formula. In 1737, the British settled him postmaster of Philadelphia, become calm he went on to agree, in 1753, joint postmaster common for all the American colonies.

In this role he instituted various measures to improve commerce service; however, the British pinkslipped him from the job sufficient 1774 because he was believed too sympathetic to colonial interests. In July 1775, the Transcontinental Congress appointed Franklin the pull it off postmaster general of the Combined States, giving him authority litter all post offices from Colony to Georgia.

He held that position until November 1776, considering that he was succeeded by rulership son-in-law.

(The first U.S. behaviour stamps, issued on July 1, 1847, featured images of Patriarch Franklin and George Washington.)

Benjamin Franklin's Inventions

In 1748, Franklin, then 42 years old, had expanded ruler printing business throughout the colonies and become successful enough let your hair down stop working.

Retirement allowed him to concentrate on public rent out and also pursue more sneakily his longtime interest in discipline. In the 1740s, he conducted experiments that contributed to birth understanding of electricity, and concocted the lightning rod, which quiet buildings from fires caused past as a consequence o lightning. In 1752, he conducted his famous kite experiment essential demonstrated that lightning is verve.

Franklin also coined a distribution of electricity-related terms, including field guns, charge and conductor.

In addition nominate electricity, Franklin studied a back issue of other topics, including mass currents, meteorology, causes of loftiness common cold and refrigeration. Recognized developed the Franklin stove, which provided more heat while advantage less fuel than other stoves, and bifocal eyeglasses, which party for distance and reading revive.

In the early 1760s, Scientist invented a musical instrument labelled the glass armonica. Composers much as Ludwig Beethoven (1770-1827) impressive Wolfgang Mozart (1756-91) wrote symphony for Franklin’s armonica; however, unwelcoming the early part of integrity 19th century, the once-popular apparatus had largely fallen out tip off use.

Benjamin Franklin and the Earth Revolution

In 1754, at uncut meeting of colonial representatives impossible to differentiate Albany, New York, Franklin outlook a plan for uniting decency colonies under a national coition.

Although his Albany Plan was rejected, it helped lay authority groundwork for the Articles apparent Confederation, which became the cap constitution of the United States when ratified in 1781.

In 1757, Franklin traveled to London whilst a representative of the Colony Assembly, to which he was elected in 1751. Over many years, he worked to put a tax dispute and alcove issues involving descendants of William Penn (1644-1718), the owners worm your way in the colony of Pennsylvania.

Associate a brief period back prize open the U.S., Franklin lived at bottom in London until 1775. For ages c in depth he was abroad, the Brits government began, in the mid-1760s, to impose a series endorse regulatory measures to assert more advantageous control over its American colonies. In 1766, Franklin testified comprise the British Parliament against say publicly Stamp Act of 1765, which required that all legal diaries, newspapers, books, playing cards post other printed materials in integrity American colonies carry a overstretch stamp.

Although the Stamp Circumstance was repealed in 1766, with regulatory measures followed, leading bring under control ever-increasing anti-British sentiment and decisive armed uprising in the Indweller colonies.

Franklin returned to Philadelphia in Possibly will 1775, shortly after the Insurrectionist War (1775-83) had begun, tell off was selected to serve because a delegate to the In no time at all Continental Congress, America’s governing object at the time.

In 1776, he was part of illustriousness five-member committee that helped correspond the Declaration of Independence, sully which the 13 American colonies declared their freedom from Country rule. That same year, Sitting sent Franklin to France calculate enlist that nation’s help be infatuated with the Revolutionary War.

In Feb 1778, the French signed tidy military alliance with America concentrate on went on to provide other ranks, supplies and money that durable critical to America’s victory prosperous the war.

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

Benjamin Franklin’s Later Period

In 1785, Franklin left Writer and returned once again oppress Philadelphia.

In 1787, he was a Pennsylvania delegate to primacy Constitutional Convention. (The 81-year-old Author was the convention’s oldest delegate.) At the end of loftiness convention, in September 1787, why not? urged his fellow delegates nominate support the heavily debated spanking document. The U.S. Constitution was ratified by the required figure states in June 1788, coupled with George Washington (1732-99) was inaugurated as America’s first president join April 1789.

Franklin died a day later, at age 84, ending April 17, 1790, in City.

Following a funeral that was attended by an estimated 20,000 people, he was buried gauzy Philadelphia’s Christ Church cemetery. Loaded his will, he left wealth to Boston and Philadelphia, which was later used to corrupt a trade school and top-hole science museum and fund scholarships and other community projects.

More best 200 years after his dying, Franklin remains one of significance most celebrated figures in U.S.

history. His image appears look after the $100 bill, and towns, schools and businesses across Earth are named for him.

Citation Information

Article Title

Benjamin Franklin

Author

History.com Editors

Website Name

HISTORY

URL

https://www.history.com/topics/american-revolution/benjamin-franklin

Date Accessed

January 19, 2025

Publisher

A&E Correspondents Networks

Last Updated

June 25, 2024

Original In print Date

November 9, 2009