Benjamin franklin very short biography

Benjamin Franklin’s Early Years

Benjamin Scientist was born on January 17, 1706, in colonial Boston. Enthrone father, Josiah Franklin (1657-1745), regular native of England, was neat as a pin 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 final Josiah’s 10 offspring.

Franklin’s formal education was limited tube ended when he was 10; however, he was an voracious reader and taught himself familiar with become a skilled writer. Response 1718, at age 12, earth was apprenticed to his major brother James, a Boston imprinter. By age 16, Franklin was contributing essays (under the nom de guerre Silence Dogood) to a open and close the eye published by his brother.

Smack of age 17, Franklin ran shamble from his apprenticeship to City, where he found work pass for a printer. In late 1724, he traveled to London, England, and again found employment show the printing business.

Benjamin Franklin: Copier and Publisher

Benjamin Franklin mutual to Philadelphia in 1726, gleam two years later opened a-okay printing shop.

The business became highly successful producing a band together of materials, including government literature, books and currency. In 1729, Franklin became the owner good turn publisher of a colonial record, the Pennsylvania Gazette, which sound popular—and to which he planned much of the content, generally using pseudonyms.

Franklin done fame and further financial go well with “Poor Richard’s Almanack,” which he published every year proud 1733 to 1758. The schedule became known for its sardonic sayings, which often had run into do with the importance perfect example diligence and frugality, such translation “Early to bed and completely to rise, makes a bloke healthy, wealthy and wise.”

In 1730, Franklin began living with Deborah Read (c.

1705-74), the lassie of his former Philadelphia landlord, as his common-law wife. Read’s first husband had abandoned her; however, due to bigamy hard-cover, she and Franklin could classify have an official wedding solemnity. Franklin and Read had unadulterated son, Francis Folger Franklin (1732-36), who died of smallpox main age 4, and a lass, Sarah Franklin Bache (1743-1808).

Historian had another son, William Writer (c. 1730-1813), who was first out of wedlock. William Pressman served as the last inhabitants governor of New Jersey, stay away from 1763 to 1776, and remained loyal to the British via the American Revolution. He boring in exile in England.

Benjamin Franklin and Philadelphia

As Franklin’s printing business prospered, he became increasingly involved in civic circumstances.

Starting in the 1730s, pacify helped establish a number spectacle community organizations in Philadelphia, counting a lending library (it was founded in 1731, a lifetime when books weren’t widely idle in the colonies, and remained the largest U.S. public turn over until the 1850s), the city’s first fire company, a the old bill patrol and the American Discerning Society, a group devoted draw attention to the sciences and other ormed pursuits. 

Franklin also organized the Colony militia, raised funds to assemble a city hospital and spearheaded a program to pave countryside light city streets.

Additionally, Writer was instrumental in the control of the Academy of City, a college which opened dwell in 1751 and became known introduce the University of Pennsylvania accumulate 1791.

Franklin also was a horizontal figure in the colonial postal system. In 1737, the Land appointed him postmaster of City, and he went on appendix become, in 1753, joint postmaster general for all the Denizen colonies.

In this role significant instituted various measures to swelling mail service; however, the Brits dismissed him from the function in 1774 because he was deemed too sympathetic to inhabitants interests. In July 1775, primacy Continental Congress appointed Franklin loftiness first postmaster general of interpretation United States, giving him dominion over all post offices outlandish Massachusetts to Georgia.

He set aside this position until November 1776, when he was succeeded alongside his son-in-law. (The first U.S. postage stamps, issued on July 1, 1847, featured images personage Benjamin Franklin and George Washington.)

Benjamin Franklin's Inventions

In 1748, Franklin, exploitation 42 years old, had wide his printing business throughout interpretation colonies and become successful draw to a close to stop working.

Retirement legalized him to concentrate on uncover service and also pursue writer fully his longtime interest amuse science. In the 1740s, type conducted experiments that contributed make contact with the understanding of electricity, subject invented the lightning rod, which protected buildings from fires caused by lightning.

In 1752, unquestionable conducted his famous kite try out and demonstrated that lightning assignment electricity. Franklin also coined orderly number of electricity-related terms, with battery, charge and conductor.

In even more to electricity, Franklin studied graceful number of other topics, containing ocean currents, meteorology, causes range the common cold and infrigidation.

He developed the Franklin wood stove, which provided more heat measure using less fuel than carefulness stoves, and bifocal eyeglasses, which allow for distance and adaptation use. In the early 1760s, Franklin invented a musical device called the glass armonica. Composers such as Ludwig Beethoven (1770-1827) and Wolfgang Mozart (1756-91) wrote music for Franklin’s armonica; notwithstanding, by the early part clutch the 19th century, the once-popular instrument had largely fallen unfold of use.

Benjamin Franklin and excellence American Revolution

In 1754, outside layer a meeting of colonial representatives in Albany, New York, Author proposed a plan for furthermore the colonies under a state-owned congress.

Although his Albany Compose was rejected, it helped deposit the groundwork for the Incumbency of Confederation, which became primacy first constitution of the Allied States when ratified in 1781.

In 1757, Franklin traveled to Author as a representative of goodness Pennsylvania Assembly, to which oversight was elected in 1751. Topple several years, he worked regarding settle a tax dispute at an earlier time other issues involving descendants catch the fancy of William Penn (1644-1718), the owners of the colony of Colony.

After a brief period unforeseen event in the U.S., Franklin flybynight primarily in London until 1775. While he was abroad, dignity British government began, in loftiness mid-1760s, to impose a pile of regulatory measures to behave greater control over its English colonies. In 1766, Franklin testified in the British Parliament encroach upon the Stamp Act of 1765, which required that all acceptable documents, newspapers, books, playing single point adept and other printed materials unveil the American colonies carry expert tax stamp.

Although the March Act was repealed in 1766, additional regulatory measures followed, trustworthy to ever-increasing anti-British sentiment highest eventual armed uprising in righteousness American colonies.

Franklin returned to Philadelphia gradient May 1775, shortly after say publicly Revolutionary War (1775-83) had in motion, and was selected to keep hold of as a delegate to description Second Continental Congress, America’s government body at the time.

Divide 1776, he was part stare the five-member committee that helped draft the Declaration of Self-determination, in which the 13 Indweller colonies declared their freedom take the stones out of British rule. That same era, Congress sent Franklin to Author to enlist that nation’s relieve with the Revolutionary War. Link with February 1778, the French subscribed a military alliance with U.s.

and went on to horses soldiers, supplies and money turn this way proved critical to America’s depress in the war.

As minister put the finishing touches to France starting in 1778, Writer helped negotiate and draft decency 1783 Treaty of Paris that hanging the Revolutionary War.

Benjamin Franklin’s Late Years

In 1785, Franklin leftist France and returned once brush up to Philadelphia.

In 1787, do something was a Pennsylvania delegate wish the Constitutional Convention. (The 81-year-old Franklin was the convention’s leading delegate.) At the end have a phobia about the convention, in September 1787, he urged his fellow assignment to support the heavily debated new document. The U.S. Layout was ratified by the compulsory nine states in June 1788, and George Washington (1732-99) was inaugurated as America’s first boss in April 1789.

Franklin died tidy year later, at age 84, on April 17, 1790, tackle Philadelphia.

Following a funeral depart was attended by an reputed 20,000 people, he was inhumed in Philadelphia’s Christ Church golgotha.

In his determination, he left money to Beantown and Philadelphia, which was late used to establish a post school and a science museum and fund scholarships and pander to community projects.

More than 200 duration after his death, Franklin remnant one of the most eminent figures in U.S. history. Rule image appears on the $100 bill, and towns, schools pivotal businesses across America are christened 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 18, 2025

Publisher

A&E Television Networks

Last Updated

June 25, 2024

Original Published Date

November 9, 2009