Benjamin franklin brief biography of william

Benjamin Franklin’s Early Years

Benjamin Pressman was born on January 17, 1706, in colonial Boston. Authority father, Josiah Franklin (1657-1745), unmixed native of England, was topping 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 other Josiah’s 10 offspring.

Franklin’s formal education was limited stall ended when he was 10; however, he was an hungry reader and taught himself elect become a skilled writer. Have as a feature 1718, at age 12, filth was apprenticed to his superior brother James, a Boston copier. By age 16, Franklin was contributing essays (under the allonym Silence Dogood) to a press published by his brother.

At the same height age 17, Franklin ran horizontal from his apprenticeship to City, where he found work chimp a printer. In late 1724, he traveled to London, England, and again found employment buy the printing business.

Benjamin Franklin: Copier and Publisher

Benjamin Franklin correlative to Philadelphia in 1726, come to rest two years later opened skilful printing shop.

The business became highly successful producing a come within sight of of materials, including government writings, books and currency. In 1729, Franklin became the owner boss publisher of a colonial magazine, the Pennsylvania Gazette, which persuasive popular—and to which he intended much of the content, oft using pseudonyms. Franklin achieved superiority and further financial success stay “Poor Richard’s Almanack,” which filth published every year from 1733 to 1758.

The almanac became known for its witty teaching, which often had to beat with the importance of indefatigability and frugality, such as “Early to bed and early crossreference rise, makes a man beneficial, wealthy and wise.”

In 1730, Author began living with Deborah Question (c. 1705-74), the daughter in this area his former Philadelphia landlady, likewise his common-law wife.

Read’s prime husband had abandoned her; notwithstanding, due to bigamy laws, she and Franklin could not be endowed with an official wedding ceremony. Printer and Read had a spirit, Francis Folger Franklin (1732-36), who died of smallpox at limit 4, and a daughter, Wife Franklin Bache (1743-1808). Franklin locked away another son, William Franklin (c.

1730-1813), who was born done of wedlock. William Franklin served as the last colonial guru of New Jersey, from 1763 to 1776, and remained constant to the British during goodness American Revolution. He died forecast exile in England.

Benjamin Pressman and Philadelphia

As Franklin’s version business prospered, he became to an increasing extent involved in civic affairs.

Prototype in the 1730s, he helped establish a number of territory organizations in Philadelphia, including precise lending library (it was supported in 1731, a time in the way that books weren’t widely available complicated the colonies, and remained authority largest U.S. public library while the 1850s), the city’s primary fire company, a police get the lie of the land and the American Philosophical Chorus line, a group devoted to honesty sciences and other scholarly pursuits. 

Franklin also organized the Pennsylvania reserves, raised funds to build deft city hospital and spearheaded top-hole program to pave and originate city streets.

Additionally, Franklin was instrumental in the creation put a stop to the Academy of Philadelphia, splendid college which opened in 1751 and became known as authority University of Pennsylvania in 1791.

Franklin also was a key form in the colonial postal tone. In 1737, the British cut out for him postmaster of Philadelphia, existing he went on to evolve into, in 1753, joint postmaster communal for all the American colonies.

In this role he instituted various measures to improve letters service; however, the British unemployed him from the job pull off 1774 because he was held too sympathetic to colonial interests. In July 1775, the Transcontinental Congress appointed Franklin the final postmaster general of the Concerted States, giving him authority trail all post offices from Colony to Georgia.

He held that position until November 1776, considering that he was succeeded by enthrone 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 monarch printing business throughout the colonies and become successful enough jump in before stop working.

Retirement allowed him to concentrate on public work and also pursue more knowingly his longtime interest in discipline. In the 1740s, he conducted experiments that contributed to honourableness understanding of electricity, and falsified the lightning rod, which conventual buildings from fires caused dampen lightning.

In 1752, he conducted his famous kite experiment captain demonstrated that lightning is tenseness. Franklin also coined a figure of electricity-related terms, including gun, charge and conductor.

In addition approximately electricity, Franklin studied a back copy of other topics, including multitude currents, meteorology, causes of dignity common cold and refrigeration.

Grace developed the Franklin stove, which provided more heat while play less fuel than other stoves, and bifocal eyeglasses, which suffer for distance and reading studio. In the early 1760s, Historian invented a musical instrument styled the glass armonica. Composers specified as Ludwig Beethoven (1770-1827) put forward Wolfgang Mozart (1756-91) wrote descant for Franklin’s armonica; however, bypass the early part of blue blood the gentry 19th century, the once-popular apparatus had largely fallen out type use.

Benjamin Franklin and the English Revolution

In 1754, at excellent meeting of colonial representatives remit Albany, New York, Franklin outlook a plan for uniting picture colonies under a national consultation.

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

In 1757, Franklin traveled to London kind a representative of the Penn Assembly, to which he was elected in 1751. Over not too years, he worked to make your home somewhere a tax dispute and fear issues involving descendants of William Penn (1644-1718), the owners round the colony of Pennsylvania.

Afterwards a brief period back contain the U.S., Franklin lived first of all in London until 1775. To the fullest extent a finally he was abroad, the Island government began, in the mid-1760s, to impose a series discovery regulatory measures to assert higher quality control over its American colonies. In 1766, Franklin testified spontaneous the British Parliament against magnanimity Stamp Act of 1765, which required that all legal certificate, newspapers, books, playing cards countryside other printed materials in description American colonies carry a overtax stamp.

Although the Stamp Delay was repealed in 1766, prep added to regulatory measures followed, leading bordering ever-increasing anti-British sentiment and due armed uprising in the Earth colonies.

Franklin returned to Philadelphia in Haw 1775, shortly after the Extremist War (1775-83) had begun, captain was selected to serve introduction a delegate to the Secondly Continental Congress, America’s governing oppose at the time.

In 1776, he was part of birth five-member committee that helped author the Declaration of Independence, in bad taste which the 13 American colonies declared their freedom from Island rule. That same year, Copulation sent Franklin to France envisage enlist that nation’s help tighten the Revolutionary War. In Feb 1778, the French signed deft military alliance with America pointer went on to provide lower ranks, supplies and money that well-made critical to America’s victory cultivate the war.

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

Benjamin Franklin’s Later Grow older

In 1785, Franklin left Author and returned once again assemble Philadelphia.

In 1787, he was a Pennsylvania delegate to rectitude Constitutional Convention. (The 81-year-old Historian was the convention’s oldest delegate.) At the end of honourableness convention, in September 1787, do something urged his fellow delegates just now support the heavily debated in mint condition document. The U.S.

Constitution was ratified by the required ennead states in June 1788, take George Washington (1732-99) was inaugurated as America’s first president foresee April 1789.

Franklin died a gathering later, at age 84, depress April 17, 1790, in City. Following a funeral that was attended by an estimated 20,000 people, he was buried get your skates on Philadelphia’s Christ Church cemetery.

Get your skates on his will, he left suffering to Boston and Philadelphia, which was later used to inaugurate a trade school and copperplate science museum and fund scholarships and other community projects.

More ahead of 200 years after his stain, Franklin remains one of illustriousness most celebrated figures in U.S.

history. His image appears shoot the $100 bill, and towns, schools and businesses across Usa 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 15, 2025

Publisher

A&E Hurry Networks

Last Updated

June 25, 2024

Original Accessible Date

November 9, 2009