Benjamin Franklin

As a scientist, he was a major figure in the American Enlightenment and the history of physics. His discoveries and theories regarding electricity established and validated him in scientific circles. A few of his inventions include the carriage odometer, bifocals, the lightening rod, glass armonica (musical instrument), and the Franklin stove. He established the first fire department in Pennsylvania, and America’s first public lending library.

Background

Benjamin Franklin was born in Boston on January 17, 1706. He was one of 17 children. His father, Josiah Franklin, was a soap maker, and his mother, Abiah Folger, was Josiah’s second wife. Benjamin, who loved to read, was apprenticed to his brother, James, who was a printer. Ben was 12 years old at the time.

The family confronted Boston’s powerful Puritan preachers, the Mathers, on several issues including inoculation. Smallpox was a main issue at the time, and the Franklins believed inoculations only made people sicker (seems like that debate hasn’t gone away). Although most Bostonians agreed with the Franklins, they did not like how brother James antagonized the clergy.

Because of constant disputes with his brother, James, Ben ran away to Philadelphia. On October 6, 1723 he met his future wife, Deborah Read, who found him to be quite peculiar, and never imagined marrying him seven (7) years later.

Franklin continued as an apprentice printer, and went to England on business and spent several months there doing printing work. He returned to Philadelphia and established a thriving printing business because of his skill and diligence.

He married Deborah Reed in 1730. They were both entrepreneurs. Ben ran the print shop, a book store, and they set up a general store together. Ben bought a newspaper, the Pennsylvania Gazette, in 1729.

Benjamin Franklin did much for public good by organizing the Junto, a workingman’s group devoted to civic and self improvement, and he also joined the Masons. In 1733 he published Poor Richard’s Almanack which contained much wit and lively writing, such as “A penny saved is a penny earned”.

He was an advocate for environmental clean up. He helped launch the American Philosophical Society in 1743, and organized a group to start the Pennsylvania Hospital in 1751.

Electricity

In 1949 he retired from business to focus on inventions and science. Prior to this he had invented the Franklin stove in 1743 with the intent to improve society, so he refused to patent it. He actually invented swim fins.

It was in the early 1750’s that Franklin concentrated on electricity, and he gained international fame with his kite experiment, which verified the nature of lightening and electricity.

Politics

Benjamin Franklin became actively involved in politics in the 1750’s. He went to England in 1757, and remained there until 1775 as a Colonial representative of Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Georgia, and Massachusetts.

After testifying before Parliament in 1765 for the repeal of the Stamp Act, which was quite unpopular in America, he considered the benefits of America breaking free from England. Although he had many friends in England, he was taken aback by all the corruption and disruptive behavior in politics and the royal circles. He had previously in 1754 proposed a plan for united colonies, and now he would be in earnest toward that goal.

After being condemned by the English Foreign Ministry over the “Hutchinson Affair”, he returned home to America. He immediately began to actively work for independence.

Benjamin Franklin was elected to the Second Continental Congress, and helped draft the Declaration of Independence as part of a committee of five. He contributed much to the document, signed it in 1776, and then left for France as ambassador to the Court of Louis XVI.

Franklin was much loved in France. With his influence and social competence, France signed a Treaty of Alliance with America in 1778, and he was there to sign the Treaty of Paris in 1783 after the Revolution in America was won.

Benjamin Franklin returned to America in his late seventies, and remained active. He became the President of the Executive Council of Pennsylvania, and delegate to the Constitutional Convention, and signed the Constitution. He wrote an anti-slavery treatise in 1789. He passed on at age 84 (April 17, 1790), and people always remembered him as “the harmonious human multitude”. His positive influence still lights the lives of others. Click here for the Transforming Child Behavior Home Page.

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