United States. He was the only person who signed all four of these key
documents in American history : the Declaration of Independence, the Treaty
of Alliance with France, the Treaty of Peace with Great Britain, and the
Constitution of the United States. Benjamin Franklin was born in Boston on
jan. 17, 1706.
He was the 15th child and youngest son in a family of children. His
parents, Josiah and Abiah Franklin, were hard-working, God-fearing folk. His
father made soap and candles in his shop “at the sign of the Blue Ball” on
Milk Street. Benjamin attended school in Boston for only two years. He
proved himself excellent in reading, fair in writing, and poor in arithmetic.
Josiah Franklin decided that he could not afford further education for
his youngest son. He kept Benjamin home after the age of 10 to help cut
wicks and melt tallow in the candle and soap shop. Franklin schooling ended,
but his education did not. He worked on his own writing style, using a
volume of the British journal The Spectator as a model. The boy also taught
himself the basic principles of algebra
and geometry, navigation, grammar, logic, and the natural and physical
sciences. He studied and partially mastered French, German, Italian, Spanish,
and Latin. When the boy was 12, his father persuaded him to become an
apprentice to his older, brother james, a printer. James proved to be a good
teacher, and Benjamin a good pupil. He soon became a skilled printer.
He wrote several newspaper articles, signed them Mrs/ Silence Dogood,
and slipped them under the printshop door. James admired the articles,
and printed several of them. But he refused to print any more when he
discovered that Benjamin had written them. At 17, Franklin ran away to
Philadelphia, which was then the largest city in the American
Colonies. From 1723 to 1730, Franklin worked for various printers in
Philadelphia and in London, England, where he was sent to buy printing
presses. He became part owner of a print shop in 1728, when he was 22.
Two years later, he became sole owner of the business.
He began publishing The Pennsylvania Gazette, writing much of the
material for this newspaper himself. Franklin had a simple formula for
business success. He believed that successful people had to work just a
little harder that any of their competitors. Later in 1730
Benjamin Franklin married Deborah Read. Deborah was not nearly
so well educated as her husband.
Her letters to him have many misspelled words. Benjamin Franklin
printing business prospered from the start. He developed The
Pennsylvania Gazette info one the most successful newspapers in the
colonies. He always watched carefully for new ideas. Historians credit
him as the first editor in America to publish a newspaper cartoon, and
to illustrate a news story with a map.
Benjamin Franklin published The Pennsylvania Gazette from 1729 until
1766. But Franklin achieved even greater success with Poor Richard”s
Almanac that with his newspaper. He wrote and published the almanac for
every year from 1733 to 1758. In 1753 he became deputy postmaster
general for all the colonies. Franklin worked hard at this job, and
introduced many needed reforms.
Benjamin Franklin also helped Canada establish its first regular
service. Benjamin Franklin was public-spirited, and worked
constantly to make Philadelphia a better city. For example, he
reformed the city police when he saw that criminals were getting
away without punishment. City streets were unpaved, dirty, and dark,
so he started a program to pave, clean, and light them and other…
But it is not all!
Benjamin Franklin was one of the first persons
in the world to experiment wits electricity. Franklin scientific
work won high honors. He was famous american statesman. He felt for
uniting of all americans colonies to make its one country. He help
americans to win Britain in 1755. Then he was an excellent
diplomat and one of the greatest builders of the USA.On May
6, 1775, about two weeks after the
Revolutionary War began, the people of Philadelphia chose him to
serve in the Second Continental Congress. Benjamin Franklin seldom
spoke at the Congress, but became one of its active and influential
members. He submitted a proposed Plan of Union that contained ideas
from his earlier Albany Plan of Union. Benjamin Franklin helped
draft the
Declaration of independence , and was one of the documents
signers. Franklin returned to Philadelphia in 1785. For the next two
years he served as president of the executive council in
Pennsylvania. In 1787, Pennsylvania sent the 81-year-old Franklin to
the Constitutional Convention. The delegates met in Independence
Hall and drafted the Constitution of the
USA. Benjamin Franklin died on the night of April 17, 1790, at
the age of 84. Franklin led all the people of his time in
his lifelong concern for the happiness, well-being, and
dignity of humanity. Philadelphia has also revered the memory of its
most famous citizen.
