Introduction to Benjamin Franklin
Franklin, Benjamin (1706–1790), an American statesman, scientist, and author. He was one of the great figures in the colonial and Revolutionary periods of American history.
Franklin was a distinguished scientist and a prominent writer. He served as a diplomatic representative of the American colonies to Great Britain and, later, of the United States to France. He gained support in Europe for the American fight for independence from Britain, and was instrumental in obtaining the assistance of France for the United States during the Revolutionary War. Franklin is the only person whose name appears on all four of the important documents associated with the founding of the United States: the Declaration of Independence, the treaty of alliance with France, the Treaty of Paris (the treaty that ended the war with Great Britain), and the Constitution.
Franklin first gained international fame through his scientific achievements. He was a pioneer in the study of electricity, proving that lightning is an electrical phenomenon. He was granted honorary degrees by Harvard, Yale, Oxford, and other institutions, and was a member of several learned societies.
Franklin was also America's first famous writer. His weekly newspaper, the Pennsylvania Gazette, was widely read throughout the colonies. He also published Poor Richard's Almanack, a pamphlet that appeared each year from 1732 to 1757. It contained weather information, a piece of humorous writing by Franklin, and many everyday proverbs and jokes that he collected and rewrote to fit American life. Some articles from it were published in Europe. Franklin's only book was his Autobiography, published in part in 1791 and in complete form in 1868. The book covers the first 50 years of his life.
Few people have been as diverse as Franklin in their interests or as varied in their accomplishments. He symbolized the American character to the world and was the most eminent American of his time.
Early Years
Benjamin Franklin was born in Boston on January 17, 1706, the 15th of 17 children. His father, Josiah, was a soapmaker and candlemaker who taught his son to read and sent him to school for two years. After working for a time in his father's shop, Franklin was apprenticed at the age of 12 to his brother James, a printer.
Franklin quickly became skilled in the printing trade. He also took an early interest in writing, and by 1722 was composing humorous pieces which were published under a pen name in James Franklin's newspaper, the New England Courant. When James was imprisoned briefly in 1722 for his criticism of Massachusetts public officials, Franklin took over as publisher of the Courant. In 1723 the brothers began to quarrel, however, and Benjamin left Boston for Philadelphia. He found work there in a print-shop.
Although only 17, Franklin gained a reputation as a skilled printer. The governor of Pennsylvania offered to help him start a shop of his own, and sent him to England to purchase equipment. The governor, however, failed to send the money to buy the equipment, and Franklin, his funds exhausted, was stranded in London. He found work there as a printer and stayed for a year and a half before returning to Philadelphia in 1726.
In 1728 Franklin and a friend started their own printing business. In two years Franklin became sole owner of the shop and publisher of the Pennsylvania Gazette. A debating club, the Junto, started by Franklin in 1727, was the forerunner of the American Philosophical Society (founded 1743).
Franklin and Deborah Read (1708–1774) entered into a common-law marriage in 1730. They had two children—a son who died in infancy, and a daughter, Sarah (1744–1808). Franklin also had an illegitimate son, William (1731–1813), who grew up in his household and served as his assistant on some of his diplomatic missions. William became royal governor of New Jersey in 1763 and remained loyal to the crown in the American Revolution.
Business and Scientific Successes
Franklin's printing business was a financial success. The popularity of the Pennsylvania Gazette made him well known in Philadelphia and throughout the colonies. Even more popular, however, was Poor Richard's Almanack (so called from the pen name, Richard Saunders, under which it appeared). It sold about 10,000 copies per year. Franklin received so much work that he started printshops in several other cities. By 1748, at the age of 42, he had made enough money to retire. Franklin hoped to spend the rest of his life studying philosophy and investigating the natural sciences. He began to conduct various scientific experiments.
Franklin had been interested in the study of electricity since about 1746. He advanced the concept that electricity flows between two objects when one has a positive electrical charge and the other a negative electrical charge. Franklin suspected that lightning is electrical, and proved this in his kite experiment in 1752.
(For a description of this experiment )
The kite experiment led Franklin to invent the lightning rod to protect buildings from damage from lightning. Because of his achievements in the field of electricity, he was elected a fellow of the Royal Society, a scientific society in England, in 1756.
Franklin also compiled weather data, studied the seas, and worked on various inventions. He printed the first chart of the Gulf Stream in the Atlantic Ocean and investigated the effects of the Gulf Stream on sea travel. He devised the Franklin stove, a heating stove that operates on the same principle as a hot-air furnace. When his eyesight became poor, he invented bifocal eyeglasses for himself (1780).
Public Service
Franklin became involved in a number of civic projects in Philadelphia. He was active in starting a city hospital in 1751 and in establishing the Academy of Philadelphia, which later became the University of Pennsylvania. He worked to get the streets paved and street lighting improved, and helped to organize the first police force and fire company in the colonies. He was Philadelphia's postmaster, 1737–53.
Franklin served Pennsylvania as clerk of its assembly, 1736–51, and as a member of the assembly, 1751–64. He represented Pennsylvania at a meeting of the colonies at Albany, New York, in 1754. In the French and Indian War (1754–60) Franklin organized militia companies and bought military supplies at his own expense. He was deputy postmaster general for the colonies, 1753–74.
The Pennsylvania colony had been organized by William Penn. His descendants, who lived in England, thought they should not have to pay taxes on their lands. The colony needed the tax money, however, and in 1757 Franklin was sent to England to put the matter before the government. He remained for five years, and succeeded in having the Penn estates declared taxable. Soon there were new disputes with the Penn heirs, and in 1764 Franklin was again sent to England to discuss a new form of government for Pennsylvania. New problems concerning all the American colonies changed the nature of his mission.
The Stamp Act was passed by the Parliament in 1765 as a means of taxing the colonies. Franklin did not regard the act as illegal, but in an appearance before the House of Commons he explained with great clarity why it was undesirable. His arguments were widely read, and were a central factor in the decision to repeal the Stamp Act in 1766. Franklin was asked to remain in England as agent for Pennsylvania.
In America, resentment against British rule was becoming more intense. Franklin worked steadily to improve relations between Britain and the American colonies, but they grew worse year by year. At last he saw that his efforts were hopeless. He returned to America in May, 1775.
In the Cause of American Independence
Franklin at once became a member of the Continental Congress, where he was given the task of organizing a postal system and was made postmaster general. He also served as a member of the committee that prepared the Declaration of Independence.
The United States badly needed assistance in fighting the war. A three-man commission, including Franklin, was sent to France in 1776 to try to arrange a treaty. The French government had not recognized the United States, but Franklin was received unofficially with great enthusiasm. His renown and his diplomatic skills were of the greatest benefit in gaining the treaty of alliance, signed in 1778. Shortly afterward, Franklin was appointed sole American agent to France. His main duty the next few years was to raise money for continuing the war.
In 1781 Franklin, John Adams, and John Jay were named to a commission to negotiate peace with Great Britain. Their efforts ended in the Treaty of Paris, signed in 1783. In 1785, Franklin turned over his responsibilities to Thomas Jefferson and returned home.
Back in Philadelphia, Franklin was chosen president of the Supreme Executive Council of Pennsylvania. He served in this office for three years. In 1787 he became a delegate to the Constitutional Convention. Franklin preached compromise to the other delegates, and when the Constitution was finished, he urged that it be unanimously adopted. His last public act was to sign a petition to Congress for the immediate abolition of slavery. He died April 17, 1790.