Benjamin Franknlin Essay, Research Paper

The Life of Benjamin Franklin

Benjamin Franklin was one of the greatest statesmen in the United States. He was

an American Author, printer, scientists, and workers, Whose contributes to the cause of

the American Revolution.

Benjamin?s life story begins on January 17, 1706, in Boston, the day he was born.

His father, Josiah was a poor candle and soap maker. Benjamin?s mother Abia was a

baker and worked at a cake house in Boston. Together Josia and Abia had 17 children,

and Benjamin was the 15th and the youngest boy. As a young boy Benjamin had a talent

in swimming, in fact one of his first inventions was the hand paddles to make him go faster

in the water. Ben only went to school for one year, but he learned a lot. Ben enjoyed

reading and studying science and Math. By the ahe of 13 he went to work for his oldest

brother James. James hired his brother as an apprentice printer. In Bens sparetime he

worked on his studies in Math and Science, and he loved to read. Since nobody ever

wanted to be a printer all printers had to sign a contract saying that they would have to

work for a certain amount of time until they were wasters.

In the year 1720 his brother established the New England Courant. Benjamin was

unhappy about the apprentice master thing, so at the age of 15 Ben worked for is

delivering newspapers by day and at night he wrote articles for the newspaper. In his

articles he wrote about political issues and how the government was bad. These articles

went on for about a year and he never signed his name. In the last article he wrote is name

as the header and his brother was outraged at his brothers actions in the paper so he

revoked Ben?s contract.

After Ben left the paper with his brother, Benjamin left Boston and moved to

Philadelphia, in October 1723. In Philadelphia Ben worked as a trader and met Sir

William Keith. Sir William Keith was the provincial governor of Pennsylvania. He asked

Ben to go to England, and complete his training as an apprentice printer. Sir William

Keith told Ben that he would pay for all of his expenses. When Ben arrived in London he

was expecting his own printing press and some money, but Sir William Keith hadn?t given

him a dime. Ben was left stranded in London with no friends, no money, and no place to

stay.

After a few weeks in London Ben found a job at a printing house in London. The

place where he found the jibs was called Palmer and Watt?s. In this new job he finished

his apprentice and published some books that went world wide. In 1726 Benjamin

returned to Philadelphia. When he arrived in Philadelphia he met some friends and they

established the American Philosophical Society. Three Years later he bought the

Pennsylvania Gazzet. The Pennsylvania Gazzet was a more judicious selection of news,

Ben wrote most of the paper. The paper was entertaining but not allot of news so it only

came out once a week. Only a year after he bought the Pennsylvania Gazzet he married

Debra Read. Debra was a woman that Ben knew before he went to England.

Benjamin was apart of many events that concerned the community. In 1731 Ben

founded the first library in America, which was named the Philadelphia library in 1742. In

1732 Ben published a book called Poor Richard?s Almanack. Ben didn?t sign his name in

Poor Richard?s Almanack he signed it in the pen name Richard Saunders. In 1736 Ben

became clerk at the Pennsylvania General Assembly, and the next year he was deputy

postmaster of Philadelphia. In November of that year Ben organized the firs fire

department in the city, and had some new ideas of street paving and lighting. In 1744 Ben

invented the first stove, the stove had more heat than the ones that they used to have, and

use less fuel.

Ben Franklin began experimenting with electricity in 1747. his experiments began

with an apparatus that he got from a guy from England. Ben had a theory of the Leyden

jar, that theory was backed up by the theory that lightning was an electrical Phenomenon.

In 1752 Ben conducted an experiment that proved metal was a good attraction of

electricity. To prove his theory of metal being a good conductor of electricity he went

outside during a thunderstorm with a kite with a key tied to the end of the kite. After

lightning hit the kite the whole rope was burned exept the part of the rope that was behind

the key. That experiment proved that metal can hold and conduct electricity. Also in that

experiment he discovered two kinds of electricity positive and negative. Then out of the

kite key experiment he invented the lightning rod.

In the year 1748 he sold his printing press and two years later he was elected to the

Pennsylvania Assembly, in which he served until 1764. He was appointed deputy

postmaster in 1753, and in 1754 he was a delegate for Pennsylvania to go to congress to

help deal with the French India War. This meeting was held in Albany. Ben?s plan for this

war was just to stay out of it, and they did for a while.

When the French Indian War started Franklin pocured horses, wagons, and

supplies for the British commander General Braddock. Braddock enjoyed needed the

equipment. Quaker leader William Penn refused that his land be taxed by the pusicution

of the war. In 1757 Ben was sent to England to pention the king to levy taxes on

proprietary lands. When he was in England he decided to stay and be the spokes person of

the American Colonies, he stayed there for about 5 or 6 years. Franklin went back to

Philadelphia in 1762, and stayed there until 1764, where he was again made to move to

England and talk to the king about the tax stamp. When Ben returned home in

Philadelphia 11 years later he was appointed postmaster general for about a year.

In 1781 Franklin, John Jay, and John Adams were appointed to conclude the treaty

of Versailles on September3 1783. In March 1785 Franklin left France and returned to

Philadelphia. When he returned to the United States he was appointed president of the

Pennsylvania executive council until 1787. In 1787 he was elected a delegate to server as

abolishing slave trading. Two months later he died on April 17, 1790 in Philadelphia at

the age of 84.

Benjamin Franklin is a symbol of America?s patrism and was one of the important

people who made this country the wat it is today. He will be remembered as a great man

who served his life in printing press, constitution and one of the countries finest men.