Ben franklin biography report

He was a true polymath and entrepreneur, which is no doubt why he is often called the "First American. Franklin died on April 17, , in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, at the home of his daughter, Sarah Bache. He was 84, suffered from gout and had complained of ailments for some time, completing the final codicil to his will a little more than a year and a half prior to his death.

He bequeathed most of his estate to Sarah and very little to his son William, whose opposition to the patriot cause still stung him. He also donated money that funded scholarships, schools and museums in Boston and Philadelphia. But the scope of things he applied himself to was so broad it seems a shame. Founding universities and libraries, the post office, shaping the foreign policy of the fledgling United States, helping to draft the Declaration of Independence, publishing newspapers, warming us with the Franklin stove, pioneering advances in science, letting us see with bifocals and lighting our way with electricity—all from a man who never finished school but shaped his life through abundant reading and experience, a strong moral compass and an unflagging commitment to civic duty.

Franklin illuminated corners of American life that still have the lingering glow of his attention. The Biography. We have worked as daily newspaper reporters, major national magazine editors, and as editors-in-chief of regional media publications. Among our ranks are book authors and award-winning journalists. Our staff also works with freelance writers, researchers, and other contributors to produce the smart, compelling profiles and articles you see on our site.

Thomas Jefferson. The 13 Most Cunning Military Leaders. Cesare Beccaria. Betsy Ross. Samuel Adams. John Adams. Andrew Jackson. George Rogers Clark. Roger Sherman. James Monroe. George III. Constitution Death Accomplishments. Watch Next. In , the British appointed him postmaster of Philadelphia, and he went on to become, in , joint postmaster general for all the American colonies.

In this role he instituted various measures to improve mail service; however, the British dismissed him from the job in because he was deemed too sympathetic to colonial interests. In July , the Continental Congress appointed Franklin the first postmaster general of the United States, giving him authority over all post offices from Massachusetts to Georgia.

He held this position until November , when he was succeeded by his son-in-law. The first U. In , Franklin, then 42 years old, had expanded his printing business throughout the colonies and become successful enough to stop working. Retirement allowed him to concentrate on public service and also pursue more fully his longtime interest in science.

In the s, he conducted experiments that contributed to the understanding of electricity, and invented the lightning rod, which protected buildings from fires caused by lightning. In , he conducted his famous kite experiment and demonstrated that lightning is electricity. Franklin also coined a number of electricity-related terms, including battery, charge and conductor.

In addition to electricity, Franklin studied a number of other topics, including ocean currents, meteorology, causes of the common cold and refrigeration. He developed the Franklin stove, which provided more heat while using less fuel than other stoves, and bifocal eyeglasses, which allow for distance and reading use. In the early s, Franklin invented a musical instrument called the glass armonica.

In , at a meeting of colonial representatives in Albany, New York , Franklin proposed a plan for uniting the colonies under a national congress. Although his Albany Plan was rejected, it helped lay the groundwork for the Articles of Confederation , which became the first constitution of the United States when ratified in In , Franklin traveled to London as a representative of the Pennsylvania Assembly, to which he was elected in Over several years, he worked to settle a tax dispute and other issues involving descendants of William Penn , the owners of the colony of Pennsylvania.

As a result of his discoveries, the study of electricity was established as a valid scientific pursuit. A native Bostonian, Franklin ran away to Philadelphia at the age of seventeen. He started his own printing business and retired a rich man in His annual Poor Richard's Almanack provided a wealth of information about stars and planets, advice about medicine, weather predictions, and rhymes and witty sayings for the teaching of morals.

In , after he had embarked on a career as a statesman—which would lead to his becoming one of the"founding fathers" of the United States —he began writing his life story. Franklin's autobiography is considered one of the greatest personal narratives ever written in the English language. Josiah, my father, married young, and carried his wife with three children unto New England , about By the same wife he had four children more born there, and by a second wife ten more, in all 17, of which I remember 13 sitting at one time at his table, who all grew up to be men and women, and married.

I was the youngest son [born in ], and the younger child but two, and was born in Boston, N. My mother, the second wife, was Abiah Folger, a daughter of Peter Folger, one of the first settlers of new England. My elder brothers were all put apprentices to different trades. I was put to the grammar school at eight years of age, my father intending to devote me as the tithe of his sons to the service of the Church [of England].

My early readiness in learning to read which must have been very early, as I do not remember when I could not read and the opinion of all his friends that I should certainly make a good scholar, encouraged him in this purpose of his. My uncle Benjamin too approved of it, and proposed to give me all his shorthand volumes of sermons, I suppose as a stock to set up with, if I would learn his character [shorthand].

I continued however at the grammar school not quite one year, tho' in that time I had risen gradually from the middle of the class of that year to be the head of it, and farther was removed into the next class above it, in order to go with that into the third at the end of the year. But my father in the meantime, from a view of the expense of a college education which, having so large a family, he could not well afford, and the mean living many so educated men were afterwards able to obtain, reasons that he gave to his friends in my hearing, altered his first intention, took me from the grammar school, and sent me to a school for writing and arithmetic kept by a then famous man, Mr.

Under him I acquired fair writing pretty soon, but I failed in the arithmetic, and made no progress in it. At ten years old, I was taken home to assist my father in his business which was that of a tallow chandler and soap boiler. A business he was not bred to, but had assumed on his arrival in New England and on finding his dying trade would not maintain his family, being in little request.

Accordingly I was employed in cutting wick for the candles, filling the dipping mold, and the molds for the cast candles, attending the shop, going of errands, etc. I disliked the trade and had a strong inclination for the sea; but my father declared against it. However, living near the water, I was much in and about it, learned early to swim well, and to manage boats, and when in a boat or canoe with other boys I was commonly allowed to govern, especially in any case of difficulty; and upon other occasions I was generally a leader among the boys, and sometimes led them into scrapes.

Tallow chandler: A maker of the white solid produced from the fat of cattle and sheep used chiefly in soap, candles, and lubricants. To return. I continued thus employed in my father's business for two years, that is till I was 12 years old; and my brother John, who was bred to that business, having left my father, married and set up for himself at Rhode Island.

There was all appearance that I was destined to supply his place and be a tallow chandler. But my dislike to the trade continuing, my father was under apprehensions that if he did not find one for me more agreeable, I should break away and get to sea, as his son Josiah had done to his great vexation. He therefore sometimes took me to walk with him, and see joiners, bricklayers, turners, braziers, etc.

From a child I was fond of reading, and all the little money that came into my hands was ever laid out in books. Pleased with the Pilgrim's Progress, my first collection was of John Bunyan 's works, in separate little volumes. I afterwards sold them to enable me to buy R. Burton's Historical Collections; they were small Chapmen's Books, and cheap, 40 or 50 in all.

This bookish inclination at length determined my father to make me a printer, tho' he had already one son James of that profession. In my brother James returned from England with a press and letters to set up his business in Boston. I liked it much better than that of my father, but still had a hankering for the sea. To prevent the apprehended effect of such an inclination, my father was impatient to have me bound to my brother.

I stood out some time, but at last was persuaded and signed the indentures, when I was yet but 12 years old. I was to serve as an apprentice till I was 21 years of age, only I was to be allowed journeyman 's wages during the last year. In a little time I made great proficiency in the business, and became a useful hand to my brother.

I now had access to better books. An acquaintance with the apprentices of booksellers enabled me sometimes to borrow a small one, which I was careful to return soon and clean. Often I sat up on my room reading the greatest part of the night, when the book was borrowed in the evening and to be returned early in the morning, lest it should be missed or wanted.

My brother had in or 21 begun to print a newspaper. The only one before it was The Boston News Letter. I remember his being dissuaded by some of his friends from the undertaking, as not likely to succeed, one newspaper being in their judgment enough for America. He went on, however, with the undertaking, and after having worked in composing the types and printing off the sheets I was employed to carry the papers thro' the streets to meet customers.

Turner: A person who forms articles with a machine which work is rotated about a horizontal axis and shaped by a fixed tool. He had some ingenious men among his friends who amused themselves by writing little pieces for this paper, which gained it credit, and made it more in demand; and these gentlemen often visited us. Hearing their conversations, and their accounts of the approbation their papers were received with, I was excited to try my hand among them.

But being still a boy, and suspecting that my brother would object to printing anything of mine in his paper if he knew it to be mine, I contrived to disguise my hand [handwriting], and writing an anonymous paper I put it in at night under the door of the print ing house. It was found in the morning and communicated to his writing friends when they called in as usual.

They read it, commented on it in my hearing, and I had the exquisite pleasure of finding it met with their approbation, and that in their different guesses at the author, none were named but men of some character among us for learning and ingenuity. I suppose now that I was rather lucky in my judges, and that perhaps they were not really so very good ones as I them esteemed them.

Encouraged however by this, I wrote and conveyed in the same way to the press several more papers, which were equally approved, and I kept my secret till my small fund of sense for such performances was pretty well exhausted, and then I discovered [revealed] it; when I began to be considered a little more by my brother's acquaintances, and in a manner that did not quite please him, as he thought, probably with reason, that it tended to make me too vain.

And perhaps this might be one occasion of the differences that we frequently had about this time. Tho' a brother, he considered himself as my master, and me as his apprentice; and accordingly expected the same services from me as he would from another; while I thought he demeaned me too much in some he required of me, who from a brother expected more indulgence.

Our disputes were often brought before our father, and I fancy I was either generally in the right, or else a better pleader, because the judgment was generally in my favor. But my brother was passionate and had often beaten me, which I took extremely amiss; and thinking my apprenticeship very tedious, I was constantly wishing for some opportunity of shortening it, which at length offered in a manner unexpected.

One of the pieces in our newspaper, on some political point which I have now forgotten, gave offense to the Assembly. He [Franklin's brother] was taken up, censured, and imprisoned for a month by the Speaker's Warrant, I suppose because he would not discover his author. I too was taken up and examined before the Council; but tho' I did not give them any satisfaction, they contented themselves with admonishing me, and dismissed me; considering me perhaps as an apprentice, who was bound to keep his master's secrets.

Libelling: To make published statements without just cause and tending to expose another to public contempt. During my brother's confinement, which I resented a good deal, notwithstanding our private differences, I had the management of the paper, and I made bold to give our rulers some rubs with it, which by brother took very kindly, while others began to consider me in an unfavorable light, as a young genius that had a turn for libelling and satire.

My brother's discharge was accompanied with an order of the House a very odd one that James Franklin should no longer print the paper called the New England Courant. There was a consideration held in our printing house among his friends what he should do in this case. Some proposed to evade the order by changing the name of the paper, but my brother, seeing the inconveniences in that, it was finally concluded on as a better way, to let it be printed for the future under the name of Benjamin Franklin.

And to avoid the censure of the Assembly that might fall on him, as still printing it by his apprentice, the contrivance was that my old indenture should be returned to me with a full discharge on the back of it, to be shown on occasion; but to secure to him the benefit of my service I was to sign new indentures for the remainder of the term, which were to be kept private.

A very flimsy scheme it was, but however, it was immediately executed, and the paper went on accordingly under my name for several months. At length a fresh difference arising between my brother and me, I took upon me to assert my freedom, presuming that he would not venture to produce the new indentures. It was not fair in me to take this advantage, and this I therefore reckon one of the first errata of my life.

But the unfairness of it weighed little with me. When he found I would leave him, he took care to prevent my getting employment in any other printing house of the town, by going round and speaking to every master, who accordingly refused to give me work. I then thought of going to New York as the nearest place where there was a printer; and I was rather inclined to leave Boston, when I reflected that I had already made myself a little obnoxious to the governing party; and from the arbitrary proceedings of the Assembly in my brother's case it was likely I might if I stayed soon bring myself into scrapes; and farther that my indiscreet disputations about religion begun to make me pointed at with horror by good people, as an infidel or atheist.

I determined on the point; but my father now siding with my brother, I was sensible that if I attempted to go openly, men would be used to prevent me. My friend Collins therefore undertook to manage a little for me. He agreed with the captain of a New York sloop for my passage, under the notion of my being a young acquaintance of his that had got a naughty girl with child.

So I sold some of my books to raise a little money, was taken on board privately, and as we had a fair wind in three days I found myself in New York, near miles from home, a boy of but 17, without the least recommendation to or knowledge of any person in the place, and with very little money in my pocket. I offered by service to the printer of the place, old Mr.

William Bradford who had been the first printer in Pennsylvania, but removed from thence upon the quarrel of [Governor] George Keith. He could give me no employment, having little to do, and help enough already. But, says he, my son at Philadelphia has lately lost his principal hand, Aquila Rose, by death. If you go thither I believe he may employ you.

I was in my working dress, my best clothes being to come round by sea. I was dirty from my journey; my pockets were stuffed out with shirts and stockings; I knew no soul, nor where to look for lodging. I was fatigued with travelling, rowing, and want of rest. I was very hungry, and my whole stock of cash consisted of a Dutch dollar and about a shilling in copper.

The latter I gave the people of the boat for my passage, who at first refused it on account of my rowing; but I insisted in their taking it, a man being sometimes more generous when he has but a little money than when he has plenty, perhaps thro' fear of being thought to have but little. Wharf: a structure built along navigable waters so ships could receive and discharge cargo and passengers.

Then I walked up the street, gazing about, till near the Market House I met a boy with bread. I had made many a meal on bread, and inquiring where he got it, I went immediately to the baker's he directed me to in Second Street; and asked for biscuit, intending such as we had in Boston, but they it seems were not made in Philadelphia. Then I asked for a three-penny loaf, and was told they had none such; so not considering or knowing the difference of money and the greater cheapness nor the names of his bread, I bad him give me three penny worth of any sort.

He gave me accordingly three great puffy rolls. I was surprised at the quantity, but took it, and having no room in my pockets, walked off, with a roll under each arm, and eating the other. Thus refreshed I walked again up the street, which by this time had many clean dressed people in it who were all walking the same way. I joined them, and thereby was led into the great Meeting House of the Quakers near the Market.

I sat down among them, and after looking round a while and hearing nothing said, being very drowsy thro' labor and want of rest the preceding night, I fell asleep, and continued to till the meeting broke up, when one was kind enough to rouse me. This was therefore the first house I was in or slept in, in Philadelphia. I began now to have some acquaintance among the young people of the town, that were lovers of reading, with whom I spent my evenings very pleasantly.

And gaining money by my industry and frugality, I lived very agreeably, forgetting Boston as much as I could. Quaker: A member of the Society of Friends, a Protestant Christian group that believes in direct communication with God through an "inner light". Franklin finally settled in Philadelphia in Three years later he purchased a failing newspaper, The Pennsylvania Gazette, which eventually reached a high circulation.

In he also began publishing Poor Richard's Almanack, a collection of witty sayings and pieces of advice that he wrote under the pseudonym pen name of Richard Saunders. During the s Franklin branched out into other projects. In he founded the Union Fire Company in Philadelphia. The industrious young man also started a police force and promoted the paving and lighting of city streets.

Reflective of his lifelong love of reading, Franklin founded what was probably the first circulating library in America. Established in , it was originally a subscription library to which members contributed an annual fee in return for the full use of books and pamphlets. In Franklin was appointed clerk official in charge of records of the Pennsylvania Assembly legislative body , where he gained valuable political experience over the next fifteen years.

During the s scientists around the world were investigating static accumulated electricity. Franklin first witnessed this new force in a demonstration of the Leyden jar a device used for producing electrical energy in Franklin was so inspired by the Leyden jar that he conducted his own experiments, thus beginning his career as an amateur scientist.

Through further experiments, Franklin discovered that electricity is an independent force, which he called "electrical fire. Franklin introduced many other terms that still pertain to electricity, including battery, conductor, charge, and discharge. He also invented the lightning rod a metallic rod with one end embedded in the ground, which diverts electricity to the earth and protects buildings against fire caused by lightning.

By , there were four hundred lightning rods in Philadelphia. While waiting for the lightning rod to be installed on Christ Church, Franklin came up with an idea for a faster way to get a conductor into the sky. He made a kite by tying a large silk handkerchief to two crossed wooden sticks. Next, to the kite he attached a long silk thread that had a metal key tied at the end.

Then he waited for a thunderstorm. During the storm the rain soaked the thread, making it an excellent conductor an item that permits flow of electric current that transmitted a static charge from the sky down to the key. When Franklin touched his knuckle to the key, a spark jumped from the key to his hand, thus proving the existence of electricity in the sky.

Although Franklin was best known for his work with electricity, he investigated other areas as well. His interest in the weather led him to notice that weather patterns usually travel from west to east. Another of Franklin's interests was the sea. During his diplomatic career he journeyed across the Atlantic Ocean eight times, and on these trips he took notes of his observations of ocean waters.

With the help of a sea captain, he created the first chart of the Gulf Stream a warm current in the Atlantic Ocean. Franklin also devised a method of using a thermometer to gauge water temperature to determine if a ship was on course in the Gulf Stream. Franklin introduced several innovations in the field of medicine. He was a strong supporter of regular exercise, particularly swimming.

He believed in the importance of fresh air for good health, even though at the time many people thought night air and drafts caused disease. Expanding on his electrical studies, he used electric shocks to treat people with paralysis loss of body movement. He determined, however, that the treatment did not have any permanent benefits. When the smallpox inoculation was first introduced, Franklin warned against the practice.

Smallpox is a highly contagious, often fatal disease. Inoculation is the introduction of the disease-causing agent into the body in order to create immunity. After his own son died of the disease, however, he reversed his opinion and published a pamphlet on the importance of inoculation. In Franklin retired from business and science to devote the rest of his life to politics and diplomacy.

Three years later he was elected to the Pennsylvania Assembly. In Franklin began his diplomatic career when he was sent to England as a lobbyist one who represents a particular group in attempting to influences public officials. Franklin's experiments with electricity brought him great fame in America and Europe. Not only was he respected by the scientific community, he was popular with the general public.

He spread his ideas through a number of writings, including articles in the leading scientific journal of the time, Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society. In Franklin's papers on electricity were gathered and published in a ninety-page book in London. The Royal Society , a British scientific organization, awarded him the Copley Medal in for his accomplishments and made him a member of the society in Franklin was a member of the Second Continental Congress the governing body of the Thirteen Colonies.

He helped to draft the Declaration of Independence a document that stated the American colonists' reasons for demanding freedom from Great Britain , which was completed in Two years later he signed treaties with France that may have helped America win the Revolutionary War —83; a conflict in which the American colonies won independence from Great Britain.

During his lifetime, Franklin began a long union with Deborah Reed, whom he never officially married because she was never divorced from her husband. Franklin already had one son, William, born to an unknown mother, who joined the family. Franklin and Reed also had two children of their own, a son Francis who died of smallpox and a daughter Sarah.

During the last few years of his life, Franklin lived with Sarah and numerous grandchildren in a large house on Market Street in Philadelphia. He spent his time completing his autobiography first published in , which became a classic work in American literature. Franklin died in Philadelphia on April 17, , at the age of eighty-five. His funeral was attended by approximately twenty thousand people, who came to mourn the passing of a great man.

Benjamin Franklin Citizen of the World. Videocassette recording. Benjamin Franklin Scientist and Inventor. Living History Productions, Franklin, Benjamin. Thomas Fleming, ed. New York: Newsweek, McFarland, Philip James. Boulder, Colo. Rudy, Lisa Jo, ed. New York: Wiley, Stiles, T. New York: Berkeley Publishing, , pp. Benjamin Franklin , though much older than other leading revolutionaries, profoundly influenced younger Founding Fathers in the s.

Franklin was earlier the chief spokesman for the American colonies through the s and s, helped in writing the Declaration of Independence , gained foreign support during the war against Britain through a treaty with France, negotiated the Treaty of Paris with Britain to end the war, and then signed the U. Constitution and presented a stirring speech encouraging other delegates at the Constitutional Convention to sign as well.

Franklin was the only American to sign all three of the major documents that brought about the birth of the United States : the Declaration of Independence , the Treaty of Paris , and the U. By the s, he was looked upon as a living sage.

Ben franklin biography report

Though a great thinker, writer, inventor, and statesman, he was always able to relate to the common person and had little need for wealth. Aside from politics, Franklin was a scientist, inventor, publisher, and promoter. Though coming from a Puritan upbringing, he was open to the new ideas of the Enlightenment, a new philosophy in the eighteenth century that recognized humans' ability to understand the world and influence it for their benefit.

He enjoyed scientific thought and exchanging ideas on a wide range of topics. His numerous inventions added great comfort to daily life, such as bifocal eyeglasses, iron stoves, and the lightning rod. He also established numerous civic institutions including the American Philosophical Society , the first American library to loan books, a volunteer firefighting company, a fire insurance company, an educational academy that later became the University of Pennsylvania , and the first hospital in America.

Franklin was born in Boston, Massachusetts, in , the tenth son of seventeen children. His father, Josiah Franklin, a soap- and candlemaker, had emigrated from England in so he could practice his Puritan faith without fear of religious persecution. Benjamin's mother was Abiah Folger. Because of his family's poverty, Franklin had little formal education, but he learned to read very early.

In , at the age of twelve, he became an apprentice to his older brother James in a printing shop. Young Benjamin was drawn to the written word; he read endlessly and practiced writing. He was particularly drawn to poetry at first. In , James started a weekly newspaper, the New England Courant. Besides setting type, Benjamin wrote a series of fourteen essays under a different name for the newspaper.

However, later that year James got into trouble with authorities for some critical articles he published. Benjamin took over the paper for a short while but decided to get a fresh start and left home at age seventeen to find work elsewhere. Finding no work in Boston, Franklin traveled to Philadelphia, where he found a job as a printer. He found a room to rent next to the print shop.

There he met his future wife, Deborah Read, whose family owned the house. He soon became a master printer and desired to start his own printing company. Believing he had found financial support, Franklin sailed to England in November to purchase equipment and establish connections with London stationers and booksellers. Upon arrival in London, Franklin found his support did not exist, so he found employment at a print shop and enjoyed his first stay overseas.

Two years later, in , Franklin returned to Philadelphia. By , he finally had his own printing business. Meanwhile, Deborah had married someone else, and Franklin had a son, William, around with another woman whom he did not marry. Deborah's husband soon abandoned her, and in September , Franklin and Deborah became united. They could not formally get married since her husband might still be alive.

But they had a marriage that was considered common-law, recognized in some jurisdictions because the two of them considered themselves married. They had a son who died at four years of age and a daughter, Sarah. They also raised William, who became a close companion to Franklin until the two became estranged around the time of the American Revolution.

Franklin's new business prospered. In January , he became Pennsylvania's official printer; his work included printing paper currency for the colony. Soon, he was also printing for New Jersey , Delaware, and Maryland. He also began printing his own material. He bought a failing newspaper, the Pennsylvania Gazette, in and made it into one of the top colonial newspapers of the time.

In , Franklin started the annual publication Poor Richard's Almanac, which he continued until under the fictional name Richard Saunders. The almanac was highly popular, selling almost ten thousand copies a year. In it, Franklin offered advice on how to get ahead in the world, astronomical information, medicinal remedies, and moral advice.

Through his printing business, Franklin became wealthy. He invested in real estate and formed partnerships with other printers in New York , the Carolinas, and the West Indies. In , Franklin retired from actively working in a print office. He became a silent partner a partner not directly involved in the business in the printing firm Franklin and Hall, which brought in good profits for another eighteen years.

At the time of his retirement, Franklin was the best-known publisher in the colonies, but he was ready to devote his time to science and civic matters. Franklin was not interested in accumulating wealth for himself. Just after returning from London in , Franklin became interested in promoting organizations for the benefit of society. He firmly believed everyone should work for the common good of society.

Amongst these were temperance, frugality, sincerity, justice and tranquillity. He originally had 12, but, since a friend remarked he had great pride, he added a 13th — humility Imitate Jesus and Socrates. Speak not but what may benefit others or yourself; avoid trifling conversation. Let all your things have their places; let each part of your business have its time.

Resolve to perform what you ought; perform without fail what you resolve. Make no expense but to do good to others or yourself; i. Lose no time; be always employed in something useful; cut off all unnecessary actions. Use no hurtful deceit; think innocently and justly, and, if you speak, speak accordingly. Wrong none by doing injuries, or omitting the benefits that are your duty.

Avoid extremes; forbear resenting injuries so much as you think they deserve. Be not disturbed at trifles, or at accidents common or unavoidable. Franklin sought to cultivate these virtues throughout the remainder of life. His approach to self-improvement lasted throughout his life. Back in America, Franklin had many successful endeavours in business, journalism, science and statesmanship.

Franklin never patented his inventions, preferring to offer them freely for the benefit of society.