POS 2041
Professor Shirley
Term Project: Biographical Profile
December 8th. 2014
Benjamin Franklin Benjamin Franklin was born in January 17, 1706 in Boston. He was the 15th sibling to be born out of 17. His father, Josiah Franklin, was a candle maker. Josiah Franklin had seven children with is first wife, Anne Child, and 10 children with his second wife Abiah Folger. At 10 years old Benjamin was withdrawn from Boston Latin School he was attending. He wasn’t interested in working with his father to make candles, therefore, he tagged along with his brother James at his print shop. James treated Benjamin poorly. James refused in letting Benjamin publish his writing in the newspaper. Benjamin had a passion in writing and he wanted his work to be seen so he wrote letters in James newspaper under the name Mrs. Silence Dogood. James later found out and Benjamin left his brother and settled in Philadelphia. There at Philadelphia he lived at John Read’s home in 1723. There he fell in love with John’s daughter, Deborah. Later, he left for London to work at a print shop. He stayed there for about a 2 years continuing his passion for reading. When he returned to Philadelphia in 1726 he discovered that Deborah had married. He moved on and father his son, William. He took common jobs. In late 1727 Benjamin created Junto which was a social study group and then eventually was able to make his own print shop. In 1730 he married Deborah after he husband went missing after stealing a slave. Benjamin and Deborah had a son in 1732. His name was Francis but unfortunately died at age 4 due to the disease smallpox. In 1729, Benjamin bought a newspaper called Pennsylvania Gazette. His newspaper became one of the most well-known within the colonies and he received recognition for his great work. Then in 1732 he published his book Poor Richard’s Almanack based of a poor man named Richard Saunders who was trying to raise money to care for his spouse. In the 1730s and 1740s he did a lot of civic contributions. He wanted an environmental clean-up and to make books more affordable because he was noticing how uncommon they were, therefore, he helped in the nation’s first subscription library. He also assisted in the Pennsylvania Hospital by getting a group together. However, that’s not all, he also organized the first Philadelphia’s Union Fire Company in 1736. Philadelphia’s Union Fire Company helped those whose house were burned by giving them the financial aid they needed. In 1743 Franklin invented a stove that was more effective. He named it the Franklin-stove. By 1749 he retired from business and started pursing science. Other inventions he created include: swimming fins, the glass armonica and bifocals. What Franklin is most famous for is his study in electricity in the early 1750s. His most important experiment in electricity is his kite flight in June 1752. He wanted to prove that lightning was an electrical current in nature. Therefore, he took a children kite and attached a key to it. Lightning struck the key and Franklin’s passion.
He began to show interest in politics in the 1750s. By 1775 he was a colonial representative of Pennsylvania, Georgia, New Jersey and Massachusetts. At this time he was away in England. He loved England and considered living there but he despised all the corruption in politics. When he heard about the stamp act is when he knew America had to break free from England.