“In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.” (Benjamin Franklin, letter to Jean Baptiste LeRoy, 11/13/1789). Believe it or not, this familiar quote was written by the son of a soap maker, one of seventeen children, who became one of the men to write and declare America’s independence from Britain. One of America’s founding fathers, Benjamin Franklin, never expected he would help write the Declaration of Independence. I am here to tell you about Ben Franklin’s impressive life before, and after he wrote the Declaration of Independence.
Benjamin Franklin was born in Boston on January 17, 1706. He was apprenticed to his brother James, who was a printer. At 12-years-old Ben was setting type and selling his brothers …show more content…
Ben worked the time, and the citizens of Philadelphia began to notice how well he was doing as a businessman. Soon he began getting the contract to do government jobs and started doing well in business. In 1728, Benjamin fathered a child named William. William’s mother was unknown. In 1730 Benjamin became married to Deborah Read. Deborah's husband had left her and then she could marry again. In 1729, Benjamin bought a newspaper, the Pennsylvania Gazette. Franklin not only printed the paper, but often wrote articles for the paper under different aliases. His newspaper soon became the most successful newspaper in the colonies. In 1733 he started publishing Poor Richard's Almanac. Later he helped launch projects to pave, clean and light Philadelphia's streets. He started agitating for environmental clean up. Among the chief accomplishments of Franklin in this era was helping to launch the Library Company in 1731. During this time books were scarce and expensive. Franklin realized that by bringing together resources, members could afford to buy books from England. Then the Colonies’ first subscription library was created. Recognizing that the city