BenjaminFranklin was one of the great characters of US history, known for several roles throughout his life, such as editor, journalist, scientist and diplomat. Franklin's dedication to science and knowledge made him one of the greatest representatives of the enlightenment in the United States.
He was well known for his role in fighting the abuses of colonial administration, taking a stand against the Stamp Act and in favor of revolutionaries during the American Revolution. He also gained notoriety for carrying out important experiments with electricity.
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First years
![Benjamin Franklin was part of American history conducting studies in the area of electricity and playing a role in US independence. [1]](/f/3c70bad176282c28939befe647cc60e0.jpg)
Benjamin Franklin was born in Boston, in the state of Massachusetts, in the United States, on the day January 17, 1706. he was the son of english josiahFranklin, a candle maker and seller who had emigrated to the United States in 1682. his mother was called AbiahFolger, the second wife of Josiah.
Josiah Franklin had a total of 17 children in two marriages, being Franklin his 15th child. The marriage of Josiah and Abiah resulted in 10 children, and in him Benjamin was the eighth. Josiah provided a simple life for his family, but he had enough money to pay for two years of education for his descendants. This was Franklin's education time, and his studies were funded by the sale of candles in his father's shop.
At the age of 12, Benjamin Franklin went to work as typographer's apprentice, with his brother, James Franklin, in a Boston newspaper, the New England Courant. Over time, he began writing short articles for the newspaper, even taking over as editor during a period when his brother was imprisoned.
At the age of 17, Benjamin moved to the Philadelphia, city located in the state of Pennsylvania. There he got a job as a printer at Samuel Keimer's company. He also met the state governor, Sir William Keith, who convinced him to go to London to buy a printer to start a new newspaper in the state.
Sir William Keith had promised to finance the travel and purchase expenses, and so Franklin left for the English capital in November 1724. In London, Benjamin discovered that the governor's promises were empty, making him need to work in the English capital to survive. He returned to the United States in July 1726.
Professional career
Beginning in 1728, Benjamin Franklin opened a press in partnership with Hugh Meredith, and, in the following year, the two bought the newspaper and the press from Samuel Keimer, Franklin's former employer. Keimer's paper was called The Universal Instructor in All Arts and Sciences and Pennsylvania Gazette, and Franklin and Meredith renamed it to Pennsylvania Gazette.
In this newspaper, Franklin published a series of news obtained from English publications, in addition to writing articles with satires, political opinions, jokes, etc. Franklin usually wrote his articles throughpseudonyms, and, over time, the Pennsylvania Gazette became one of the leading newspapers throughout the colony.
In 1731, Franklin opened a library in Philadelphia, where people paid to borrow books. This library became known as the Library Company of Philadelphia, which still exists, being one of the largest in the United States, with a collection of approximately half a million books.
The library was just one of the institutions created by Franklin, he was known for having a direct role in founding the first. the Philadelphia fire department, the University of Pennsylvania, and other science, policy, and Marketplace.
From 1732 he published a almanac known as Poor Richard's Almanack, an annual publication that contained a series of posts, such as weather news, poems, essays, astrology predictions, as well as a series of proverbs that have become very well known in popular culture. North-American.
This almanac was published until 1758 and significantly improved Franklin's financial condition. The publication's success was such that the amount of sales per year was approximately ten thousand copies, a significant number for eighteenth-century United States. Another publication by Franklin was the The General Magazine and Historical Chronicle for all the British Plantations in America, a monthly magazine.
Franklin as a scientist
At 1740s, Benjamin Franklin became a scientist. In 1743 he founded the American Philosophical Society, an institution dedicated to scientific debate with the aim of promoting the dissemination of ideas and theories developed by intellectuals. In 1746 he witnessed an experiment with electricity, in Boston, and became fond of the subject.
Franklin's interest in science made him he sold all his businesses, and, in possession of considerable wealth, he began to devote more time of his life to scientific study, especially in the area of electricity. Franklin's studies in this area led him to conclude that electricity has a negative charge and positive and also that the rays were an electrical phenomenon.
As for this last conclusion, Franklin is believed to have arrived at it through an experiment that became known worldwide. On June 15, 1752, he conducted a experiment with a kite during a storm. In this, Franklin flew the kite with a metal wire and connected that wire to a switch and an electric charge accumulator. In the end, this experiment led him to conclude that the lightning is an electrical phenomenon of great intensity.
Based on this, Franklin developed the lightning rod. He was able to demonstrate that two iron bars connected to the ground, and positioned on the side of some property, would conduct electricity if struck by lightning. Franklin's experiment and the proof of his theories earned him international prestige.
So, in 1753, he was electedmember of The Royal Society, an English institution dedicated to scientific development. This same institution awarded him the Medalcopley, dedicated to those who make significant contributions to science. Another of his contributions was the invention of lensesbifocals and from one heater very common in the United States (called the FranklinStove).
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Franklin as a politician
![In 1754, at the Congress of Albany, Franklin proposed the union of all English colonies in North America as a form of protection from the French. [1]](/f/e86f68b5079f791930cc0644bff3f03f.jpg)
In the 1750s, while pursuing his scientific studies, Franklin embarked on a political career, becoming an elected member of the Pennsylvania Assembly. His first high-profile event in this scenario was leading a delegation sent to the Albany Congress. This congress brought together representatives of the English colonies so that they could discuss ways to improve relations with the indigenous people and to defend themselves from the French, on account of the franc-indian war.
This conference was organized in June, and in it, Benjamin Franklin proposed the union of all English colonies, under the government of a president appointed by the English king, as a way to join forces against the French. Franklin's idea was not welcomed by the government of England, which saw it as a dangerous precedent for independence. Representatives from other colonies also rejected it, fearing that it might turn into less autonomy.
In 1757 Benjamin Franklin was sent to London as a representative of a Pennsylvania Assembly mission, aiming to resolve disagreements of the members of the Assembly with the Penn family, heir of the founder of the Pennsylvania. He returned to the United States in 1764, but in the same year he was sent again to London.
Franklin's second stay in London lasted nine years, and during this period he witnessed the distance between colony and metropolis from the 1760s onwards. In 1765, he was against the Stamp Law, which determined that, in the Thirteen Colonies, paper documents, such as contracts, newspapers, public documents, etc., should contain a stamp that would be paid to the English authorities. This law was so rejected in the colonies in North America that in March 1766 it was repealed.
As the settlers' relations with England worsened, Franklin acted as their spokesperson, claiming that they already paid a lot of taxes to the metropolis and that it was not fair that more charges were created. As his efforts to reconcile the situation were not being enough, he decided to return to Pennsylvania in 1775.
american revolution
In the 1770s, the relationship between colonists and England was very bad, mainly because of the high taxes that the English Parliament imposed on the thirteen colonies. Soon after arriving in the United States, the Philadelphia Assembly elected Franklin to be the colony's representative in the Second Continental Congress of Philadelphia.
At this congress, it was decided by the independence of the United States, and Franklin was part of a committee made up of five people who participated in the elaboration of the Declaration of Independence of the United States. The American Declaration of Independence was written by ThomasJefferson, but Benjamin Franklin was one of those who proposed modifications before the final version of the document.
Franklin's role in this document made him stay recognized as one of the founding fathers of the United States. To learn more about this important movement in American history, read: american revolution.
Last years
After the Declaration of Independence was issued on July 4, 1776, Benjamin Franklin was sent as an emissary from the United States to France, and settled there as diplomat from the country. In Europe, Franklin guaranteed the French a military cooperation agreement in the course of the war of independence against England, and he was one of those who participated in the peace negotiations with the English. The result of these negotiations was the signing of the Treaty of Paris, in 1783.
In 1785 he returned to the United States, and in that year he was elected governor of pennsylvania, occupying this position from 1785 to 1788. Finally, in April 17, 1790, at 84 years of age, Benjamin Franklin passed away, in Philadelphia, due to lung problems.
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Familiar life
Benjamin Franklin had a wife all his life: DeborahRead. Franklin's marriage to Read was never formalized in the legal or religious sphere, so it is understood that this relationship was something close to what we know as stable union.
From this marriage, Benjamin Franklin had twosons:
FrancisFolgerFranklin (1732-1734): died as a child of smallpox;
SarahFranklinbache (1743-1808).
Also, Franklin had another child, WilliamFranklin. This son was born before Benjamin Franklin married Deborah Read. The identity of your birth mother is unknown. William and Benjamin drifted apart during the American Revolution, as the son was loyal to the English, and the father to the settlers.
The disagreement between the two meant that William was almost bereft of his inheritance when Benjamin passed away. In the father's will, the son was left with only a portion of the land he owned in Nova Scotia (now Canada).
Image credit
[1] commons
By Daniel Neves
History teacher
Source: Brazil School - https://brasilescola.uol.com.br/biografia/benjamin-frannklin.htm