Benjamin Franklin

Benjamin Franklin
Born	Benjamin Franklin January 17, 1706
Birthplace	Boston, Massachusetts Bay, British America
Died	April 17, 1790 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
Nationality	American
Occupation	Writer, scientist, inventor, statesman, diplomat, printer, publisher, political philosopher
Title	6th President of Pennsylvania
Known for	Founding Father of the United States, signer of the Declaration of Independence, experiments with electricity, lightning rod, bifocals, Poor Richard's Almanack
Education	Boston Latin School
Awards	Fellow of the Royal Society, Copley Medal
Website	http://www.ushistory.org/franklin/

Benjamin Franklin (January 17, 1706 – April 17, 1790) was an American polymath whose extraordinary range of accomplishments spanned the fields of writing, science, invention, statesmanship, diplomacy, printing, publishing, and political philosophy. Born into a modest Boston family as one of seventeen children, Franklin rose through self-education and relentless industry to become one of the most consequential figures in American history and among the most influential intellectuals of the eighteenth century. He was one of the Founding Fathers of the United States, a drafter and signer of the Declaration of Independence, the first United States Postmaster General, and the first American ambassador to France. As a scientist, his experiments with electricity and his invention of the lightning rod placed him at the forefront of the American Enlightenment and the history of physics. As a civic leader, he founded institutions that endure to this day, including the University of Pennsylvania, the Library Company of Philadelphia, and Philadelphia's first fire department. Franklin was the only person to sign all four of the major documents that established the United States: the Declaration of Independence, the Treaty of Alliance with France, the Treaty of Paris ending the Revolutionary War, and the United States Constitution. His life, stretching from the reign of Queen Anne to the presidency of George Washington, encompassed one of the most transformative periods in Western history, and Franklin stood at the center of much of that transformation.

Early Life

Benjamin Franklin was born on January 17, 1706, in Boston, in the Province of Massachusetts Bay, which was then part of British America. He was the fifteenth of seventeen children born to Josiah Franklin, a tallow chandler and soap maker who had emigrated from Ecton, Northamptonshire, England, in 1682, and his second wife, Abiah Folger. The large Franklin household occupied a home on Milk Street, across from the Old South Meeting House.

Franklin's formal education was limited. His father initially intended him for the ministry and enrolled him at Boston Latin School at age eight, but financial constraints forced the family to withdraw him after only two years. He briefly attended a school for writing and arithmetic before his father brought him into the family candle and soap-making business at age ten. Franklin found this work disagreeable and expressed a strong desire for the sea, which alarmed his father.

At age twelve, Franklin was apprenticed to his older brother James Franklin, a printer. The apprenticeship, which was to last until Benjamin turned twenty-one, introduced him to the world of letters and publishing. While working for his brother, Franklin devoted himself to self-improvement, reading voraciously and practicing his writing. He studied works by John Bunyan, Plutarch, Daniel Defoe, and Cotton Mather, among others, and taught himself arithmetic and basic geometry.

In 1722, at the age of sixteen, Franklin began writing letters to his brother's newspaper, The New-England Courant, under the pseudonym "Silence Dogood." The letters, which satirized various aspects of colonial life including religious hypocrisy and the treatment of women, proved popular with readers, though James was unaware of the true author's identity. When James discovered the deception, relations between the brothers deteriorated. In 1723, at age seventeen, Franklin broke his apprenticeship indenture and fled Boston, making his way first to New York and then to Philadelphia, where he arrived in October 1723 with little money and few connections.

Education

Franklin's formal schooling consisted of two years at Boston Latin School and a brief period at a school for writing and arithmetic. However, his true education was largely self-directed. Throughout his life, Franklin was a prodigious reader and a disciplined autodidact. As he recounted in his autobiography, he developed his prose style by studying essays in The Spectator by Joseph Addison and Richard Steele, rewriting the arguments from memory and comparing his versions with the originals.

Franklin received numerous honorary degrees later in life in recognition of his scientific and civic achievements. He was awarded honorary Master of Arts degrees from Harvard College and Yale College. The University of St Andrews in Scotland awarded him an honorary Doctor of Laws degree in 1759, and the University of Oxford conferred upon him an honorary Doctor of Civil Law in 1762. It was from these latter honors that Franklin came to be commonly addressed as "Dr. Franklin."

Career

Printing and Publishing

Franklin's career in Philadelphia began modestly. He found work as a printer's assistant and, through a series of circumstances, traveled to London in 1724, where he spent approximately eighteen months working in printing houses and broadening his intellectual horizons. He returned to Philadelphia in 1726 and, by 1728, had established his own printing business with a partner, Hugh Meredith.

In 1729, at the age of twenty-three, Franklin purchased The Pennsylvania Gazette, which he transformed into one of the most successful newspapers in the colonies. His sharp writing, practical intelligence, and keen business sense made the paper profitable and influential. Franklin used the Gazette not only as a business enterprise but as a vehicle for public discourse, civic improvement, and, eventually, political commentary.

In 1732, Franklin began publishing Poor Richard's Almanack under the pseudonym "Richard Saunders." Published annually for twenty-five years, the almanac contained weather forecasts, astrological information, poems, and a wealth of aphorisms and witty sayings that became embedded in American popular culture—phrases such as "A penny saved is a penny earned," "Early to bed and early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise," and "God helps them that help themselves." The almanac was enormously popular, selling as many as ten thousand copies per year, and it made Franklin a wealthy man.

After 1767, Franklin was associated with the Pennsylvania Chronicle, a newspaper that became known for its revolutionary sentiments and criticisms of the policies of the British Parliament and the Crown. Franklin's publishing career thus spanned decades and played a significant role in shaping colonial public opinion in the years leading to the American Revolution.

Civic Leadership and Institutions

Franklin's civic contributions to Philadelphia and the broader colonies were substantial and lasting. He organized the Junto, a group of aspiring tradesmen and artisans who met regularly for mutual improvement and discussion of civic affairs. This group became the nucleus for many of Franklin's later institutional innovations.

In 1731, Franklin founded the Library Company of Philadelphia, one of the first lending libraries in North America. He organized Philadelphia's first volunteer fire company, the Union Fire Company, in 1736. He also helped establish the city's first public hospital, the Pennsylvania Hospital, and was instrumental in improving the city's streets, lighting, and night watch.

Franklin pioneered the Academy and College of Philadelphia, serving as its first president from November 13, 1749, to May 24, 1754. The institution, which opened in 1751, later became the University of Pennsylvania. He also organized the American Philosophical Society, serving as its first secretary and later being elected its president in 1769. The society became one of the foremost learned institutions in the American colonies and remains active today.

Scientific Work

Franklin's scientific investigations, particularly his studies of electricity, earned him international renown and placed him among the leading natural philosophers of the eighteenth century. His experiments began in the mid-1740s, when he became fascinated with the nature of electrical phenomena. Franklin introduced key terminology to the study of electricity, including the terms "positive," "negative," "battery," "conductor," and "charge."

His most famous experiment, conducted in 1752, involved flying a kite during a thunderstorm to demonstrate the electrical nature of lightning. This experiment confirmed his hypothesis that lightning was an electrical discharge and led directly to his invention of the lightning rod, a device that has saved countless structures and lives from lightning strikes over the centuries. Franklin's scientific reputation was central to his later political influence; as one historian has noted, his fame as a scientist was key to his political power, particularly in France, where the philosophes of the Enlightenment celebrated his accomplishments.

Franklin also made significant contributions to oceanography. He charted and named the Gulf Stream current, recognizing its importance for transatlantic navigation. His chart of the Gulf Stream, first published in the early 1770s, helped ships traveling from North America to Europe reduce their crossing times by taking advantage of the current, while ships traveling westward learned to avoid it.

Beyond the lightning rod, Franklin's inventions included bifocal eyeglasses, the glass harmonica (a musical instrument for which Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Ludwig van Beethoven later composed music), and the Franklin stove, an improved fireplace design that provided more heat with less fuel. Characteristically, Franklin chose not to patent any of his inventions, believing that they should be freely available for the public good.

Postal Service

In 1753, Franklin was appointed deputy postmaster-general for the British colonies in North America, a position he held until January 31, 1774. In this role, he reorganized the colonial postal system, establishing new routes, improving delivery times, and making the service profitable for the first time. This work enabled him to set up what amounted to the first national communications network in the colonies, linking distant communities and facilitating the exchange of news and information that would prove vital in the coming revolutionary period.

Following independence, Franklin served as the first United States Postmaster General from July 26, 1775, to November 7, 1776, appointed by the Second Continental Congress. In this capacity, he laid the foundations for the national postal system, building on the infrastructure he had developed during his earlier tenure under the British Crown. He was succeeded in the position by his son-in-law, Richard Bache.

Colonial Agent and Revolutionary Politics

Franklin spent much of the period from 1757 to 1775 in London, serving as a colonial agent representing the interests of Pennsylvania and later several other colonies before the British government. During this time, he became a prominent figure in the transatlantic political debates that preceded the American Revolution.

Franklin played a central role in the effort to repeal the Stamp Act of 1765, one of the most hated pieces of British legislation in the colonies. He testified before the House of Commons in 1766, providing a compelling case against the tax and helping to secure its repeal. This success made him a hero in North America and established his reputation as an effective advocate for colonial interests.

As relations between Britain and the colonies deteriorated in the early 1770s, Franklin's position in London became increasingly difficult. In 1774, he was publicly humiliated before the Privy Council over his role in the release of private letters written by Massachusetts Governor Thomas Hutchinson. Shortly thereafter, he was dismissed from his position as deputy postmaster-general. Franklin returned to Philadelphia in May 1775, arriving just weeks after the battles of Lexington and Concord, and immediately threw himself into the revolutionary cause.

Franklin was elected as a delegate from Pennsylvania to the Second Continental Congress, serving from May 10, 1775, to October 26, 1776. He served on the Committee of Five, which was charged with drafting the Declaration of Independence, alongside Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Roger Sherman, and Robert R. Livingston. At the signing of the Declaration on August 2, 1776, Franklin reportedly remarked, "We must, indeed, all hang together, or most assuredly we shall all hang separately."

Diplomacy in France

In late 1776, at the age of seventy, Franklin was dispatched to France as one of three American commissioners seeking military and financial support for the revolution. He arrived in Paris in December 1776 and quickly became one of the most celebrated figures in French society. His reputation as a scientist, philosopher, and man of simplicity resonated with the French public and the intellectual circles of the Enlightenment.

Franklin served as the first United States Minister to France from March 23, 1779, to May 17, 1785. His diplomatic efforts proved vital in securing the Treaty of Alliance with France in 1778, which brought French military support to the American cause—a development that would prove decisive in the outcome of the Revolutionary War. Franklin also served as United States Minister to Sweden from September 28, 1782, to April 3, 1783.

In 1783, Franklin was one of the American negotiators who signed the Treaty of Paris, which formally ended the Revolutionary War and recognized American independence. He was succeeded as Minister to France by Thomas Jefferson, who, when asked if he was Franklin's replacement, reportedly replied, "No one can replace him. I am only his successor."

President of Pennsylvania and the Constitutional Convention

Franklin returned to Philadelphia in 1785 and was almost immediately elected the sixth President of Pennsylvania (a position equivalent to governor), serving from October 18, 1785, to November 5, 1788. He succeeded John Dickinson and was himself succeeded by Thomas Mifflin.

In 1787, at the age of eighty-one, Franklin served as a delegate to the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia. Though his advanced age and declining health limited his physical participation, his presence lent enormous prestige to the proceedings. Franklin delivered a famous speech on the final day of the Convention, urging his fellow delegates to sign the Constitution despite whatever reservations they might have, acknowledging that the document was imperfect but expressing doubt that any convention could produce a better one. He was the oldest delegate to sign the Constitution.

Abolitionism

Franklin's views on slavery evolved significantly over the course of his life. From at least as early as 1735 and through the following decades, Franklin owned at least seven enslaved people and ran "for sale" advertisements for enslaved individuals in his newspaper. However, by the late 1750s, he had begun arguing against slavery. In his later years, Franklin became an active abolitionist and promoted the education and integration of African Americans into American society. In 1787, he became president of the Pennsylvania Society for Promoting the Abolition of Slavery and for the Relief of Free Negroes Unlawfully Held in Bondage, serving in that capacity from April 23, 1787, until his death on April 17, 1790.

Personal Life

Franklin entered into a common-law marriage with Deborah Read on September 1, 1730. The couple could not legally marry because Read's first husband, John Rogers, had abandoned her but had not been confirmed dead, and a formal divorce was unobtainable under colonial law. Together they had two children: Francis Folger Franklin, who died of smallpox at the age of four in 1736, and Sarah Franklin Bache, who married Richard Bache. Franklin also had an illegitimate son, William Franklin, born before his union with Deborah Read. William served as the last colonial Governor of New Jersey and remained a loyalist during the American Revolution, which caused a permanent rift between father and son.

Deborah Read Franklin died in 1774 while Benjamin was in London. The two had been separated for much of their marriage due to Franklin's extended periods abroad, and the personal cost of his public career was significant.

Franklin's last will and testament, drafted in 1788, reflected both his practical nature and his civic-mindedness. He bequeathed sums of money to the cities of Boston and Philadelphia, to be invested and distributed over a period of two hundred years, a bequest that ultimately yielded millions of dollars for civic purposes.

Franklin died on April 17, 1790, at the age of eighty-four, in Philadelphia. An estimated twenty thousand people attended his funeral. He was buried at Christ Church Burial Ground in Philadelphia beside his wife, Deborah.

Recognition

Franklin received significant honors during his lifetime and has been commemorated extensively in the centuries since his death. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in London in 1756 and was awarded the Society's Copley Medal for his experiments with electricity. He received honorary degrees from Harvard, Yale, the University of St Andrews, and the University of Oxford, among other institutions.

Franklin's image has appeared on United States currency since 1914, when he was placed on the one-hundred-dollar bill, where he remains. His likeness has adorned numerous postage stamps, and his name has been given to counties, cities, towns, schools, and institutions across the United States and the world. The Benjamin Franklin Transatlantic Fellowship, sponsored by the U.S. Department of State, continues to promote international exchange in his name.

In March 2026, a life-size statue of Franklin was added to the White House Rose Garden alongside a statue of Alexander Hamilton, reflecting the continued prominence of Franklin's legacy in American civic culture.

Legacy

Benjamin Franklin earned the title "The First American" for his early and sustained advocacy of colonial unity, first expressed in his Albany Plan of Union in 1754 and continued through his decades of work toward independence and constitutional government. He was the only person to sign all four of the founding documents of the United States: the Declaration of Independence, the Treaty of Alliance with France, the Treaty of Paris, and the Constitution of the United States.

Franklin's influence on American identity and culture has been profound. His autobiography, which he began writing in 1771 and which was published posthumously, became one of the foundational texts of American literature and helped establish the archetype of the self-made individual who rises through hard work, practical intelligence, and moral discipline. The aphorisms from Poor Richard's Almanack entered the language and continue to be quoted. His civic institutions—the library, the university, the fire company, the philosophical society—established models for public-spirited enterprise that were replicated across the new nation.

As a scientist, Franklin's contributions to the understanding of electricity were foundational. His experimental methods and his commitment to practical application exemplified the empirical spirit of the Enlightenment. His inventions, offered freely to the public without patents, reflected his conviction that knowledge should serve the common good.

As a diplomat, Franklin's success in securing French support for the American Revolution was instrumental in achieving independence. His ability to navigate the courts and salons of Europe while maintaining the persona of a simple American philosopher demonstrated a sophisticated understanding of international relations and public diplomacy that few of his contemporaries could match.

Franklin's evolution on the question of slavery—from slaveholder to abolitionist—has been the subject of considerable historical scrutiny. His late-life advocacy for abolition and for the education of African Americans, while it does not erase his earlier complicity in the institution, represents one of the more notable intellectual transformations among the Founding Fathers.

The Franklin papers, comprising tens of thousands of documents, continue to be a major resource for historians studying colonial and revolutionary America. The Papers of Benjamin Franklin project, maintained at Yale University and published digitally, makes these documents accessible to scholars worldwide.