Benjamin Franklincontinuedbiography

Name ______Class ______Date ______

Benjamin FranklincontinuedBiography

Benjamin Franklin

1706–1790

/ Why he Made History Writer, scientist, inventor, and diplomat, Benjamin Franklin helped write the Declaration of Independence and won French support for the American colonists during the Revolutionary War.

As you read the biography below, think about how
Franklin was interested in a variety of fields.

Perhaps the most famous American of the 1700s,
Benjamin Franklin was a man of many talents. A
printer, inventor, scientist, politician, and diplomat,
Franklin helped write the Declaration of Independence, represented the United States in France during the Revolutionary War, and was a delegate to the Constitutional Convention. Today he is remembered for his many inventions and his witty, elegant writing.

Franklin was born in Boston, Massachusetts, one of 17 children. He was apprenticed to his brother, a printer, at age 12, and during his years as a printer he read extensively and taught himself to become a skillful writer. Franklin worked as a printer for much of his early life and eventually published the Pennsylvania Gazette newspaper and Poor Richard’sAlmanac. He was highly successful and was a wealthy man by 1748, when he decided to retire from trade.

After leaving printing Franklin turned to science, most notably an important series of experiments with electricity. His curious mind led him to develop a number of inventions, including the lightning rod, bifocal eyeglasses, the odometer, and others.

Franklin also turned to public service. In 1751 he became a city alderman in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where he had lived from the age of 17, as well as a member of the Pennsylvania Assembly. In 1753 he was named deputy postmaster general of Britain’s North American colonies; he was thus in charge of mail in all of the northern colonies. The following year he was part of the Pennsylvania delegation to the Albany Congress, where he proposed a plan—the Albany Plan of Union—to unite the American colonies.

In 1757 Franklin traveled to Britain as the representative of the Pennsylvania Assembly; he spent most of the next 18 years living in London. By this time he was widely known throughout Europe—his writings and his electrical experiments had brought him widespread fame. As relations between Great Britain and the American colonies worsened in the 1760s, Franklin sought to improve the situation, urging both sides to compromise. But as things grew worse, Franklin resigned himself to the fact that the British government and the colonists would never reconcile. He returned to America in 1775, and although some colonists distrusted him—he had been living abroad for so long that some feared he was a British spy—he was elected to the Second Continental Congress. With Thomas Jefferson and three other delegates, Franklin helped draft the Declaration of Independence.

In 1776, with the Revolutionary War in full swing, the Continental Congress sent Franklin back to Europe in order to seek military and financial aid from France. He used his negotiating skills—and French fascination with his reputation as a humble genius from the wilds of America—to win financial and military support from the French. Franklin also helped negotiate the Treaty of Paris (1783) that ended the Revolutionary War.

Franklin returned to the United States in 1785 and was a delegate to the Constitutional Convention in 1787. He also served for three years as the President of Pennsylvania, an office equivalent to the modern position of governor. Franklin died in 1790 at age 84.

What did you learn?

1.Describe How did Franklin serve the American colonies in Europe?

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2.Sequence Summarize Franklin’s life and career.

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Activity

Create an illustrated time line of Benjamin Franklin’s life. You may need to do additional research to find dates or images to use in the time line. Be sure to include references to Franklin’s work, inventions, experiments, and diplomatic and political experience.

Chapter 21Origins of American Government