Benjamin Franklin

Benjamin Franklin

A printer, an inventor, a writer, a scientist, a diplomat, and a statesman, there is only one man that all this can describe Benjamin Franklin. Benjamin Franklin stands tall among a small group of men we call our Founding Fathers. Ben used his diplomacy skills to serve his fellow countrymen. His role in the American Revolution was not played out on the battlefields like George Washington, but rather in the halls and staterooms of governments. His clear vision of the way things should be, and his skill in both writing and negotiating, helped him to shape the future of the United States of America. In doing research on Benjamin Franklin I will be demonstrating on how his inventions, and being a statesman makes Benjamin Franklin a founding father.

Benjamin Franklin was born in Boston on January 17, 1706. Benjamin Franklin was the fifteenth child of seventeen brothers and sisters. His father, Josiah Franklin, was a candle and soap maker. Benjamin attended school for just two years; his father decided that his education was too expensive and after the age of ten, Benjamin helped his father cut wicks and melt tallow for the shop. However, Benjamin practiced self-education he believed that "the doors of wisdom are never shut," and continued to read any book that he could get (World Book Encyclopedia, 1986, p 415). Benjamin would later become an apprentice to his older brother James, whom ran his own newspaper. By 1729 Benjamin bought a newspaper the Pennsylvania Gazzette, his newspaper soon became the most successful in the colonies. Franklin thrived on work. In 1733 he started publishing Poor Richard's Almanack. What distinguished Franklin's almanac were his witty aphorisms and lively writing. Many of the famous phrases associated with Franklin, such as, "A penny saved is a penny earned" come from Poor Richard. (12 March 2006, http://www.ushistory.org/franklin/info/index.htm). Franklin's Pennsylvania Gazette provided information about politics to the people. Ben Franklin used political cartoons to illustrate news stories and to heighten reader appeal. The May 9, 1754 issue included Join, or Die, which is widely considered the first American political cartoon. Devised by Franklin, the cartoon reflected concern about increasing French pressure along the western frontier of the colonies. (12 March 2006, http://inventors.about.com/od/fstartinventions/a/Franklin.htm)

Franklin continued his civic contributions during the 1730s and 1740s. He helped launch projects to pave, clean and light Philadelphia's streets. He started agitating for environmental clean up. Among the main accomplishments of Franklin in this era was helping to launch the Library Company in 1731. During this time books were scarce and expensive. Franklin recognized that by pooling together resources, members could afford to buy books from England. Thus was born the nation's first subscription library. By 1753 Benjamin became deputy postmaster general and the postal service had improved because of him. As postmaster, Ben had to figure out routes for delivering the mail. He went out riding in his carriage to measure the routes and needed a way to keep track of the distance. He invented a simple odometer to calculate mileage, and attached it to his carriage.

In colonial America, most people warmed their homes by building a fire in a fireplace even though it was kind of dangerous and used a lot of wood. Ben figured that there had to be a better way. His invention of an iron furnace stove allowed people to warm their homes less dangerously and with less wood. The furnace stove that he invented is called a Franklin stove. Interestingly enough, in 1752 Benjamin Franklin organized Philadelphia's Union Fire Company. That same year Franklin helped to found the first fire insurance company in order to help people live more safely (12 March 2006, http://www.ushistory.org/franklin/info/index.htm). Other inventions that Benjamin had invented included the Bifocals, lightning rod, and the armonica, this simple musical instrument was played by touching the edge of the spinning glass with dampened fingers. (12 March 2006, http://fi.edu/franklin/musician/musician.html). Some of Franklin's other inventions were the copying press, a rocking chair that fanned itself as it rocked, a long arm device for moving books on high library shelves, a combination footstool-ladder, a clock with internal workings, a combination chair-table which is now used as a school chair, a rubber catheter, and a candle made of whale oil that gave a clean white light. (World Book Encyclopedia, 1986, p 416) All of these inventions became solutions to ordinary, everyday problems and needs. Franklin was not only an inventor; he was a great improver.

English Parliament had passed the Stamp Act in 1765. Franklin did all he could to get the Stamp Act turned down, but it was out of his control, back in the colony's people were outraged. No taxation without representation became the phrase for the colonist who opposed this tax. Franklin took it upon himself to represent all of America during this period. He met several times with the British to try to overturn this tax. The British told him that they were doing this as a way to make money they lost during the French and Indian War. Franklin refused to allow this act to be brought upon the colonists. He argued that it was the colonist's who had aided the British throughout the war. His words had convinced parliament, and in 1766, the Stamp Act was revoked. Franklin's trip to England was not only