Benjamin Franklin: Pivotal Player in American History

Benjamin Franklin was a very significant figure during the American Revolution. His success as an inventor, scientist, printer, and politician made him a very famous and successful man during these times. His involvement in the drafting and signing of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States always is an important part in US history. Simply put, we could not be here if Benjamin Franklin didn’t exist. Benjamin Franklin was born on January 17, 1706 in Boston to father, Josiah Franklin and mother Abiah Folger. Josiah had seven children with his first wife, Anne child, and ten with his second wife, Abiah Folger. Benjamin was his 15th child and youngest son. Ben formally went to school at Boston Latin School and

He published Poor Richard’s Almanac at the end of 1732, which was a huge success. The almanac contained weather, poetry, advice, recipes, astronomical information, and much more; he continued to publish it for 25 years. He organized the Union Fire Company to protect against dangerous fire hazards. He also innovated with the invention of the Franklin stove, which was a stove that provided more heat with less fuel. “By 1748, the 42-year-old Ben had become one of the richest men in Pennsylvania. He turned his business over to a partner to give him more time to conduct scientific experiments.” (Paragraph 12) He moved into a new house and acquired slaves to work around the house, but his views on slavery evolved to where he considered it evil, and then freed his slaves in the 1760s. He joined the Pennsylvania militia at age 42. His interest in electricity grew and he began experimenting on electricity. He conducted experiments and recorded them into a book called “Experiments and Observations on Electricity.” He is most famous for his kite-key experiment in 1752 to prove there was electricity in light. He is also credited to the invention of bifocal glasses, the rocking chair, and the American penny. “His self-education earned him honorary degrees from Harvard, Yale, England’s Oxford University and Scotland’s University of St. Andrews in

He worked his way up to becoming the deputy postmaster general of North America. In 1754, when the French and Indian war began, he called the colonies to come together for defense. He made an illustration of a snake divided into sections, saying “Join or die” meaning if the colonies don’t join together they will die. At the “Albany Congress”, Franklin represented Pennsylvania; he proposed the colonies unify to form a government, but this idea failed to be ratified by the colonies. In 1757 Franklin sailed to London to resolve long-standing conflicts with the holders of the Pennsylvania colony, the Penn family. He would not return until 1762, when he toured the colonies inspecting the post offices. He then returned to London again in 1764, but Franklin would not return home before his wife passed away in 1774. But in London, he arrived at a tense time in the relations between Britain and the colonies. In March 1765 the Parliament passed the stamp act, taxing all major printed documents in the colonies. Since Franklin was highly involved with stamps at his job, people in the colonies thought he supported it, and rioted and threatened his house. Franklin posted a pamphlet “Causes of the American Discontents before 1768”, explaining why the Americans were not content with the British Government. He sent them to the Massachusetts Governor, Thomas Hutchinson, which called for the restriction of rights of the