Benjamin Franklin was a Founding Father of the USA. His father
emigrated from England to Boston in 1683. In 1689 he married
his second wife Abiah Folge and in Benjamin was their tenth
child (his father had fifteen children by then). When he was
twelve he became apprentice to his brother James, a printer.
After his brother founded The New-England Courant he wrote letters
to it under the name of Mrs. Silende Dogood that were published.
When he was seventeen he ran away to Philadelphia, where he
worked for several printers.
In 1721 he started the
Junto, a discussion group. He started a subscription library
that was the start of the Library Company of Philadelphia. In
1728 he started a printing shop with Hugh Meredith and they
published The Pennsylvania Gazette. In 1730 he started a common-law
marriage with Deborah Read. Her mother had refused him when
he proposed to her in 1723. During the same year he acknowledged
an illegitimate son, William.
In 1733 he started "Poor
Richard's Almanack" under the name of Richard Saunders. It sold
very well and he wrote for it until 1758. In 1731 he became
a freemason and in 1734 a Grand Master. In 1743 he founded the
American Philosophical Society and in 1748 he ceased to work
as a printer.
In 1749 he became the first president
of the The Academy and College of Philadelphia that opened in
1751. Around 1750 he published several discoveries in the field
of electricity and many other ideas and inventions were successful.
He
held many more appointments and made frequent visits to England.
In 1764 he led the opposition against the Penn family and after
several political adventures and some miscalculations he became
a spokesman for the Americans in England. In 1767 he visited
Paris and he was introduced to king Louis XV. During his stay
in England he corresponded with the illustrious members of the
Lunar Society and he visited Joseph Priestley in Leeds and Erasmus
Darwin in Lichfeld (1772). His friendship with Darwin lasted
until the end of his life. He also visited Ireland and Scotland,
where he stayed with Lord Kames and David Hume. His wife Deborah
died in the USA of a stroke in 1774.
In 1775 he returned
from London to Philadelphia. When he arrived the American Revolution
had begun. In June 1776 he was one of the five members of the
committee that wrote the Declaration of Independence. Gout prevented
him from attending most meetings, but he made some changes to
the manuscript that Thomas Jefferson sent him. In 1776 he went
to France as commisioner for the Americans and he lived in Passy,
Paris. His work was very successful and in 1783 he negotiated
the Treaty of Paris.
His ambassadorship ended in 1785
and once more he went home to Philadelphia. Soon he was elected
president of Pennsylvania, a post comparable to that of governor
now. In 1787 he signed the Constitution of the USA and in 1790
he supported the Quakers who were petitioning for the abolition
of slavery.
Franklin wrote an autobiography between
1771 and 1788. When he died in 1790 his funeral at Christchurch
Burial Ground in Philadelphia was attended by 20,000 people.
Family
• Daughter: Bache, Sarah
Related persons
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• was a friend of Price, Richard
• met Smith, Adam
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