The British Parliament’s passage of the Stamp Act in March 1765 imposed a highly unpopular tax on all printed materials for commercial and legal use in the American colonies. Benjamin Rush is best known for his political activities during the American Revolution, including signing the Declaration of Independence. DOWNLOAD BIOGRAPHY'S BENJAMIN FRANKLIN FACT CARD. Benjamin Franklin was born in Boston on 17 January 1706. Benjamin Franklin was born in Boston, Mass., January 17, 1706, into a Puritan household. The fourth U.S. president, James Madison believed in a robust yet balanced federal government and is known as the "Father of the Constitution.". Benjamin Franklin was one of the Founding Fathers of the United States, an elder statesman, and a signer of the Declaration of Independence; however he was never a president. Ireland Vacation Castles: Where to Stay and What to Tour. Franklin had several serious flirtations in the various countries in which he … Franklin became a member of Philadelphia’s city council in 1748 and a justice of the peace the following year. Franklin’s views on slavery evolved over the following decades to the point that he considered the institution inherently evil, and thus, he freed his enslaved people in the 1760s. In the 1740s, Franklin expanded into science and entrepreneurship. He was influential in the more restrained and thus successful monetary experime… To the French, Franklin is still a major figure and, according to Claude-Anne Lopez: "Many French think he was president of the United States. He spent much of the next two decades in London, where he was drawn to the high society and intellectual salons of the cosmopolitan city. Watch "Benjamin Franklin: Citizen of the World" on HISTORY Vault. Benjamin Franklin died from pleuritic attackat his home in Philadelphia on April 17, 1790, at age 84. George Washington, a Founding Father of the United States, led the Continental Army to victory in the Revolutionary War and was America’s first president. When the New Jersey militia stripped William Franklin of his post as royal governor and imprisoned him in 1776, his father chose not to intercede on his behalf. By 1748, the 42-year-old Franklin had become one of the richest men in Pennsylvania, and he became a soldier in the Pennsylvania militia. Founding universities and libraries, the post office, shaping the foreign policy of the fledgling United States, helping to draft the Declaration of Independence, publishing newspapers, warming us with the Franklin stove, pioneering advances in science, letting us see with bifocals and lighting our way with electricity—all from a man who never finished school but shaped his life through abundant reading and experience, a strong moral compass and an unflagging commitment to civic duty. He coined new electricity-related terms that are still part of the lexicon, such as battery, charge, conductor and electrify. In 1728 he returned to a familiar trade - printing paper currency - in New Jersey before partnering with a friend to open his own print shop in Philadelphia that published government pamphlets and books. A Man to Admire. Franklin was the eighth of Abiah and Josiah’s 10 offspring.Franklin’s formal education was limited and ended when he was 10; however, … When the teenager arrived in England, however, he felt duped when Keith’s letters of introduction never arrived as promised. He joined the Freemasons in 1731 and was eventually elected grand master of the Masons of Pennsylvania. Franklin served as president of the Pennsylvania Society for Promoting the Abolition of Slavery and wrote many tracts urging the abolition of slavery. Between 1785-1789, Benjamin, works with his Vice President, Thomas Jefferson, to create close ties to the Kingdom of France, while Britain is pushed further away, leading to an earlier (1812) war. He served as that president for three years. By that time, he had formed the “Junto,” a social and self-improvement study group for young men that met every Friday to debate morality, philosophy and politics. Franklin’s father, English-born soap and candlemaker Josiah Franklin, had seven children with first wife, Anne Child, and 10 more with second wife, Abiah Folger. However, he played an important role as one of eight Founding Fathers, helping draft the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution. Benjamin Franklin was 82 years old at this time, and, at that time, it was already known who our first president would be. A self-taught swimmer who crafted his own wooden flippers, Franklin performed long-distance swims on the Thames River. People didn't typically seek the office in that time. Benjamin Franklin: Benjamin Franklin was born on January 17, 1706, in Boston, Massachusetts and died on April 17, 1790, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. International Ladies’ Man. Shortly after the United States declared independence in 1776, the future … (Franklin later repudiated this thought and burned all but one copy of the pamphlet still in his possession.). Encouraged by Pennsylvania Governor William Keith to set up his own print shop, Franklin left for London in 1724 to purchase supplies from stationers, booksellers and printers. Franklin left the Continental Congress to become president of Pennsylvania's constitutional convention in 1776. He turned his printing business over to a partner to give himself more time to conduct scientific experiments. His presidency was one of his last acts of public service, and he died less than two years after leaving office. Franklin helped to draft the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution, and he negotiated the 1783 Treaty of Paris ending the Revolutionary War. Since Franklin purchased stamps for his printing business and nominated a friend as the Pennsylvania stamp distributor, some colonists thought Franklin implicitly supported the new tax, and rioters in Philadelphia even threatened his house. Although he was never elected to a federal office, historians regard him as the president who was never president and the most influential of the founding fathers. Franklin's Transformation as an Abolitionist: Efforts to Refine Blacks in Colonial America. (In 1968, he was inducted as an honorary member of the International Swimming Hall of Fame. In 1752, Franklin conducted the famous kite-and-key experiment to demonstrate that lightning was electricity and soon after invented the lightning rod. Benjamin Franklin died a little over a year later, therefore, he never had the opportunity to be nominated for president. He bequeathed most of his estate to Sarah and very little to his son William, whose opposition to the patriot cause still stung him. His father, Josiah Franklin (1657-1745), a native of England, was a candle and soap maker who married twice and had 17 children. His second stay was the last time the couple saw each other. Franklin served as the country’s first U.S. Postmaster General in 1775. He is best known as the only Founding Father who signed all three documents that freed America from Britain. After voting for independence in 1776, Franklin was elected commissioner to France, making him essentially the first U.S. ambassador to France. https://www.biography.com/scholar/benjamin-franklin. Benjamin Franklin was America’s scientist, inventor, politician, philanthropist and business man. He escaped to New York before settling in Philadelphia and began working with another printer. He also donated money that funded scholarships, schools and museums in Boston and Philadelphia. After Franklin returned to Philadelphia in 1726, he discovered that Deborah had married in the interim, only to be abandoned by her husband just months after the wedding. One is Benjamin Franklin and … Benjamin Franklin (January 17, 1706 – April 17, 1790) was one a signer of the US Constitution of 1787, Declaration of Independence, and Paris Peace Commission. read more Franklin’s mother was Abiah Folger (1667-1752) of Nantucket, Massachusetts, Josiah’s second wife. After Franklin lost his seat in the Pennsylvania Assembly in 1764, he returned to London as the colony’s agent. ), In 1725 Franklin published his first pamphlet, "A Dissertation upon Liberty and Necessity, Pleasure and Pain," which argued that humans lack free will and, thus, are not morally responsible for their actions. His investigations into electrical phenomena were compiled into “Experiments and Observations on Electricity,” published in England in 1751. Benjamin Franklin's reputation for invention and inventiveness looms large in our national imagination: Franklin stoves, Poor Richard's Almanac, bifocals, and of course that whole key and kite experiment. His scientific pursuits included investigations into electricity, mathematics and mapmaking. Prior to the American Revolution, Benjamin Franklin lived in London as head of the Pennsylvania delegation to England, according to the Benjamin Franklin House. He moved into a new house in 1748. In 1729 Franklin published another pamphlet, "A Modest Enquiry into The Nature and Necessity of a Paper Currency," which advocated for an increase in the money supply to stimulate the economy. Franklin’s later support for the patriot cause put him at odds with his loyalist son. If you see something that doesn't look right, contact us! And it was his adept diplomacy that led to the Treaty of Paris in 1783, which ended the Revolutionary War. Benjamin Franklin is best known as one of the Founding Fathers who never served as president but was a respected inventor, publisher, scientist and diplomat. Franklin was his 15th child and youngest son. Although James mistreated and frequently beat his younger brother, Franklin learned a great deal about newspaper publishing and adopted a similar brand of subversive politics under the printer’s tutelage. Benjamin Franklin never served as the President of the United States. A common mistake made by many is the assumption that Benjamin Franklin was President of the United States. Benjamin Franklin never served as the President of the United States. Five men to draft the Declaration of Independence and the Biography logo are registered trademarks of a & Television... 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