He is remembered in American history as a statesman, scientist, philosopher, diplomat, and inventor. Additionally, he is a gifted publisher, musician, businessman, and writer. It is hard to think of an area where Benjamin Franklin did not leave his imprint. He is referred to be “the first American” and a guy for all ages. The $100 bill has Benjamin Franklin’s likeness, and because of his historical significance, many people wrongly believe that he was the country’s first president.
Early life and adolescence
Benjamin was born in Boston into a large family of soap makers. Josiah Franklin, the family’s patriarch, relocated his wife and kids from Britain to America in 1662 out of fear of religious persecution. Early in 1706, a son named Benjamin became the 15th child. He was followed in birth by two additional offspring. Ben was sent to school when he was eight years old, but he was only allowed to attend for two years because his father was unable to afford further schooling. Franklin, at ten years old, assisted his father in the soap business, but despite the long hours of labor, he continued to pursue his education. Benjamin read a lot in the evenings and melted wax for candles and soap during the day. Because he was unable to purchase books, his father had to borrow them from friends and acquaintances.
Ben’s unwillingness to work at the soap store infuriated his parents, but the intelligent son’s desire for knowledge pleased them. The father’s aim of becoming a priest was not something the fifteenth son desired to pursue. Josiah’s oldest son built a printing shop, so he sent the adolescent to him. Twelve-year-old Franklin began working as an apprentice and developed a passion for printing and song composing. Benjamin’s father disapproved of his son’s enthusiasm since he believed poets were destitute, despite his brother printing one ballad.
The responsibility of publishing the newspaper fell to the older brother. Like with the ballads, 16-year-old Benjamin Franklin knew that everything would end with a ban if his father learned that he had started working as a journalist for the publication. Thus, the young man exposed public morals in notes that he made in the form of letters. Readers enjoyed the author’s biting humor (the letters were signed under a pseudonym). However, Ben was expelled by his brother after he discovered who their author was.
After saving enough money for a ticket, Benjamin Franklin fled to Philadelphia and found employment in a printing company. After being seen, the young and astute craftsman was dispatched to London with the directive to purchase machinery and establish a printing business in Philadelphia that would fulfill government requests. Franklin was so fond of the British press that, 10 years later, he started his own newspaper and almanac. Published in Benjamin’s own printing house, the publications generated revenue. After securing a comfortable life for his family, Benjamin Franklin focused his energies on politics and science.
Regulation
The political biography of Benjamin Franklin started in Philadelphia. Here he established a conversation group that became the American Philosophical Society in 1743. America was then an English colony, but thanks to Franklin, the first public library opened its doors in 1731. Benjamin served as the Pennsylvania General Assembly’s secretary for fifteen years before taking over as its leader. First he oversaw the post office in Pennsylvania, and later the post offices throughout the British capital.
Benjamin Franklin served as the thirteen-year representative of four American states in Britain beginning in 1757. The politician and official was elected to the second congress of the continental colonies in 1775. As a member of a team led by Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin created a drawing of the US coat of arms, also known as the Great Seal. Following the Declaration of Independence’s signing in July 1776, the “first American” sent a delegation to Paris in search of assistance for the battle against Great Britain. The French signed the pact up to the winter of 1778, due to Benjamin Franklin, and the able diplomat was left as an envoy in Paris. He became the first American Mason when he joined the “Nine Sisters” Masonic lodge in France.
As a member of an American delegation that traveled to London in the 1780s to negotiate, the politician signed the Treaty of Versailles, which ended the American War of Independence.
Democracy, according to Benjamin Franklin, is “a treaty of rules between well-armed gentlemen.” Long before Adam Smith, he developed and supported the theory of value, designating labor as its unit of measurement rather than money. Benjamin Franklin began writing an autobiography in the early 1770s and continued until 1790, but he never finished it. The politician intended to publish it as an official memoir of his most memorable experiences in the future. The “Autobiography” book was released following Franklin’s passing.
The well-known publications “Discourse on Liberty and Necessity, Pleasure and Pain,” “Necessary Advice to Those Who Would Be Rich,” and “The Path to Abundance” are among the writings of one of the pioneers of the sovereign state. The directors did not overlook the renowned American. The movies “Sons of Liberty,” “John Paul Jones,” and “John Adams” all used scenes from Benjamin Franklin’s life. The most recent movie came out in 2015. Kari Skogland is the director of this miniseries, which tells the story of the United States’ time as a British colony. Dean Norris portrayed Franklin.
Conflict over independence
Benjamin Franklin created a plan for the Union of the colonies during the American Revolutionary War, founded the postal service (becoming Postmaster General), co-wrote the Declaration of Independence, and advised George Washington, the army’s supreme commander.
Franklin traveled to France as the young republic started looking for allies, and he did a fantastic job completing his task there. The first European nation to acknowledge America’s independence was France in 1778.
Science and Inventions
Franklin had a strong interest in science even as a young child. One day, tiny Ben showed up on the beach, strapped with boards around his arms and legs. Using these tools (later dubbed flippers), he defeated his teammates in a race. Benjamin soon again astounded his buddies by making it to the shore with a paper kite. Benefiting from a favorable wind, he collapsed onto the water’s surface on his back and, gripping the rope, dashed across the surface as though beneath a sail.
Benjamin Franklin spent a total of five to six years working in politics and diplomacy, and less of that time was spent on science and scientific investigations. But the scientist accomplished incredible results in a very short amount of time. Benjamin Franklin became an electrical researcher and investigated the propagation of sound in water as well as the thermal conductivity of metals.
The “heavenly fire” that started catastrophic flames during thunderstorms and devastated towns and cities was studied and controlled by the scientists. Benjamin Franklin was dubbed “the new Prometheus” by Immanuel Kant after the lightning rod’s invention drastically decreased the number of fires. The scientist created the law on the conservation of electric charge, suggested adding “plus” and “minus” to electricity, and created streetlight bulbs and flat capacitors.
Individual life
One particular section of the politician’s biography is devoted to his connections with women. The personal life of Benjamin Franklin was colorful; he was regarded as a promiscuous individual who did not value loyalty. Franklin became engaged to Deborah Read, a woman he met in Philadelphia. However, throughout the course of his extended stay in London, the young man developed feelings for the apartment’s landlady’s daughter. William, a son, was his first kid born to his sweetheart. Deborah agreed to accept Benjamin Franklin’s illegitimate kid when he returned to Philadelphia. She was left a straw widow at that point when her spouse ran away from debt.
He had two more children in his common-law marriage to Deborah: a son named Francis who passed away at the age of four from smallpox, and a girl named Sarah. He lived with his common-law spouse for two years, but their relationship did not work out. Benjamin Franklin was a powerful and captivating man who had numerous mistresses. He met the stunning Catherine Ray in Boston in the middle of the 1750s. The love letters between the couple continued until the politician’s final days. He persisted in having an affair with the owner of the home where Franklin and his family resided for a number of years. There are rumors that the landlady and her young niece were the two people with whom the love affair blossomed.
The widow of Helvetius, known as the politician’s last passion, was thirty years old when Benjamin Franklin, then seventy, met her in the late 1770s in Paris. Brion de Jouy was a Parisian. Franklin’s well-known letter from 1745 included advise on matters sexual. It was written by 39-year-old Benjamin to an anonymous buddy. The American Department of State’s archives include a copy of the telegram. In 1926, the letter was published. The youthful lawmaker counseled his companion to select more mature partners and divulged personal information regarding the reasons why mature women are superior to young girls.
Demise
On April 17, 1790, the 84-year-old scientist and statesman passed away. For the funeral of the “first American,” twenty thousand people traveled to Philadelphia (population: 33 thousand).
The demise of the adored Benjamin Franklin was lamented by millions of Americans. Nobody else in the US received such a dignified funeral. The US announced a two-month period of mourning for the departed.