Born: January 17, 1706 in Boston, MA
Died: April 17, 1790 in Philadelphia, PA
Benjamin Franklin was born in Boston to Josiah Franklin, a tallow chandler, and Abiah Folger. He was Josiah’s tenth son and the fifteenth child of seventeen children.
Before his teenage years began, Franklin was apprenticed to his brother James, a printer who published the New England Courant, a newspaper in Boston. He began writing letters under a fictitious name and submitted them to the paper. He also ran the newspaper for a brief period while his brother was in jail. Franklin eventually ran away because he and his brother fought often. He finally arrived in Philadelphia in October of 1723.
Soon after arriving in Philadelphia, his future wife, Deborah Read saw him. They married seven years later in 1730 after Franklin returned to Philadelphia from London, where he went for a brief period for a business opportunity that did not work out.
When Franklin returned to Philadelphia, he obtained work as a printer. He eventually bought a newspaper in 1729 and set up a printing house of his own. From 1730 to 1748 he published The Pennsylvania Gazette, and he contributed many pieces under fictitious names and authored the first political cartoon. His newspaper was quite successful in the colonies.
From 1732 to 1757, he published Poor Richard's Almanack, which he wrote under the name of Richard Saunders. His almanac contained witty aphorisms as well as the typical information found in almanacs, such as weather reports and recipes.
He also wrote his autobiography between 1771 and 1788, which was finally completed for the benefit of mankind due to a request from a friend.
His writings include The Way to Wealth, The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin, Poor Richards Almanack, The Poetry of Minor Connecticut Wits, Writings, On Marriage, and Satires and Bagatelles.
In the early years of America, books were expensive, and many could not afford them. Recognizing that pooling resources would increase their ability to buy books, Franklin and several other members of Junto, a philosophical association, joined together in 1731 to form the first public library in Philadelphia. Subscribers invested money to start the library, and members contributed to the library each year in order to continue purchasing books.
The Library Company began ordering books from London in 1732. The books in the library first included theological and educational works, but literary works on history, geography, science, philosophy, business, politics, and poetry were added later.
Franklin briefly served as the librarian after the first librarian left the position. He also printed the oldest catalog still in existence which dates back to 1941.
The Library Company provided books for delegates to the First and Second Continental Congress and for the delegates of the Constitutional Convention, making it the first Library of Congress. The Library Company was chartered as the Philadelphia Library in 1742.
In 1736, Franklin organized Philadelphia's Union Fire Company, the first volunteer fire department. He later assisted in founding the Philadelphia Contribution for Insurance against Loss by Fire in 1752.
He also served as the first U.S. Postmaster General for several years.
In 1743, he organized a debate club that eventually became the American Philosophical Society, which was the first society of its type in America and was intended to provide a means for men of science to communication their discoveries with each other.
In 1749, he wrote Proposals Relating to the Education of Youth in Pennsylvania. He suggested a curriculum of English and foreign languages, mathematics, and science, which was much different from the classical studies that were more common at that time. This publication led to the establishment of the Academy of Philadelphia in 1751, which later developed into the University of Pennsylvania.
In 1751, he, along with others, established the Pennsylvania Hospital, which was the first hospital in the United States.
Franklin developed ways to diminish the excessive smoking of chimneys and invented the Franklin stove in 1743, which was more heat efficient because it provided more heat while using less fuel.
By 1749, he was able to retire from the printing business and create a partnership with his foreman, which continued to provide him with enough income for the next few years to allow leisure time for more scientific study.
His study of electricity led to his identifying positive and negative electrical charges and to his demonstration that lightning is electrical. He also invented the lightning rod.
His other inventions included the bifocal spectacles, swim fins, and the glass armonica, which is a musical instrument.
For his work in electricity, he was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, and he received the society’s Copley Medal in 1753. The cgs unit of electric charge is named franklin (Fr) after him also. Due to his scientific accomplishments, he also received an honorary degree from the University of Saint Andrews, and he received an honorary doctorate from the University of Oxford and was afterwards known as "Doctor Franklin."
In 1754, Franklin was the delegate from Pennsylvania to the Albany Congress. Franklin also represented the colonies in England and served as an ambassador to France.
In 1775, he served as a delegate to the second Continental Congress and was a member of the committee that drafted the Declaration of Independence, which he signed in 1776. As a member of the 1787 Constitutional Convention, he attended the meetings that produced the U.S. Constitution replacing the Articles of Confederation.
He is the only one of the founding fathers who signed all three major documents establishing the United States of America: The Declaration of Independence, The Treaty of Paris, and the United States Constitution.
"Benjamin Franklin." Wikipedia. Available from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benjamin_Franklin. Accessed 22 November 2004.
"Franklin, Benjamin." Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. Available from http://www.britannica.com/ebc/article?tocId=9364852. Accessed 22 November 2004.
"Franklin, Benjamin." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Alacritude, LLC, 2004. Available from http://www.encyclopedia.com/html/F/FranklinB1.asp. Accessed 22 November 2004.
"Franklin, Benjamin." Microsoft Encarta Online Encyclopedia 2004. Available from http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761576775/Franklin_Benjamin.html. Accessed 22 November 2004.
Independence Hall Association. "Franklin, Benjamin." Available from http://www.ushistory.org/franklin/facts/. Accessed 22 November 2004.
Independence Hall Association. "The Library Company." Available from http://ushistory.org/franklin/philadelphia/library.htm. Accessed 26 November 2004.
This page was created in the Fall semester of 2004 by Courtney McGough as part of the Dead Germans Project and an assignment for The Information Environment (IS 490), a class in the Master of Information Sciences program at The University of Tennessee. If you have comments, questions, or suggestions, contact Courtney McGough.
This page was last updated on 11/26/2004.