The man known to history as Doctor Benjamin
Franklin was born on the 17th of January 1706 in Boston, the capital of the Massachusetts
Bay Colony, in a small, two-room house. His father was Josiah Franklin born in 1657
in the Northhamptonshire village of Ecton, in England, to a working-class, protestant
family who for generations were known for their intelligence, creativity, and independent
thinking. Being a younger son, Josiah left Ecton in
the 1670s to make his way in the world, moving to the Oxfordshire town of Banbury to work
as a silk and cloth dyer. After noticing that many protestants were
sailing to Massachusetts, Josiah realized that the opportunities available in America
were greater than anything he could ever have in England. So, in 1683, he and his wife, Anne Child,
and their three children sailed to Boston. Josiah became a tallow chandler, making candles
and soap from animal fat, because there was little need for a dyer in the colony. Anne, his first wife, died after the birth
of their seventh child in 1689. Josiah soon found a "virtuous woman" to be
his second wife. Abiah Folger, born in 1667, was the daughter
of Peter and Mary Folger and the youngest of ten children. Her parents were Flemish Protestants whose
families had fled to England in the sixteenth century. Because of their harsh treatment during the
reign of Charles I they decided to emigrate to Boston in 1635. Josiah and Abiah married in 1689. Abiah would bring Josiah another ten children,
with Benjamin being the youngest boy. Benjamin proved to be a precocious child who
many agreed was quote "generally the leader among the boys." He loved to play along the banks of the Charles
River and swim, sometimes experimenting with makeshift propellors so he could move faster
through the water. He also loved to fly kites and once combined
his love of swimming with his love of kites by setting a kite to fly on a windy day over
a pond while floating on his back to let the wind pull him across the water. His family believed in education, so they
taught him to read at an early age. To help educate his children further, Josiah
often had a "sensible friend or neighbor" over for dinner and conversations always included
some "ingenious or useful topic for discourse… to improve the minds of his children." Benjamin loved these dinner conversations. To prepare him to possibly attend Harvard,
Josiah sent Benjamin at age eight to the Boston Latin School. Benjamin made rapid progress, rising to the
top of his class and quickly moving to the next grade level. However, he was taken out of school one year
later when Josiah realized that Benjamin was not suited for the clergy because of his clever
mind and rebellious nature. So, he sent Benjamin to study writing and
arithmetic for a year at an academy run by George Brownell. Josiah took ten-year-old Benjamin out of school
to work in the chandler's shop to help support the family. Benjamin hated working over the boiling cauldrons
of smelly animal fat and resented the tedious task of cutting wicks. He once expressed his wish to go to sea which
his father resoundingly refused him. Realizing he had to find a trade for his son,
Josiah took him on a tour of the city's craftsmen. These tours instilled in Benjamin a life-long
respect for tradesman and offered him insight into skills he would later use as a scientist. At age 12, after finding nothing to his liking,
Benjamin began an apprenticeship with his brother James, age 21, who had recently returned
from England after completing his apprenticeship as a printer. Benjamin soon realized he had found his life's
calling. Few would dispute that Benjamin Franklin personifies
the Age of Enlightenment, an era of intense societal and scientific change. After almost two centuries of religious wars
because of the Protestant Reformation, starting in 1517 when the Augustinian monk Martin Luther
protested the corruption he saw within the Catholic Church, the people of Europe were
tired of constant religious hatred and looked for answers outside of religion to explain
how their world worked. The resulting Scientific Revolution was propelled
forward by the invention of the printing press by Johannes Gutenberg in 1440. This revolution of ideas laid the foundation
for the Age of Enlightenment. During this time, great philosophers such
as René Descartes, Thomas Hobbes, John Locke, David Hume, and Voltaire actively questioned
societal values and sought answers through human logic. Scientific exploration and discovery also
excelled during this period. Every day newspapers were filled with mentions
of new scientific or technological innovations from the likes of Francis Bacon, Sir Isaac
Newton, John Bartram, Gottfried Wilhelm and Leibniz. Benjamin Franklin was born into this world
of free-flowing ideas and embraced it wholeheartedly. While it may seem strange to us to say that
Benjamin Franklin began his adult life at age twelve, it was common at this time for
young people to begin training for a trade early. Benjamin initially resented the idea of being
bound to his brother for nine years. However, he soon realized that working in
the printer's shop meant he had access to not only newspapers, but also books, pamphlets,
and other writings as well as the opportunity to interact with some of the most powerful
people in their society through the printing of government documents, reports, legal forms,
and legal tender. Benjamin learned fast and soon became proficient
at typesetting and other printing tasks. He also worked hard to improve himself by
reading anything available to him. To refine his writing style, he practiced
by copying essay samples such as those found in the British publication The Spectator. He also liked to debate. He and a co-worker, John Collins, once argued
the question of the benefits of educating women spurred on by Benjamin's reading of
Daniel Defoe's An Essay upon Projects which discussed this issue. He learned that subtlety rather than direct
attacks in debate, through tactics promoted by Socrates and others, worked best. All of these experiences taught Benjamin skills
that he would use later in life. Benjamin initially worked on The Boston Gazette,
which was owned by William Brooker, but operated by James Franklin, Benjamin's brother. After two years of working for Brooker, James
launched his own paper, the weekly New England Courant, in 1721. This tract not only reported the news, but
also promoted literary writing and soon gained a reputation for being boldly independent. Since his brother always needed copy, Benjamin
decided to take his writing practice and put it to good use. So he wrote an essay, disguising his handwriting
and using the pseudonym, Silence Dogood, a widow. Once finished, he slid his essay under the
printshop's door. The staff were so excited by the essay that
they published it in the Monday, 2nd of April 1722 edition of the Courant. This was Benjamin's first published essay. Surprisingly, this sixteen-year-old boy managed
to channel a woman's view to perfection as she talked about her mixed feelings regarding
getting remarried, the need for alms for spinsters, and other political and societal issues. Benjamin wrote a total of fourteen Silence
Dogood essays before he was caught in October. Her success helped fuel Benjamin's pride. It also infuriated his brother. That summer Benjamin had another opportunity
to show his mettle when his brother James spent three weeks in jail without trial after
publicly questioning the government's efforts to control piracy. This left Benjamin in charge of the printshop. In spite of his tender age, he published three
editions of the Courant. James found himself in trouble again in early
1723 when he wrote an article on hypocrisy in religion. Although Silence Dogood managed to get away
with writing on a similar topic with her prudish, almost naïve voice, James' direct tone offended
government and religious officials. The General Court ordered James Franklin to
cease publishing the Courant. To get around this little problem they removed
James' name on the masthead as the printer and put Benjamin's in its place. If their relationship had been fraught before
this, with James' nasty temper and periodic beatings of Benjamin, it became even more
so after Benjamin demonstrated just how talented he was. It did not help that to make this masthead
change to their paper, they had to release Benjamin from his indenture agreement early,
only to turn around later to create a new one. Benjamin chafed at this. With only a few years left in his indenture,
he decided to run away. He sold some of his personal books to raise
money for travel fare and secretly booked passage on a ship to New York which sailed
on the 25th of September 1723. Once in New York, Benjamin met the sole printer
in the city, William Bradford, who had written editorials that supported James Franklin's
efforts to address political and social problems in Boston. He had no job for Benjamin, but he suggested
that he continue on to Philadelphia to inquire of his son, Andrew Bradford, also a printer. Benjamin quickly made his way to Philadelphia
and met with the younger Bradford. Although Andrew also had no work for him,
he suggested that he talk with the other printer in town, Samuel Keimer, who did have an opening. Happy to have found work, Benjamin soon made
friends with the other clerks in the shop. He also made a strong impression on important
clients. One fateful meeting was with Sir William Keith,
then governor of Pennsylvania. Governor Keith was impressed by the young
man's pluck and took an interest in his future. During conversations over meals at local taverns
and invitations to dinner at his home, he promised Benjamin help in reconciling him
to his family and in setting up his own shop. In April 1724, Benjamin went home to Boston
to visit his family with a letter from the governor in hand encouraging Josiah to finance
his son's new business venture. While proud of his son, Josiah chose not to
provide financial support. During this visit, Benjamin met with Cotton
Mather. The religious sage had learned of Benjamin's
recent success in Philadelphia and his bravado around Boston. He decided to invite Benjamin over to review
his large library. How could Benjamin refuse? During this visit, while they traveled through
a narrow hall in the home, Mather suddenly shouted, "Stoop! Stoop!" Benjamin not understanding the warning wacked
his head on a low beam. While Benjamin rubbed his sore head, Mather
said, "Let this be a caution to you not always to hold your head so high. Stoop, young man, stoop—as you go through
this world—and you'll miss many hard lumps." Benjamin soon learned what Mather had hoped
to teach him. When Benjamin returned to Philadelphia, he
met with Governor Keith. Upon learning that Josiah refused to provide
money for Benjamin to start a printing shop of his own, the governor declared that he
would do it, but first Benjamin had to go to London to purchase supplies. He promised to provide a list of required
materials and a letter of credit. Benjamin assumed all would be well. Yet, in November 1724, he found himself sailing
to England without these papers. All he had was a fellow printing clerk, James
Ralph, for companionship. They arrived in London on Christmas Eve. He now understood Mather's warning. Luckily, a fellow passenger befriended Benjamin. His name was Thomas Denham, a Quaker merchant. It was from Denham that he learned about Governor
Keith's character. With advice from Denham, Benjamin resolved
to make the best of a bad situation. He found an inexpensive place to live and
landed a printing job at the printing house of Samuel Palmer. Ralph on the other hand tried several professions,
all a dismal failure, but they had fun on Benjamin's income attending the theatre and
other entertainments. They eventually had a falling out over a girl. During his time in London, Benjamin's ideas
about life began to solidify. After reading William Wollaston's The Religion
of Nature Delineated, he had a revelation. Wollaston explained that the only way to understand
God's divine character was to study science and nature. Benjamin agreed. He would eventually become a nominal Deist,
where followers believed in a divine being who established the world and then saw fit
to just let it manage itself afterwards. Yet, Benjamin stood apart from that belief
because he realized that all organized religions served as a medium for encouraging people
to do good works to help others. Benjamin moved to a better job with better
pay at John Watt's printing house and began to feel safe in his new life. Yet, when Denham told Benjamin he planned
to return to Philadelphia and wanted to make him his clerk at his store there, Benjamin
decided to take the offer. One reason was that Denham provided a good
example of how to conduct oneself that Benjamin wanted to model. For example, before they left for America,
Denham threw a lavish dinner for his creditors. During the meal he thanked them profusely
for their assistance and at the end of the meal asked them to look under their dinner
plates. There they found their payments with interest. This impressed Benjamin. On the voyage back to America in July 1726,
Benjamin resolved to live a more effective life through better behavior. He had seen, through Ralph's and other's behaviors,
how people can be led astray by not controlling their desires and emotions. Thus, he established four rules of conduct,
summarized as: first, to live frugally and pay all debts; second, to only speak the truth;
third, to work hard, as industry and patience were the only way to true prosperity; and
fourth, to speak ill of no one. About ten years later he would more formally
codify these ideas through what he called "The Plan for Attaining Moral Perfection." The plan contained twelve virtues:
“TEMPERANCE: Eat not to dullness; drink not to elevation, SILENCE: Speak not but what
may benefit others or yourself; avoid trifling conversation, ORDER: Let all of your things
have their places; let each part of your business have its time, RESOLUTION: Resolve to perform
what you ought; perform without fail what you resolve, FRUGALITY: Make no expense but
to do good to others or yourself; i.e., waste nothing, INDUSTRY: Lose no time; be always
employ'd in something useful; cut off all unnecessary actions, SINCERITY: Use no hurtful
deceit; think innocently and justly; and, if you speak, speak accordingly, JUSTICE:
Wrong none, by doing injuries or omitting the Benefits that are your duty, MODERATION:
Avoid extremes; forbear resenting injuries so much as you think they deserve, CLEANLINESS:
Tolerate no uncleanliness in body, clothes, or habitation, TRANQUILITY: Be not disturbed
at trifles, or at accidents common or unavoidable, CHASTITY: Rarely use Venery or sexual indulgence
but for Health or Offspring, Never to Dullness, Weakness, or the Injury of your own or another's
Peace or Reputation. He purchased a little book to track his daily
progress. He dutifully reviewed his conduct each evening,
marking those virtues where he slipped during the day and resolved to work on those faults
the next day. He would refer to his little book for the
remainder of his life. He later admitted that ORDER gave him the
most trouble. One time he showed the little book to a Quaker
friend who remarked that Benjamin had forgotten to add an important virtue that he was often
guilty of violating. Benjamin quickly added a thirteenth virtue,
HUMILITY, with the goal to "Imitate Jesus and Socrates." Benjamin loved working as a merchant and was
good at it. However, disaster struck when Denham died
suddenly and did not leave Benjamin the shop in his will which meant he had to obtain work. In 1727, he found himself back working for
Keimer, but this time as a manager. Benjamin had numerous successes including
creating the first foundry in American for casting printer type molds. When the New Jersey Assembly awarded Keimer
the account to create new paper money, Keimer selected Benjamin to do the work. A year later Benjamin joined a coworker, Hugh
Meredith, in establishing his own printing house. At this time, Benjamin also began his life-long
endeavor to be civically minded. His first effort was to create what he called
the Leather Apron Club, but most called it the Junto. This group consisted of fellow tradesmen who
wanted to improve themselves through reading and intellectual conversation on matters of
the day. Being fond of creating procedures, Benjamin
wrote a list of twenty questions to serve as the foundation of their conversations such
as "Have you lately observed any encroachments on the just liberties of the people?" or "Have you lately heard of any citizen's
thriving well, and by what means?" These conversations became the inspiration
for "public-service" ideas that led to the founding of the first subscription library
in America, known as The Library Company of Philadelphia, 1731 which still exists today,
the development of a volunteer fire force, the Union Fire Company, 1736, and the creation
of the Academy of Philadelphia 1751, renamed the University of Pennsylvania in 1791. These were only a handful of their many civic
pursuits. As one of three printers in town, Benjamin
had to make his mark. He used his talents by writing under the pseudonyms
Martha Careful and Celia Shortface and wrote his Busy-Body Essays. After a year of stiff competition, Keimer
finally folded. Benjamin bought him out and became the owner
and publisher of the Pennsylvania Gazette in October 1729. Benjamin continued to write essays. One of his most famous was the "Apology for
Printers," published in 1731, in which he expressed a clear defense of free speech in
the press. It was obvious he had learned some important
lessons from his brother James' experiences. To this day it is considered one of the most
important arguments in support of freedom of the press. This essay got the attention of the Pennsylvania
Assembly which brought more business his way. He was soon asked to join the Freemasons as
well, which he did in 1731. Officially successful, Benjamin renewed the
friendship he had with Deborah Read before he had sailed for England. She had married in the interim to a rogue,
John Rogers, who abandoned her leaving a trail of debt behind him. Because they did not know if Rogers was still
alive, they resolved the situation by pursuing a common law marriage which they consummated
in September 1730. It proved to be a fruitful and positive marriage
for both. Benjamin called her his "good and faithful
helpmate." Around this time a surprise appeared in the
form of an illegitimate child fathered by Benjamin, named William Franklin, born sometime
between April 1730 and 1731, the date is uncertain. The mother of this child has never been disclosed. Benjamin took responsibility for the child
and Deborah accepted serving as the baby's surrogate mother. Although some think she may have been his
mother, we will never know for sure. Deborah did give Benjamin two children of
their own. Only one grew to adulthood, Sarah, born in
1743. Their son Francis was born in 1732 but died
four years later of smallpox. His death haunted Benjamin for the rest of
his life because he had considered inoculating his child but had not found the time to do
it. Benjamin also continued to contemplate the
meaning of life. Through Deism and his life experiences he
concluded that there was a clear connection between serving his fellow man and honoring
God. He manifested this idea through actions that
filled a community need, such as those mentioned earlier in the civic pursuits achieved by
Benjamin and the Junto. He also saw no contradiction with this belief
while building his media empire. His first step in this effort was to publish
an annual almanack, which was a popular way to provide information about seasonal weather
predictions for the coming year and advice on topics ranging from marriage and wealth
to friendship. If done right, it could serve the public good
by providing useful advice that could make life more pleasant and productive for everyone. He wrote it under the pseudonym of Richard
Saunders. The first edition of Poor Richard's Almanack
was published in 1732 and ran for another twenty-five years. Through this medium, he wrote some of his
most famous maxims such as: "Early to bed, early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy,
and wise;" "God helps them who help themselves;" and "He that lies down with dogs shall rise
up with fleas." It proved to be incredibly profitable. His increase in wealth and prominence helped
him acquire two key government posts that pulled him even deeper into governmental affairs. In 1736, the Pennsylvania Assembly chose Benjamin
to serve as its clerk. It not only provided a healthy monetary income,
but also put him in contact with the leaders of the day and provided him with a front row
seat to the workings of government. The next year, Benjamin was offered the commission
to be Philadelphia's postmaster. Again, a lucrative governmental position that
served the public good. Always one to enjoy good conversation with
an open flow of ideas, Benjamin made a proposal to create what could be considered "an intercolonial
Junto". In May 1743, he published a circular entitled,
"A Proposal for Promoting Useful Knowledge Among the British Plantations in America." He explained the concept in detail emphasizing
that because he served as both postmaster and printer, he could function as the collector
of ideas. Basically, scientists and intellectuals could
send their reports to him through the post, and he could create a booklet of abstracts
of these ideas that could be sent out regularly to all members. That way the great minds of America could
share their ideas amongst one another. He suggested a name for this new group: the
American Philosophical Society. It began meeting in the spring of 1744 but
was slow to start. However, eventually it became very active
and continues publication to today. Ever since the British and French first settled
the North American continent they had vied for the support of Native Americans. This led to a series of four wars, King William's
War in 1688 to 1698, Queen Anne's War in 1702 to 1713, King George's War in1744 to1748,
and the Seven Years' War in 1754 to1763. Each had a European component to varying degrees. Although there had been little action directly
in Pennsylvania there was a growing concern for those settlers out on the far western
portions of the colony. What made things worse were two main factors:
Quakers who refused to bear arms due to their religious convictions and a proprietary governor
who prevented the Assembly from taxing the governor's lands in order to raise funds to
equip the militia. During the King George's War, in 1747, Benjamin
stepped into the fray by making a radical suggestion. He proposed, through a pamphlet entitled,
"Plain Truth," to create a military force that would be independent of the Pennsylvania
colonial government. He stated also that this new militia would
run democratically with no class distinctions. Officers would be elected by the men, not
appointed based upon wealth and status or by a government official. He received a positive response. To furnish this new "Military Association"
with cannons and related equipment, he organized a lottery that raised £3,000. Although this "association" never saw action,
the incident had a profound effect in America by teaching Americans that they should look
to themselves rather than the British government in times of need. Benjamin also made a lasting enemy in the
colony's proprietor, Thomas Penn. In 1748, Benjamin had become financially secure
enough that he could launch into a new phase of his life as a retired tradesman with time
now to explore his other interests, what he called his "scientific amusements." He turned over the operation of his printing
house to his foreman David Hall but continued to own it and many of his other business ventures. It was a smooth transition because he had
already used his newspaper and almanack as platforms to discuss natural phenomenon for
years. He also always took the lessons in humility
learned earlier in life and applied them to his scientific pursuits. His goal was to make any discoveries useful
to someone and he rarely took credit or applied for a patent. He did his work for the common good. In 1743, Benjamin had an auspicious meeting. Dr. Archibald Spencer from Scotland came to
Boston to present his traveling scientific show when Benjamin happened to be visiting
family. Benjamin attended. Although the whole show fascinated him, what
caught his attention most was the rubbing of a glass tube leading to the creation of
electrical sparks that the demonstrator could pull out for several feet. When Dr. Spencer came to Philadelphia in 1747,
he inquired of the Doctor and asked how he could also acquire a similar glass tube. He soon ordered the equipment through his
contact in London, Peter Collinson, as well as contracting Philadelphia craftsmen to make
particular pieces of equipment. With the key equipment in hand, Benjamin began
experiments with electricity in earnest. He soon learned that the glass jars did not
create the spark, but only collected it. He theorized that there must be negative and
positive charges that either pulled things together or repelled them based upon the charge. He then experimented with materials and their
level of conductivity. He found that a sharp pointed piece of metal
drew the spark, but a blunt one did not draw a charge as effectively and, if grounded,
it did not charge at all. He then began experiments to capture and store
electricity using glass jars, called Leyden jars after the Dutch town where they were
first created. He covered the outside of the jars with metal
foil, but inside there was lead, water, or metal with the glass serving as insulation. He used wire to charge the interior contents. What he learned was that if the interior content
was charged then the outside foil had an equal and opposite charge. He discovered that it was the glass that stored
the electricity, not the contents or the metal foil. So, he took this a step further and stacked
small pieces of glass, edged them with metal, and wired them together creating what today
we call the electric battery. In 1749, he noticed that these electrical
sparks and lightening had at least twelve similar attributes. He wondered if lightening was really a form
of electricity. Up to this point no one had proven it. He thought of a way one might prove it and
wrote his thoughts down in two letters he sent to Collinson who then forwarded these
to the Royal Society in London. The Society published his letters in The Gentleman's
Magazine in 1750. These letters were translated into French
two years later. Benjamin became an international sensation
when in 1752 Comte de Buffon and Thomas-Francois D'Alibard led a group of scientists in a demonstration
of this experiment in front of the French King Louis XV. It worked! Benjamin later tried this experiment himself
with his famous kite and key experiment. This discovery led to the creation of the
lightening rod which protects tall buildings from damage caused by lightning strikes and
is still used today. Benjamin would be the first person living
outside of Britain to be awarded the gold Copley Medal for this achievement in 1753. Harvard and Yale Universities also awarded
him honorary degrees. Benjamin continued to impact science and technological
developments in numerous ways including experiments in heat conduction and smoke control through
the invention of the Franklin Stove in 1741, a flexible medical catheter in 1752, a musical
instrument called the Armonica in 1762, and bifocal eyeglasses in 1785. He also discovered what today we call the
Gulf Stream during his many voyages to and from Europe. Benjamin also achieved on the political front
as well. In 1751, he was elected to the Pennsylvania
Assembly. His son William replaced him as clerk. As part of the assembly, he was able to get
bills passed not only to pave the streets of Philadelphia, but to also install streetlamps
as well. His inventiveness helped to solve a tricky
problem by creating streetlamp covers that helped to vent the smoke from the lamp so
the smoke would not cloud the glass. He also modified the traditional design into
a system of four panes of glass that permitted easy replacement of broken sections. In addition, in 1753, he became joint postmaster,
with William Hunter, for all of the American colonies. Tensions continued to escalate on the frontier
between the Native Americans and the western settlers. Hoping to deflate tensions, the Assembly sent
a delegation to talk with tribal leaders near the village of Carlisle in 1753. Benjamin was appointed to serve as one of
three commissioners to attend this meeting. Although they heard the Native American leaders'
complaints, nothing really came of this except the realization that something had to change. They knew war was coming. Also anticipating trouble, London asked the
colonies to send representatives to a conference in Albany, New York in June 1754 not only
to negotiate terms for an alliance with the Iroquois Confederacy, but to also determine
ways to provide a unified colonial defense. Benjamin was selected as one of four Pennsylvania
commissioners to this meeting. Benjamin had already come to a similar conclusion
because of his experience in the last war. During his travels north, he created what
became known as the Albany Plan of Union. In it he encouraged the creation of a colonial
congress consisting of representatives from each of the colonies with representation proportioned
upon population size and prosperity of the colony. To run this congress would be a leader called
the President General who would be appointed by the King of England. Benjamin even drew up an emblem for this idea. It was a snake cut into eight pieces representing
the colonies with a caption that read "Join or Die." He published this in his newspaper on the
9th of May 1754, the same month the Seven Years' War began. It was one of the first political cartoons
ever created. In a vote during the Albany Conference his
idea was voted down because many colonial governments did not want to relinquish their
independent power. Yet, the idea did not disappear. The relationships between the Quakers, the
Proprietors or owners of the colonies, and the Pennsylvania Assembly had not changed
much since the last war, with fundraising through taxation going nowhere. When General Edward Braddock arrived in the
colonies to head up the British campaign, he demanded supplies. Benjamin, eager to help, declared that Pennsylvania
would rise to the occasion, only to find himself soon responsible for acquiring the much-needed
supplies. Although he had to practically beg and barter,
even offering his own personal bond, to procure the supplies, he managed to pull it off. He received a commendation for his efforts,
but at a tremendous cost. After Braddock was ambushed and killed the
following year, Benjamin was almost ruined by the amount of loans he had incurred. If the new British General in charge, William
Shirley, had not bailed him out, Benjamin would have lost everything. Desperate for money, the Assembly begged the
Pennsylvania proprietor to permit the taxation of his properties to raise funds for the war
effort, only to be haughtily refused. Eventually, a deal was worked out with Thomas
Penn, the proprietor, that he would supplement £5,000 to whatever the Assembly raised. Benjamin's response to this token effort was
to say, "Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety
deserve neither liberty nor safety." Benjamin never forgave the proprietor's act
of selfishness and became an ardent opponent of the Penn family. Now with funding in hand, the Pennsylvania
Assembly had to raise troops, so they resurrected Benjamin's Militia Plan. Benjamin donned a military uniform and spent
his fiftieth birthday in a military camp with his son William. He soon found himself elected colonel of the
regiment. Since he felt uncomfortable in that role and
because politically it made him a threat to the proprietors, he chose to resign his commission. In response, the Pennsylvania Assembly had
another role for Benjamin to play. They chose to send him to London to serve
as their agent. His mission was to convince the proprietors
to permit taxation of their colonial properties. If that failed, he was ordered to request
assistance from the British government. He set sail with his son to England in June
1757. Once he had arrived in London, Benjamin took
time to visit important contacts like Collinson and William Strahan, Through these visits
he would make the acquaintance of people who would become life-long friends such as Dr.
John Fothergill, a prominent physician, Sir John Pringle, a moral philosopher and physician,
Joseph Priestley, a fellow scientist who wrote a history of electricity and who would isolate
oxygen, and Jonathan Shipley, the Bishop of St. Asaph. He also mixed and mingled with the elite through
various social and scholarly clubs such as the Fellows of the Royal Society and The Club
of the Honest Whigs. Since he was there on urgent Assembly business,
he met with key officials such as Lord Grenville, the president of the Privy Council, and the
Pennsylvania proprietors. He soon discovered that the British saw the
colonies not as partners in a greater British empire, which was how Benjamin saw them, but
more as vassals there to do the government's bidding. His meeting with Lord Grenville, for example,
was an exposé of condescension making it clear to Benjamin that the role of the colonial
assemblies was to follow dictates from England. His meeting with the Penns was initially cordial
as each party used the opportunity to feel each other out. However, when they met in January 1758 the
conversation was explosive. Any influence Benjamin had before this evaporated
after this meeting. As a result, Benjamin used his time in England
to provide inside information to his colleagues in the colonies so they would know what to
expect. In November 1758, Benjamin received notice
of a final response from the Penns. In it they stated that the assembly had no
power beyond advice and consent. They also said they did not want to work with
Benjamin anymore. His response, however, was to suggest to the
Assembly that he use his time in London to attempt to pull Pennsylvania away from the
Penn family, transferring control to the Crown as other colonies had done. He said he would use the proprietor's lax
actions regarding Native American affairs and their insistence of having their way over
the needs of the Empire as leverage. His allies in the Assembly told him to stay
and fight. During his time in England, Benjamin took
the opportunity to travel during the summers as much as he could. One of his first trips was to visit Ecton
and its environs with his son William to do some genealogical exploration. He then travelled through northern England
into Scotland. There, he received an honorary degree from
the University of St. Andrews in 1759. From this point forward, he was known as Doctor
Franklin. Three years later he received an honorary
doctorate from Oxford and in 1761, he visited France and Holland and was treated like a
celebrity everywhere he went because of his scientific exploits. During all of these travels, he met numerous
intellectuals of the day including the economist Adam Smith and the philosopher David Hume. Before Benjamin left England in 1762, he wrote
an important pamphlet "The Interest of Great Britain Considered with Regard to Her Colonies,"
which outlined why Britain must keep Canada within the British empire rather than return
it to France when the current war ended. He also managed to get a royal appointment
for his son William, serving as the new Royal Governor of New Jersey. What he had not anticipated was, like father
like son, William had sired an illegitimate child named William Temple Franklin, known
to family as Temple. Benjamin would take on the responsibility
of rearing this child. Benjamin was not home in Philadelphia long
before controversy over proprietary rights broke out again. Infuriated by the poor defense their region
had received during the war, several western settlers attacked groups of Christianized
Native Americans. The "Paxton Boys," as they came to be known,
moved towards Philadelphia with the intent of killing more Native Americans and any whites
protecting them. The government panicked. Eventually, the government sent a delegation
to meet with the "Boys." The delegation managed to get them to see
reason and pull back from their attack. Afterwards Benjamin wanted the government
to hold the members of this mob accountable, but they refused. In fact, they encouraged the mob to take Native
American scalps and receive a bounty. Benjamin was horrified. Benjamin again attacked proprietary rights
and their refusal to contribute to expenses for defense. In March 1764, he wrote a series of resolutions
calling for the end of the ineffectual proprietary government and even started a petition drive
to do so. The Assembly voted to return Benjamin to England
to work towards ending the proprietorship and creating a more equitable relationship
with England, possibly getting a representative for all of the colonies in Parliament. He left for England in November 1764. Benjamin arrived in London unaware that a
new storm was brewing. The British government had determined that
if the colonials could not pay for their own protection against the Native Americans and
the French, then they would have to be taxed in order to pay for the expense. In March 1765, Parliament passed the Stamp
Act to raise funds for this military protection. Benjamin, hoping to keep on good terms with
the government, calculated badly by suggesting his good friend John Hughes be appointed the
tax collector in Pennsylvania. What he did not know was that mob violence
had already broken out all over the colonies and some began to see Benjamin as the agent
of their troubles and not only attacked Hughes, but also threatened to attack Benjamin's home,
but were beaten back by friends. These events led some Americans to begin to
question their place within the British empire, galvanizing their thinking as Americans, not
Britains. In England, Benjamin was slow to pick up on
the growing tensions back home. He desperately wanted his precious Pennsylvania
to remain within the greater British Empire, but the question was how? With careful prodding by friends back in America,
he refocused his efforts to try to get an American representative in Parliament. On the 13th of February 1766, he got the chance
to present his case. His moderate presentation convinced many in
Parliament that they should revoke the Stamp Act. In the colonies he was seen as the most effective
spokesperson they had so he became not only the agent for Pennsylvania, but also Georgia,
New Jersey, and eventually Massachusetts. Yet, he did not have long to celebrate because
the British then imposed the Townshend Act, in June 1767, which taxed imports into the
American colonies. Benjamin tried to take the middle ground,
but his actions led some people back home to believe he was a loyalist, doing the government's
bidding. Yet, the British saw him as "too American." Things came to a head when he finally received
word that Parliament rejected his petition to end proprietary rule of Pennsylvania. As he floundered, he also feared things were
about to explode back home. It did on the 5th of March 1770, when a little
skirmish in Boston changed everything. Today, we call it the Boston Massacre. Although this led to the repeal of the Townshend
duties on everything but tea, tensions remained high. In 1773, Benjamin wrote several satirical
pieces in an attempt to defuse tensions. The essay "Rules by Which a Great Empire May
be Reduced to a Small One" tried to explain the American perspective to the British people. "Whenever the injured come to the capital
with complaints," he wrote, "they punish such suitors with long delay, enormous expense,
and a final judgement in favor of the oppressor." In another more famous piece, "An Edict by
the King of Prussia," he took on the voice of the King of Prussia who argued that since
Germans previously settled England, he felt justified in stating quote "that a revenue
should be raised from said colonies in Britain" by levying duties of 4.5 percent on all English
imports and exports. As it turned out the British were in no laughing
mood. It did not help that on the16th of December
1773, some fifty Americans dressed as Mohawk Indians dumped £10,000 worth of tea into
the Boston harbor. On the 29th of January 1774, Benjamin found
himself in a room called the Cockpit at the Palace of Whitehall in Westminster, where
King Henry VIII had once watched cockfights. Benjamin was asked there by Parliament to
defend his actions regarding six letters written by Massachusetts Governor Thomas Hutchinson
that were secretly published in American newspapers. These letters exposed the systematic efforts
by the British government to oppress the colonists. Of course, the British government was furious
and gave Benjamin little quarter during their verbal thrashing. The next day, they stripped Benjamin of his
role as postmaster. The only ray of hope were secret talks between
him, former Prime Minister William Pitt the Elder who was Lord Chatham, and Richard and
William Howe. While they sympathized with the plight of
the Americans, politically they could not change British policy. In the midst of all of this, Benjamin's wife
Deborah died. On the 18th of April 1775, a little battle
occurred in the village of Lexington that would become known as "The Shot Heard Around
the World." The Revolutionary War had started. Benjamin was already under sail to return
home when it occurred. He landed in a country that had already held
its First Continental Congress. Benjamin literally stepped off the ship as
delegates gathered for the Second Continental Congress. He joined the next day as a delegate and ardent
patriot. He had finally decided which side he would
take. But first, he had to talk with his son William,
in an attempt to pull him to his side. During a meeting at Trevose, owned by Joseph
Galloway and located north of Philadelphia, the two Franklins talked. William insisted that they all remain neutral
in the American conflict, only to hear his father say that the only recourse for the
terrible treatment the Americans had experienced was complete independence. William responded that his beloved country
would soon be in flames if the Americans continued their violent course. Both left this meeting bitter and sad, knowing
that they had chosen opposite sides. This was not the case for every delegate to
the Second Continental Congress. Many still held out hope that the British
would see reason. On the 5th of July 1775, John Dickinson pushed
through what became known as the Olive Branch Petition to be sent directly to the King,
insisting that the troubles were started by meddlesome members of Parliament and requesting
that the King come to their rescue. The delegates hoped that through this, along
with the "Declaration of the Causes and Necessity for Taking Up Arms," hostilities would end,
even though the British had burned Charleston, South Carolina and won the bloody Battle of
Bunker Hill a month before. After his mistreatment in England, Benjamin
knew exactly what direction things had to go and began a draft for a declaration for
independence. That draft document used many of the same
arguments found in his essays written in England. He also knew that the colonies had to become
more dependent upon one another if they were to survive at all. So, he pulled out his old Albany Plan from
1754 and revised it to fit the new situation including a system of government with a division
of powers between the central federal government and that of the states. It also spelled out how these powers would
be divided. He presented it to Congress in late July. During much of 1775, Benjamin was busy with
congressional activities ranging from establishing the manufacture of gunpowder, negotiating
alliances with Native Americans, promoting trade with other countries to addressing military
discipline within the militia. He was so busy that John Adams wrote to his
wife Abigail that Benjamin quote "does not hesitate at our boldest measures, but rather
seems to think us too irresolute." In March 1776, Benjamin was asked to head
a committee to meet with officials in Canada, in the hope of pulling them to the colonial
side. He never got a chance to ask because he soon
realized that the colonies could barely stand on their own and lacked solid monetary and
military support. The Canadians for their part, fearful of incurring
the wrath of Parliament, proved inhospitable. Upon his return from this mission, the attitudes
of the congressional delegates had galvanized because there had been no response from the
King; there were mounting threats from Britain with more troops on their way; and increased
public pressure to act due to the impact on public opinion of Thomas Paine's pamphlet
Common Sense, first published in January 1776. Congress determined it was time to declare
independence, so it established a committee of five to write it. They met at Benjamin's home just a few blocks
away. Jefferson was given the honor of writing the
initial draft and it would be Benjamin who offered minimal, but key edits. On the 2nd of July, the delegates voted for
independence and signed the document a month later, in essence signing their death warrant
if things went badly. Now they had to form a system of government. Although he presented his Albany Plan as an
option, the resulting Articles of Confederation, completed in 1777 after much arguing, would
look nothing like it. But Benjamin would have other things to worry
about because he was selected to sail to France to request financial and possibly military
assistance. He would be saddled with two difficult characters
as his co-commissioners: Silas Deane, who would later be sent home in disgrace for financial
improprieties and other issues; and the mentally unstable Arthur Lee. Once in France, Benjamin set out to build
upon the work of Deane, who had arrived earlier and managed to get a shipment of arms to the
colonies. Working with the French Foreign Minister,
the Comte de Vergennes, Benjamin determined to use his scientific celebrity to build friendships
and win the hearts of the French court and people. He would appear dressed as a colonial "rustic",
wearing simple clothes and a marten fur cap he purchased during his recent trip to Canada. The French loved it. He settled in the Village of Passy just outside
of Paris. To his American cohorts he seemed not to work
at all, but only attended parties, salons, and discussions of scientific endeavors. In reality, he proved the bedrock of the delegation
over the next five years. By 1778, he had achieved treaties of alliance
and commerce with France, helped by the dramatic American victory at Saratoga on the 19th of
September 1777. He achieved much, in spite of having to address
constant squabbles among the American delegation. Silas Deane was recalled soon after the signing
of the alliance treaty with France. Arthur Lee suffered from paranoia, seeing
evil under every chair, including sending letters home about Benjamin's seeming laziness
and disloyalty. Yet, one of Lee's accusations, that the delegation's
secretary Edward Bancroft was a British spy, proved to be true. Benjamin would soon have to deal with the
fragile ego of John Adams as well. In 1778, the tensions had got so bad with
Adams, who arrived early that year, that he made a request to Congress to separate the
delegation, which they did and made Benjamin the Minister Plenipotentiary in 1779. Through it all, Benjamin took the long view
and endeavored to balance idealism with the reality on the ground. Although he worked well with the Comte de
Vergennes, he was not above secretly meeting with the British against French wishes, in
order to achieve a peace treaty. The stunning French and American victory at
Yorktown, on the 19th of October 1781, eased the way for a peace treaty. When it became clear that the war was at a
stalemate the delegation decided to negotiate and the final peace treaty arrived. John Jay, who had arrived in June 1782, would
play a leading role, but Benjamin, although ill, pulled the levers behind the scenes. Now all they had to do was wait for a sympathetic
British government, which arrived in July, when William Petty, the Earl of Shelburne
was elected Prime Minister. The American delegation of Benjamin, John
Jay, John Adams, and Henry Laurens, with Benjamin's grandson Temple Franklin as secretary signed
a provisional treaty to end the war in November 1782. After doing some damage control with the Comte
de Vergennes since it was clear that the Americans had not followed the French requirement that
they be involved in all negotiations, Benjamin was able to sooth ruffled feathers. Although displeased, the Comte de Vergennes
relented, but stated that the French had been sorely used by the Americans. The final peace treaty, The Treaty of Paris,
was signed on the 3rd of September 1783. After a yearlong goodbye while he waited for
his replacement, Thomas Jefferson, to arrive, Benjamin made his way home, setting sail in
December 1784. It soon became clear after his arrival home
that the Articles of Confederation, finally approved by all thirteen colonies in 1781,
could not provide the governmental stability or unity the newly freed states truly needed. In fact, it was everything Benjamin had feared;
thirteen independent states with an ineffectual congress. Things came to a head in August 1786, with
a rebellion of farmers in western Massachusetts, unhappy about taxes and debt collection, led
by Daniel Shays. It demonstrated to the world just how weak
the United States government was, even though George Washington was able to deflate the
conflict by early 1787. It was during a border dispute meeting between
Maryland and Virginia at Washington's Mount Vernon that it was decided that delegates
should be sent from all the colonies to meet in Annapolis, Maryland in September to talk
about the troubled confederation. Only five states sent delegates and so, a
meeting date for a more intense discussion was set for May 1787 in Philadelphia. Once the delegates arrived, it became clear
that they had to do more than just revise the Articles of Confederation. They had to create a whole new system. While Benjamin had opinions about what should
be done, he remained silent and instead used his diplomatic skills developed over years
of difficult negotiations both in England and in France to guide the delegates to sensible
solutions, often using the Socratic method he had learned years before. His comments were few, but his words, carefully
chosen, made the delegates think about what was truly at stake. It was in this role as the Enlightenment Sage
that he helped this Constitutional Convention create one of the longest lasting Constitutions
ever to exist in the history of humankind. Once this Congress approved of this Constitution,
Benjamin stated, "Thus I consent, sir, to this Constitution because I expect no better,
and because I am not sure that it is not the best." As historian Walter Isaacson wrote, "For him,
compromise was not only a practical approach, but a moral one. Tolerance, humility, and respect for others
required it." This attitude served his beloved country well
when it needed it most. Although enfeebled with gout and kidney stones,
Benjamin remained active in intellectual pursuits. He continued writing to philosophical and
scientific friends throughout Europe. He also took on a new pursuit, the abolition
of slavery. While he had written on the matter numerous
times during his life, he finally acted by accepting the Presidency of the Pennsylvania
Society for Promoting the Abolition of Slavery in 1787. One of the final political acts of his life
was to send a slavery abolition petition to Congress in February 1790. On the 17th of April 1790, Benjamin Franklin
died at the age of 84. Over 20,000 mourners lined the streets to
watch the funeral procession, as it worked its way to the burial ground at Christ Church
in Philadelphia. There, he was buried next to his beloved wife
Deborah. If this outpouring of respect was not testament
enough to his life's achievements, in front of his casket walked clergy from every faith,
representing the importance of service to and tolerance of others, a fitting end to
an impactful life. What do you think of Benjamin Franklin? Do you think he made an important mark on
his society as well as achieving his goal of doing good by helping others? Please let us know in the comment section
and in the meantime, thank you very much for watching.
