Ben+Franklin

Ben Franklin Benjamin Franklin played a big role in helping the colonies break away from the British. He was a soldier in the militia, a successful printer, a writer, a famous patriot and Founding Father, and he was a scientist. America probably would have never really been free from Britain if it wasn’t for Benjamin Franklin. Ben Franklin was born in Boston, Massachusetts on January 17, 1706. He was one of seventeen siblings and stepsiblings. Since he was a child, Franklin had always had a thirst for learning, and read anything he could get his hands on. When he was about 12, he worked as an apprentice to his brother, who worked at a newspaper company. When he was seventeen, Benjamin left for New York. There he met Deborah Read. He married her and had three kids. Around that time he wrote the “Poor Richard’s Almanac”, which was published in 1732. In 1736, his youngest son Franky died from smallpox. Benjamin had always felt a connection with Franky and was severely upset after he died. That same year he was elected clerk of the Pennsylvania Assembly. Also that year Franklin started America’s first Union Fire Company. In 1740 he was the official printer for New Jersey. Over the next few years, Franklin wrote the first political cartoon, became a soldier in the PA militia, conducted his kite experiment and got stuck by lighting, and became the colonial agent of Georgia, New Jersey, and Massachusetts. In 1774, Deborah, his wife, died. In 1775, Franklin was elected Pennsylvania delegate for the 2nd Continental Congress. Benjamin Franklin was definitely a patriot and fought for the rights of the colonies. He also helped draft the Declaration of Independence. Later that year, Franklin went to Paris. He decided to make an alliance with France. Since the French were still mad at England about the French and Indian War and wanted to get back at them, they agreed. Paris loved Ben. Biographer Claude-Anne Lopez wrote that Franklin “was temperamentally suited for France.” Ben lived there for a few years. While he was there, he got the French to help the Americans in the war, as well as paved the way for the French Revolution in 1789 and the Treaty of Paris in 1783. Benjamin Franklin died on April 17, 1790. He was 84 years old. Over 20,000 mourners attended his service. In France, they mourned him as a hero. Franklin accomplished many things in his lifetime. If it wasn’t for Benjamin Franklin, there might not have even been an American Revolution. By Sara Jamboretz and Kristina Johnson

Works Cited "Benjamin Franklin Timeline." //http;//.ushistory.org/franklin/info/index.htm //Independence Hall Assocociation, 4 July 1995. Web. 7 Dec. 2009. "France."// http://www.pbs.org/benfranklin/l3_world_france.html //Twin Cities Public Television, Inc, 2002. Web. 7 Dec. 2009. "Treaty of Paris."// www.loc.gov //Library of Congress, 26 June 2007. Web. 10 Dec. 2009. Owens, L. L.// Benjamin Franklin//. Edina, Minnesota: ABDO Publishing Company, 2008. Print.