Glenn Beck on Fox News featured Benjamin Franklin on Founder's Friday. It was a great show and both of his guests on the show were speaking about the life of Benjamin Franklin and the influence he had on the American Revolution and the founding of America. Benjamin Franklin was one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence. Franklin's picture is printed on the one hundred dollar bill. He's known for discovering electricity and other scientific achievements. He was a printer for a newspaper. He was also present at the U.S. Constitutional Convention in 1787 and he made a famous statement when there was all kinds of bickering taking place due to disagreements over the Constitution. Benjamin Franklin encouraged them and said that God governs in the affairs of men. There's also famous statements that Franklin made such as "A penny saved is a penny earned," for example. Let's journey into the life of Benjamin Franklin.
Benjamin Franklin was born in Boston, Massachusetts on January 17, 1706. He was the tenth son of the soap maker, Josiah Franklin. Benjamin's mother was Abigail Folger, the second wife of Josiah. A future descendant of hers, J.A. Folger, founded Folger's Coffee in the nineteenth century. Josiah had intended for Benjamin to enter the clergy. However, Josiah could only afford to send his son to one year of school and clergyman needed many years of schooling. However, a young Benjamin loved to read and he was apprenticed to his brother James, who was a printer. After helping James compose pamphlets and set type which was grueling work, 12-year old Benjamin would sell products in the streets. When Benjamin was 15 his brother started "The New England Courant", which was the first paper in Boston. There were two papers in the city before James's "Courant", they only reprinted news from abroad. Benjamin wanted to write for the paper, but he knew his brother would never allow him to. So Ben began writing letters at night and signing them with the name of a fictional widow, Silence Dogood. Ben would sneak the letters under the print shop door at night so no one knew who was writing the pieces. They were a smash hit and everyone wanted to know who was the real "Silence Dogood." After 16 letters, Ben confessed to writing the letters all along. James scolded his brother for writing those letters. Before long the Franklins found themselves at odds with Boston's powerful Puritan preachers, the Mathers. Smallpox was a deadly disease at the time and the Mathers supported innoculation. The Franklins believed innoculation only made people sicker. Even though Bostonians agreed with the Franklins, they didn't like the way James made fun of the clergy during the debate. Ultimately, James was thrown in jail for his views, and Benjamin was left to run the paper for several issues. James didn't appreciate Benjamin keeping the paper going. He would harrass his younger brother and administer several beatings to him. As a result, Benjamin decided to run away in 1723.
Eventually Benjamin found work as an apprentice printer. He did so well that the governor of Pennsylvania promised to set him up in business for himself if young Franklin would just go to London to purchase fonts and printing equipment. Franklin did go to London, but the governor reneged and Franklin spent several months in London doing print work. Benjamin had been living with the Read family before he left for London. Deborah Read was interested in Franklin and discussed marriage but Benjamin didn't think he was ready. So she married another man while he was gone. In 1728, Benjamin fathered a child out of wedlock. His name was William. In 1730, Benjamin married his childhood sweetheart, Deborah after her husband had run off. In addition to running a print shop, the Franklins also ran their own store at this time, with Deborah selling everything from soap to fabric. Ben also ran a book store.
In 1729, Benjamin Franklin bought a newspaper, "The Pennsylvania Gazette." He not only printed the paper, but often contributed pieces to the paper under aliases. His newspaper soon became one of the most successful in the colonies. This newspaper, along with other firsts, would print the first political cartoon, authored by Franklin himself. During the 1720's and 1730's, he would organize the Junto, a young working-man's group dedicated to self-and-civic improvement. He joined the Masons. He was a busy man socially. However, he thrived on work. In 1733 he started publishing "Poor Richard's Almanack." Almanacs of that era were printed annually, and contained information such as weather reports, recipes, predictions, and homilies. Franklin published his almanac under the guise of a man named Richard Saunders, a poor man who needed money to take care of his carping wife. What distinguished Franklin's almanac were his witty aphorisms and lively writing. One of his famous phrases, "A penny saved is a penny earned" came from "Poor Richard."
There were other civic contributions that Franklin contributed to in the 1730's and 1740's such as projects to pave, clean and light Philadelphia's streets. He started agitating for environmental clean-up. One of his notable accomplishments was the launching of the Library Company in 1731. He recognized that by pooling together resources, members could afford to purchase books from England. He also helped to launch the American Philosophical Society in 1743. He also helped to establish the Pennsylvania Hospital to care for the sick as well. In 1736, he helped organize Philadelphia's Union Fire Company, the first in the city. His famous saying, "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure," was actually fire-fighting advice. Those who suffered fire damage to their homes suffered irreversible economic loss. So in 1752 Franklin helped to found the Philadelphia Contribution for Insurance Against Loss by Fire. Those with insurance policies weren't wiped out financially. That's where home insurance stemmed from.
Among Franklin's other inventions are swim fins, the glass armonica (a musical instrument), and bifocals. In the early 1750's, he turned to the study of electricity. His observations, including his kite experiment which verified the nature of electricity and lightning brought Franklin international fame.
Franklin also worked actively for the cause of Independence in America. In 1757 he went to England to represent Pennsylvania in its fight with the descendants of the Penn family over who should represent the colony. He remained in England in 1775 as a Colonial representative not only of Pennsylvania, but of Georgia, New Jersey, and Massachusetts as well. Early in his time abroad, he had considered himself a loyal Englishman. However, in 1765, Franklin was caught by surprise by America's overwhelming opposition to the Stamp Act. His testimony before Parliament persuaded the members to repeal the law. He then started wondering if America should break free from England. He was growing sick of the corruption he saw all around him in politics and royal circles. He finally started working towards pushing for American independence from England.
He thought his son William, the Royal Governor of New Jersey, would concur with his views. Instead, William supported the Crown. As a result, there was rift between father and son that would never heal. Franklin was elected to the Second Continental Congress and worked on a committee of five that helped to draft the Declaration of Independence. Though much of the writing is Thomas Jefferson's, much of the contribution was from Franklin. In 1776, Franklin signed the Declaration of Independence, and afterward sailed to France as an ambassador to the Court of Louis XVI. The French loved Franklin. He was the man who tamed lightning, the humble American who dressed like a backwoodsman but was a match for any wit in the world. He spoke French though he stuttered. He was a favorite of the ladies. In part because of Franklin's popularity, the government of France signed a Treaty of Alliance with the Americans in 1778. Franklin also helped to secure loans and persuade the French they were doing the right thing. Franklin was on hand to sign the Treaty of Paris in 1783, after the Americans had won the Revolution.
Now a man in his late seventies, he had returned to America. He became President of the Executive Council of Pennsylvania. He served as a delegate to the Constitutional Convention and signed the Constitution. One of his last public acts was writing an anti-slavery treatise in 1789. There was a verbal agreement in the writing of the Constitution that slavery would eventually become extinct. He brought to America a network of interracial training schools for black orphans. Franklin died on April 17, 1790 at the age of 84. 20,000 people attended the funeral of the man who was called, "the harmonious human multitude."
No comments:
Post a Comment