Free Essays on Benjamin Franklin

Benjamin Franklin was born on January 17, 1706. He was the 15th child, of 17 children in the Josiah Franklin family. Benjamin Franklin’s dad was a soap and candle maker, who lived in Boston, Massachusetts with his wife, Abiah Folger. Benjamin Franklin learned to read at an early age, but he only went to grammar school for two years. When he was 10 years old, Franklin was working for his father. But he did not like candle making, so two years later, he helped his brother James, as a printer. For five years, Franklin tried to get a hang of the printers' trade. During this time, he also tried to make his education better. Franklin read books and worked on his writing style. After a fight with his brother in 1723, Franklin left Boston and went to Philadelphia. There he again worked in the printing industry. He became friends with the governor of Pennsylvania, Sir William Keith, and at Keith's suggestion, Franklin decided to go into business for himself. But he didn’t work. So he went to London and worked at a printing house and saved up enough money to come to America. Franklin went to Philadelphia in 1726 and finished his trade. By 1730, Franklin had his own business. That same year, he married Deborah Read, a woman he met before his trip to England. Together they had a son, who died at four years of age; and a daughter. In 1731, Franklin started the first public library. During the next several years, Franklin also helped start the first fire department, a police force, and the Academy of Philadelphia, which became the University of Pennsylvania. Around 1744, Franklin invented a stove which reduced the chimney smoke. The Franklin stove is still in use today. In the 1740's, Franklin started to experiment with electricity, which led to the invention of the lightning rod. His famous electricity experiment, which included flying a kite during a lightning storm took place in 1752. In addition to his science projects, Franklin was ele... Free Essays on Benjamin Franklin Free Essays on Benjamin Franklin On learning of Benjamin Franklin’s death in the spring of 1790, the French National Assembly, the â€Å"temporary† French government established after the initial stages of the French Revolution, decreed three days of mourning, a fitting tribute for the man who was for most eighteenth-century European intellectuals the quintessential American. At his death Franklin ranked with Voltaire and Rousseau as a philosophe, one of those multifaceted geniuses whose writings helped inspire the wave of intellectual and political freedom which swept Western Europe in the closing years of the eighteenth century. Unlike most philosophers, however, Franklin had the chance to put his ideas into practice in the founding of a new nation: â€Å"He seized the lightening from the sky and the scepter from the hand of tyrants,† proclaimed the philosopher-scientist Turgot. Franklin’s life has become so much the stuff of legend that it is necessary to try to separate fact from myth. The youngest son in a family of eleven living children, Franklin was born in Boston in 1706. After one year of education at the Boston Grammar School and one year at George Brownell’s English school, he was apprenticed at age twelve to his brother James, a printer. The precocious and rebellious Franklin rejected his parents’ pious congregationalism in favor of free-thinking deism before he turned sixteen. He reluctantly settled to a trade, threatening his parents with his desire to run off to sea, and his adolescent satire of Harvard College suggests that he resented those whose wealth enabled them to escape the drudgery of a tradesman’s life despite their inferior intellectual talents. Franklin also joined vigorously in his brother’s attacks on Massachusetts worthies such as Increase and Cotton Mather and Samuel Sewall, but after quarrelin g with his brother he broke his indenture at age seventeen and sailed secretly for New York and then Philadelphia. Franklin’s st... Free Essays on Benjamin Franklin Benjamin Franklin was born on January 17, 1706 in Boston, Massachusetts. He was born into a modest family, but later became to be one of the greatest statesmen in the country. He shaped this country’s course of events, which forever changed the way we live today. Ben Franklin made many contributions to the revolutionary cause. One could say he was one of the greatest fighters in the Revolutionary War. Although he did not fight physically with weapons, he powerfully fought with words. Among many revolutionary contributions, he helped draft and sign the â€Å"Declaration of Independence,† he secured financial and physical aid from France for the war cause, he lifted many laws that were imposed on the colonies by the King of England, and in 1787, and he signed â€Å"The Constitution of the United States of America.† When he met with the assembly meeting over the â€Å"Declaration of Independence,† he addressed the delegates with the statement, â€Å"We must all hang together, or assuredly we shall all hang separately.† During the French and Indian War, he supplied General Braddock and his men with 150 wagons and 259 horses so he could march on Fort Duquesne. Ben Franklin led a small group of soldiers along with his son to Gnadenhuetten to build a fort to protect Pennsylvania from the French and Indian invaders. Within a few weeks, he had three well-fortified forts spaced out over 15 miles and suitable living quarters for the men. If Ben Franklin had not participated in the politics of the American Revolution, the Americans could have easily lost the war. When he went to France to secure financial and physical aid for the war cause, it gave more power to the Americans, which probably led them to win the war. If he had not gone to England to lift the taxes, that could have mean that more British troops most likely would have been sent over to make people pay taxes, which could have lengthened the war. Had he not participated in the war, it mos... Free Essays on Benjamin Franklin Benjamin Franklin was born on January 17, 1706. He was the 15th child, of 17 children in the Josiah Franklin family. Benjamin Franklin’s dad was a soap and candle maker, who lived in Boston, Massachusetts with his wife, Abiah Folger. Benjamin Franklin learned to read at an early age, but he only went to grammar school for two years. When he was 10 years old, Franklin was working for his father. But he did not like candle making, so two years later, he helped his brother James, as a printer. For five years, Franklin tried to get a hang of the printers' trade. During this time, he also tried to make his education better. Franklin read books and worked on his writing style. After a fight with his brother in 1723, Franklin left Boston and went to Philadelphia. There he again worked in the printing industry. He became friends with the governor of Pennsylvania, Sir William Keith, and at Keith's suggestion, Franklin decided to go into business for himself. But he didn’t work. So he went to London and worked at a printing house and saved up enough money to come to America. Franklin went to Philadelphia in 1726 and finished his trade. By 1730, Franklin had his own business. That same year, he married Deborah Read, a woman he met before his trip to England. Together they had a son, who died at four years of age; and a daughter. In 1731, Franklin started the first public library. During the next several years, Franklin also helped start the first fire department, a police force, and the Academy of Philadelphia, which became the University of Pennsylvania. Around 1744, Franklin invented a stove which reduced the chimney smoke. The Franklin stove is still in use today. In the 1740's, Franklin started to experiment with electricity, which led to the invention of the lightning rod. His famous electricity experiment, which included flying a kite during a lightning storm took place in 1752. In addition to his science projects, Franklin was ele... Free Essays on Benjamin Franklin Midterm Assignment â€Å"Benjamin Franklin† The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin was not an easy book to read. Writing styles have changed tremendously since the 1700’s. Despite the cultural differences I learned a lot about the man and the time. Benjamin Franklin was a remarkable man. He was a printer, author, politician and an inventor. He was one of fifteen children in his family. Because he was from such a large family he was sent out to work at a very early age. He only had a few years of grammar school education when he started working in his fathers business. During his days off he educated himself through books. He was not happy working in his fathers business for very long. Unsure of what he wanted to do; his father took him around town to introduce him to other trades available to him. Not entirely pleased by the choices available, he settled on the printing trade. He worked as an apprentice in his brother’s print shop for several years until tension ended their relationship. By this time he was in his late teens. He moved to Philadelphia to continue in the printing business. He did well in Philadelphia but was always unhappy working in someone else’s print shop. The governor of Philadelphia offered him a letter of credit and introduction in England to help secure materials needed to start his own printing business. He accepted the offer only to find the offer less than reliable. This trip did not turn out as planned and he remained in England for two years trying to raise enough money to return to America. Upon Benjamin Franklin’s return to Philadelphia, he continued to master his printing trade. Within a few years he had established his own business. Several years later he started publishing a newspaper and was granted the honor of printing up the states currency. The main topic of this autobiography is the life of Benjamin Franklin and about all of his accomplishments and the hardships that he faced g... Free Essays on Benjamin Franklin Benjamin Franklin - American Hero Essay written by: Tim Ross Throughout history icons emerge in each era that define that time, men who define the thinking, technology, culture, religion, and every other aspect of that time period. From the time of ancient Greece which possessed such prodigies as Socrates, and Aristotle men who were not only brilliant philosophers but also historians, mathematicians, and astronomers. To the Revolutionary period of America, which held such courageous enlightened men such as Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Paine, and Benjamin Franklin. Men who greatly helped shape America’s independence. A man who stands out among these names is â€Å" The First American†, Benjamin Franklin who goes beyond being simply an icon of America’s conquest for freedom, but is truly an American hero. Benjamin Franklin’s heroism exists in his numerous achievements in politics, his scientific inventions, and his accomplishment of truly being â€Å"The First American†. Franklin’s contributions to the world of inventions, and science prove his ideal heroism. Some of Franklin’s contributions include his improvements on Franklin’s stove, he invented the Pennsylvania fireplace, which retained and dispersed heat evenly in a room. Franklin shaped perhaps the first idea of electricity; he also helped improved city’s pavements, street lighting, sanitations, fire companies, and police. These are a small amount of Franklin’s more material accomplishments, but they are also some of his strongest. Franklin is considered an American hero because although he was a politician, he felt the need to go above and beyond his regular duties. Franklin strived for perfection and had a strong to desire to help his fellow man. Whether it was improving the quality of his community by looking at such common aspects like city pavement, or street lights, or by making a large technological breakthrough and creating something like the musical a rmonica...