Quynh Tran Mr. Herbert World History 13 December

Quynh 1

Quynh Tran

Mr. Herbert

World History

13 December, 2010

Benjamin Franklin

This man was not talented at public speaking yet preferring to write out his thoughts on paper and let someone else read it out. He was never the president but a signatory of all four of the major documents of the founding of the United States. He had definitely never joined the military. However, he was certainly a well- known character, beloved by everyone. He is

Benjamin Franklin, one of the most famous people of his generation, his country, his country’s history and the world. He was one of the pioneer and most famous scientist and a conspicuous inventor. He was a prominent political figure as well as respected scholar. He was a man of many talents and interests. He lived longer than most men of his age thus had more impact on the

United States and world affairs than any other American. His contributions in many different fields advanced the world immensely and the influences on the scientific world were what make him particularly one of the most important figures of the millennium.

Being an audacious man, Franklin had applied and was employed in many jobs because of his wisdom as well as a nice personality. His various working experience may help explain his large array of inventions and new methods applying to different jobs. He was mostly well- known for his ideas on electricity, but he also experimented with other concepts in nature. He did various things from growing cabbages more efficiently and making political decisions to being Quynh 2 the first person to study and chart the movement of the Gulf Stream located the Atlantic Ocean.

This America’s Renaissance man was born in Boston, Massachusetts on January 17, 1706. His family had seventeen children and he was the fifteenth. His parents were the hard working couple, Josiah and Abiah Franklin. They made candles and soap for a living, trying to raise seventeen children. Since the Franklins were so poor, it is perhaps not surprising that with that many children, the family did not always have a lot of money. Little Franklin could not afford to go to Boston Latin School for any longer than two years. He understood that he must fend for himself much of the time. Living in that condition for the entire childhood developed in Franklin an independent and a problem solving nature which later became very helpful. In those two years at school, however, Franklin tried the best to learn to read which thus opened the door to further education for him. He knew he had very poor mathematical skills and was only a fair writer, he tutored himself at home.

Benjamin Franklin was a determined young man. As a boy, he taught himself to improve his writing skills, from being a fair to an excelled writer. He also learned basic mathematics, logic, grammar, physical sciences and navigation which benefited him when he came to invent.

He partially mastered many languages. With that much effort, meritoriously, he was named the best-educated man in the United States, a very honorable accolade. When he was twelve years old, young Franklin started working as an apprentice at the print shop of the second independent newspaper in the colonies "New England Courant" of his brother, James Franklin. He learned a lot about printing and writing through this first job. Many people believed that one newspaper was enough for America and they told him that this paper would soon go bankrupt. On the contrary, it became very prominent as many readers favored this newspaper. However, Benjamin was forbidden to “write for the paper”, said his brother, so he invented a pseudonym of Mrs. Quynh 3

Silence Dogood. Those letters were published and became a popular subject of conversations around town. When his older brother, James, discovered that the “scandalous” writing belonged to young Benjamin, he was furious so he told Benjamin to stop. Benjamin liked the printer's job but he couldn't stand being told what to do all the time though the commands were from his brother. In addition, James’s attitude about Mrs. Dogood made Benjamin desperately felt the need to be no one’s but his own boss. He quitted his apprenticeship without permission and confidently convinced himself: “That day would come”, when he could make a business’s his to control.

He became restive and ran away from home, as if being a fugitive is a theme of his life.

He was seventeen, and the nature of an independent man motivated him to get away from his family to live his own life, experiencing new things. In 1730, seven years after he left his home,

Franklin married Deborah Read, who was the daughter of the first Philadelphia landlady. Read was not nearly well- educated as her husband. In old love letters that she had written to him, there were many misspellings and improper punctuation marks. Despite their differences, they were a very happy couple. They eventually had two sons, William and Francis, and one daughter named Sarah.

When Franklin reached the age of 21, he decided to be a civic leader to start his career.

He organized a club of aspiring tradesmen called the Junto, which held meeting every week for discussions and planning. They hoped to build their own business that could ensure the growth of

Philadelphia and improve the local life standards. Franklin later led the University of Junto in founding a library in 1731, the first American fire company in 1736, a learning society in 1743, and an insurance company. By 1749, Franklin had been elected to the Common Council of