Benjamin Franklin was born on January 6, 1706 to Josiah and Abiah Franklin. He was the 15th of Josiah's 17 children. Josiah was a tallow chandler, a soap and candle maker. In the 1700's a child's career path was determined by his father. Benjamin wanted to be a seaman, but his father would have none of that. He had other plans for his youngest son. Josiah sent Benjamin to Boston Latin School with a career as a clergyman in mind, but the cost of a good education was too high. Ben's formal schooling was over at the age of 10, but his voracious appitite for the printed word filled in the void. He continued to read and learn throughout his life.

Ben worked for his father for a time, but at the age of 12 he was sent to work for his brother, James. As Benjamin loved to read, his father felt working as an apprentice in a print shop was a good idea.

From the age of 12 until he was 17, Benjamin worked for his brother James as a printer's apprentice. The apprenticeship system in place in America in the 1700's was similar to the system used in Europe. When a boy reached the age of 12, a parent could sign over custody of their son to a tradesman. The hope was for the boy to receive room and board, and the training necessary to eventually gain economic independence. Once signed, the indentured contract was in force until the boy reached the age of 21.

In theory obtaining an apprenticeship for a child seemed like a good idea, but theory and reality didn't always jive. Some masters were cruel, beating their charges, or depriving them of basic comforts such as food, a safe place to sleep, or even the skills they were promised. James was one such taskmaster. Benjamin suffered at the hand of his brother, but he was a good apprentice and learned the printing trade well.

In 1721 James founded the New-England Courant. It was the first truly independent newspaper in the colonies. At 15, Benjamin was eager to try out his writing skills as one of the reporter/editors, but James said no. Ben's job was to set type, not write for the paper.

Not one to be thwarted, Ben created a fictional character named Mrs. Silence Dogood. The fictional Mrs. Dogood wrote letters to the editor on a wide variety of topics. The letters were well received and very popular. Fourteen letters were published in the Courant before James discovered Ben's duplicity.

Already unhappy with Benjamin, James used his younger brother to bale himself out of trouble. James had published a newspaper that offended the Massachusetts Assembly and was ordered to shut down. He circumvented the order by canceling his brother's indenture contract and claiming Ben was the editor. Unwilling to lose Ben's remaining years of servitude, James had him sign another indenture contract in secret. It was the opportunity Ben had been waiting for. James could not hold him to the second contract without revealing his subterfuge.

At the age of 17, Ben was free.

After slipping out from under his brother's thumb, Ben went to New York and then on to Philadelphia. He worked for a print shop in Philadelphia, but dreamed of opening his own and eventually starting a newspaper. Unfortunately that took money. Convinced by the current governor of Pennsylvania, Sir William Keith, that he could obtain the backing for a new newspaper in London, Ben started making plans.

It was during this time that Benjamin met and courted Deborah Read. He asked for her hand in marriage, but Deborah's mother was newly widowed and was wary of tying her daughter's future to a seventeen-year-old on his way to London. Mrs. Read turned him down.

While Ben was in London, Deborah married a man named John Rodgers. Not long after marrying Deborah, Rogers left her. He fled to Barbados rather than face prosecution for unpaid debts. Legally tied to John Rogers, Deborah could not marry again.

Ben traveled to London in good faith, but it didn't take long for Ben to realize the governor's promises were empty. A printer by trade, Ben went to work as a compositor in a print shop in London. With the help of a merchant named Thomas Denham, Benjamin returned to Philadelphia in 1726. For the next year and a half, Benjamin worked as a shopkeeper/clerk for Thomas Denham's merchant business. He stayed with Denham until 1927. He wasn't a shopkeeper, but a printer. It was time to return to his true profession.

At the age of 20, Benjamin developed a list of 13 virtues to guide his life. The original list had 12 virtues but when a Quaker friend commented on his pride, Ben added the 13 virtue, humility. When asked why he created the list, he said, In this piece it was my design to have endeavored to convince young persons that no qualities were so likely to make a poor man's fortune as those of probity and integrity. Benjamin strove to practice these virtues throughout his life.

Benjamin Franklin's 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 your things have their place; 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; ie., 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 extreams; forbear resenting injuries so much as you think they deserve.

Cleanliness. Tolerate no uncleanliness in body, cloaths, or habitation

Tranquillity. Be not disturbed at rifles, or at accidents common or unavoidable.

Chastity. Rarely use venery but for health or offspring, never to dullness, weakness, or the injury of your own or another's peace or reputation.

Humility. Imitate Jesus or Socrates.

They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.

Benjamin Franklin gained worldwide acclaim through his inventions and his work as a diplomat, but he used the written word to influence people and sway public opinion.

When Samuel Keimer's newspaper, The Universal Instructor in all Arts and Sciences and Pennsylvania Gazette, declared bankruptcy, Benjamin stepped in and bought the paper. It had 90 subscribers at the time

Before printing the first edition as editor, Ben made some structural changes. The weekly page dedicated to the Chamber's Encyclopedia was the first to go. Without that page, the newspaper was no longer considered a Universal Instructor. The name of the newspaper was then shortened to The Pennsylvania Gazette.
Ben was the publisher/editor but he was also a major contributor using a wide variety of aliases. He stirred up sentiment for a variety of local reforms and initiatives through articles, essays and letters.

The Pennsylvania Gazette ceased publication in 1800, ten years after Benjamin Franklin's death.

An avid reader with limited funds to purchase books, Ben established the Junto Group which he claimed was, "like minded aspiring artisans and tradesmen who hoped to improve themselves while they improved their community." Junto was a discussion group with many of its members avid reader, like Ben. They eventually started pooling their money and sharing books. Confusion over who had what books gave rise to the suscription library. It evolved into the Library Company with a charter filed by Benjamin in 1931. The Library Company flourished. Today the Library Company is a research library housing over 500,000 rare books.

In 1930 Ben assumed the responsibility for his illegitimate son, William. He acknowledged his son as his own, but never disclosed the name of his mother. With a child to take care of, Ben set up housekeeping with Deborah Read. They established a common-law marriage and raised William together. Benjamin and Deborah had two more children but they lost their son, Francis, to smallpox when he was 4.

Poor Richard's Almanack first appeared in 1732. Written under the pseudonym Richard Saunders, Ben filled the pages of the almanac with the wit and wisdom of Poor Richard. In the yearly editions produced between 1732 and 1758, Benjamin Franklin was credited with over 600 different proverbs.

He that lives on hope, dies farting.

Eat to live, and not live to eat.

After three days men grow weary, of a wench, a guest, and weather rainy.

Three may keep a secret, if two of them are dead.

Early to bed and early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise.

Wink at small faults, remember thou has great ones.

God helps them that help themselves.

The worst wheel of a cart makes the most noise.

After crosses and losses, men grow humbler and wiser.

Diligence is the Mother of Good Luck.

Keep your eyes wide open before marriage, half shut afterwards.

Experience keeps a dear school, but fools will learn in no other.

When the well's dry, we know the worth of water.

Pray as if you were to die tomorrow.

Fish and visitors stink after three days.

To succeed, jump as quickly at opportunities as you do conclusions.

In Benjamin Franklin's time, homes were heated by building a fire in an open fireplace. It was a dangerous option and extremely inefficient, but it was the only option available at the time. Wanting a greater degree of domestic comfort, Ben built what he called the Pennsylvania Fireplace. It was an open front fireplace insert with bellows. It was safer to use and far more efficient.

As with all of his inventions, Ben didn't apply for a patent. He explained why in one of his many articles. "...as I enjoy great advantages form the inventions of others, we should be glad of an opportunity to serve others by any invention of ours; and this we should do freely and generously."

Well done is better than well said.

Ben was a civic minded man. If he saw a problem, he did what he could to remedy it. In the colonial days homes were heated by an open fire. A stray spark and a family could lose its home. Whole families died in their sleep when the flames caught in the deep of the night. It was a big problem and needed to be addressed. In 1936 Ben organized Philadelphia's Union Fire Company, the first in the city. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, was actually a fire-fighting adage.

In 1948 Ben retired from the printing business. Not one to be idle, he focused his attention on other interests. Ben was politically active and elected to the Pennsylvania Assembly in 1750. In 1753 he was appointed deputy postmaster general for the colonies.

As postmaster, Ben's interest shifted to the North Atlantic Ocean circulation patterns. Working with several ship captains, he was able to chart the Gulf Stream. It took several years for sea captains to follow Ben's advice. Once they used his charts to navigate the Gulf Stream, the trip from England to the colonies was shortened by two weeks.

In the late 1740's and early 1750's, the study of electricity, or natural philosophy, was a fashionable endeavored for the enlightened citizen. After watching a demonstration using a Leyden jar, a precursor to the single cell battery, Ben's interest was caught. He was fascinated by the subject and couldn't leave it alone.

Ben experimented with the static charges held by the Leyden jar and wrote numerous letters to his friend Peter Collinson, a noted scientist, regarding his ideas and theories. Collinson sent Ben an electric tube to experiment with as well.

Through his studies, Ben concluded that electricity was not a result of friction, but was a mysterious force present in most substances. There was positive as well as negative electricity, and an electrical discharge was nature's way of restoring equilibrium. Lightning was simply a large discharge of static electricity. He knew that to be true, but proving it was another story.

Benjamin continued to experiment with electricity producing some very useful tools such as the lightning rod, but had fun with it as well. He used it to kill a fowl and then roasted it on a spit turned by electricity, used a spark to ignite alcohol and gunpowder, shocked his friends and charged the wine.

In 1751 Benjamin finally came up with a way to prove that lightning was electricity using a kite and a key. There are some historians that believe the experiment was more fabrication than truth, but the experiment has grown into an America legend. Ben Franklin proved that lightning and electricity were one and the same.

Ben's studies on electricity brought him international acclaim which afforded him more influence on the political scene. As postmaster general, Ben started thinking in inter-colonial terms rather than just the wants and needs of Pennsylvania. In 1753 he brought his Plan of Union to the Albany Congress. The plan would have established a general council with representatives from each colony. Through the council they could organize a common defense against the encroaching French and supervise relations with the Indians.

Unfortunately the colonies were not yet ready to unite. The colonial legislatures and the king's advisers shot down the idea. Many historians view this decision as the key to Benjamin Franklin's political career.

The French and Indian War brought the need for funds and a common defense to the forefront. The Pennsylvania Legislature wanted to tax the Penn family holdings, but as proprietors of the colony, they were exempt. In the spring of 1757 Ben traveled to London as the colonial representative in this matter. He negotiated a compromise which allowed the Pennsylvania Legislature to tax the improved lands.

With the end of the French and Indian War, Great Britain considered the acquisition of Canada. Some leaders wanted to leave it to the French. The acquisition of Canada would add to the existing colonies growing strength. Ben stated that it would be simpler for Parliament to pass a law requiring midwives to stifle every third or forth child as soon as it was born, than to check the growing strength of the 13 colonies.

In 1964 Ben traveled to London again to negotiate a new charter in the hopes of ending the continued conflicts with Pennsylvania's proprietors. He was unsuccessful in that endeavor. While in London, the Stamp Act, a means of taxing the colonies, was passed. Benjamin opposed the Stamp Act, but when it passed, he dominated a friend to oversee it.

Ben's fellow citizens were outraged. They interpreted his actions as an endorsement for a taxation they violently opposed. Realizing his error, Ben made an appearance before the House of Commons. Throughout the proceedings Ben referred back to the rights of the colonies time and time again.

With his prestige restored, Ben remained in London as a representative for several colonies, but the resentment and the hostilities were growing. When fighting broke out in Lexington and Concord, Ben realized that there would be no peaceful resolution. It was time to go home.

By the time Ben returned home, the fighting had begun. The Pennsylvania Assembly chose Ben as their delegate to the Second Continental Congress. In 1776, the Committee of Five, which Ben was a part of, drafted the Declaration of Independence.

With the Declaration of Independence signed, the newly formed United States sent Ben to France as their ambassador. He secured a military alliance with France in 1778 and signed the Treaty of Paris in 1783. Benjamin returned home in 1785 to a new nation.

Ben serverd as a delegate to the Philadelphia Convention, but he seldom engaged in debate. He spent his remaining years working on his autobiography. It was addressed to his son but was later finished and released for the benefit of mankind. Benjamin Franklin died on April 17, 1790. Over 20,000 mourners attended his funeral. Years before, Ben wrote what he hoped would be his own epitaph:

The Body of B. Franklin Printer; Like the Cover of an old Book, Its Contents torn out, And stript of its Lettering and Gilding, Lies here, Food for Worms. But the Work shall not be wholly lost: For it will, as he believ'd, appear once more, In a new & more perfect Edition, Corrected and Amended By the Author.

Isle of Squid