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Benjamin franklin the autobiography and other writings essays
Biography essay benjamin franklin
Biography essay benjamin franklin
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Caleb Lamp Government Mr. Barnes 9/11/15 Ben Franklin Ben Franklin was an important founding father to the U.S. and signed the declaration of Independence. As a diplomat and a leader he was well qualified for his jobs that he did, and did it faithfully out his love for this newborn country. He was also a great contributor to science and the fields of philosophy. His finding of electricity helped countless people in the future to get to where we are now. Ben Franklin was born on January 17, 1706 in Boston. As a young boy he loved to read, but his father only had enough money for one year of school. At the age of 15 he started to work at his brother's newspaper company, The New England Courant, and first became famous for the article under …show more content…
the name of Silence Dogwood, because he knew his brother would never approve of the writing. Silence Dogwood became quickly popular with the people and finally Ben came out with the confession of writing them. His brother was not happy, and after many incidents, he ran away. He found himself in Philadelphia and then started working as a printer's apprentice, and did so well that even the governor of Pennsylvania promised to give him his own paper if he would just go to Britain and get fonts and printing equipment. But it was not meant to be because the governor did not follow through on his part on the bargain. When he came back he saved up to make his own paper the Pennsylvania Gazette in 1729. The paper became very popular and was the most well-known paper in the colonies. Also it was the first to publish a political cartoon. In 1749 he gave up the printing industry and started to devote his time to science. He studied the properties of lightning, which he is so famous for. Then he also invented the bifocals, the glass harmonica and swim fins. Ben Franklin first became interested in politics in the 1750s and made many trips to Britain to fight for Pennsylvania and colonial rights. He stayed their fight for many of the colonies rights until 1775. Although he fought for the colonies he considered himself a loyal British citizen he started rethinking his beliefs when the British were so unwilling to cooperate to the colonies demands. He was also starting to grow tired of the plain corruption in the Parliament and even though he had friends in Britain he started to change his beliefs. When the Stamp Act came out in 1765, Ben Franklin was very surprised to find the strong opposition to the act and help get it repealed. After the Hutchinson Affair, in which Franklin leaked papers to the public, he was called into court by the English foreign ministry and was condemned in public. In 1775, he was elected to be on the Second Continental Congress and also served as the national postmaster, in which he mapped out post routes and other important matters for the birth of the United States Postal Service.
In 1787 he signed the Constitution with the other founding fathers making history, creating the government we enjoy today. Ben Franklin also worked on being a diplomat with the French, which relationship was great. He came off as a humble man, dressed as a backwoodsman, but could match anyone’s intelligence. Also his French was stuttering but well, and he was a notorious flirt with the ladies. His personality also helped earn the respect of the French government and helped the new country of America earn their respect. All in all he was a well-known and well liked. As for his family life his wife Deborah Read which he married in 1730. She also died in 1744, while he was in France. They had two children Francis (who died of smallpox at a young age) and Sarah. He was a strong Christian and believed in the power of Providence. He believed that the only duty was to serve man and him. He also believed that religion was worthless unless it was promoting virtuous behavior and he was a firm believer in work-earned
merits. I do think Benjamin Franklin would be a good candidate for today’s political system because he was good with people and knew how to interact with them. Politics was not his foremost worry and he was prominent in many other fields. Therefore I think he would be a good politician in today’s world. Works Cited Bio.com. A&E Networks Television, n.d. Web. 22 Sept. 2015. "History." History. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Sept. 2015. PBS. PBS, n.d. Web. 22 Sept. 2015. "Quick Biography of Benjamin Franklin." Ushistory.org. Independence Hall Association, n.d. Web. 22 Sept. 2015.