AMERICAN COLONIAL HISTORY

American Colonial History

American Colonial History

Introduction

Benjamin Franklin was an amazing man. He once said "If you would not be forgotten, as soon as you are dead and rotten, either write things worth reading, or do things worth the writing." He lived the words to the fullest by writing as much as possible and doing even more. He became famous for being a scientist, an inventor, a statesman, a printer, a philosopher, a musician, and a economist. He was also one of the founding fathers.

He was born in Boston, Massachusetts on January 17, 1706. At the age of 12 he began an apprenticeship in his brother James' printing shop. At 17 he left his family and ran away to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to start a life of his own. One year later he moved to London, continuing his training as a printer. After 2 years in London he returns to Philadelphia. At 22 he opened his own printing shop. A year later he became the sole owner and publisher of the Pennsylvania Gazette. The next year he marries Deborah Read Rogers and over the next two years they have two sons, William and Francis. After only four years of life Ben's youngest son, Francis dies. In that same year he founded the Union Fire Company in Philadelphia. In 1743 Ben's wife Deborah gives birth to a daughter Sarah, who was also known as "Sally". Two years later Ben's father, Josiah Franklin dies. In 1748 Ben sells his printing shop, and retires from the business.

Throughout the 1730s, Franklin held some minor positions doing printing work for the government. In that time, he began Poor Richard's Almanac and became postmaster of Philadelphia. Towards the end of the decade, he invented the Franklin stove. In the 1740s, Franklin worked on several projects, including the fire brigade, the police force, the University of Pennsylvania, the street sweeping service and some other smaller public works projects. He retired from the printing business in 1748 and began to conduct scientific experiments in lightning. In 1753, he was awarded honorary degrees from Harvard and Yale, and he became Postmaster General of America. The following year, when war broke out between England and France (the French and Indian War Franklin began to draft proposals outlining means by which funds could be raised for colonial defense. He succeeded in many of his proposals, and he personally played a large part in organizing the war effort. The Autobiography, however, breaks off in 1757; it is left unfinished.

The author and protagonist of the Autobiography; he writes the work ostensibly to tell his son about his life and to provide a model of self-betterment for anyone interested. Born into a modest Boston family, Franklin moved to Philadelphia in his late teens and eventually opened up his own newspaper, The Pennsylvania Gazette. The Autobiography tells of the major events of his life and many of his important scientific and political ideas, but the work does not discuss the American Revolution, in which Franklin was a ...