Jacob Litz
Do you know of the person who is on the one-hundred-dollar bill? Or have you ever looked at that lightning rod on your house and wondered who made it? Have you ever gone to the library and asked who founded the first one? The answer to all these questions is Benjamin Franklin. During the American Revolution and colonial times, he was a major part of gaining Independence for the USA and he was also a well-known scientist and inventor. Many of his inventions we still use today.
Benjamin Franklin had a normal childhood. Good things happened and sad things happened. Benjamin Franklin was born on January 17th, 1706. He was born on 17 Milk Street in Boston Massachusetts on a Sunday. He was the tenth son of a soap maker; His parents were Josiah Franklin who was a candle and soap maker. Josiah’s second wife was Abiah Franklin. His childhood was that he composed short books in his brother’s printing press, he loved to read as a child and read everything he could get his hands on. However, his education was he only had one year of proper schooling and his father wanted him to join the clergy, but he did not have enough schooling to do so. At the age of 8 he was transferred to Mr. Brownwell's school for athematic and grammar. His early adult years were spent writing under a fake name (Silence Dogood) For his brother James’ newspaper. At night he would slip letters under the door of the printing press, they were a huge hit. When his brother James was sent to jail Ben ran the printing press when his brother got out of jail, he was not incredibly grateful and Hurt Ben, so he ran away to Philadelphia. There he met his future wife Deborah Reed. He tried to find work as a printer there, but he did not. But when he finally did, he did great there and the governor offered him a chance to open his own printing press, so he went to London to buy fonts, but the governor went back on his promise, and he had to work in London for a while. When he got back, he married Deborah Reed. Overall, Ben had a childhood that resembled the normal childhood of children in colonial times.
Benjamin Franklin was influenced by many things. Some things influenced him to make something to deal with the problem or get more involved in something. He was influenced by the cold winters in Pennsylvania, so he built the Franklin Stove to keep people warm. In like manner, he was influenced by the fact that people were dying and getting hurt and losing houses to lightning. So, he invented the lightning rod to keep people safe. In addition, he was influenced by the fact that his eyesight was getting worse, so he invented bifocals to help his eyesight. He was influenced by the British rule on the colonies, to become involved in politics. These are the facts and the people who influenced Ben into doing some of the best things he did.
Benjamin Franklin had many obstacles in his amazing life to do and make so many remarkable things for our country today. Whenever he wanted to write in the newspaper, he had to find someone to print his work. And even if he did find someone to print his work, who would want to listen to a 12-year-old boy’s thoughts? And how would his older brother James react to his success? He overcame this obstacle by giving himself a fake name so nobody would know who he was or how old he was. In addition, he proved that lightning was a form of electricity by conducting his famous kite-key experiment. What made this challenging was the fact that most people agreed that lightning was not a form of electricity. And it would be hard to go against these beliefs that so many people believed in. He overcame it by making an experiment of it he tied a key to a kite and flew it into a thunderstorm, when a piece of lightning struck kite, it traveled down to the key and shocked it. But Ben had one he could not overcome he wanted the bird of the USA to be a turkey. In a letter he wrote that an Eagle is a bird of bad moral character he authored a story about the Eagle being too lazy to fish. The Eagle spots a Fishing Hawk who has caught a fish, the Bald Eagle takes it from him and eats it. He also says that a turkey is a much more respectable bird than the Eagle. These were Ben’s obstacles that he had to overcome.
Benjamin Franklin made a lot of great accomplishments in his life like inventions and freedom for the USA. Benjamin Franklin invented the Franklin stove an efficient wood burning stove that produced more heat and created less smoke than normal stoves it was the stove people usually used for winter. Also, he made swim fins an early version of flippers that helped the user swim faster. In addition, he made bifocals, special glasses that helped the user see far and near in one pair of glasses. Uniquely created the Junto, a club made of men who shared their strengths to one another and discussed political views. In addition, he created the first lending library to the colonies. Created the first fire department in Pennsylvania. Ben got more important when the “Huchison Affair “occurred in the colonies the Massachusetts governor Thomas Huchison pretended to side with the colonists but was working for England! This made the colonists even more enraged whenever Ben got a hold of one of Thomas’ letters to the king and showed it to the colonies. He was loved by the French and played a big part in the War, now it is not like he fought in it, but he helped persuade the French to help the colonies against the British and their fight for independence. He was impressively the owner of a newspaper that soon became famous: The Pennsylvania Gazette. It was famous for printing the first political cartoons that usually poked fun at the British and their leaders. He got interested in politics in 1750, He was a loyalist when he first got into politics. His first big case was he went to England to help in the argument with the Penn family who thought they should rule Pennsylvania. He signed and helped write the Declaration of Independence. Discovered the Gulf Stream. Wanted the bird of the USA to be a turkey instead of the Bald Eagle. This is just a fraction of Benjamin Franklin's accomplishments.
Benjamin Franklin has passed away. But he left behind many wonderful things. He died on April 17th, 1790, he died from complications with pleurisy. 20,000 people (about the seating capacity of Madison Square Garden) attended his funeral. At his grave today, people toss pennies at his grave quoting a saying from the book Poor Richard’s Almanac the quote is, “A penny saved is a penny earned.” This is the end of Benjamin Franklin’s wonderous life.
With building the foundations of the USA and with so many great inventions too. He helped build the beautiful country we see today. He was a great multi-tasker, balancing inventions, science, and politics smartness, bravery, and hard work are all words and phrases that describe Benjamin Franklin he was a man ahead of his time. You can remember him by visiting the 1st and 2ndContinental Congress and Visiting his grave and thinking of his great inventions.