

In 1776, he joined a committee to draft the Declaration of Independence. He believed the American colonies should separate from English rule. The bill was repealed in 1766.įranklin was elected to the Second Continental Congress in 1775. He went before the British Parliament to condemn the tax. At the time, Franklin was living in London. They used print documents for business and legal matters. The colonists used a lot of printed material. The act required that the colonists pay a tax on printed materials. This made the North American colonists angry. In March 1765, the British government passed the Stamp Act.

In 1751, Franklin was elected as a representative to the Pennsylvania Assembly. He also invented bifocal eyeglasses and maybe even the first rocking chair.

Some of the terms he coined are still used today, such as battery, charge, and electrify. His famous kite-and-key experiment in 1752 demonstrated that lighting was electricity. In 1748, he retired from the print business. GRAPHICAARTIS/GETTY IMAGES Benjamin Franklin and associates at Franklin's printing press.įranklin became one of the richest men in Pennsylvania. Two of the most famous proverbs are “No pains without gains” and “Early to bed, early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise.” It became famous for its folksy proverbs. The almanac contained weather forecasts, information about astronomy, poetry, and other amusements. He wrote in the voice of a farmer named Poor Richard. In 1732, he began publishing the yearly Poor Richard’s Almanack. Over the years, Franklin became even more well-known. Newspapers spread the ideas that would eventually bring about the American Revolution. At the time, newspapers were the best way to spread ideas. He turned it into the most widely read newspaper in the American colonies. Then in 1729, he bought the Pennsylvania Gazette. In 1728, he and a friend opened a print shop. Ambition and Inventionįranklin became known in Philadelphia as a hardworking young man. He would call the city home for the rest of his life. But his brother James did not want Ben to write. This was so readers would think they were written by an ordinary person in the town. Ben learned how to build sentences with care. The printer laid out the page letter by letter on a printing press. It was owned by Ben’s older brother, James.īen learned all about the newspaper business. When he turned 12, his father sent him to work in a printer’s shop. He sent Ben to work in the family candle and soap shop.

But his father, Josiah Franklin, pulled him out of school when he was 10 years old. Constitution.īenjamin Franklin was born in Boston on January 17, 1706. He helped draft the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Benjamin Franklin (January 17, 1706-April 17, 1790) was a scientist, an inventor, a writer, and a statesman.
