Benjamin Franklin was born in Boston, Massachusetts, on January 17, 1706. He was the tenth son of Josiah Franklin. His parents discovered his genius at an early age, and they resolved to make sure he received an education. He was placed in a grammar school, where he excelled. However, after a year his parents could no longer afford the expense of his education. Franklin was brought home to pursue his father’s business – that of a candle maker. He lasted two years and found that cutting wicks for candles, filling moulds, and running errands did not suit him. He wanted a life at sea, but his parents strongly objected to this idea. They had already lost one son at sea. They listened to Franklin, however, and he was permitted to change his business and choose an occupation to which he felt more suited.
From an early age, Benjamin had a fondness for books and read everything he could get his hands on. His father’s library was scanty, but he perused it with great attention. Works such as Defoe’s Essay upon Projects, Mather’s Essay on Doing Good and the Lives of Plutarch had a great and favorable influence on young Benjamin’s mind. His father, noticing his love of books, proposed that he apprentice with one of his older brothers, who was at that time a printer of a newspaper in Boston. Franklin agreed and started working in his brother’s print shop when he was barely twelve years old. He quickly became accomplished in the mechanical aspects of the business. Meanwhile, he seized every opportunity to read any books he could borrow.
He indulged himself in writing ballads and other poetical pieces, but his father soon convinced him to express himself in compositions and prose. In writing Franklin excelled. With a passion for reading and writing, young Franklin soon was anonymously inserting some of his papers and essays into his brother’s newspaper. These were read and highly commended by the people of Boston. Franklin’s brother was now treating Benjamin indignantly and with so much severity that young Franklin decided to leave him. He secretly took passage aboard a vessel bound for New York. After spending a few days there, seeking in vain to procure a job, he proceeded on foot to Philadelphia where he arrived fatigued and destitute. He was seventeen years old, almost four hundred miles from home, penniless, without employment, and did not know a single person in the city.
The day after he arrived, Franklin wandered through the streets of Philadelphia looking like a beggar. His appearance attracted the notice of several citizens of the city, including a Miss Reed, who would later become his wife. At this time there were but two printing offices in Philadelphia. Fortunately, in one of these he found employment as compositor. His conduct was very appropriate, having gained experience with his brother; and he was attentive to business. His precision not only entrusted him to his employer but was also noticed by several respectable citizens who promised him their patronage and support. Among those who took notice of him was Sir William Keith, governor of the province.
The governor became aware of Franklin’s recent adventures, and he professed a deep interest in his welfare. He proposed that Franklin start his own business and promised to aid him, refer him to his friends, and award him the government’s printing business. Moreover, the governor urged him to return to Boston, to seek the approval and assistance of his father. The governor gave Franklin a letter to take to his father, full of assurances of affection for and promises of support to the son. With this in hand, Franklin sailed for Boston. After an absence of several months, he again entered his father’s house and was greeted with open arms by his family. He gave his father Governor Keith’s letter and explained the reason for his return. His father advised him, however, to forget the project and wrote his reply to Governor Keith, citing Franklin’s youth and inexperience. Franklin followed the advice of his father and returned to his employment in Philadelphia.
Upon learning of the advice and decision of Franklin’s father, Governor Keith offered to furnish the necessary materials himself. He proposed that Franklin make a voyage to England to procure the items he needed to establish his own printing business. Franklin readily accepted, and with gratitude to his generous benefactor, he sailed for England in 1725. He was accompanied by his friend Ralph, one of his literary associates in Philadelphia. Before his departure, Franklin exchanged promises of fidelity with Miss Reed. They had grown close while he had lodged at her father’s house. Upon his arrival in London, Franklin found that Governor Keith had deceived him. His letters of credit and recommendations were worthless.
He was now obliged to work as a journeyman printer and obtained employment in an office in London. His friend Ralph did not easily find a job and was a constant drain upon Franklin’s earnings. In that great city, the morals of the young travelers were not improved either. Ralph forgot, or acted as if he had forgotten, that he had a wife and child across the Atlantic; and Franklin was equally forgetful of his promises and engagement to Miss Reed. Having resided about a year and a half in London, Franklin concerted a scheme with an acquaintance to make a tour of Europe. At this time, however, he fell in company with a mercantile friend, who was returning home to Philadelphia, and who now persuaded Franklin to abandon his tour and to enter his service in the capacity of a clerk. On July 22, 1726, they set sail for Philadelphia, where they arrived on October 11th.
Franklin’s prospects were bright. He had connected with his new profession, and his attention to business gained the confidence of his employer so much that he was about to be commissioned as supercargo to the West Indies. Suddenly, his patron died and not only were Franklin’s prospects blighted, but he was once more unemployed. He had, however, one resort— to return to the business of printing in the service of his former master. This he did, and at length he became superintendent of the printing house.
In 1732, Franklin published the maiden issue of Poor Richard’s Almanack – a collection of wit, wisdom and common sense philosophies that would win wide attention on both sides of he Atlantic.
Franklin’s reputation as a genius was not built upon any single talent but rather on diversified pursuits. A man of enormous vision, Franklin invented the lightning rod, bifocal glasses, and the Franklin stove. He helped establish the University of Pennsylvania, organized the first city fire department, and the first city street cleaning department. In addition, Dr. Franklin excelled in a variety of civil posts including Postmaster General of the united colonies.
As a delegate to the Second Continental Congress, Franklin proved to be a man of reticence, not one to hurry a decision. This proved an annoyance to many of his fellow delegates who were more bullish in their arm-flailing, outward approach to independence. In fact, rumors circulated in the city of Philadelphia that Dr. Franklin’s sympathies might lie too heavily with England, that he might have come to this Second Continental Congress not as a friend but as a spy for the crown. These rumors were dispelled by early July 1776, however, when it became clearly evident that he was working mightily for the cause – not perhaps in heated debate on the floor of Congress, but behind the scenes in corridors and over tavern tables. It was Benjamin Franklin who would receive Thomas Jefferson’s draft of he Declaration for editing.
The signature of Benjamin Franklin appears on all four of the most important American documents – the Declaration of Independence, the Treaty of Alliance with France, the Constitution of the United States, and the Treaty of Peace with England.