Benjamin Franklin

Benjamin Franklin was a figure of universal dimensions, being printer, writer, philosopher, scientist, economist and statesman. As one of the leaders of the Revolution, he participated in the most important events of his time. His powerful intellect and rare human qualities brought him world fame.
Benjamin Franklin was born in Boston, Massachusetts. He was the youngest of seventeen children in the family of a poor English immigrant. He had been taught reading and writing very early and at the age of eight was sent to a school for a year to learn arithmetic, and that was about ail the education his parents could afford. He was not yet eleven years old when he began to work in his father's little soap shop. Three years later he was taken on as an apprentice in the print-shop of his elder half-brother who was the editor of a famous newspaper. One day the broth¬er was sent to prison for having printed some material which they considered undue. During his absence Benjamin had the management of the paper and printed some articles of his own, on the merits of edu¬cation and on freedom of the press. He too was soon considered too much of a radical, and too outspoken a free-thinker to please the Boston clergy¬men who, like the early Puritan clergymen, made much fuss about their personal holiness. When his brother returned and took management of the paper again, Benjamin decided to leave Boston. He was seventeen years old and he longed to be self-supporting.
At first he went to New York, but he could not find employment there, so he went to Philadelphia which became his home. He found work in a very old-fashioned print-shop, where the technique of printing was very bad. A year later Franklin decided to sail to Britain to master the British technique of printing. In 1724 he worked at the printing and
publishing house of James Watt,1 in London. His contact with this British scientist proved to be a good school for him, not only in the printing trade but also in the sciences.On his return to America Franklin organized a literary and philosophic society the "Junto",2 where young men met to read and discuss contemporary literature. The works of Swift and Defoe, and articles by Steele and Addison, and particularly the works of the English philosopher John Locke, all made a deep impression on the American youth. Locke had already written his "Essay on the Human Understanding" in which he denied that man was born with any ready ideas. Locke presented the mind as a sheet of blank paper to be written on by experience. He said that emotion and reflection was le source of all ideas. Locked "writings on the right of every individual "to Life, Liberty and Property", on the right to revolt against usurpation of authority and against social inequality were immensely influential in America.When Franklin understood that much had to be done to bring progressive thought to his countrymen, he decided in 1733 to start a periodical, sing the pen-name of Richard Saunders he began to issue what came to i known among the readers as "Poor Richard's Almanac", which continued to appear for 25 years. It was a sort of calendar and contained, addition to useful information and literary selections, a section in which progressive ideas on the mode of living, on education and on the political events of the day were communicated to the reader through e fictitious Richard and his wife Bridget. These were mostly in the form of sayings and had a powerful influence among the people: "For age id want save while you may: no morning sun lasts a whole day." "God helps them that help themselves.""Dost thou love life, then don't squander time, for that's the stuff life is made of, as Poor Richard says.""Early bed and early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise" "Experience keeps a dear school, but tools will learn in no other, as Poor Richard says."
Some of Poor Richard's sayings would seem to us today to be bourgeois moralizing. In bourgeois America these sayings are still in common use today. But in Franklin's day they had a certain virtue. By the middle of the 18th century about a quarter of the population were in prison for debt, and-Poor Richard's advice was an attempt to help people to keep out of debt and to provide means for education.
In the forties Franklin experimented on electricity and invented what was called the Franklin-rod to draw electricity from the atmosphere. The Franklin-rod became known in all parts of the world as the lightning-rod. The invention removed all existing mysticism about lightning.
Franklin would willingly have devoted all his time to science but the approaching Revolution claimed his attention and he became a statesman. He was sent to England to defend the interests of the colonies before the British Parliament and present their demand of "no taxation without representation" which meant that England had no right to tax the people who lived in America because Parliament would not accept members from the colonies.
Franklin won recognition as being very suitable for public service, and was made a member of the Colonial Assembly. During the Revolution he and Thomas Jefferson were chosen to draft the Declaration of Indepen¬dence. Later he was sent to France where he succeeded in procuring financial aid in the sum of 26 million francs, and most important, the one thing America needed — a fleet. Franklin wrote many essays while in France. His writings helped to create sympathy in Europe for the Ame¬rican people in their struggle for independence, and many countries were ready to recognize the young American Republic.
After the War of Independence Franklin was chosen a member of the Convention to frame the Constitution of the United States. He opposed those of the Federalist Party who wanted to give dominant power to the big planters and thus create a new aristocracy. He wrote many political and satirical pamphlets defending the rights of all men including the Negroes and the Indians, and became president of the society for the abolition of slavery. Whatever Franklin did, his purpose always was to further the welfare of human society.
During the last years of his life he wrote an "Autobiography". It was written in a warm intimate style and was intended for his sons and grandsons rather than for the world. The book, however, was published after his death and was widely read.