Benjamin franklin facts history
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Benjamin Franklin’s Early Years
Benjamin Franklin was born on January 17, 1706, in colonial Boston. His father, Josiah Franklin (1657-1745), a native of England, was a candle and soap maker who married twice and had 17 children. Franklin’s mother was Abiah Folger (1667-1752) of Nantucket, Massachusetts, Josiah’s second wife. Franklin was the eighth of Abiah and Josiah’s 10 offspring.
Did you know? Benjamin Franklin is the only Founding Father to have signed all four of the key documents establishing the U.S.: the Declaration of Independence (1776), the Treaty of Alliance with France (1778), the Treaty of Paris establishing peace with Great Britain (1783) and the U.S. Constitution (1787).
Franklin’s formal education was limited and ended when he was 10; however, he was an avid reader and taught himself to become a skilled writer. In 1718, at age 12, he was apprenticed to his older brother James, a Boston printer. By age 16, Franklin was contributing essays (under the pse
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10 Facts: Benjamin Franklin
Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) was one of the of the leading figures of early American history. Learn about this famous American statesman, author, publisher, scientist, inventor and diplomat.
Fact #1. Ben Franklin was a printer and newspaper editor.
- Born in Boston, Massachusetts in 1706, at age 17 he left Boston for Philadelphia where he became a well-known printer of newspapers. He began a popular almanac full of wit and wisdom called Poor Richard’s Almanac.
Fact #2: Franklin proposed the Albany Plan of Union in 1754, an early proposal to unite the American colonies.
- Ahead of his time, Franklin was looking to find a way to unite the disparate American colonies as early as the French and Indian War. He created a famous cartoon of a snake divided with the phrase “Join or Die.”
Fact #3: Franklin was an important founding father.
- Franklin argued for American liberty abroad and at home. He was appointed as the first Postmaste
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Benjamin Franklin: First American Diplomat, 1776–1785
Benjamin Franklin, the most distinguished scientific and literary American of the colonial era, was the first American diplomat.
Benjamin Franklin
Franklin served from 1776 to 1778 on a commission to France charged with the critical task of gaining French support for American independence. French aristocrats and intellectuals embraced Franklin as the personification of the New World Enlightenment. His likeness appeared on medallions, rings, watches, and snuffboxes, and fashionable ladies adopted the "coiffure a la Franklin" in imitation of the fur cap he wore instead of a wig. His popularity and diplomatic skill—along with the first American battlefield success at Saratoga—convinced France to recognize American independence and conclude an alliance with the thirteen states in 1778. Franklin presented his credentials to the French court in 1779, becoming the first American Minister (the eighteenth century American equivalent