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{{Infobox officeholder
|name = Benjamin Franklin
|image = BenFranklinDuplessis.jpg{{!}}border
|office = 6th [[List of Governors of Pennsylvania|President of Pennsylvania]]
|vicepresident = [[Charles Biddle]]<br>[[Thomas Mifflin]]
|term_start = October 18, 1785
|term_end = November 5, 1788
|predecessor = [[John Dickinson (Pennsylvania and Delaware)|John Dickinson]]
|successor = [[Thomas Mifflin]]
|office1 = [[United States Ambassador to Sweden|United States Minister to Sweden]]
|appointer1 = [[Congress of the Confederation]]
|term_start1 = September 28, 1782
|term_end1 = April 3, 1783
|predecessor1 = Position established
|successor1 = [[Jonathan Russell]]
|office2 = [[United States Ambassador to France|United States Minister to France]]
|appointer2 = [[Continental Congress]]
|alongside2 = [[Arthur Lee (diplomat)|Arthur Lee]], [[Silas Deane]], [[John Adams]]
|term_start2 = September 14, 1778
|term_end2 = May 17, 1785
|predecessor2 = Position established
|successor2 = [[Thomas Jefferson]]
|office3 = 1st [[United States Postmaster General]]
|term_start3 = July 26, 1775
|term_end3 = November 7, 1776
|predecessor3 = Position established
|successor3 = [[Richard Bache]]
|office4 = [[Speaker of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives|Speaker of the Pennsylvania Assembly]]
|term_start4 = May 1764
|term_end4 = October 1764
|predecessor4 = [[Isaac Norris (statesman)|Isaac Norris]]
|successor4 = [[Isaac Norris (statesman)|Isaac Norris]]
|birth_date = {{birth date|1706|1|17}}
|birth_place = [[Boston]], [[Province of Massachusetts Bay|Massachusetts Bay]], [[British America]]
|death_date = {{death date and age|1790|4|17|1706|1|17}}
|death_place = [[Philadelphia]], [[Pennsylvania]], [[United States|U.S.]]
|party = [[Independent politician|Independent]]
|spouse = [[Deborah Read]]
|children = [[William Franklin|William]]<br>[[Francis Folger Franklin|Francis]]<br>[[Sarah Franklin Bache|Sarah]]
|signature = Benjamin Franklin Signature.svg
}}
[[File:Benjamin Franklin 1767.jpg|left|A portrait of Benjamin Franklin|frameless|297x297px]]
'''Benjamin Franklin''' [[Royal Society|FRS]] ({{OldStyleDateDY|January 17,|1706|January 6, 1705}}<ref name="Engber">{{Cite web| |last=Engber |first=Daniel |date=2006 |url=http://www.slate.com/id/2134455/ |title=What's Benjamin Franklin's Birthday? |accessdate=2009-06-17 |postscript=. Engber clearly explains Franklin's confusing birthdates, which are shared by many notable people, not the least of whom are [[George Washington]] and [[Thomas Paine]]}}</ref>{{spaced ndash}} April 17, 1790) was one of the [[Founding Fathers of the United States]] and in many ways was "The First American".<ref>H. W. Brands, ''The First American: The Life and Times of Benjamin Franklin'' (2010)</ref> A renowned [[polymath]], Franklin was a leading author, printer, [[List of political philosophers|political theorist]], politician, postmaster, scientist, inventor, civic activist, statesman, and diplomat. As a scientist, he was a major figure in the [[American Enlightenment]] and the [[history of physics]] for his discoveries and theories regarding electricity. As an inventor, he is known for the [[lightning rod]], [[bifocals]], and the [[Franklin stove]], among other inventions.<ref>{{cite web|title=Inventor|url=http://fi.edu/franklin/inventor/inventor.html|publisher=The Franklin Institute|accessdate=April 25, 2012}}</ref> He facilitated many civic organizations, including Philadelphia's fire department and a university.
Franklin earned the title of "The First American" for his early and indefatigable campaigning for [[Thirteen Colonies|colonial unity]]; as an author and spokesman in London for several colonies, then as the first [[United States Ambassador to France]], he exemplified the emerging American nation.<ref>H.W. Brands, ''The First American: The Life and Times of Benjamin Franklin'' (2000)</ref> Franklin was foundational in defining the American ethos as a marriage of the practical values of thrift, hard work, education, community spirit, self-governing institutions, and opposition to authoritarianism both political and religious, with the scientific and tolerant values of the [[Age of Enlightenment|Enlightenment]]. In the words of historian [[Henry Steele Commager]], "In a Franklin could be merged the virtues of [[Puritanism]] without its defects, the illumination of the Enlightenment without its heat."<ref>Isaacson 2003, p. 491</ref> To [[Walter Isaacson]], this makes Franklin "the most accomplished American of his age and the most influential in inventing the type of society America would become."<ref>Walter Isaacson, ''Benjamin Franklin'' (2003), p. 492</ref>
Franklin, always proud of his working class roots, became a successful newspaper editor and printer in [[Philadelphia]], the leading city in the colonies.<ref>H.W. Brands. ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=B2bPCEbMAvwC&pg=PA390 The First American: The Life and Times of Benjamin Franklin]''. (2010). p. 390.</ref> With two partners he published the ''[[Pennsylvania Chronicle]],'' a newspaper that was known for its revolutionary sentiments and criticisms of the British policies. He became wealthy publishing ''[[Poor Richard's Almanack]]'' and ''[[Pennsylvania Gazette|The Pennsylvania Gazette]]''. Franklin was also the printer of books for the [[Moravian Church|Moravians]] of [[Bethlehem, Pennsylvania]] (1742 on). Franklin's printed Moravian books (printed in [[German language|German]]) are preserved, and can be viewed, at the Moravian Archives located in Bethlehem. Franklin visited Bethlehem many times and stayed at the [[Moravian Sun Inn]].
He played a major role in establishing the [[University of Pennsylvania]] and was elected the first president of the [[American Philosophical Society]]. Franklin became a national hero in America when as agent for several colonies he spearheaded the effort to have Parliament in London repeal the unpopular [[Stamp Act 1765|Stamp Act]]. An accomplished diplomat, he was widely admired among the French as American minister to Paris and was a major figure in the development of positive [[France–United States relations|Franco-American relations]]. His efforts to secure support for the [[American Revolution]] by shipments of crucial munitions proved vital for the American war effort.
For many years he was the British postmaster for the colonies, which enabled him to set up the first national communications network. He was active in community affairs, colonial and state politics, as well as national and international affairs. From 1785 to 1788, he served as [[Supreme Executive Council of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania#Presidents of Council|governor of Pennsylvania]]. Toward the end of his life, he freed his own slaves and became one of the most prominent [[Abolitionism in the United States|abolitionists]].
His colorful life and legacy of scientific and political achievement, and status as one of America's most influential Founding Fathers, have seen Franklin honored on [[Franklin half dollar|coinage]] and the [[United States one hundred-dollar bill|$100 bill]]; [[USS Benjamin Franklin (SSBN-640)|warships]]; [[List of places named for Benjamin Franklin|the names of many towns]]; counties; educational institutions; corporations; and, more than two centuries after his death, countless [[Benjamin Franklin in popular culture|cultural references]].
==Early life in Boston==
[[File:Benjamin Franklin Birthplace 2.JPG|thumb|upright0.1|Franklin's birthplace on [[Milk Street]], Boston, Massachusetts]]
[[File:Benjamin Franklin Birthplace.jpg|thumb|upright0.1|Franklin's birthplace site directly across from [[Old South Meeting House]] on [[Milk Street]] is commemorated by a [[bust (sculpture)|bust]] above the second floor facade of this building.]]
Benjamin Franklin was born on [[Milk Street]], in [[Boston]], [[Province of Massachusetts Bay|Massachusetts]], on January 17, 1706,<ref name="Engber" /><ref name="calendar" group="Note">Contemporary records, which used the Julian calendar and the [[New Year#Historical Christian new year dates|Annunciation Style]] of enumerating years, recorded his birth as January 6, 1705. The provisions of the British [[Calendar (New Style) Act 1750]], implemented in 1752, altered the official British dating method to the Gregorian calendar with the start of the year on January 1 (it had been March 25). These changes resulted in dates being moved forward 11 days, and for those between January 1 and March 25, an advance of one year. For a further explanation, see: [[Old Style and New Style dates]].</ref> and [[Infant baptism|baptized]] at Old South Meeting House. He was one of seventeen children born to [[Josiah Franklin]], and one of ten born by Josiah's second wife, Abiah Folger. Among Benjamin's siblings were his older brother [[James Franklin (printer)|James]] and his younger sister [[Jane Mecom|Jane]].
Josiah wanted Ben to attend school with the clergy, but he only had enough money to send him to school for two years. He attended [[Boston Latin School]] but did not graduate; he continued his education through voracious reading. Although "his parents talked of the church as a career"<ref name="autobio">{{cite book |last= Franklin |first= Benjamin |authormask= 2 |title= Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin |url= http://books.google.com/books?id=qW4VAAAAYAAJ |accessdate=February 1, 2011 |series= Macmillan's pocket English and American classics |origyear= 1771 |year= 1901 |publisher=Macmillan |location= New York |page= vi |chapter= Introduction}}<!-- Note: the introduction of this edition is the source for this quote; please do not change the edition without verifying the quote remains sourced. --></ref> for Franklin, his schooling ended when he was ten. He worked for his father for a time, and at 12 he became an [[apprenticeship|apprentice]] to his brother James, a printer, who taught Ben the printing trade. When Ben was 15, James founded ''[[The New-England Courant]]'', which was [[History of American newspapers|the first truly independent newspaper in the colonies]].
When he was denied the chance to write a letter to the paper for publication, Franklin adopted the pseudonym of "[[Mrs. Silence Dogood]]", a middle-aged widow. Mrs. Dogood's letters were published, and became a subject of conversation around town. Neither James nor the ''Courant'''s readers were aware of the ruse, and James was unhappy with Ben when he discovered the popular correspondent was his younger brother. Franklin was an advocate of free speech from an early age. When his brother was jailed for three weeks in 1722 for publishing material unflattering to the governor, young Franklin took over the newspaper and had Mrs. Dogood (quoting ''[[Cato's Letters]]'') proclaim: "Without freedom of thought there can be no such thing as wisdom and no such thing as public liberty without freedom of speech."<ref>Isaacson, (2003) p 32</ref> Franklin left his apprenticeship without his brother's permission, and in so doing became a [[fugitive from justice|fugitive]].<ref name="vandoren">Carl Van Doren, ''Benjamin Franklin''. (1938).</ref>
==Running away to Philadelphia==
When he was 17, Franklin ran away to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, seeking a new start in a new city. When he first arrived, he worked in several printer shops around town, but he was not satisfied by the immediate prospects. After a few months, while working in a printing house, Franklin was convinced by Pennsylvania Governor [[Sir William Keith, 4th Baronet|Sir William Keith]] to go to [[London]], ostensibly to acquire the equipment necessary for establishing another newspaper in Philadelphia. Finding Keith's promises of backing a newspaper empty, Franklin worked as a [[typesetter]] in a printer's shop in what is now the [[St Bartholomew-the-Great|Church of St Bartholomew-the-Great]] in the [[Smithfield, London|Smithfield]] area of London. Following this, he returned to Philadelphia in 1726 with the help of Thomas Denham, a merchant who employed Franklin as clerk, shopkeeper, and bookkeeper in his business.<ref name="vandoren"/>
===Junto and library===
In 1727, Benjamin Franklin, then 21, created the [[Junto (club)|Junto]], a group of "like minded aspiring artisans and tradesmen who hoped to improve themselves while they improved their community." The Junto was a discussion group for issues of the day; it subsequently gave rise to many organizations in Philadelphia, PA.
Reading was a great pastime of the Junto, but books were rare and expensive. The members created a library, initially assembled from their own books. This did not suffice, however. Franklin conceived the idea of a [[subscription library]], which would pool the funds of the members to buy books for all to read. This was the birth of the [[Library Company of Philadelphia]]: its charter was composed by Franklin in 1731. In 1732, Franklin hired the first American librarian, [[Louis Timothee]].
Originally, the books were kept in the homes of the first librarians, but in 1739 the collection was moved to the second floor of the State House of Pennsylvania, now known as [[Independence Hall]]. In 1791, a new building was built specifically for the library. The Library Company is now a great scholarly and [[Library#Research library|research library]] with 500,000 rare books, pamphlets, and broadsides, more than 160,000 manuscripts, and 75,000 graphic items.
===Newspaperman===
[[File:Franklin the printer.jpg|thumb|Benjamin Franklin (center) at work on a [[printing press]]. Reproduction of a Charles Mills painting by the [[Detroit Publishing Company]].]]
Upon Denham's death, Franklin returned to his former trade. In 1728, Franklin had set up a printing house in partnership with [[Hugh Meredith]]; the following year he became the publisher of a newspaper called ''[[Pennsylvania Gazette|The Pennsylvania Gazette]]''. The ''Gazette'' gave Franklin a forum for agitation about a variety of local reforms and initiatives through printed essays and observations. Over time, his commentary, and his adroit cultivation of a positive image as an industrious and intellectual young man, earned him a great deal of social respect. But even after Franklin had achieved fame as a scientist and statesman, he habitually signed his letters with the unpretentious 'B. Franklin, Printer.'<ref name="vandoren"/>
In 1732, Ben Franklin published the first [[German language]] newspaper in America – ''Die Philadelphische Zeitung'' – although it failed after only one year, because four other newly founded German papers quickly dominated the newspaper market.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://german.about.com/library/weekly/aa071299.htm|title=German Newspapers in the US and Canada|publisher=|accessdate=October 7, 2014}}</ref>
Franklin saw the printing press as a device to instruct colonial Americans in moral virtue. Frasca argues he saw this as a service to God, because he understood moral virtue in terms of actions, thus, doing good provides a service to God. Despite his own moral lapses, Franklin saw himself as uniquely qualified to instruct Americans in morality. He tried to influence American moral life through construction of a printing network based on a chain of partnerships from the Carolinas to New England. Franklin thereby invented the first newspaper chain. It was more than a business venture, for like many publishers since, he believed that the press had a public-service duty.<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Frasca | first1 = Ralph | year = 1997 | title = Benjamin Franklin's Journalism | url = | journal = [[Fides et Historia]] | volume = 29 | issue = 1| pages = 60–72 }}</ref>
When Franklin established himself in Philadelphia, shortly before 1730, the town boasted two "wretched little" news sheets, [[Andrew Bradford]]'s ''American Mercury'', and [[Samuel Keimer|Keimer's]] ''Universal Instructor in all Arts and Sciences, and Pennsylvania Gazette''. This instruction in all arts and sciences consisted of weekly extracts from ''Chambers's Universal Dictionary''. Franklin quickly did away with all this when he took over the ''Instructor'' and made it ''The Pennsylvania Gazette''. The ''Gazette'' soon became Franklin's characteristic organ, which he freely used for satire, for the play of his wit, even for sheer excess of mischief or of fun. From the first he had a way of adapting his models to his own uses. The series of essays called "The Busy-Body", which he wrote for Bradford's ''American Mercury'' in 1729, followed the general [[Joseph Addison|Addisonian]] form, already modified to suit homelier conditions. The thrifty Patience, in her busy little shop, complaining of the useless visitors who waste her valuable time, is related to the ladies who address Mr. Spectator. The Busy-Body himself is a true Censor Morum, as [[Isaac Bickerstaff]] had been in the ''Tatler''. And a number of the fictitious characters, Ridentius, Eugenius, Cato, and Cretico, represent traditional 18th-century classicism. Even this Franklin could use for contemporary satire, since Cretico, the "sowre Philosopher", is evidently a portrait of Franklin's rival, Samuel Keimer.
As time went on, Franklin depended less on his literary conventions, and more on his own native humor. In this there is a new spirit—not suggested to him by the fine breeding of Addison, or the bitter irony of [[Jonathan Swift|Swift]], or the stinging completeness of [[Alexander Pope|Pope]]. The brilliant little pieces Franklin wrote for his ''Pennsylvania Gazette'' have an imperishable place in American literature.
The ''Pennsylvania Gazette'', like most other newspapers of the period, was often poorly printed. Franklin was busy with a hundred matters outside of his printing office, and never seriously attempted to raise the mechanical standards of his trade. Nor did he ever properly edit or collate the chance medley of stale items that passed for news in the ''Gazette.'' His influence on the practical side of journalism was minimal. On the other hand, his advertisements of books show his very great interest in popularizing secular literature. Undoubtedly his paper contributed to the broader culture that distinguished Pennsylvania from her neighbors before the Revolution. Like many publishers, Franklin built up a book shop in his printing office; he took the opportunity to read new books before selling them.
Franklin had mixed success in his plan to establish an inter-colonial network of newspapers that would produce a profit for him and disseminate virtue.<ref>Ralph Frasca, ''Benjamin Franklin's Printing Network: Disseminating Virtue in Early America'' (2006) [http://www.amazon.com/Benjamin-Franklins-Printing-Network-Disseminating/dp/0826216145/ excerpt and text search]</ref> He began in [[Charleston, South Carolina]], in 1731. After the second editor died, his widow Elizabeth Timothy took over and made it a success, 1738–46. She was one of the colonial era's first woman printers.<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Baker | first1 = Ira L. | year = 1977 | title = Elizabeth Timothy: America's First Woman Editor | url = | journal = Journalism Quarterly | volume = 54 | issue = 2| pages = 280–285 | doi=10.1177/107769907705400207}}</ref> For three decades Franklin maintained a close business relationship with her and her son Peter who took over in 1746.<ref>Ralph Frasca, "'The Partnership at Carolina Having succeeded, was Encourag'd to Engage in Others': The Genesis of Benjamin Franklin's Printing Network", ''Southern Studies: An Interdisciplinary Journal of the South'' (2006), Vol. 13 Issue 1/2, pp 1–23.</ref> The ''Gazette'' had a policy of impartiality in political debates, while creating the opportunity for public debate, which encouraged others to challenge authority. Editor Peter Timothy avoided blandness and crude bias, and after 1765 increasingly took a patriotic stand in the growing crisis with Great Britain.<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Smith | first1 = Jeffery A. | year = 1993 | title = Impartiality and Revolutionary Ideology: Editorial Policies of the 'South-Carolina Gazette,' 1732–1735 | url = | journal = Journal of Southern History | volume = 49 | issue = 4| pages = 511–526 }}</ref> However, Franklin's ''Connecticut Gazette'' (1755–68) proved unsuccessful.<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Frasca | first1 = Ralph | year = 2003 | title = 'I am now about to establish a small Printing Office ... at Newhaven": Benjamin Franklin and the First Newspaper in Connecticut | url = | journal = Connecticut History | volume = 44 | issue = 1| pages = 77–87 }}</ref>
===Freemason===
In 1731, Franklin was initiated into the local [[Freemasonry|Masonic]] Lodge. He became Grand Master in 1734, indicating his rapid rise to prominence in Pennsylvania.<ref name=HC>[[History (U.S. TV channel)|The History Channel]], ''Mysteries of the Freemasons: America'', video documentary, August 1, 2006, written by Noah Nicholas and Molly Bedell</ref><ref>{{cite web| url=http://freemasonry.bcy.ca/biography/franklin_b/franklin_b.html |title=Freemasonry Grand Lodge of British Columbia and Yukon website |publisher=Freemasonry.bcy.ca |accessdate=September 21, 2009}}</ref> That same year, he edited and published the first Masonic book in the Americas, a reprint of [[James Anderson (Freemason)|James Anderson's]] ''[[Constitutions of the Free-Masons]]''. Franklin remained a Freemason for the rest of his life.<ref>Van Horne, John C. "The History and Collections of the Library Company of Philadelphia," ''The Magazine Antiques'', v. 170. no. 2: 58–65 (1971).</ref><ref>Lemay, J. A. Leo. "Franklin, Benjamin (1706–1790)," [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/52466 ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'']. ed. H. C. G. Matthew and Brian Harrison (Oxford: OUP, 2004).</ref>
===Common-law marriage to Deborah Read===
{{double image|right|Deborah ReadFranklin.jpg|160|Sarah Franklin Bache1793.jpg|160|[[Deborah Read|Deborah Read Franklin]]<br />(c. 1759). Common-law wife of Benjamin Franklin|[[Sarah Franklin Bache]] (1743–1808). Daughter of Benjamin Franklin and Deborah Read}}
In 1723, at the age of 17, Franklin proposed to 15-year-old [[Deborah Read]] while a boarder in the Read home. At that time, Read's mother was wary of allowing her young daughter to marry Franklin, who was on his way to London at Governor [[Sir William Keith, 4th Baronet|Sir William Keith's]] request, and also because of his financial instability. Her own husband had recently died, and Mrs. Read declined Franklin's request to marry her daughter.<ref name="vandoren"/>
While Franklin was in London, his trip was extended, and there were problems with Sir William's promises of support. Perhaps because of the circumstances of this delay, Deborah married a man named John Rodgers. This proved to be a regrettable decision. Rodgers shortly avoided his debts and prosecution by fleeing to [[Barbados]] with her [[dowry]], leaving Deborah behind. Rodgers's fate was unknown, and because of [[bigamy]] laws, Deborah was not free to remarry.
Franklin established a [[common-law marriage]] with Deborah Read on September 1, 1730. They took in Franklin's young, recently acknowledged illegitimate son, [[William Franklin|William]], and raised him in their household. In addition, they had two children together. The first, [[Francis Folger Franklin]], born October 1732, died of [[smallpox]] in 1736. Their second child, [[Sarah Franklin Bache|Sarah Franklin]], familiarly called Sally, was born in 1743. She eventually married [[Richard Bache]], had seven children, and cared for her father in his old age.
Deborah's fear of the sea meant that she never accompanied Franklin on any of his extended trips to Europe, despite his repeated requests. She wrote to him in November 1769 saying she was ill due to "dissatisfied distress" from his prolonged absence, but he did not return until his business was done.<ref>November 1769 [http://franklinpapers.org/franklin/framedVolumes.jsp?vol=16&page=230a Letter] from Deborah Read to Ben Franklin, ''franklinpapers.org''</ref> Deborah Read Franklin died of a stroke in 1774, while Franklin was on an extended mission to England; he returned in 1775.
===William Franklin===
[[File:WilliamFranklin.jpeg|thumb|upright|[[William Franklin]]]]
{{see also|William Franklin}}
In 1730, at the age of 24, Franklin publicly acknowledged the existence of William, his son, who was deemed 'illegitimate' as he was born out of wedlock, and raised him in his household. His mother's identity is not known<ref>Skemp SL. ''William Franklin: Son of a Patriot, Servant of a King'', Oxford University Press US, 1990, ISBN 0-19-505745-7, p. 4</ref>, and he was educated in Philadelphia.
Beginning at about age 30, William studied law in London in the early 1760s. He fathered an illegitimate son, [[William Temple Franklin]], born February 22, 1762. The boy's mother was never identified, and he was placed in foster care. Franklin later that year married Elizabeth Downes, daughter of a [[plantation|planter]] from [[Barbados]]. After William passed the bar, his father helped him gain an appointment in 1763 as the last [[List of colonial governors of New Jersey|Royal Governor]] of New Jersey.
A [[Loyalist (American Revolution)|Loyalist]], William and his father eventually broke relations over their differences about the American Revolutionary War. The elder Franklin could never accept William's position. Deposed in 1776 by the revolutionary government of New Jersey, Franklin was arrested at his home in [[Perth Amboy]] at the [[Proprietary House]] and imprisoned for a time, the younger Franklin went to New York in 1782, which was still occupied by British troops. He became leader of the Board of Associated Loyalists — a quasi-military organization, headquartered in [[New York City]]. They initiated guerrilla forays into [[New Jersey]], southern [[Connecticut]], and [[New York]] counties north of the city.<ref>Fleming, Thomas, ''The Perils of Peace: America's Struggle for Survival'', (Collins, NY, 2007) p. 30</ref> When British troops evacuated from New York, William Franklin left with them and sailed to England. He settled in London, never to return to North America.
In the preliminary peace talks in 1782 with Britain, "... Benjamin Franklin insisted that loyalists who had borne arms against the United States would be excluded from this plea (that they be given a general pardon). He was undoubtedly thinking of William Franklin."<ref>Fleming, p. 236</ref>
[[File:William temple franklin by john trumbull.gif|thumb|[[William Temple Franklin]], painted by [[John Trumbull]] (1790–1791)]]
Benjamin Franklin found out about Temple (as he called him), his only patrilineal grandson, on his second mission to England. He got to know the boy and became fond of him, arranging for his education. He never told his wife Deborah about him.<ref name="Life">[http://www.yale.edu/opa/arc-ybc/v28.n34/story3.html "Editor Claude-Anne Lopez describes her 'life with Benjamin Franklin'"], ''Yale Bulletin and Calendar,'' Vol. 28, No. 34, June 23, 2000, accessed November 3, 2012</ref> Franklin gained custody and brought Temple with him upon return to Philadelphia in 1775. Deborah had died the year before. Franklin brought up Temple within his household.
Beginning at age 16, Temple Franklin served as secretary to his grandfather during his mission to Paris during the Revolutionary War. Although he returned to the United States with his grandfather in the 1780s, he could not find an appointment. He returned to Europe, living for a time in England and then in France. He died in Paris in 1823 and was buried in [[Père Lachaise Cemetery]].
===Success as an author===
[[File:The General Magazine and Historical Chronicle Vol 1, January, 1741.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Franklin's ''The General Magazine and Historical Chronicle'' (Jan. 1741)]]In 1733, Franklin began to publish ''[[Poor Richard's Almanack]]'' (with content both original and not) under the [[pseudonym]] Richard Saunders, on which much of his popular reputation is based. Franklin frequently wrote under [[pseudonym]]<nowiki/>s. Although it was no secret that Franklin was the author, his Richard Saunders character repeatedly denied it. "Poor Richard's Proverbs", adages from this almanac, such as "A penny saved is twopence dear" (often misquoted as "A penny saved is a penny earned") and "Fish and visitors stink in three days", remain common quotations in the modern world. Wisdom in folk society meant the ability to provide an apt adage for any occasion, and Franklin's readers became well prepared. He sold about ten thousand copies per year (a circulation equivalent to nearly three million today).<ref name="vandoren"/> In 1741 Franklin began publishing ''The General Magazine and Historical Chronicle for all the British Plantations in America'', the first such monthly magazine of this type published in America.
In 1758, the year he ceased writing for the Almanack, he printed ''Father Abraham's Sermon'', also known as ''[[The Way to Wealth]]''. Franklin's [[The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin|autobiography]], begun in 1771 but published after his death, has become one of the classics of the genre.
[[Daylight saving time]] (DST) is often erroneously attributed to a 1784 satire that Franklin published [[anonymity|anonymously]].<ref>{{cite journal
|author=Benjamin Franklin, writing [[anonymously]]
|title=Aux auteurs du Journal
|journal=Journal de Paris
|date=April 26, 1784
|issue=117
|language=French
|doi=10.2307/2922719
|volume=28
|page=23
|publisher=Duke University Press
|jstor=2922719}} [http://webexhibits.org/daylightsaving/franklin3.html Revised English version] retrieved on March 11, 2008.</ref> Modern DST was first proposed by [[George Vernon Hudson]] in 1895.<ref>{{cite journal |author=G. V. Hudson |title= On seasonal time |journal=Trans Proc R Soc N Z |year=1898 |volume=31 |pages=577–88 |url=http://rsnz.natlib.govt.nz/volume/rsnz_31/rsnz_31_00_008570.html}}</ref>
==Inventions and scientific inquiries==
{{Further|Social contributions and studies by Benjamin Franklin}}
[[File:Glassharmonica.png|thumb|[[Glass Armonica]]]]
Franklin was a prodigious inventor. Among his many creations were the [[lightning rod]], [[glass armonica]] (a glass instrument, not to be confused with the metal harmonica), [[Franklin stove]], [[bifocals|bifocal glasses]] and the flexible [[urinary catheterization|urinary catheter]]. Franklin never patented his inventions; in his [[The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin|autobiography]] he wrote, "... as we enjoy great advantages from the inventions of others, we should be glad of an opportunity to serve others by any invention of ours; and this we should do freely and generously."<ref>{{cite book
|title=The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin
|chapter=Part three
|author=Benjamin Franklin
|url=http://www.ushistory.org/franklin/autobiography/page55.htm}}</ref>
His inventions also included [[social innovation]]s, such as [[pay it forward|paying forward]]. Franklin's fascination with innovation could be viewed as altruistic; he wrote that his scientific works were to be used for increasing efficiency and human improvement. One such improvement was his effort to expedite news services through his printing presses.<ref>Franklin, Benjamin. "The Pennsylvania Gazette". [http://franklinpapers.org/franklin/framedNames.jsp FranklinPapers.org], October 23, 1729</ref>
===Population studies===
Franklin had a major influence on the emerging science of [[demography]], or population studies.<ref>{{cite book| author=Dr. Alan Houston| title=Benjamin Franklin and the Politics of Improvement| url=http://books.google.com/books?id=dMN9VEhrTxwC&pg=PA106| year=2008| publisher=Yale U.P.| pages=106–41}}</ref> [[Thomas Malthus]] is noted for his rule of population growth and credited Franklin for discovering it.<ref>{{cite book| author=I. Bernard Cohen| title=The Triumph Of Numbers: How Counting Shaped Modern Life| url=http://books.google.com/books?id=E_j-LAlHfHUC&pg=PA87| year=2005| publisher=W. W. Norton| page=87}}</ref> Kammen (1990) and Drake (2011) say Franklin's "[[Observations Concerning the Increase of Mankind, Peopling of Countries, etc.|Observations on the Increase of Mankind]]" (1755) stands alongside [[Ezra Stiles]]' "Discourse on Christian Union" (1760) as the leading works of eighteenth century Anglo-American demography; Drake credits Franklin's "wide readership and prophetic insight."<ref>{{cite book| author=James David Drake| title=The Nation's Nature: How Continental Presumptions Gave Rise to the United States of America| url=http://books.google.com/books?id=EWV9T2MT5SoC&pg=PA63| year=2011| publisher=U. of Virginia Press| page=63}}</ref><ref>{{cite book| author=Michael G. Kammen| title=People of Paradox: An Inquiry Concerning the Origins of American Civilization| url=http://books.google.com/books?id=yvmJZh38JQ4C&pg=PA81| year=1990| publisher=Cornell U.P.| page=81}}</ref>
In the 1730s and 1740s, Franklin began taking notes on population growth, finding that the American population had the fastest growth rates on earth.<ref>{{cite book| author=J. A. Leo Lemay| title=The Life of Benjamin Franklin, Volume 3: Soldier, Scientist, and Politician, 1748–1757| url=http://books.google.com/books?id=NL5bcRP5aRAC&pg=PA245| year=2008| publisher=U. of Pennsylvania Press| page=245}}</ref> Emphasizing that population growth depended on food supplies—a line of thought later developed by [[Thomas Malthus]]—Franklin emphasized the abundance of food and available farmland in America. He calculated that America's population was doubling every twenty years and would surpass that of England in a century.<ref>Isaacson 2003, p. 150</ref> In 1751, he drafted "Observations concerning the Increase of Mankind, Peopling of Countries, &c." Four years later, it was anonymously printed in Boston, and it was quickly reproduced in Britain, where it influenced the economists [[Adam Smith]] and later [[Thomas Malthus]]. Franklin's predictions alarmed British leaders who did not want to be surpassed by the colonies, so they became more willing to impose restrictions on the colonial economy.<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Owen Aldridge | first1 = Alfred | year = 1949 | title = Franklin as Demographer | journal = Journal of Economic History | volume = 9 | issue = 1| pages = 25–44 | jstor=2113719}}</ref>
Franklin was also a pioneer in the study of slave demography, as shown in his 1755 essay.<ref>{{cite book| author=George William Van Cleve| title=A Slaveholders' Union: Slavery, Politics, and the Constitution in the Early American Republic| url=http://books.google.com/books?id=Dgp26Y2KzxUC&pg=PA148| year= 2010| publisher=U. of Chicago Press| page=148}}</ref>
===Atlantic Ocean currents===
As deputy postmaster, Franklin became interested in the [[Atlantic Ocean|North Atlantic Ocean]] circulation patterns. While in England in 1768, he heard a complaint from the Colonial Board of Customs: Why did it take British packet ships carrying mail several weeks longer to reach New York than it took an average merchant ship to reach [[Newport, Rhode Island]]? The merchantmen had a longer and more complex voyage because they left from London, while the packets left from [[Falmouth, Cornwall|Falmouth]] in Cornwall.
Franklin put the question to his cousin Timothy Folger, a [[Nantucket]] whaler captain, who told him that merchant ships routinely avoided a strong eastbound mid-ocean current. The mail packet captains sailed dead into it, thus fighting an adverse current of {{convert|3|mph|km/h|0}}. Franklin worked with Folger and other experienced ship captains, learning enough to chart the current and name it the [[Gulf Stream]], by which it is still known today.
Franklin published his Gulf Stream chart in 1770 in England, where it was completely ignored. Subsequent versions were printed in France in 1778 and the U.S. in 1786. The British edition of the chart, which was the original, was so thoroughly ignored that everyone assumed it was lost forever until Phil Richardson, a [[Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution|Woods Hole oceanographer]] and Gulf Stream expert, discovered it in the [[Bibliothèque nationale de France|Bibliothèque Nationale]] in Paris in 1980.<ref>Philip L. Richardson (February 8, 1980), "Benjamin Franklin and Timothy Folger's first printed chart of the Gulf Stream", ''Science'', vol. 207, no. 4431, pp. 643–645.</ref><ref>[http://www.philly.com/philly/news/special_packages/inquirer/How_Franklin_s_chart_resurfaced.html "How Franklin's chart resurfaced"], ''The Philadelphia Inquirer,'' posted December 18, 2005, accessed November 26, 2010</ref> This find received front page coverage in the ''[[New York Times]]''.<ref>John N. Wilford, "Prints of Franklin's chart of Gulf Stream found," ''New York Times'' (N.Y., N.Y.), pp. A1, B7 (February 6, 1980).</ref>
It took many years for British sea captains to adopt Franklin's advice on navigating the current; once they did, they were able to trim two weeks from their sailing time.<ref>1785: Benjamin Franklin's 'Sundry Maritime Observations', The Academy of Natural Sciences, April 1939 m</ref><ref>[http://www.oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/library/readings/gulf/gulf.html ''1785: Benjamin Franklin's 'Sundry Maritime Observations' ''.] NOAA Ocean Explorer.</ref> In 1853, the oceanographer and cartographer [[Matthew Fontaine Maury]] noted that Franklin only charted and codified the Gulf Stream, he did not ''discover'' it:
{{quote|Though it was Dr. Franklin and Captain Tim Folger, who first turned the Gulf Stream to nautical account, the discovery that there was a Gulf Stream cannot be said to belong to either of them, for its existence was known to [[Peter Martyr d'Anghiera]], and to [[Sir Humphrey Gilbert]], in the 16th century.<ref>Source: ''Explanations and Sailing Directions to Accompany the Wind and Current Charts,'' 1853, p. 53, by [[Matthew Fontaine Maury]]</ref>}}
===Lightning, Electrical Fluid, and Electricity===
[[File:Benjamin West, English (born America) - Benjamin Franklin Drawing Electricity from the Sky - Google Art Project.jpg|thumb|''Benjamin Franklin Drawing Electricity from the Sky'' c. 1816 at the [[Philadelphia Museum of Art]], by [[Benjamin West]]]]
[[File:BEP-JONES-Franklin and Electricity.jpg|thumb|''Franklin and Electricity'' vignette [[Art and engraving on United States banknotes|engraved]] by the [[Bureau of Engraving and Printing|BEP]] (c. 1860).]]
Franklin's discoveries resulted from his investigations of [[electricity]]. Franklin proposed that "vitreous" and "resinous" electricity were not different types of "[[Aether theories|electrical fluid]]" (as electricity was called then), but the same electrical fluid under different pressures. He was the first to label them as [[electric charge|positive and negative]] respectively,<ref>[http://scienceworld.wolfram.com/biography/FranklinBenjamin.html "Benjamin Franklin (1706–1790)"], ''Science World,'' from Eric Weisstein's ''World of Scientific Biography''.</ref> and he was the first to discover the principle of [[charge conservation|conservation of charge]].<ref>{{Wayback |date=20080218104547 |url=http://www.physchem.co.za/Static%20Electricity/Charge.htm |title=''Conservation of Charge''}}. Archived February 18, 2008.</ref>
In 1750, he published a proposal for an experiment to prove that [[lightning]] is electricity by [[Kite experiment|flying a kite in a storm]] that appeared capable of becoming a lightning storm. On May 10, 1752, [[Thomas-François Dalibard]] of France conducted Franklin's experiment using a {{convert|40|ft|m|adj=mid|-tall}} iron rod instead of a kite, and he extracted electrical sparks from a cloud. On June 15 Franklin may possibly have conducted his well known kite experiment [[St. Stephen's Episcopal Church (Philadelphia)|in Philadelphia]], successfully extracting sparks from a cloud. Franklin's experiment was not written up with credit<ref>Steven Johnson (2008) in ''The Invention of Air'', p. 39, notes that Franklin published a description of the kite experiment in ''[[The Pennsylvania Gazette]]'' without claiming he had performed the experiment himself, a fact he shared with Priestley 15 years later.</ref> until [[Joseph Priestley]]'s 1767 ''History and Present Status of Electricity''; the evidence shows that Franklin was insulated (not in a conducting path, where he would have been in danger of [[electric shock|electrocution]]). Others, such as Prof. [[Georg Wilhelm Richmann]], were indeed electrocuted during the months following Franklin's experiment.
In his writings, Franklin indicates that he was aware of the dangers and offered alternative ways to demonstrate that lightning was electrical, as shown by his use of the concept of [[ground (electricity)|electrical ground]]. If Franklin did perform this experiment, he may not have done it in the way that is often described—flying the kite and waiting to be struck by lightning—as it would have been dangerous.<ref>[http://www.mos.org/sln/toe/kite.html ''Franklin's Kite''], Museum of Science, Boston.</ref> Instead he used the kite to collect some electric charge from a storm cloud, which implied that lightning was electrical.{{Citation needed|date=July 2011}} On October 19 in a letter to England with directions for repeating the experiment, Franklin wrote:
{{quote|When rain has wet the kite twine so that it can conduct the electric fire freely, you will find it streams out plentifully from the key at the approach of your knuckle, and with this key a phial, or [[Leyden jar]], may be charged: and from electric fire thus obtained spirits may be kindled, and all other electric experiments [may be] performed which are usually done by the help of a rubber glass globe or tube; and therefore the sameness of the electrical matter with that of lightening completely demonstrated.<ref>Wolf, A., ''History of Science, Technology, and Philosophy in the Eighteenth Century''. New York, 1939. p. 232</ref>}}
Franklin's electrical experiments led to his invention of the lightning rod. He noted that conductors with a sharp rather than a smooth point could discharge silently, and at a far greater distance. He surmised that this could help protect buildings from lightning by attaching "upright Rods of Iron, made sharp as a Needle and gilt to prevent Rusting, and from the Foot of those Rods a Wire down the outside of the Building into the Ground; ... Would not these pointed Rods probably draw the Electrical Fire silently out of a Cloud before it came nigh enough to strike, and thereby secure us from that most sudden and terrible Mischief!" Following a series of experiments on Franklin's own house, lightning rods were installed on the Academy of Philadelphia (later the [[University of Pennsylvania]]) and the Pennsylvania State House (later Independence Hall) in 1752.<ref>Krider, E. Philip. {{Wayback |date=20060110052254 |url=http://www.physicstoday.org/vol-59/iss-1/p42.html |title=''Benjamin Franklin and Lightning Rods''}}. ''Physics Today''. January 2006. Archived January 10, 2006.</ref>
In recognition of his work with electricity, Franklin received the [[Royal Society]]'s [[Copley Medal]] in 1753, and in 1756 he became one of the few 18th-century Americans elected as a Fellow of the Society. The [[centimetre–gram–second system of units|cgs]] unit of electric charge has been named after him: one ''franklin'' (Fr) is equal to one [[statcoulomb]].
===Wave theory of light===
Franklin was, along with his contemporary [[Leonhard Euler]], the only major scientist who supported [[Christiaan Huygens]]' [[wave theory of light]], which was basically ignored by the rest of the [[scientific community]]. In the 18th century [[Isaac Newton|Newton's]] [[corpuscular theory of light|corpuscular theory]] was held to be true; only after [[Thomas Young (scientist)|Young's]] well known [[slit experiment]] in 1803 were most scientists persuaded to believe Huygens' theory.<ref>Jogn Gribbin, "In search of Schrödinger's cat", Black Swan, p. 12</ref>
===Meteorology===
On October{{nbsp}}21, 1743, according to popular myth, a storm moving from the southwest denied Franklin the opportunity of witnessing a [[lunar eclipse]]. Franklin was said to have noted that the [[prevailing winds]] were actually from the northeast, contrary to what he had expected. In correspondence with his brother, Franklin learned that the same storm had not reached Boston until after the eclipse, despite the fact that Boston is to the northeast of Philadelphia. He deduced that storms do not always travel in the direction of the prevailing wind, a concept that greatly influenced [[meteorology]].<ref>Heidorn, Keith C. Heidorn, PhD. [http://www.islandnet.com/~see/weather/almanac/arc2003/alm03oct.htm ''Eclipsed By Storm''.] The Weather Doctor. October 1, 2003.</ref>
After the Icelandic volcanic eruption of [[Laki]] in 1783, and the subsequent harsh European winter of 1784, Franklin made observations connecting the causal nature of these two separate events. He wrote about them in a lecture series.<ref>http://www.dartmouth.edu/~volcano/Fr373p77.html</ref>
===Traction kiting===
Though Benjamin Franklin has been most noted kite-wise with his lightning experiments, he has also been noted by many for his using kites to pull humans and ships across waterways.<ref>{{cite book| url=http://www.gutenberg.org/files/34193/34193-h/34193-h.htm| title= The True Benjamin Franklin| first= Sydney George| last= Fisher| year=1903 |publisher=J. B. Lippincott Company| location=Philadelphia, PA| edition=5|page=19}}</ref> The [[George Pocock (inventor)|George Pocock]] in the book ''A TREATISE on The Aeropleustic Art, or Navigation in the Air, by means of Kites, or Buoyant Sails''<ref>{{cite book| url=http://books.google.com/books?id=oMo-DVp_ypUC| title= A TREATISE on The Aeropleustic Art, or Navigation in the Air, by means of Kites, or Buoyant Sails| first=George| last=Pocock| page=9| publisher=Longmans, Brown, and Co.| location=London| year=1851}}</ref> noted being inspired by Benjamin Franklin's traction of his body by kite power across a waterway. In his later years he suggested using the technique for pulling ships.
===Concept of cooling===
Franklin noted a principle of [[refrigeration]] by observing that on a very hot day, he stayed cooler in a wet shirt in a breeze than he did in a dry one. To understand this phenomenon more clearly Franklin conducted experiments. In 1758 on a warm day in [[Cambridge]], England, Franklin and fellow scientist [[John Hadley (chemist)|John Hadley]] experimented by continually wetting the ball of a mercury [[thermometer]] with [[diethyl ether|ether]] and using [[bellows]] to evaporate the ether.<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.historycarper.com/resources/twobf3/letter1.htm |title=The Writings of Benjamin Franklin: London, 1757–1775 |publisher=Historycarper.com |accessdate=September 14, 2010}}</ref> With each subsequent [[evaporation]], the thermometer read a lower temperature, eventually reaching {{convert|7|F}}. Another thermometer showed that the room temperature was constant at {{convert|65|F}}. In his letter ''[[Cooling by Evaporation]],'' Franklin noted that, "One may see the possibility of freezing a man to death on a warm summer's day."
===Temperature's effect on electrical conductivity===
According to [[Michael Faraday]], Franklin's experiments on the non-conduction of ice are worth mentioning, although the law of the general effect of liquefaction on electrolytes is not attributed to Franklin.<ref>{{cite book |last=Faraday |first=Michael |title=Experimental researches in electricity |url=http://books.google.com/?id=XuITAAAAQAAJ&pg=PR5&dq=non-conduction+of+ice#v=onepage&q=non-conduction%20of%20ice |page=v |volume=2 |year=1839 |publisher=R. & J.E. Taylor |quote=... Franklin's experiments on the non-conduction of ice ...}}</ref> However, as reported in 1836 by Prof. A. D. Bache of the University of Pennsylvania, the law of the effect of heat on the conduction of bodies otherwise non-conductors, for example, glass, could be attributed to Franklin. Franklin writes, "... A certain quantity of heat will make some bodies good conductors, that will not otherwise conduct ..." and again, "... And water, though naturally a good conductor, will not conduct well when frozen into ice."<ref>{{cite book |last=Jones |first=Thomas P. |title=Journal of the Franklin Institute of the State of Pennsylvania |url=http://books.google.com/?id=zV9DAAAAYAAJ&pg=PP7&dq=Thomas+P.+Jones+1836+Journal+of+the+Franklin+Institute+vol.xvii&q= |pages=182–183 |year=1836 |quote=In the fourth series of his electrical researches, Mr. Faraday ... |publisher=Pergamon Press}}</ref>
===Oceanography findings===
An aging Franklin accumulated all his oceanographic findings in ''Maritime Observations'', published by the Philosophical Society's ''transactions'' in 1786.<ref>{{cite book
|last1=Price
|first1=Richard
|last2=Thomas
|first2=David Oswald
|last3=Peach
|first3=Bernard
|authorlink1=Richard Price
|authorlink2=David Oswald Thomas
|year=1994
|title=The Correspondence of Richard Price: February 1786 – February 1791
|url=http://books.google.com/?id=fPQfNx2TQLAC&pg=RA1-PA23&lpg=RA1-PA23&dq=%22Maritime+Observations%22+%22American+Philosophical+Society%22+transactions+1786&q=%22Maritime%20Observations%22%20%22American%20Philosophical%20Society%22%20transactions%201786
|page=23
|publisher=Duke University Press
|isbn=0-8223-1327-8
|accessdate=October 2, 2009}}</ref> It contained ideas for [[sea anchor]]s, [[catamaran]] hulls, [[watertight compartment]]s, shipboard lightning rods and a soup bowl designed to stay stable in stormy weather.
===Decision-making===
[[File:Benjamin Franklin 1759.jpg|thumb|Benjamin Franklin by [[Benjamin Wilson (painter)|Benjamin Wilson]], 1759]]
In a 1772 letter to [[Joseph Priestley]], Franklin lays out the earliest known description of the Pro & Con list,<ref name="decisions">{{cite book | title=Mr. Franklin: A Selection from His Personal Letters | publisher=Yale University Press | year=1956 | location=New Haven, CT | editor=Bell Jr., Whitfield J. | chapter=Benjamin Franklin's 1772 letter to Joseph Priestley | chapter-url=http://www.procon.org/view.background-resource.php?resourceID=1474}}</ref> a common [[decision-making]] technique:
<blockquote>... my Way is, to divide half a Sheet of Paper by a Line into two Columns, writing over the one Pro, and over the other Con. Then during three or four Days Consideration I put down under the different Heads short Hints of the different Motives that at different Times occur to me for or against the Measure. When I have thus got them all together in one View, I endeavour to estimate their respective Weights; and where I find two, one on each side, that seem equal, I strike them both out: If I find a Reason pro equal to some two Reasons con, I strike out the three. If I judge some two Reasons con equal to some three Reasons pro, I strike out the five; and thus proceeding I find at length where the Ballance lies; and if after a Day or two of farther Consideration nothing new that is of Importance occurs on either side, I come to a Determination accordingly.<ref name="decisions" /></blockquote>
===Science Humor===
While traveling on a ship, Franklin had observed that the wake of a ship was diminished when the cooks scuttled their greasy water. He studied the effects at Clapham common [[London]] on a large pond there. "I fetched out a cruet of oil and dropt a little of it on the water...though not more than a teaspoon full, produced an instant calm over a space of several yards square." He later used the trick to "calm the waters" by carrying "a little oil in the hollow joint of my cane." <ref>*W. Gratzer, Eurekas and Euphorias, pgs 80,81</ref>
==Musical endeavors==
Franklin is known to have played the violin, the [[harp]], and the guitar. He also composed music, notably a [[string quartet]] in [[classical period (music)|early classical style]]. He developed a much-improved version of the [[glass harmonica]], in which the glasses rotate on a shaft, with the player's fingers held steady, instead of the other way around; this version soon found its way to Europe.<ref>Bloch, Thomas. [http://www.finkenbeiner.com/gh.html ''The Glassharmonica''.] GFI Scientific.</ref>
==Chess==
Franklin was an very good [[chess]] player. He was playing chess by around 1733, making him the first chess player known by name in the American colonies.<ref name="McCraryChessandFranklin">John McCrary, [http://www.benfranklin300.org/_etc_pdf/Chess_John_McCrary.pdf ''Chess and Benjamin Franklin-His Pioneering Contributions''] ([[PDF]]). Retrieved on April 26, 2009.</ref> His essay on "[[The Morals of Chess]]" in ''Columbian'' magazine<!-- WAIT--WAIT! Before you remove the brackets, consider writing a new article! -- Paine --> in December 1786 is the second known writing on chess in America.<ref name="McCraryChessandFranklin"/> This essay in praise of chess and prescribing a code of behavior for the game has been widely reprinted and translated.<ref>[[David Vincent Hooper|David Hooper]] and [[Kenneth Whyld]], ''The Oxford Companion to Chess'', Oxford University Press (2nd ed. 1992), p. 145. ISBN 0-19-866164-9.</ref><ref>The essay appears in [[Marcello Truzzi]] (ed.), ''Chess in Literature'', Avon Books, 1974, pp. 14–15. ISBN 0-380-00164-0.</ref><ref>The essay appears in a book by the felicitously named Norman Knight, ''Chess Pieces'', [[CHESS magazine]], [[Sutton Coldfield]], England (2nd ed. 1968), pp. 5–6. ISBN 0-380-00164-0.</ref><ref>Franklin's essay is also reproduced at the [http://www.washingtonpost.com/gog/museums/u.s.-chess-center-museum-and-hall-of-fame,800594.html U.S. Chess Center Museum and Hall of Fame] in Washington, D.C. Retrieved December 3, 2008.</ref> He and a friend also used chess as a means of learning the [[Italian language]], which both were studying; the winner of each game between them had the right to assign a task, such as parts of the Italian grammar to be learned by heart, to be performed by the loser before their next meeting.<ref>[[William Temple Franklin]], ''Memoirs of the Life and Writings of Benjamin Franklin'', reprinted in Knight, ''Chess Pieces'', pp. 136–37.</ref> Franklin was inducted into the [[World Chess Hall of Fame|U.S. Chess Hall of Fame]] in 1999.<ref name="McCraryChessandFranklin"/>
==Public life==
[[File:BenFranklin Waterspout 1806.jpg|thumb|An illustration from Franklin's paper on "[[waterspout|Water-spouts]] and Whirlwinds"]]
[[File:PennsylvaniaHospitalWilliamStrickland.jpg|thumb|[[Pennsylvania Hospital]] by [[William Strickland (architect)|William Strickland]], 1755]]
[[File:Benjamin Franklin - Join or Die.jpg|right|thumb|[[Join, or Die]]: This political cartoon by Franklin urged the colonies to join together during the [[French and Indian War]] ([[Seven Years' War]]).]]
[[File:Sketch of Tun Tavern in the Revolutionary War.jpg|thumb|Sketch of the original [[Tun Tavern]]]]
In 1736, Franklin created the [[Union Fire Company]], one of the first volunteer [[firefighting]] companies in [[United States|America]]. In the same year, he printed a new currency for [[New Jersey]] based on innovative anti-[[counterfeit]]ing techniques he had devised. Throughout his career, Franklin was an advocate for [[Banknote|paper money]], publishing ''A Modest Enquiry into the Nature and Necessity of a Paper Currency'' in 1729, and his printer printed money. He was influential in the more restrained and thus successful monetary experiments in the Middle Colonies, which stopped [[deflation]] without causing excessive inflation. In 1766 he made a case for paper money to the [[House of Commons of the United Kingdom|British House of Commons]].<ref>[[John Kenneth Galbraith]]. (1975). ''Money: Where It Came, Whence It Went'', pp. 54–54. Houghton Mifflin Company.</ref>
As he matured, Franklin began to concern himself more with public affairs. In 1743, he set forth a scheme for [[The Academy and College of Philadelphia|The Academy, Charity School, and College of Philadelphia]]. He was appointed president of the Academy on November 13, 1749; the Academy and the Charity School opened on August 13, 1751.
In 1743, Franklin founded the [[American Philosophical Society]] to help scientific men discuss their discoveries and theories. He began the electrical research that, along with other scientific inquiries, would occupy him for the rest of his life, in between bouts of politics and moneymaking.<ref name="vandoren"/>
In 1747, he retired from printing and went into other businesses.<ref>James N. Green, "English Books and Printing in the Age of Franklin," in ''The Colonial Book in the Atlantic World'' (2002), 257.</ref> He created a partnership with his foreman, David Hall, which provided Franklin with half of the shop's profits for 18 years. This lucrative business arrangement provided leisure time for study, and in a few years he had made discoveries that gave him a reputation with educated persons throughout Europe and especially in France.
Franklin became involved in Philadelphia politics and rapidly progressed. In October 1748, he was selected as a councilman, in June 1749 he became a [[Justice of the Peace]] for Philadelphia, and in 1751 he was elected to the [[Pennsylvania Provincial Assembly|Pennsylvania Assembly]]. On August 10, 1753, Franklin was appointed joint deputy postmaster-general of British North America, with [[William Hunter (publisher)|William Hunter]]. Franklin's most notable service in domestic politics was his reform of the postal system, with mail sent out every week.<ref name="vandoren"/>
In 1751, Franklin and [[Thomas Bond (physician)|Dr. Thomas Bond]] obtained a charter from the Pennsylvania legislature to establish a hospital. [[Pennsylvania Hospital]] was the first hospital in what was to become the United States of America.
Between 1750 and 1753, the "educational triumvirate"<ref>Olsen, Neil C., ''Pursuing Happiness: The Organizational Culture of the Continental Congress'', Nonagram Publications, ISBN 978-1-4800-6550-5 ISBN 1-4800-6550-1, 2013, p. 174</ref> of Dr. Benjamin Franklin, the American [[Samuel Johnson (American educator)|Dr. Samuel Johnson]] of [[Stratford, Connecticut]], and the immigrant Scottish schoolteacher [[William Smith (Episcopalian priest)|Dr. William Smith]] built on Franklin's initial scheme and created what [[James Madison (bishop)|Bishop James Madison]], president of the [[College of William & Mary]], called a "new-model"<ref>Smith, Horace Wemyss, ''The Life and Correspondence of the Rev. Wm. Smith, D.D.'', Philadelphia, 1880, Volume 1: pp. 566–567.</ref> plan or style of American college. Franklin solicited, printed in 1752, and promoted an American textbook of [[ethics|moral philosophy]] from the American [[Samuel Johnson (American educator)|Dr. Samuel Johnson]] titled ''Elementa Philosophica''<ref>Samuel Johnson, ''Elementa philosophica: containing chiefly, Noetica, or things relating to the mind or understanding: and Ethica, or things relating to the moral behaviour. Philadelphia'', Printed by B. Franklin and D. Hall, at the new-printing-office, near the market, 1752</ref> to be taught in the new colleges to replace courses in denominational divinity.
[[File:1757 UPenn Seal.png|thumb|upright=0.56|left|Seal of the College of Philadelphia]]
In June 1753, Johnson, Franklin, and Smith met in Stratford.<ref>Olsen, pp. 163–274</ref> They decided the new-model college would focus on the [[profession]]s, with classes taught in English instead of Latin, have subject matter experts as professors instead of one tutor leading a class for four years, and there would be no religious test for admission.<ref>Olsen, p. 163</ref> Johnson went on to found King's College (now [[Columbia University]]) in New York City in 1754, while Franklin hired [[William Smith (Episcopalian priest)|William Smith]] as Provost of the College of Philadelphia, which opened in 1755. At its first commencement, on May 17, 1757, seven men graduated; six with a Bachelor of Arts and one as [[Master of Arts]]. It was later merged with the University of the State of Pennsylvania to become the [[University of Pennsylvania]]. The College was to become influential in guiding the founding documents of the United States: in the [[Continental Congress]], for example, over one third of the college-affiliated men who contributed the ''[[United States Declaration of Independence|Declaration of Independence]]'' between September 4, 1774, and July 4, 1776, were affiliated with the College.<ref>Olsen, p. 308</ref>
In 1753, both [[Harvard University]]<ref>[http://www.harvard.edu/honorary-degrees Honorary Degrees] Harvard University. Retrieved August 20, 2012.</ref> and [[Yale University]]<ref>[http://ris-systech2.its.yale.edu/hondegrees/hondegrees.asp Honorary Degrees] Yale University. Retrieved August 20, 2012.</ref> awarded him honorary degrees.<ref>[http://www.benfranklinexhibit.org/resume ''Benjamin Franklin resume''.] In Search of a Better World. Benjamin Franklin Exhibit. Retrieved August 20, 2012.</ref>
In 1754, he headed the Pennsylvania delegation to the [[Albany Congress]]. This meeting of several colonies had been requested by the [[Board of Trade]] in England to improve relations with the Indians and defense against the French. Franklin proposed a broad [[Albany Plan|Plan of Union]] for the colonies. While the plan was not adopted, elements of it found their way into the [[Articles of Confederation]] and the [[United States Constitution|Constitution]].
In 1756, Franklin organized the Pennsylvania Militia (see "Associated Regiment of Philadelphia" under heading of Pennsylvania's 103rd Artillery and [[111th Infantry Regiment (United States)|111th Infantry Regiment]] at [[Continental Army]]). He used [[Tun Tavern]] as a gathering place to recruit a regiment of soldiers to go into battle against the [[Native Americans in the United States|Native American]] uprisings that beset the American colonies. Reportedly Franklin was elected "Colonel" of the Associated Regiment but declined the honor.
Also in 1756, Franklin became a member of the Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures & Commerce (now the [[Royal Society of Arts]] or RSA, which had been founded in 1754), whose early meetings took place in [[Coffeehouse|coffee shops]] in London's [[Covent Garden]] district, close to Franklin's main residence in Craven Street during his missions to England. The Craven street residence, which he used on various lengthy missions from 1757 to 1775, is the only one of his residences to survive. It opened to the public as the [[Benjamin Franklin House]] museum on January 17, 2006.
After his return to the United States in 1775, Franklin became the Society's Corresponding Member and remained closely connected with the Society. The RSA instituted a [[Benjamin Franklin Medal (Royal Society of Arts)|Benjamin Franklin Medal]] in 1956 to commemorate the 250th anniversary of Franklin's birth and the 200th anniversary of his membership of the RSA.
In 1757, he was sent to England by the Pennsylvania Assembly as a colonial agent to protest against the political influence of the [[Penn family]], the proprietors of the colony. He remained there for five years, striving to end the proprietors' prerogative to overturn legislation from the elected Assembly, and their exemption from paying taxes on their land. His lack of influential allies in [[Whitehall]] led to the failure of this mission.
Whilst in London, Franklin became involved in radical politics. He was a member of the Club of Honest Whigs, alongside thinkers such as [[Richard Price]], the minister of [[Newington Green Unitarian Church]] who ignited the [[Revolution Controversy]]. During his stays at Craven Street between 1757 and 1775, Franklin developed a close friendship with his landlady, Margaret Stevenson, and her circle of friends and relations, in particular her daughter Mary, who was more often known as Polly.
In 1759, he visited [[Edinburgh]] with his son, and recalled his conversations there as "the ''densest'' happiness of my life".<ref>Buchan, James. ''Crowded with Genius: The Scottish Enlightenment: Edinburgh's Moment of the Mind''. HarperCollins Publishers. 2003. p. 2</ref> In February 1759, the [[University of St Andrews]] awarded him an Honorary Doctor of Laws degree, and in October of the same year he was granted [[Freedom of the City|Freedom of the Borough]] of [[St Andrews]].<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.katekennedyclub.org.uk/news.aspx#19 |title=The Kate Kennedy Club |publisher=The Kate Kennedy Club |accessdate=September 21, 2009|archiveurl = http://web.archive.org/web/20090327111941/http://katekennedyclub.org.uk/news.aspx |archivedate= March 27, 2009}}</ref>
In 1762, [[Oxford University]] awarded Franklin an honorary doctorate for his scientific accomplishments; from then on he went by "Doctor Franklin". He also managed to secure an appointed post for his illegitimate son, William Franklin, by then an attorney, as [[Governor of New Jersey|Colonial Governor of New Jersey]].<ref name="vandoren"/>
He joined the influential [[Lunar Society of Birmingham]], with whom he regularly corresponded and, on occasion, visited in [[Birmingham]].
[[File:US-Colonial (PA-115)-Pennsylvania-18 Jun 1764.jpg|thumb|Pennsylvania colonial currency printed by Franklin in 1764]]
At this time, many members of the Pennsylvania Assembly were feuding with [[List of colonial governors of Pennsylvania#Proprietors|William Penn's heirs]], who controlled the colony as [[proprietary colony|proprietors]]. After his return to the colony, Franklin led the "anti-proprietary party" in the struggle against the Penn family, and was elected [[Speaker of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives|Speaker of the Pennsylvania House]] in May 1764. His call for a change from proprietary to royal government was a rare political miscalculation, however: Pennsylvanians worried that such a move would endanger their political and religious freedoms. Because of these fears, and because of political attacks on his character, Franklin lost his seat in the October 1764 Assembly elections.
The anti-proprietary party dispatched Franklin to England again to continue the struggle against the Penn family proprietorship. During this trip, events drastically changed the nature of his mission.<ref name="ANB">J. A. Leo Lematy, "Franklin, Benjamin". ''[[American National Biography]] Online'', February 2000.</ref>
===Years in Europe===
In London, Franklin opposed the [[Stamp Act 1765|1765 Stamp Act]]. Unable to prevent its passage, he made another political miscalculation and recommended a friend to the post of stamp distributor for Pennsylvania. Pennsylvanians were outraged, believing that he had supported the measure all along, and threatened to destroy his home in Philadelphia. Franklin soon learned of the extent of colonial resistance to the Stamp Act, and he testified during the House of Commons proceedings that led to its repeal.<ref>Anderson, Fred. ''Crucible of War'', pp. 762–764. Random House. 2000. The Commons debate on the repeal of the Stamp Act is treated in detail from page 760.</ref> With this, Franklin suddenly emerged as the leading spokesman for American interests in England. He wrote popular essays on behalf of the colonies, and [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]], [[New Jersey]], and [[Massachusetts]] also appointed him as their agent to the Crown.<ref name="ANB" />
[[File:Benjamin Franklin 1767.jpg|thumb|upright|Franklin in London, 1767, wearing a blue suit with elaborate gold braid and buttons, a far cry from the simple dress he affected at the [[Court (royal)|French court]] in later years. Painting by [[David Martin (artist)|David Martin]], displayed in the [[White House]].]]
Franklin spent two months in [[Germany]] in 1766, but his connections to the country stretched across a lifetime. He declared a debt of gratitude to German scientist [[Otto von Guericke]] for his early studies of electricity. Franklin also co-authored the first [[Treaty of Amity and Commerce (Prussia–United States)|treaty of friendship]] between Prussia and America in 1785.
In September 1767, Franklin visited Paris with his usual traveling partner, [[John Pringle|Sir John Pringle]]. News of his electrical discoveries was widespread in France. His reputation meant that he was introduced to many influential scientists and politicians, and also to [[Louis XV of France|King Louis XV]].<ref name="isaacson">Isaacson, Walter. ''Benjamin Franklin: An American Life''. Simon & Schuster. 2003.</ref>
While living in London in 1768, he developed a [[Benjamin Franklin's phonetic alphabet|phonetic alphabet]] in ''A Scheme for a new Alphabet and a Reformed Mode of Spelling''. This reformed alphabet discarded six letters Franklin regarded as redundant (c, j, q, w, x, and y), and substituted six new letters for sounds he felt lacked letters of their own. His new alphabet, however, never caught on, and he eventually lost interest.<ref>[http://www.omniglot.com/writing/franklin.htm ''Benjamin Franklin's Phonetic Alphabet''.] Omniglot.com.</ref>
In 1771, Franklin made short journeys through different parts of England, staying with [[Joseph Priestley]] at [[Leeds]], [[Thomas Percival]] at [[Manchester]] and Dr. Darwin at [[Lichfield]].<ref name="sparks">Sparks, Jared. [http://www.ushistory.org/franklin/biography/chap05.htm ''Life of Benjamin Franklin''.] US History.org.</ref> Franklin belonged to a gentleman's club (which he called "honest Whigs"), which held stated meetings, and included members such as [[Richard Price]] and [[Andrew Kippis]]. He was also a corresponding member of the [[Lunar Society of Birmingham]], which included such other scientific and industrial luminaries as [[Matthew Boulton]], [[James Watt]], [[Josiah Wedgwood]] and [[Erasmus Darwin]]. He had never been to [[Ireland]] before, and met and stayed with [[Wills Hill, 1st Marquess of Downshire|Lord Hillsborough]], whom he believed was especially attentive. Franklin noted of him that "all the plausible behaviour I have described is meant only, by patting and stroking the horse, to make him more patient, while the reins are drawn tighter, and the spurs set deeper into his sides."<ref>{{cite book| url=http://books.google.com/?id=BL1VXdTbDucC&pg=PR21 |title=Google Books – Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin By Benjamin Franklin, Nathan Haskell Dole, 2003 |publisher=Books.google.ie |date= March 31, 2003|accessdate=September 21, 2009|isbn=978-0-7661-4375-3}}</ref> In [[Dublin]], Franklin was invited to sit with the members of the [[Parliament of Ireland|Irish Parliament]] rather than in the gallery. He was the first American to receive this honor.<ref name="sparks" />
While touring Ireland, he was moved by the level of poverty he saw. Ireland's economy was affected by the same trade regulations and laws of Britain that governed America. Franklin feared that America could suffer the same effects should Britain's "colonial exploitation" continue.<ref>[http://www.pbs.org/benfranklin/exp_worldly_ireland.html ''Benjamin Franklin''.] PBS.org.</ref> In Scotland, he spent five days with [[Henry Home, Lord Kames|Lord Kames]] near [[Stirling]] and stayed for three weeks with [[David Hume]] in Edinburgh.
===Defending the American cause===
One line of argument in Parliament was that Americans should pay a share of the costs of the [[French and Indian War]], and that therefore taxes should be levied on them. Franklin became the American spokesman in highly publicized testimony in Parliament in 1766. He stated that Americans already contributed heavily to the defense of the Empire. He said local governments had raised, outfitted and paid 25,000 soldiers to fight France—as many as Britain itself sent—and spent many millions from American treasuries doing so in the [[French and Indian War]] alone.<ref>{{cite book|last=James A. Henretta, ed.|first=|title=Documents for America's History, Volume 1: To 1877|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=h_rsacFjVCAC&pg=PA110|year=2011|publisher=Bedford/St. Martin's|page=110}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Isaacson|title=Benjamin Franklin: An American Life|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=L64OOJGaCKIC&pg=PA229|year=2004|pages=229–30}}</ref>
In 1773, Franklin published two of his most celebrated pro-American satirical essays: [[s:Rules By Which A Great Empire May Be Reduced To A Small One|"Rules by Which a Great Empire May Be Reduced to a Small One"]], and "An Edict by the King of Prussia".<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.historycarper.com/resources/twobf3/pa-1773.htm| title=reprinted on The History Carper| last=Franklin| first=Benjamin}}</ref>
===Hutchinson letters===
{{main|Hutchinson Letters Affair}}
In June 1773 Franklin obtained private letters of [[Thomas Hutchinson (governor)|Thomas Hutchinson]] and [[Andrew Oliver]], governor and lieutenant governor of the [[Province of Massachusetts Bay]], that proved they were encouraging the Crown to crack down on the rights of Bostonians. Franklin sent them to America, where they escalated the tensions. The British began to regard him as the fomenter of serious trouble. Hopes for a peaceful solution ended as he was systematically ridiculed and humiliated by [[Solicitor General for England and Wales|Solicitor-General]] [[Alexander Wedderburn, 1st Earl of Rosslyn|Alexander Wedderburn]], before the [[Privy Council of the United Kingdom|Privy Council]] on January 29, 1774. He returned to Philadelphia in March 1775, and abandoned his accommodationist stance.<ref>Sheila L. Skemp, ''The Making of a Patriot: Benjamin Franklin at the Cockpit'' (Oxford University Press; 2012)</ref>
===Coming of revolution===
In 1763, soon after Franklin returned to Pennsylvania from England for the first time, the western frontier was engulfed in a bitter war known as [[Pontiac's Rebellion]]. The [[Paxton Boys]], a group of settlers convinced that the Pennsylvania government was not doing enough to protect them from [[Native Americans in the United States|American Indian]] raids, murdered a group of peaceful [[Susquehannock]] Indians and marched on Philadelphia. Franklin helped to organize a local [[militia]] to defend the capital against the mob. He met with the Paxton leaders and persuaded them to disperse. Franklin wrote a scathing attack against the [[racism|racial prejudice]] of the Paxton Boys. "If an ''Indian'' injures me," he asked, "does it follow that I may revenge that Injury on all ''Indians''?"<ref>Franklin, Benjamin. [http://www.historycarper.com/resources/twobf3/massacre.htm "A Narrative of the Late Massacres ..."] reprinted on The History Carper.</ref>
He provided an early response to British surveillance through his own network of [[Surveillance art|counter-surveillance and manipulation]]. "He waged a public relations campaign, secured secret aid, played a role in privateering expeditions, and churned out effective and inflammatory propaganda."<ref>{{cite journal| last=Crews| first= Ed| title= Spies and Scouts, Secret Writing, and Sympathetic Citizens| journal= Colonial Williamsburg Journal| publisher= The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation| url=http://www.history.org/foundation/journal/Summer04/spies.cfm| date= Summer 2004| accessdate=April 19, 2009}}</ref>
===Declaration of Independence===
[[File:Declaration independence.jpg|thumb|300px|alt=About 50 men, most of them seated, are in a large meeting room. Most are focused on the five men standing in the center of the room. The tallest of the five is laying a document on a table.|[[John Trumbull]] depicts the [[Committee of Five]] presenting their work to the Congress.<ref>[http://www.americanrevolution.org/deckey.html Key to Declaration] American Revolution.org.</ref>]]
By the time Franklin arrived in Philadelphia on May 5, 1775, after his second mission to Great Britain, the [[American Revolution]] had begun – with fighting between colonials and British at [[Battles of Lexington and Concord|Lexington and Concord]]. The New England militia had trapped the main British army in Boston. The Pennsylvania Assembly unanimously chose Franklin as their delegate to the [[Second Continental Congress]]. In June 1776, he was appointed a member of the [[Committee of Five]] that drafted the [[United States Declaration of Independence|Declaration of Independence]]. Although he was temporarily disabled by [[gout]] and unable to attend most meetings of the Committee, Franklin made several "small but important"<ref>Isaacson, pp. 311–312</ref> changes to the draft sent to him by [[Thomas Jefferson]].
At the signing, he is quoted as having replied to a comment by [[John Hancock|Hancock]] that they must all hang together: "Yes, we must, indeed, all hang together, or most assuredly we shall all hang separately."<ref>{{Cite book
|url=http://books.google.com/?id=MLAEAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA408&lpg=PA408&dq=franklin+%22shall+all+hang+separately%22+sparks|title=The Life of Benjamin Franklin: Containing the Autobiography, with Notes and a Continuation
|first=Jared
|last=Sparks
|authorlink=Jared Sparks
|page=408
|publisher=Whittemore, Niles and Hall
|location=Boston
|year=1856
|accessdate=December 16, 2007
}}</ref>
{{clear}}
===Postmaster===
<!--The 'Franklin on US Postage' section links to this section/image file. -->
:[[File:Franklin SC1 1847.jpg|right|thumb|180px|<center> Benjamin Franklin<br>First US [[Benjamin Franklin#Franklin on U.S. Postage|postage stamp]]<br> Issue of 1847</center>]]
Well known as a printer and publisher, Franklin was appointed postmaster of Philadelphia in 1737, holding the office until 1753, when he and publisher [[William Hunter (publisher)|William Hunter]] were named deputy postmasters–general of British North America, the first to hold the office. Franklin was responsible for the British colonies as far as the [[Newfoundland (island)|island of Newfoundland]], including mainland [[Nova Scotia]], while Hunter, the postal administrator in [[Colonial Williamsburg|Williamsburg]], [[Virginia]], oversaw areas south of [[Annapolis]], [[Maryland]]. Franklin reorganized the service's accounting system, then improved speed of delivery between Philadelphia, New York and Boston. By 1761, efficiencies lead to the first profits for the colonial post office.<ref>[http://www.historymuseum.ca/cmc/exhibitions/cpm/chrono/ch1753ae.shtml "1753 Benjamin Franklin"], Stéphanie Ouellet, in A Chronology of Canadian Postal History, National Museum of History, Ottawa.</ref>
[[File:Franklin stamp 2013.jpg|left|thumb|265px|<center> Benjamin Franklin on a [[Canada Post]] stamp of 2013, with colonial [[Quebec City]] in background]]When the lands of [[New France]] were ceded to the British under the [[Treaty of Paris (1763)|Treaty of Paris]] in 1763, the new British [[Province of Quebec (1763–91)|province of Quebec]] was created among them, and Franklin saw mail service expanded between [[Montreal]], [[Trois-Rivières]], [[Quebec City]], and New York. For the greater part of his appointment, Franklin lived in England (from 1757 to 1762, and again from 1764 to 1774) — about three-quarters of his term.<ref>[http://www.historymuseum.ca/cmc/exhibitions/cpm/chrono/chs1760e.shtml#yr-1774 "1760-1840 Planting the Imperial Postal System in British North America"], A Chronology of Canadian Postal History, National Museum of History, Ottawa.</ref> Eventually, his sympathies for the rebel cause in the American Revolution lead to his dismissal on January 31, 1774.
On July 26, 1775, the [[Second Continental Congress]] established the [[United States Postal Service|United States Post Office]] and named Benjamin Franklin as the first [[United States Postmaster General]]. Franklin had been a postmaster for decades and was a natural choice for the position.<ref>Walter Isaacson. ''Benjamin Franklin: an American life'', pp. 206–9, 301</ref> Franklin had just returned from England and was appointed chairman of a Committee of Investigation to establish a postal system. The report of the Committee, providing for the appointment of a postmaster general for the 13 American colonies, was considered by the Continental Congress on July 25 and 26. On July 26, 1775, Franklin was appointed Postmaster General, the first appointed under the Continental Congress. It established a postal system that became the United States Post Office, a system that continues to operate today.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://inventors.about.com/library/inventors/blmailus1.htm#CONGRESS |title=History of the United States Postal Systems |publisher=Inventors.about.com |accessdate=June 20, 2011}}</ref>
===Ambassador to France: 1776–1785===
[[File:Franklin1877.jpg|thumb|left|thumb|160px|Franklin, in his [[fur]] hat, charmed the French with what they perceived as rustic New World [[genius]].<ref name="lightning" group="Note">Portraits of Franklin at this time often contained an inscription, the best known being [[Anne-Robert-Jacques Turgot, Baron de Laune|Turgot's]] acclamation, "{{lang|la|Eripuit fulmen coelo sceptrumque tyrannis.}}" (He snatched the lightning from the skies and the scepter from the tyrants.) Historian [[Friedrich Christoph Schlosser]] remarked at the time, with ample hyperbole, that "Such was the number of portraits, busts and medallions of him in circulation before he left Paris, that he would have been recognized from them by any adult citizen in any part of the civilized world." – {{Cite EB1911|wstitle=Franklin, Benjamin}}</ref>]]
In December 1776, Franklin was dispatched to France as [[commissioner]] for the United States. He took with him as secretary his 16-year-old grandson, [[William Temple Franklin]]. They lived in a home in the Parisian suburb of [[Passy]], donated by [[Jacques-Donatien Le Ray de Chaumont]], who supported the United States. Franklin remained in France until 1785. He conducted the affairs of his country toward the French nation with great success, which included securing a critical military alliance in 1778 and negotiating the [[Treaty of Paris (1783)]].
Among his associates in France was [[Honoré Gabriel Riqueti, comte de Mirabeau]]—a French Revolutionary writer, orator and statesman who in early 1791 would be elected president of the [[National Constituent Assembly|National Assembly]].<ref>"[http://www.isthisjefferson.org/DLP_D04.html?zoom_highlight=Franklin The Book in the Painting: De la Caisse d'Escompte]." [http://www.isthisjefferson.org/DLP_D04.html?zoom_highlight=Franklin isthisjefferson.org] Accessed February 1, 2013.</ref> In July 1784, Franklin met with Mirabeau and contributed anonymous materials that the Frenchman used in his first signed work: ''Considerations sur l'ordre de Cincinnatus''.<ref>[https://archive.org/stream/cihm_39568#page/n3/mode/2up ''Considerations sur l'ordre de Cincinnatus''], December 2011.</ref> The publication was critical of the [[Society of the Cincinnati]], established in the United States. Franklin and Mirabeau thought of it as a "noble order", inconsistent with the [[egalitarian]] ideals of the new republic.<ref>Van Doren, Carl. ''Benjamin Franklin'' (The Viking Press: New York). 1938. pp. 709–710.</ref>
During his stay in France, Benjamin Franklin was active as a [[freemasonry|freemason]], serving as Grand Master of the Lodge [[Les Neuf Sœurs]] from 1779 until 1781. His lodge number was 24. He was a Past Grand Master of Pennsylvania. In 1784, when [[Franz Mesmer]] began to publicize his theory of "[[animal magnetism]]" which was considered offensive by many, [[Louis XVI of France|Louis XVI]] appointed a commission to investigate it. These included the chemist [[Antoine Lavoisier]], the physician [[Joseph-Ignace Guillotin]], the astronomer [[Jean Sylvain Bailly]], and Benjamin Franklin.<ref>Schwartz, Stephan A. "[http://www.americanheritage.com/content/franklin%E2%80%99s-forgotten-triumph-scientific-testing Franklin's Forgotten Triumph: Scientific Testing]" ''[[American Heritage (magazine)|American Heritage]]'', October 2004.</ref> In 1781, he was elected a Fellow of the [[American Academy of Arts and Sciences]].<ref name=AAAS>{{cite web|title=Book of Members, 1780–2010: Chapter F|url=http://www.amacad.org/publications/BookofMembers/ChapterF.pdf|publisher=American Academy of Arts and Sciences|accessdate=July 28, 2014}}</ref>
[[File:Libertas Americana silver medallion 1783.jpg|right|thumb|While in France Franklin designed and commissioned [[Augustin Dupré]] to engrave the medallion ''"Libertas Americana"'' minted in Paris in 1783.]]
Franklin's advocacy for religious tolerance in France contributed to arguments made by French philosophers and politicians that resulted in [[Louis XVI of France|Louis XVI]]'s signing of the [[Edict of Versailles]] in November 1787. This edict effectively nullified the [[Edict of Fontainebleau]], which had denied non-Catholics civil status and the right to openly practice their faith.<ref>[http://booking-help.org/book_338_glava_314_Edict_of_Versailles_%281787%29.html "Edict of Versailles (1787)"], ''Encyclopedia of the Age of Political Ideals,'' downloaded January 29, 2012</ref>
Franklin also served as American minister to [[Sweden]], although he never visited that country. He negotiated a [[Treaty of Amity and Commerce (United States–Sweden)|treaty]] that was signed in April 1783. On August 27, 1783, in Paris, Franklin witnessed the world's first hydrogen [[balloon (aircraft)|balloon]] flight.<ref name="EcceF">{{cite book| url=http://books.google.com/?id=5_7IRHZGyzMC&pg=PA36&lpg=PA36&dq=%22jacques+charles%22+%22Eccentric+France%22&q=%22jacques%20charles%22%20%22Eccentric%20France%22 |title=Eccentric France: Bradt Guide to mad, magical and marvellous France| author=Piers Letcher – Jacques Charles |publisher=Books.google.co.uk |date= May 25, 2003|accessdate=March 17, 2010| isbn=978-1-84162-068-8}}</ref> ''[[Robert brothers#First hydrogen balloon|Le Globe]]'', created by professor [[Jacques Charles]] and [[Robert brothers|Les Frères Robert]], was watched by a vast crowd as it rose from the [[Champ de Mars]] (now the site of the [[Eiffel Tower]]).<ref name="Sci&Soc">{{cite web| url=http://www.scienceandsociety.co.uk/results.asp?image=10447673 |title=Science and Society, Medal commemorating Charles and Robert's balloon ascent, Paris, 1783 |publisher=Scienceandsociety.co.uk |accessdate=March 17, 2010}}</ref> This so enthused Franklin that he subscribed financially to the next project to build a manned hydrogen balloon.<ref name="Fid Green">{{cite web| url=https://www.fiddlersgreen.net/models/Aircraft/Balloon-Charles.html |title=Fiddlers Green, History of Ballooning, Jacques Charles |publisher=Fiddlersgreen.net |accessdate=June 20, 2011}}</ref> On December 1, 1783, Franklin was seated in the special enclosure for honoured guests when ''[[Robert brothers#First manned hydrogen balloon flight|La Charlière]]'' took off from the [[Jardin des Tuileries]], piloted by Jacques Charles and [[Robert brothers|Nicolas-Louis Robert]].<ref name="EcceF"/><ref name="FAI">{{cite web| url=http://www.fai.org/ballooning/newsletter/pr00-02.htm |title=Federation Aeronautique Internationale, Ballooning Commission, Hall of Fame, Robert Brothers |publisher=Fai.org |accessdate=March 17, 2010| archiveurl = http://web.archive.org/web/20080516222023/http://www.fai.org/ballooning/newsletter/pr00-02.htm |archivedate=May 16, 2008}}</ref>
===Constitutional Convention===
[[File:Franklin's return to Philadelphia 1785 cph.3g09906.jpg|thumb|''Franklin's return to Philadelphia, 1785'', by [[Jean Leon Gerome Ferris]]]]
When he returned home in 1785, Franklin occupied a position only second to that of [[George Washington]] as the champion of American independence. Le Ray honored him with a commissioned portrait painted by [[Joseph Duplessis]], which now hangs in the [[National Portrait Gallery (United States)|National Portrait Gallery]] of the [[Smithsonian Institution]] in Washington, D.C. After his return, Franklin became an [[abolitionism|abolitionist]] and freed his two slaves. He eventually became president of the [[Pennsylvania Abolition Society]].<ref>[http://www.pbs.org/benfranklin/l3_citizen_abolitionist.html ''Citizen Ben, Abolitionist''], PBS</ref>
In 1787, Franklin served as a delegate to the [[Philadelphia Convention]]. He held an honorary position and seldom engaged in debate. He is the only Founding Father who is a signatory of all four of the major documents of the founding of the United States: the Declaration of Independence, the [[Treaty of Alliance (1778)|Treaty of Alliance]] with France, the [[Treaty of Paris (1783)|Treaty of Paris]] and the [[United States Constitution]].
In 1787, a group of prominent ministers in [[Lancaster, Pennsylvania]], proposed the foundation of a new college named in Franklin's honor. Franklin donated £200 towards the development of Franklin College (now called [[Franklin & Marshall College]]).
Between 1771 and 1788, he finished his [[The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin|autobiography]]. While it was at first addressed to his son, it was later completed for the benefit of mankind at the request of a friend.
Franklin strongly supported the right to [[freedom of speech]]:
<blockquote>In those wretched countries where a man cannot call his tongue his own, he can scarce call anything his own. Whoever would overthrow the liberty of a nation must begin by subduing the freeness of speech ...
Without freedom of thought there can be no such thing as wisdom, and no such thing as public liberty without freedom of speech, which is the right of every man ...
:—[[Silence Dogood]] no. 8, 1722<ref>{{cite book |editor1-last=Coffman |editor1-first=Steve |title=Words of the Founding Fathers: Selected Quotations of Franklin, Washington, Adams, Jefferson, Madison and Hamilton, with Sources |year=2012 |publisher=McFarland |location=Jefferson, N.C. |isbn=978-0-7864-5862-2| page=97| url=http://books.google.com/books?id=PsFnB7FA11YC&pg=PA97#v=onepage&q&f=false}}</ref></blockquote>
In his later years, as Congress was forced to deal with the issue of [[slavery in the United States|slavery]], Franklin wrote several essays that stressed the importance of the [[Abolitionism in the United States|abolition of slavery]] and of the integration of blacks into American society. These writings included:
* ''[[s:An Address to the Public|An Address to the Public]]'' (1789)
* ''[[s:A Plan for Improving the Condition of the Free Blacks|A Plan for Improving the Condition of the Free Blacks]]'' (1789)
* ''Sidi Mehemet Ibrahim on the Slave Trade'' (1790)<ref>Myra Jehlen, Michael Warner, editors, ''The English Literatures of America, 1500-1800'', Psychology Press, [http://books.google.com/books?id=LAYDAZmrKkgC&pg=PA891 p 891] 1997, ISBN 0415919037</ref>
In 1790, [[Quakers]] from New York and Pennsylvania presented their petition for abolition to Congress. Their argument against slavery was backed by the [[Pennsylvania Abolitionist Society]] and its president, Benjamin Franklin.
===President of Pennsylvania===
[[File:FRANKLIN, Benjamin (signed check).jpg|thumb|Franklin autograph check signed during his Presidency of Pennsylvania]]
Special balloting conducted October 18, 1785, unanimously elected Franklin the sixth [[Supreme Executive Council of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania#Presidents of Council|president]] of the [[Supreme Executive Council of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania|Supreme Executive Council of Pennsylvania]], replacing [[John Dickinson (Pennsylvania and Delaware)|John Dickinson]]. The office of president of Pennsylvania was analogous to the modern position of [[List of Governors of Pennsylvania|governor]]. It is not clear why Dickinson had to be replaced with less than two weeks remaining before the regular election. Franklin held that office for slightly over three years, longer than any other, and served the constitutional limit of three full terms. Shortly after his initial election he was reelected to a full term on October 29, 1785, and again in the fall of 1786 and on October 31, 1787. Officially, his term concluded on November 5, 1788, but there is some question regarding the ''de facto'' end of his term, suggesting that the aging Franklin may not have been actively involved in the day-to-day operation of the council toward the end of his time in office.
==Virtue, religion, and personal beliefs==
[[File:Houdon - Benjamin Franklin (1778).jpg|thumb|upright|A bust of Franklin by [[Jean-Antoine Houdon]]]]
[[File:Pedro Américo - Voltaire abençoando o neto de Franklin em nome de Deus e da Liberdade.jpg|thumb|right|300px|''Voltaire blessing Franklin's grandson, in the name of God and Liberty'', by [[Pedro Américo]]]]
[[File:Benjamin Franklin by Hiram Powers.jpg|thumb|Benjamin Frankline by Hiram Powers]]
Like the other advocates of [[Republicanism in the United States|republicanism]], Franklin emphasized that the new republic could survive only if the people were virtuous. All his life he explored the role of civic and personal virtue, as expressed in ''Poor Richard's'' [[aphorism]]s. Franklin felt that organized religion was necessary to keep men good to their fellow men, but rarely attended religious services himself.<ref>Franklin, ''Autobiography,'' ed. Lemay, p. 65</ref> When Franklin met [[Voltaire]] in Paris and asked this great apostle of the Enlightenment to bless his grandson, Voltaire said in English, "God and Liberty," and added, "this is the only appropriate benediction for the grandson of Monsieur Franklin."<ref>Isaacson, 2003, p. 354</ref>
Franklin's parents were both pious [[Puritan]]s.<ref>Isaacson, 2003, pp. 5–18</ref> The family attended the [[Old South Church]], the most liberal Puritan congregation in Boston, where Benjamin Franklin was baptized in 1706.<ref>{{cite web| author=Old South Church |url=http://www.oldsouth.org/history.html |title=Isaacson, 2003, p. 15 |publisher=Oldsouth.org |accessdate=September 21, 2009 |archiveurl = http://web.archive.org/web/20080531090015/http://www.oldsouth.org/history.html |archivedate = May 31, 2008}}</ref> Franklin's father, a poor [[chandlery|chandler]], owned a copy of a book, ''Bonifacius: Essays to Do Good'', by the Puritan preacher and family friend [[Cotton Mather]], which Franklin often cited as a key influence on his life.<ref>"If I have been," Franklin wrote to Cotton Mather's son seventy years later, "a useful citizen, the public owes the advantage of it to that book." in Isaacson, 2003, p. 26</ref> Franklin's first pen name, Silence Dogood, paid homage both to the book and to a widely known sermon by Mather. The book preached the importance of forming voluntary associations to benefit society. Franklin learned about forming do-good associations from Cotton Mather, but his organizational skills made him the most influential force in making voluntarism an enduring part of the American ethos.<ref>Isaacson, 2003, p. 102</ref>
Franklin formulated a presentation of his beliefs and published it in 1728.<ref>{{cite web| last = Franklin | first = Benjamin | title = Articles of Belief and Acts of Religion| work=Benjamin Franklin Papers| publisher=franklinpapers.org| date = November 20, 1728| url = http://franklinpapers.org/franklin/yale;jsessionid=9379F5D050E36AA9D1F95700EE223865?d=-363718316&d=1379669530&vol=1&page=101a| accessdate =December 24, 2010}}</ref> It did not mention many of the Puritan ideas as regards belief in salvation, the [[divinity of Jesus]], and indeed most religious dogma. He clarified himself as a [[Deism|deist]] in his 1771 autobiography,<ref>{{Cite book
| last = Franklin| first = Benjamin|title = Autobiography and other writings| publisher=Riverside| year = 1771 | location = Cambridge| page = 52| url = | id = | isbn = }}</ref> although he still considered himself a Christian.<ref name="Christian">{{cite book| last=Olson| first=Roger| url=http://books.google.com/books?id=rGMKbaNIjIoC&pg=PA61&dq=benjamin+franklin+christian+or+deist&hl=en&ei=h0fLTeXZEcaUtwev6qWDCA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=3&ved=0CDYQ6AEwAjgK#v=onepage&q&f=false| title=The Mosaic of Christian Belief: Twenty Centuries of Unity and Diversity| publisher=InterVarsity Press| quote=Other Deists and natural religionists who considered themselves Christians in some sense of the word included Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin.| date=October 19, 2009}}</ref> He retained a strong faith in a God as the wellspring of morality and goodness in man, and as a Providential actor in history responsible for American independence.<ref>Isaacson, 2003, p. 486</ref>
It was Ben Franklin who, at a critical impasse during the [[Philadelphia Convention|Constitutional Convention]] in June 1787, attempted to introduce the practice of daily common prayer with these words:
<blockquote>... In the beginning of the contest with G. Britain, when we were sensible of danger we had daily prayer in this room for the Divine Protection. – Our prayers, Sir, were heard, and they were graciously answered. All of us who were engaged in the struggle must have observed frequent instances of a Superintending providence in our favor. ... And have we now forgotten that powerful friend? or do we imagine that we no longer need His assistance. I have lived, Sir, a long time and the longer I live, the more convincing proofs I see of this truth – that God governs in the affairs of men. And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without his notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without his aid? We have been assured, Sir, in the sacred writings that "except the Lord build they labor in vain that build it." I firmly believe this; and I also believe that without his concurring aid we shall succeed in this political building no better than the Builders of Babel: ... I therefore beg leave to move – that henceforth prayers imploring the assistance of Heaven, and its blessings on our deliberations, be held in this Assembly every morning before we proceed to business, and that one or more of the Clergy of this City be requested to officiate in that service.<ref>{{cite web| author=Michael E. Eidenmuller |url=http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/benfranklin.htm |title=Online Speech Bank: Benjamin Franklin's Prayer Speech at the Constitutional Convention of 1787 |publisher=Americanrhetoric.com |accessdate=September 21, 2009}}</ref>
</blockquote>
However, the motion met with resistance and was never brought to a vote.<ref>[[Clinton Rossiter|Rossiter, Clinton]]. 1787. ''The Grand Convention'' (1966), pp. 184–85</ref>
Franklin was an enthusiastic supporter of the evangelical minister [[George Whitefield]] during the [[First Great Awakening]]. Franklin did not subscribe to Whitefield's theology, but he admired Whitefield for exhorting people to worship God through good works. Franklin published all of Whitefield's sermons and journals, thereby boosting the Great Awakening.<ref>Isaacson, 2003, pp. 107–13</ref>
When he stopped attending church, Franklin wrote in his autobiography:
<blockquote>... Sunday being my studying day, I never was without some religious principles. I never doubted, for instance, the existence of the Deity; that He made the world, and governed it by His providence; that the most acceptable service of God was the doing good to man; that our souls are immortal; and that all crime will be punished, and virtue rewarded, either here or hereafter.<ref name="autogenerated1">Franklin Benjamin [http://www.ushistory.org/franklin/autobiography/singlehtml.htm "Benjamin Franklin's Autobiography".] Section 2 reprinted on UShistory.org.</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://history.hanover.edu/courses/excerpts/111frank2.html |title=Benjamin Franklin |publisher=History.hanover.edu |accessdate=September 21, 2009}}</ref>
</blockquote>
Franklin retained a lifelong commitment to the Puritan virtues and political values he had grown up with, and through his civic work and publishing, he succeeded in passing these values into the American culture permanently. He had a "passion for virtue".<ref>Isaacson, p. 485</ref> These Puritan values included his devotion to egalitarianism, education, industry, thrift, honesty, temperance, charity and community spirit.<ref>Isaacson, 2003, p.149</ref>
The classical authors read in the Enlightenment period taught an abstract [[Republicanism in the United States|ideal of republican government]] based on hierarchical social orders of king, aristocracy and commoners. It was widely believed that English liberties relied on their balance of power, but also hierarchal deference to the privileged class.<ref>Bailyn, 1992, pp. 273–4, 299–300</ref> "Puritanism ... and the epidemic evangelism of the mid-eighteenth century, had created challenges to the traditional notions of social stratification"<ref name="Bailyn303" /> by preaching that the Bible taught all men are equal, that the true value of a man lies in his moral behavior, not his class, and that all men can be saved.<ref name="Bailyn303">Bailyn, 1992, p. 303</ref> Franklin, steeped in Puritanism and an enthusiastic supporter of the evangelical movement, rejected the salvation dogma, but embraced the radical notion of egalitarian democracy.
Franklin's commitment to teach these values was itself something he gained from his Puritan upbringing, with its stress on "inculcating virtue and character in themselves and their communities."<ref>Isaacson, 2003, pp. 10, 102, 489</ref> These Puritan values and the desire to pass them on, were one of Franklin's quintessentially American characteristics, and helped shape the character of the nation. Franklin's writings on [[virtue]] were derided by some European authors, such as Jackob Fugger in his critical work ''Portrait of American Culture''. [[Max Weber]] considered Franklin's ethical writings a culmination of the [[Protestant work ethic|Protestant ethic]], which ethic created the social conditions necessary for the birth of [[capitalism]].<ref>Weber, Max ''The Protestant Ethic and the "Spirit of Capitalism"'', (Penguin Books, 2002), translated by Peter Baehr and Gordon C. Wells, pp. 9–11</ref>
One of Franklin's notable characteristics was his respect, tolerance and promotion of all churches. Referring to his experience in Philadelphia, he wrote in [[The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin|his autobiography]], "new Places of worship were continually wanted, and generally erected by voluntary Contribution, my Mite for such purpose, whatever might be the Sect, was never refused."<ref name="autogenerated1" /> "He helped create a new type of nation that would draw strength from its religious pluralism."<ref name="Isaacson 2003 p 93ff">Isaacson,2003 pp. 93ff</ref> The first generation of Puritans had been intolerant of [[dissent]], but by the early 18th century, when Franklin grew up in the Puritan church, tolerance of different churches was the norm, and Massachusetts was known, in [[John Adams]]' words, as "the most mild and equitable establishment of religion that was known in the world."<ref>Bailyn, 1992, p. 248</ref> The evangelical revivalists who were active mid-century, such as Franklin's friend and preacher, George Whitefield, were the greatest advocates of religious freedom, "claiming liberty of conscience to be an 'inalienable right of every rational creature.'"<ref>Bailyn, 1992, p. 249</ref> Whitefield's supporters in Philadelphia, including Franklin, erected "a large, new hall, that ... could provide a pulpit to anyone of any belief."<ref>Isaacson, 2003, p. 112</ref> Franklin's rejection of dogma and doctrine and his stress on the God of ethics and morality and [[civic virtue]] made him the "prophet of tolerance."<ref name="Isaacson 2003 p 93ff"/> While he was living in London in 1774, he was present at the birth of [[General Assembly of Unitarian and Free Christian Churches|British Unitarianism]], attending the inaugural session of the [[Essex Street Chapel]], at which [[Theophilus Lindsey]] drew together the first avowedly [[Unitarianism|Unitarian]] congregation in England; this was somewhat politically risky, and pushed religious tolerance to new boundaries, as a denial of the doctrine of the [[Trinity]] was illegal until [[Doctrine of the Trinity Act 1813|the 1813 Act]].<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.unitarian.org.uk/support/doc-EssexHall1.shtml |title=Chapter 2, ''The History of Essex Hall'' by Mortimer Rowe B.A., D.D. Lindsey Press, 1959 |publisher=Unitarian.org.uk |accessdate=June 20, 2011}}</ref>
Although Franklin's parents had intended for him to have a career in the Church,<ref name="autobio" /> Franklin as a young man adopted the Enlightenment religious belief in [[deism]], that God's truths can be found entirely through nature and reason.<ref>Isaacson, 2003, p. 46</ref> "I soon became a thorough Deist."<ref>Franklin, Benjamin. [http://www.usgennet.org/usa/topic/preservation/bios/franklin/chpt4.htm ''Benjamin Franklin's Autobiography''.] Chapter IV. reprinted on USGenNet.org.</ref> As a young man he rejected Christian dogma in a 1725 pamphlet ''[[A Dissertation on Liberty and Necessity, Pleasure and Pain]]'',<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.historycarper.com/resources/twobf1/m7.htm |title=A Dissertation on Liberty and Necessity, Pleasure and Pain |publisher=Historycarper.com |accessdate=September 21, 2009}}</ref> which he later saw as an embarrassment,<ref name="Isaacson45">{{cite book| url=http://books.google.com/?id=oIW915dDMBwC&pg=PA45&lpg=PA45&dq=%22A+Dissertation+on+Liberty+and+Necessity,+Pleasure+and+Pain%22+%22Benjamin+Franklin%22+embarrassment| title=Isaacson, 2003, p. 45 |publisher=Google Books |date=November 30, 2004 |accessdate=September 21, 2009| isbn=978-0-684-80761-4| author1=Isaacson, Walter}}</ref> while simultaneously asserting that God is "all wise, [[Omnibenevolence|all good]], [[Omnipotence|all powerful]]."<ref name="Isaacson45" /> He defended his rejection of religious dogma with these words: "I think opinions should be judged by their influences and effects; and if a man holds none that tend to make him less virtuous or more vicious, it may be concluded that he holds none that are dangerous, which I hope is the case with me." After the disillusioning experience of seeing the decay in his own moral standards, and those of two friends in London whom he had converted to Deism, Franklin turned back to a belief in the importance of organized religion, on the pragmatic grounds that without God and organized churches, man will not be good.<ref>Isaacson, 2003, p 46, 486</ref> Moreover, because of his proposal that [[Christian prayer|prayers]] be said in the [[Constitutional Convention of 1787]], many have contended that in his later life Franklin became a [[piety|pious]] Christian.<ref name="Pious">{{cite book| author=Henry Louis Mencken, George Jean Nathan| url=http://books.google.com/books?id=LqJUonES6m8C&q=benjamin+franklin+identify+christian+religion&dq=benjamin+franklin+identify+christian+religion&hl=en&ei=dMHMTYaOHILe0QHKpYjeBA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=2&ved=0CC4Q6AEwATge| title=The American Mercury, Volume 8| publisher=Garber Communications| quote=It is well known that in his youth Benjamin Franklin was a thorough-going Deist, but because he proposed that prayers be said in the Constitution Convention of 1787 many have contended that in later life he became a pious Christian.| date=October 19, 2009}}</ref><ref name="Faith">{{cite book| author=Ralph Frasca| url=http://books.google.com/books?id=CY2UVzcU5l0C&pg=PA40&dq=benjamin+franklin+christian+or+deist&hl=en&ei=wEXLTe7uEY-2twf-rIXyBw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=7&ved=0CEcQ6AEwBg#v=onepage&q&f=false| title=Benjamin Franklin's Printing Network: Disseminating Virtue in Early America| publisher=[[University of Missouri Press]]| quote=Despite being raised a Puritan of the Congregationalist stripe by his parents, who "brought me through my Childhood piously in the Dissenting Way," Franklin recalled, he abandoned that denomination, briefly embraced deism, and finally became a non-denominational Protestant Christian. |date=October 19, 2009}}</ref>
At one point, he wrote to [[Thomas Paine]], criticizing his manuscript, ''[[The Age of Reason]]'':
{{Quote|For without the Belief of a Providence that takes Cognizance of, guards and guides and may favour particular Persons, there is no Motive to Worship a Deity, to fear its Displeasure, or to pray for its Protection ... think how great a Proportion of Mankind consists of weak and ignorant Men and Women, and of inexperienc'd and inconsiderate Youth of both Sexes, who have need of the Motives of Religion to restrain them from Vice, to support their Virtue, and retain them in the Practice of it till it becomes habitual, which is the great Point for its Security; And perhaps you are indebted to her originally that is to your Religious Education, for the Habits of Virtue upon which you now justly value yourself. If men are so wicked with religion, what would they be if without it.<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.wallbuilders.com/LIBissuesArticles.asp?id=58 |title=Historical Writings – Benjamin Franklin's letter to Thomas Paine |publisher=WallBuilders |date=September 11, 2001 |accessdate=September 21, 2009}}</ref>}}
According to David Morgan,<ref>Morgan, David T. "Benjamin Franklin: Champion of Generic Religion". ''The Historian''. 62#4 2000. pp 722+</ref> Franklin was a proponent of religion in general. He prayed to "Powerful Goodness" and referred to God as "the infinite". [[John Adams]] noted that Franklin was a mirror in which people saw their own religion: "The [[Catholic Church|Catholics]] thought him almost a Catholic. The [[Church of England]] claimed him as one of them. The [[Presbyterianism|Presbyterians]] thought him half a Presbyterian, and the [[Quakers|Friends]] believed him a wet Quaker." Whatever else Franklin was, concludes Morgan, "he was a true champion of generic religion." In a letter to Richard Price, Franklin stated that he believed that religion should support itself without help from the government, claiming, "When a Religion is good, I conceive that it will support itself; and, when it cannot support itself, and God does not take care to support, so that its Professors are oblig'd to call for the help of the Civil Power, it is a sign, I apprehend, of its being a bad one."<ref>Benjamin Franklin to Richard Price, October 9, 1780 ''Writings'' 8:153–54</ref>
In 1790, just about a month before he died, Franklin wrote a letter to [[Ezra Stiles]], president of [[Yale University]], who had asked him his views on religion:
{{quote|As to [[Jesus of Nazareth]], my Opinion of whom you particularly desire, I think the System of Morals and his Religion, as he left them to us, the best the world ever saw or is likely to see; but I apprehend it has received various corrupt changes, and I have, with most of the present [[English Dissenters|Dissenters in England]], some Doubts as to his divinity; tho' it is a question I do not dogmatize upon, having never studied it, and I think it needless to busy myself with it now, when I expect soon an Opportunity of knowing the Truth with less Trouble. I see no harm, however, in its being believed, if that belief has the good consequence, as it probably has, of making his doctrines more respected and better observed; especially as I do not perceive that the Supreme takes it amiss, by distinguishing the unbelievers in his government of the world with any particular marks of his displeasure.<ref name="vandoren"/>}}
On July 4, 1776, Congress appointed a three-member committee composed of Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, and John Adams to design the [[Great Seal of the United States]]. Franklin's proposal (which was not adopted) featured the motto: "Rebellion to Tyrants is Obedience to God" and a scene from the [[Book of Exodus]], with [[Moses]], the [[Israelites]], the [[Pillar of Fire (theophany)|pillar of fire]], and [[George III of the United Kingdom|George III]] depicted as [[pharaoh]]. The design that was produced was never acted upon by Congress, and the Great Seal's design was not finalized until a third committee was appointed in 1782.<ref>"[http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/27807.pdf The Great Seal of the United States]" (July 2003). [[Bureau of Public Affairs]], [[United States Department of State]].</ref><ref>"1782: Original Design of the Great Seal of the United States," ''Our Documents: 100 Milestone Documents from the National Archives''. [[National Archives and Records Administration|National Archives]] ([[Oxford University Press]], 2006), pp. 18–19.</ref>
===Thirteen Virtues===
[[File:Franklin bust at Columbia University IMG 0924.JPG|right|thumb|Franklin bust in the [[Archives]] Department of [[Columbia University]] in [[New York City]]]]
Franklin sought to cultivate his character by a plan of 13 virtues, which he developed at age 20 (in 1726) and continued to practice in some form for the rest of his life. His [[The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin|autobiography]] lists his 13 virtues as:
# "[[Temperance (virtue)|Temperance]]. Eat not to dullness; drink not to elevation."
# "[[Silence]]. Speak not but what may benefit others or yourself; avoid trifling conversation."
# "[[Order (virtue)|Order]]. Let all your things have their places; let each part of your business have its time."
# "Resolution. Resolve to perform what you ought; perform without fail what you resolve."
# "[[Frugality]]. Make no expense but to do good to others or yourself; i.e., waste nothing."
# "Industry. Lose no time; be always employ'd in something useful; cut off all unnecessary actions."
# "[[Sincerity]]. Use no hurtful deceit; think innocently and justly, and, if you speak, speak accordingly."
# "[[Justice]]. Wrong none by doing injuries, or omitting the benefits that are your duty."
# "[[Moderation]]. Avoid extremes; forbear resenting injuries so much as you think they deserve."
# "[[Cleanliness]]. Tolerate no uncleanliness in body, cloaths, or habitation."
# "[[Tranquility]]. Be not disturbed at trifles, or at accidents common or unavoidable."
# "[[Chastity]]. Rarely use [[Human sexuality|venery]] but for health or offspring, never to dullness, weakness, or the injury of your own or another's peace or reputation."
# "[[Humility]]. Imitate Jesus and [[Socrates]]."
Franklin did not try to work on them all at once. Instead, he would work on one and only one each week "leaving all others to their ordinary chance." While Franklin did not live completely by his virtues, and by his own admission he fell short of them many times, he believed the attempt made him a better man contributing greatly to his success and happiness, which is why in his autobiography, he devoted more pages to this plan than to any other single point; in his autobiography Franklin wrote, "I hope, therefore, that some of my descendants may follow the example and reap the benefit."<ref>[http://www.ushistory.org/franklin/autobiography/page38.htm ''Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin page 38 forward''] by Benjamin Franklin</ref>
==Slaves and slavery==
During Franklin's lifetime [[Slavery in the United States|slaves]] were numerous in [[Philadelphia]]. In 1750, half the people in Philadelphia who had established probate estates owned slaves. Dock workers in the city consisted of 15% slaves. Franklin owned as many as seven slaves, two males of whom worked in his household and his shop. Franklin posted paid ads for the sale of slaves and for the capture of runaway slaves and allowed the sale of slaves in his general store. Franklin profited from both the international and domestic slave trade, even criticizing slaves who had run off to join the [[British Army]] during the colonial wars of the 1740s and 1750s. Franklin, however, later became a "cautious abolitionist" and became an outspoken critic of landed gentry slavery. In 1758, Franklin advocated the opening of a school for the education of black slaves in Philadelphia. After returning from England in 1762, Franklin became more anti-slavery, in his view believing that the institution promoted black degradation rather than the idea blacks were inherently inferior. By 1770, Franklin had freed his slaves and attacked the system of slavery and the [[international slave trade]]. Franklin, however, refused to publicly debate the issue of slavery at the [[1787 Constitutional Convention]]. Similar to [[Thomas Jefferson]], Franklin tended to take both sides of the issue of slavery, never fully divesting himself from the institution.<ref>Hoffer (2011), pp. 30–31</ref><ref>Waldstreicher (2004), p. xii, xiii</ref>
{{clear}}
==Death and legacy==
[[File:Philly 2010 transit 071.JPG|thumb|upright=1|The grave of Benjamin Franklin, [[Philadelphia]], Pennsylvania]]
[[File:Benjamin Franklin National Memorial.jpg|thumb|upright=1|Marble memorial statue, [[Benjamin Franklin National Memorial]]]]
[[File:New100front.jpg|thumb|left|Franklin on the Series 2009 [[United States one hundred-dollar bill|hundred dollar bill]]]]
Franklin struggled with [[obesity]] throughout his middle-aged and later years, which resulted in multiple health problems, particularly [[gout]], which worsened as he aged. In poor health during the signing of the US Constitution in 1787, he was rarely seen in public from then until his death.
Benjamin Franklin died from [[Pleurisy|pleuritic attack]]<ref>{{cite book| last=Isaacson| first=Walter| title=Benjamin Franklin: an American life| year=2003| publisher=Simon & Schuster| location=New York}}</ref><!-- nothing is mentioned about pleurisy in the Timeline:<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.benfranklin300.org/etc_timeline_1.htm|title=Franklin & Marshall College – ''Ben Franklin: A Timeline''|publisher=|accessdate=October 7, 2014}}</ref> --> at his home in Philadelphia on April 17, 1790, at age 84. Approximately 20,000 people attended his funeral. He was interred in [[Christ Church Burial Ground]] in Philadelphia. In 1728, aged 22, Franklin wrote what he hoped would be his own epitaph:
<blockquote>The Body of B. Franklin Printer; Like the Cover of an old Book, Its Contents torn out, And stript of its Lettering and Gilding, Lies here, Food for Worms. But the Work shall not be wholly lost: For it will, as he believ'd, appear once more, In a new & more perfect Edition, Corrected and Amended By the Author.<ref>[http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/treasures/franklin-epitaph.html ''Benjamin Franklin: In His Own Words''.] Library of Congress.</ref></blockquote>
Franklin's actual grave, however, as he specified in his final will, simply reads "Benjamin and Deborah Franklin".<ref>[http://sln.fi.edu/franklin/family/lastwill.html ''The Last Will and Testament of Benjamin Franklin''.] The Franklin Institute Science Museum.</ref>
In 1773, when Franklin's work had moved from printing to science and politics, he corresponded with a French scientist, [[Jacques Barbeu-Dubourg]], on the subject of preserving the dead for later revival by more advanced scientific methods, writing:
<blockquote>I should prefer to an ordinary death, being immersed with a few friends in a cask of [[Madeira wine|Madeira]], until that time, then to be recalled to life by the solar warmth of my dear country! But in all probability, we live in a century too little advanced, and too near the infancy of science, to see such an art brought in our time to its perfection.<ref>[http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/12.05/biotime.html?pg=1&topic=biotime&topic_set= The Doctor Will Freeze You Now] from [[Wired News|Wired.com]]</ref> (Extended excerpt also online.)<ref>[http://www.e-drexler.com/d/06/00/EOC/EOC_Chapter_9.html Engines of Creation] E-drexler.com</ref></blockquote>
His death is described in the book ''The Life of Benjamin Franklin'', quoting from the account of Dr. John Jones:
<blockquote>... when the pain and difficulty of breathing entirely left him, and his family were flattering themselves with the hopes of his recovery, when an imposthume, which had formed itself in his lungs, suddenly burst, and discharged a quantity of matter, which he continued to throw up while he had power; but, as that failed, the organs of respiration became gradually oppressed; a calm, lethargic state succeeded; and on the 17th instant (April 1790), about eleven o'clock at night, he quietly expired, closing a long and useful life of eighty-four years and three months.<ref>Sparks, pp 529–530.</ref>
</blockquote>
A signer of both the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, Franklin is considered one of the [[Founding Fathers of the United States]]. His pervasive influence in the early history of the nation has led to his being jocularly called "the only President of the United States who was never President of the United States."<ref>[[Everything You Know Is Wrong|Firesign Theater quote, meant humorously but poignantly.]]</ref> Franklin's likeness is ubiquitous. Since 1928, it has adorned American [[United States one hundred-dollar bill|$100 bills]], which are sometimes referred to in slang as "Benjamins" or "Franklins." From 1948 to 1963, Franklin's portrait was on the [[Franklin half dollar|half dollar]]. He has appeared on a [[United States fifty-dollar bill|$50 bill]] and on several varieties of the $100 bill from 1914 and 1918. Franklin appears on the $1,000 Series EE [[Treasury security#Savings bond|Savings bond]]. The city of Philadelphia contains around 5,000 likenesses of Benjamin Franklin, about half of which are located on the University of Pennsylvania campus. Philadelphia's [[Benjamin Franklin Parkway]] (a major thoroughfare) and [[Benjamin Franklin Bridge]] (the first major bridge to connect Philadelphia with New Jersey) are named in his honor.
In 1976, as part of a [[United States Bicentennial|bicentennial]] celebration, [[United States Congress|Congress]] dedicated a {{convert|20|ft|adj=on|0}} marble statue in Philadelphia's [[Franklin Institute]] as the [[Benjamin Franklin National Memorial]]. Many of Franklin's personal possessions are also on display at the Institute, one of the few national memorials located on [[property|private property]].
In London, his house at 36 Craven Street was first marked with a [[blue plaque]] and has since been opened to the public as the [[Benjamin Franklin House]].<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.benjaminfranklinhouse.org/site/sections/default.htm |title=Benjamin Franklin House |publisher=Benjamin Franklin House. |accessdate=September 21, 2009}}</ref> In 1998, workmen restoring the building dug up the remains of six children and four adults hidden below the home. ''[[The Times]]'' reported on February 11, 1998:
<blockquote>Initial estimates are that the bones are about 200 years old and were buried at the time Franklin was living in the house, which was his home from 1757 to 1762 and from 1764 to 1775. Most of the bones show signs of having been dissected, sawn or cut. One skull has been drilled with several holes. Paul Knapman, the Westminster Coroner, said yesterday: "I cannot totally discount the possibility of a crime. There is still a possibility that I may have to hold an inquest."</blockquote>
The Friends of Benjamin Franklin House (the organization responsible for the restoration) note that the bones were likely placed there by [[William Hewson (surgeon)|William Hewson]], who lived in the house for two years and who had built a small anatomy school at the back of the house. They note that while Franklin likely knew what Hewson was doing, he probably did not participate in any dissections because he was much more of a physicist than a medical man.<ref>[http://www.benjaminfranklinhouse.org/site/sections/news/pdf/Issue2.pdf ''The Craven Street Gazette''] ([[PDF]]), Newsletter of the Friends of Benjamin Franklin House, Issue 2, Autumn 1998</ref>
===Bequest===
Franklin [[bequest|bequeathed]] £1,000 (about $4,400 at the time, or about $112,000 in 2011 dollars<ref>[http://www.measuringworth.com/uscompare/relativevalue.php Measuring Worth] Select $4,400 and 1790 and 2011 in online calculator</ref>) each to the cities of Boston and Philadelphia, in trust to gather interest for 200 years. The trust began in 1785 when the French mathematician [[Charles-Joseph Mathon de la Cour]], who admired Franklin greatly, wrote a friendly [[parody]] of Franklin's "Poor Richard's Almanack" called "Fortunate Richard". The main character leaves a smallish amount of money in his will, five lots of 100 ''[[French livre|livres]]'', to collect interest over one, two, three, four or five full centuries, with the resulting astronomical sums to be spent on impossibly elaborate utopian projects.<ref>Richard Price. ''Observations on the Importance of the American Revolution, and the Means of Making it a Benefit to the World. To which is added, a Letter from M. Turgot, late Comptroller-General of the Finances of France: with an Appendix, containing a Translation of the Will of M. Fortuné Ricard, lately published in France.'' London: T. Cadell, 1785.</ref> Franklin, who was 79 years old at the time, wrote thanking him for a great idea and telling him that he had decided to leave a bequest of 1,000 pounds each to his native Boston and his adopted Philadelphia. By 1990, more than $2,000,000 had accumulated in Franklin's Philadelphia trust, which had loaned the money to local residents. From 1940 to 1990, the money was used mostly for mortgage loans. When the trust came due, Philadelphia decided to spend it on scholarships for local high school students. Franklin's Boston trust fund accumulated almost $5,000,000 during that same time; at the end of its first 100 years a portion was allocated to help establish a [[Vocational school|trade school]] that became the [[Benjamin Franklin Institute of Technology|Franklin Institute of Boston]], and the whole fund was later dedicated to supporting this institute.<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.mathsci.appstate.edu/~sjg/class/1010/wc/finance/franklin1.html |title=Excerpt from Philadelphia Inquirer article by Clark De Leon |publisher=Mathsci.appstate.edu |date=February 7, 1993 |accessdate=September 21, 2009}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bfit.edu/aboutus/history.php |title=History of the Benjamin Franklin Institute of Technology |publisher=Bfit.edu |accessdate=September 21, 2009| archiveurl = http://web.archive.org/web/20080731130624/http://www.bfit.edu/aboutus/history.php| archivedate = July 31, 2008}}</ref>
===Franklin on U.S. postage===
[[File:Benjamin Franklin 1861 Issue-1c.jpg|thumb|left|170px|<center>Issue of 1861</center>]]
[[File:Benjamin Franklin2 1895 Issue-1c.jpg|thumb|186px|<center>Issue of 1895</center>]]
Benjamin Franklin is a prominent figure in American history comparable to Washington, Jefferson and Lincoln, and as such he has been honored on U.S. postage stamps many times. The image of Franklin, the first [[United States Postmaster General|Postmaster General]] of the United States, occurs on the face of U.S. postage more than any other notable American save that of [[George Washington]].<ref name="Scotts">Scotts Specialized Catalogue of United States Stamps</ref>
Franklin appeared on the first U.S. postage stamp [[Benjamin Franklin#Postmaster|(displayed above)]] issued in 1847. From 1908 through 1923 the U.S. Post Office issued a series of postage stamps commonly referred to as the [[Washington-Franklin Issues]] where, along with George Washington, Franklin was depicted many times over a 14-year period, the longest run of any one series in U.S. postal history. Along with the regular issue stamps Franklin however only appears on a few [[:File:Ben Franklin 250th 1956 issue-3c.jpg|commemorative stamps]]. Some of the finest portrayals of Franklin on record can be found on the engravings inscribed on the face of U.S. postage.<ref name="Scotts"/>{{clear}}[[File:Benjamin Franklin 2-Big-Bens 1918 Issue.jpg|Benjamin Franklin 2-Big-Bens 1918 Issue|thumb|center|350px|<center>Issue of 1918</center>]]
===Bawdy Ben===
"[[Advice to a Friend on Choosing a Mistress]]" is a letter written by Benjamin Franklin, dated June 25, 1745, in which Franklin gives advice to a young man about channeling sexual urges. Due to its licentious nature, the letter was not published in collections of Franklin's papers in the United States during the nineteenth century. Federal court decisions from the mid- to late- twentieth century cited the document as a reason for overturning obscenity laws, using it to make a case against censorship.
===Exhibitions===
[[File:2012-07 ncc 04.JPG|thumb|Benjamin Franklin (seated) in the [[National Constitution Center]], Philadelphia]]
"The Princess and the Patriot: [[Yekaterina Vorontsova-Dashkova|Ekaterina Dashkova]], Benjamin Franklin and the Age of Enlightenment" exhibition opened in Philadelphia in February 2006 and ran through December 2006. Benjamin Franklin and Dashkova met only once, in Paris in 1781. Franklin was 75 and Dashkova was 37. Franklin invited Dashkova to become the first woman to join the American Philosophical Society; she was the only woman so honored for another 80 years. Later, Dashkova reciprocated by making him the first American member of the [[Russian Academy of Sciences]].
===Places and things named after Benjamin Franklin===
{{Further|List of places named for Benjamin Franklin}}
As a founding father of the United States, Franklin's name has been attached to many things. Among these are:
<!-- This list is not intended to be comprehensive. To prevent this list from becoming too long, Please consider adding additional places named for Franklin to the separate article titled "List of places named for Benjamin Franklin" as noted at the top of this section -->
* The [[State of Franklin]], a short-lived independent state formed during the American Revolutionary War
* [[County (United States)|Counties]] in at least 16 U.S. states
* Several major landmarks in and around [[Philadelphia]], Pennsylvania, Franklin's longtime home, including:
** [[Franklin and Marshall College]] in nearby [[Lancaster, Pennsylvania|Lancaster]]
** [[Franklin Field]], a [[American football|football]] field once home to the [[Philadelphia Eagles]] of the [[National Football League]] and the home field of the [[Penn Quakers football|University of Pennsylvania Quakers]] since 1895
** The [[Benjamin Franklin Bridge]] across the [[Delaware River]] between Philadelphia and [[Camden, New Jersey]]
** The [[Franklin Institute]], a [[science museum]] in Philadelphia, which presents the [[Benjamin Franklin Medal (Franklin Institute)|Benjamin Franklin Medal]]
* The [[Sons of Ben (MLS supporters association)|Sons of Ben]] soccer supporters club for the [[Philadelphia Union]]
* [[Ben Franklin Stores]] chain of variety stores, with a key-and-spark logo
* [[Franklin Templeton Investments]] an investment firm whose [[New York Stock Exchange]] ticker abbreviation, BEN, is also in honor of Franklin
* The [[Ben Franklin effect]] from the field of [[psychology]]
* [[Benjamin Franklin Shibe]], baseball executive and namesake of the longtime [[Shibe Park|Philadelphia baseball stadium]]
* [[Hawkeye Pierce|Benjamin Franklin "Hawkeye" Pierce]], the fictional character from the [[M*A*S*H]] novels, film, and television program
* Benjamin Franklin Gates, [[Nicolas Cage|Nicolas Cage's]] character from the [[National Treasure (franchise)|National Treasure]] films.
* Several [[US Navy]] ships have been named the {{USS|Franklin}} or the {{USS|Bonhomme Richard}}, the latter being a French translation of his penname "Poor Richard". Two aircraft carriers, {{USS|Franklin|CV-13}} and {{USS|Bon Homme Richard|CV-31}} were simultaneously in commission and in operation during World War II, and Franklin therefore had the distinction of having two simultaneously operational US Navy warships named in his honor. The [[French ship Franklin (1797)]] was also named in Franklin's honor.
* [[Franklinia alatamaha]], commonly called the Franklin tree. It was named after him by his friends and fellow Philadelphians, botanists James and [[William Bartram]].
==Ancestry==
[[File:Benjamin Franklin statue at National Portrait Gallery IMG 4374.JPG|upright=1.2|thumb|Statue of Ben Franklin in the [[National Portrait Gallery (United States)|National Portrait Gallery]] in Washington, D.C.]]
Franklin's father, [[Josiah Franklin]], was a [[tallow]] chandler, a soap-maker and a candle-maker. Josiah was born at [[Ecton, Northamptonshire|Ecton]], [[Northamptonshire]], England, on December 23, 1657, the son of Thomas Franklin, a blacksmith-farmer, and Jane White. Benjamin's mother, Abiah Folger, was born in [[Nantucket]], Massachusetts, on August 15, 1667, to Peter Folger, a miller and schoolteacher, and his wife [[Mary Morrill]], a former [[indentured servant]].
Josiah Franklin had 17 children with his two wives. He married his first wife, Anne Child, in about 1677 in Ecton and emigrated with her to Boston in 1683; they had three children before emigrating and four after. After her death, Josiah married Abiah Folger on July 9, 1689, in the [[Old South Meeting House]] by [[Samuel Willard]]. Benjamin, their eighth child, was Josiah Franklin's 15th child and tenth and last son.
Benjamin Franklin's mother, Abiah Folger, was born into a [[Puritan]] family among those that fled to Massachusetts to establish a purified [[Congregationalist]] Christianity in [[New England]], when [[Charles I of England|King Charles I of England]] began persecuting Puritans. They sailed for [[Boston]] in 1635. Her father was "the sort of rebel destined to transform colonial America";<ref>Isaacson 2003, p. 14</ref> as [[court clerk|clerk of the court]], he was jailed for disobeying the local magistrate in defense of middle-class shopkeepers and artisans in conflict with wealthy landowners. Ben Franklin followed in his grandfather's footsteps in his battles against the wealthy Penn family that owned the [[Province of Pennsylvania|Pennsylvania Colony]].
<div style="background:gainsboro; border:solid 2px steelblue;">
{{ahnentafel top|Ancestors of Benjamin Franklin|width=100%}}
<center>
{{ahnentafel-compact5
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|13=13. Meribah Gibbs<br>b. England
|12=12. John Folger Jr.<br>b. abt. 1594, [[Norwich]], England
|9= 9. Agnes Joanes<br>b. [[Ecton, Northamptonshire|Ecton]], Northamptonshire, England
|8= 8. Henry Franckline<br>b. 1573, [[Ecton, Northamptonshire|Ecton]], Northamptonshire, England<ref name="efamilytree-franckline">{{cite web|url=http://www.e-familytree.net/F257/F257111.htm|title=Thomas Franckline / Jane White|last=Salzman|first=Rob|publisher=e-familytree.net|accessdate=January 20, 2011}}</ref>
|7= 7. [[Mary Morrill]]<br>b. c. 1619, England
|6= 6. Peter Folger<br>b. 1617, [[Norwich]], Norfolk, England
|5= 5. Jane White<br>b. England
|4= 4. Thomas Franklin<br>b. 1598, [[Ecton, Northamptonshire|Ecton]], Northamptonshire, England<ref name="efamilytree-franckline"/>
|3= 3. Abiah Folger<br>b. August 15, 1667, [[Nantucket, Massachusetts]]
|2= 2. [[Josiah Franklin]]<br>b. December 23, 1657, [[Ecton, Northamptonshire|Ecton]], Northamptonshire, England
|1= 1. '''Benjamin Franklin'''<ref name="efamilytree-franklin">{{cite web|url=http://www.e-familytree.net/F257/F257111.htm|title=Benjamin Franklin / Deborah Read|last=Salzman|first=Rob|publisher=e-familytree.net|accessdate=January 20, 2011}}</ref><br>b. 1705, [[Boston, Massachusetts]]
}}</center>
{{ahnentafel bottom}}
</div>
==See also==
{{Portal|Philadelphia|Biography}}
{{Columns-list|2|
* [[Benjamin Franklin in popular culture]]
* [[United States Constitution#Sessions of the "House"|U.S. Constitution]], floor leader in Convention
* [[Thomas Birch]]'s newly discovered Franklin letters
* [[William Goddard (patriot/publisher)]], apprentice/partner of Franklin
* [[Louis Timothee]], apprentice/partner of Franklin
* [[Elizabeth Timothy]], apprentice/partner of Franklin
* [[James Parker (publisher)]], apprentice/partner of Franklin
* [[commons:Category:Benjamin Franklin on stamps|Benjamin Franklin on postage stamps]]
* [[Observations Concerning the Increase of Mankind, Peopling of Countries, etc.]], by Franklin
* [[Order (virtue)]]
* [[List of richest Americans in history]]
* [[List of slave owners]]
* [[List of opponents of slavery]]
}}
==Notes==
{{Reflist|group="Note"}}
==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}
==Further reading==
===Biographies===
* [[Carl L. Becker|Becker, Carl Lotus]]. "Benjamin Franklin", ''Dictionary of American Biography'' (1931) – vol 3, with hot links [http://tigger.uic.edu/~rjensen/franklin.htm#becker online]
* [[H. W. Brands|Brands, H. W.]] ''The First American: The Life and Times of Benjamin Franklin'' (2000) – excellent long scholarly biography [http://www.amazon.com/dp/0385495404/ excerpt and text search]
* {{Cite book| first=Walter| last=Isaacson| authorlink=Walter Isaacson| title=Benjamin Franklin: An American Life| year=2003| location=New York| publisher=Simon & Schuster| isbn=978-0-7432-6084-8|url=http://books.google.com/?id=oIW915dDMBwC&printsec=frontcover&dq=Benjamin+Franklin:+An+American+Life#v=onepage&q&f=false}}, well written popular biography
* Ketcham, Ralph. ''Benjamin Franklin'' (1966) 228 pp [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=34300175 online edition], short biography by scholar
* [[Leo Lemay|Lemay, J. A. Leo]]. ''The Life of Benjamin Franklin'', the most detailed scholarly biography, with very little interpretation; 3 volumes appeared before the author's death in 2008
** ''Volume 1: Journalist, 1706–1730'' (2005) 568pp [http://www.amazon.com/dp/0812238540/ excerpt and text search]
** ''Volume 2: Printer and Publisher, 1730–1747'' (2005) 664pp; [http://www.amazon.com/dp/0812238559/ excerpt and text search]
** ''Volume 3: Soldier, Scientist, and Politician, 1748–1757'' (2008), 768pp [http://www.amazon.com/dp/0812241215/ excerpt and text search]
* [[Edmund Morgan (historian)|Morgan, Edmund S]]. ''Benjamin Franklin'' (2003) the best short introduction [http://www.amazon.com/dp/0300101627/ excerpt and text search], interpretation by leading scholar
* [[Stacy Schiff|Schiff, Stacy]], ''A Great Improvisation: Franklin, France, and the Birth of America'', (2005) Henry Holt
* [[Carl Clinton Van Doren|Van Doren, Carl]]. ''Benjamin Franklin'' (1938), standard older biography [http://www.amazon.com/dp/193154185X/ excerpt and text search]
* [[Gordon S. Wood|Wood, Gordon]]. ''The Americanization of Benjamin Franklin'' (2005), influential intellectual history by leading historian. [http://www.amazon.com/dp/0143035282/ excerpt and text search]
* [[Esmond Wright|Wright, Esmond]]. ''Franklin of Philadelphia'' (1986) – excellent scholarly study [http://www.amazon.com/dp/0674318102/ excerpt and text search]
'''For young readers'''
* [[Isaac Asimov|Asimov, Isaac]]. ''The Kite That Won the Revolution'', a biography for children that focuses on Franklin's scientific and diplomatic contributions.
* Fleming, Candace. ''Ben Franklin's Almanac: Being a True Account of the Good Gentleman's Life.'' Atheneum/Anne Schwart, 2003, 128 pages, ISBN 978-0-689-83549-0.
===Scholarly studies===
* Anderson, Douglas. ''The Radical Enlightenments of Benjamin Franklin'' (1997) – fresh look at the intellectual roots of Franklin
* Buxbaum, M.H., ed. ''Critical Essays on Benjamin Franklin'' (1987)
* Chaplin, Joyce. ''The First Scientific American: Benjamin Franklin and the Pursuit of Genius.'' (2007)
* Cohen, I. Bernard. ''Benjamin Franklin's Science'' (1990) – Cohen, the leading specialist, has several books on Franklin's science
* Conner, Paul W. ''Poor Richard's Politicks'' (1965) – analyzes Franklin's ideas in terms of the Enlightenment and republicanism
* Dull, Jonathan. ''A Diplomatic History of the American Revolution'' (1985)
* [[Philip Dray|Dray, Philip]]. ''Stealing God's Thunder: Benjamin Franklin's Lightning Rod and the Invention of America.'' (2005). 279 pp.
* Ford, Paul Leicester. ''The Many-Sided Franklin'' (1899) [http://books.google.com/books?id=lU8j4QVPP_MC&dq=intitle:The+intitle:Many-Sided+intitle:Franklin+inauthor:ford&lr=&as_drrb_is=q&as_minm_is=0&as_miny_is=&as_maxm_is=0&as_maxy_is=&as_brr=0&ei=FyIRTM33BoiIkgTx-oy4CQ online edition] – collection of scholarly essays
** [http://cdl.library.cornell.edu/cgi-bin/moa/sgml/moa-idx?notisid=ABP2287-0057-169 "Franklin as Printer and Publisher"] in ''The Century'' (April 1899) v. 57 pp. 803–18.
** [http://cdl.library.cornell.edu/cgi-bin/moa/sgml/moa-idx?notisid=ABP2287-0058-172 "Franklin as Scientist"] in ''The Century'' (September 1899) v.57 pp. 750–63. By Paul Leicester Ford.
** [http://cdl.library.cornell.edu/cgi-bin/moa/sgml/moa-idx?notisid=ABP2287-0058-201 "Franklin as Politician and Diplomatist"] in ''The Century'' (October 1899) v. 57 pp. 881–899. By Paul Leicester Ford.
* Gleason, Philip. "Trouble in the Colonial Melting Pot." ''Journal of American Ethnic History'' 2000 20(1): 3–17. ISSN 0278-5927 Full text online in Ingenta and Ebsco. Considers the political consequences of the remarks in a 1751 pamphlet by Franklin on demographic growth and its implications for the colonies. He called the [[Pennsylvania Dutch|Pennsylvania Germans]] "Palatine Boors" who could never acquire the "Complexion" of the English settlers and to "Blacks and Tawneys" as weakening the [[social structure]] of the colonies. Although Franklin apparently reconsidered shortly thereafter, and the phrases were omitted from all later printings of the pamphlet, his views may have played a role in his political defeat in 1764.
* Houston, Alan. ''Benjamin Franklin and the Politics of Improvement'' (2009)
* Lemay, J. A. Leo, ed. ''Reappraising Benjamin Franklin: A Bicentennial Perspective'' (1993) – scholarly essays
* Mathews, L. K. "Benjamin Franklin's Plans for a Colonial Union, 1750–1775." ''American Political Science Review'' 8 (August 1914): 393–412.
* Olson, Lester C. ''Benjamin Franklin's Vision of American Community: A Study in Rhetorical Iconology.'' (2004). 323 pp.
* {{cite journal | last1 = McCoy | first1 = Drew R. | authorlink = Drew R. McCoy | year = 1978 | title = Benjamin Franklin's Vision of a Republican Political Economy for America | journal = William and Mary Quarterly | volume = 35 | issue = 4| pages = 607–628 | jstor=1923207}}
* Newman, Simon P. "Benjamin Franklin and the Leather-Apron Men: The Politics of Class in Eighteenth-Century Philadelphia," ''Journal of American Studies,'' August 2009, Vol. 43#2 pp 161–175; Franklin took pride in his working class origins and his printer's skills.
* Schiff, Stacy. ''A Great Improvisation: Franklin, France, and the Birth of America'' (2005) (UK title ''Dr Franklin Goes to France'')
* Schiffer, Michael Brian. ''Draw the Lightning Down: Benjamin Franklin and Electrical Technology in the Age of Enlightenment.'' (2003). 383 pp.
* [http://www.bartleby.com/225/index.html#6 Stuart Sherman "Franklin"] 1918 article on Franklin's writings.
* Skemp, Sheila L. ''Benjamin and William Franklin: Father and Son, Patriot and Loyalist'' (1994) - Ben's son was a leading Loyalist
* Sletcher, Michael. 'Domesticity: The Human Side of Benjamin Franklin', ''Magazine of History'', XXI (2006).
* Waldstreicher, David. ''Runaway America: Benjamin Franklin, Slavery, and the American Revolution.'' Hill and Wang, 2004. 315 pp.
* [[Kerry S. Walters|Walters, Kerry S.]] ''Benjamin Franklin and His Gods.'' (1999). 213 pp. Takes position midway between D. H. Lawrence's brutal 1930 denunciation of Franklin's religion as nothing more than a bourgeois commercialism tricked out in shallow utilitarian moralisms and [[Owen Aldridge]]'s sympathetic 1967 treatment of the dynamism and protean character of Franklin's "polytheistic" religion.
* York, Neil. "When Words Fail: William Pitt, Benjamin Franklin and the Imperial Crisis of 1766," ''Parliamentary History,'' October 2009, Vol. 28#3 pp 341–374
===Primary sources===
* ''Silence Dogood, The Busy-Body, & Early Writings'' (J.A. Leo Lemay, ed.) ([[Library of America]], 1987 one-volume, 2005 two-volume) ISBN 978-1-931082-22-8
* ''Autobiography, Poor Richard, & Later Writings'' (J.A. Leo Lemay, ed.) ([[Library of America]], 1987 one-volume, 2005 two-volume) ISBN 978-1-883011-53-6
* Bailyn, Bernard, ''The Ideological Origins of the American Revolution'' (1992)
* Benjamin Franklin papers, M. S. Coll. 900, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pa. [http://hdl.library.upenn.edu/1017/d/ead/upenn_rbml_MsColl900 Finding aid]
* ''Benjamin Franklin Reader'' edited by Walter Isaacson (2003)
* ''Benjamin Franklin's Autobiography'' edited by J. A. Leo Lemay and P. M. Zall, (Norton Critical Editions, 1986); 390pp; text, contemporary documents and 20th century analysis
* Houston, Alan, ed. ''Franklin: The Autobiography and other Writings on Politics, Economics, and Virtue.'' [[Cambridge University Press]], 2004. 371 pp.
* Ketcham, Ralph, ed. ''The Political Thought of Benjamin Franklin.'' (1965, reprinted 2003). 459 pp.
* Leonard Labaree, and others., eds., ''[http://www.yale.edu/franklinpapers/index.html The Papers of Benjamin Franklin]'', 39 vols. to date (1959–2008), definitive edition, through 1783. This massive collection of BF's writings, and letters to him, is available in large academic libraries. It is most useful for detailed research on specific topics. [http://franklinpapers.org/franklin/ The complete text of all the documents are online and searchable]; {{Wayback |date=20100928051438 |url=http://www.yale.edu/franklinpapers/indexintro.html |title=The ''Index'' is also online }}.
* "''[[The Way to Wealth]]''." Applewood Books; November 1986. ISBN 0-918222-88-5
* "''[[Poor Richard's Almanack]]''." Peter Pauper Press; November 1983. ISBN 0-88088-918-7
* ''Poor Richard Improved'' by Benjamin Franklin (1751)
* "''Writings (Franklin)|Writings''." ISBN 0-940450-29-1
* "''On Marriage''."
* "''Satires and Bagatelles''."
* "''[[A Dissertation on Liberty and Necessity, Pleasure and Pain]]''."
* "''Fart Proudly: Writings of Benjamin Franklin You Never Read in School''." Carl Japikse, Ed. Frog Ltd.; Reprint ed. May 2003. ISBN 1-58394-079-0
* "''Heroes of America Benjamin Franklin''."
* "''Experiments and Observations on Electricity''." (1751)
==External links==
{{Sister project links|s=Author:Benjamin Franklin|wikt=Franklin|v=Virtues/thirteen virtues|b=American Literature/Enlightenment Period (1760s–1820s)}}
{{Spoken Wikipedia-3|2008-08-04|Benjamin Franklin 1.ogg|Benjamin Franklin 2.ogg|Benjamin Franklin 3.ogg}}
{{Library resources box|by=yes|onlinebooks=yes|viaf=56609913}}
* [http://edsitement.neh.gov/lesson-plan/benjamin-franklins-many-hats Lesson plans for high schools] from National Endowment for the Humanities
* [http://www.compadre.org/psrc/Franklin/ Benjamin Franklin and Electrostatics] experiments and Franklin's electrical writings from Wright Center for Science Education
* {{IMDb title|id=0956098|title=Animated Hero Classics: Benjamin Franklin (1993)}}
* [http://www.abc.net.au/rn/ockhamsrazor/stories/2006/1814928.htm Franklin's impact on medicine] – talk by medical historian, Dr. Jim Leavesley celebrating the 300th anniversary of Franklin's birth on ''Okham's Razor'' ABC [[Radio National]] – December 2006
* {{Find a Grave|364}}
'''Biographical and guides'''
* [http://www.time.com/time/2003/franklin/bffranklin.html Special Report: Citizen Ben's Greatest Virtues] Time Magazine
* [http://www.loc.gov/rr/program/bib/franklin/franklin.html Finding Franklin: A Resource Guide] Library of Congress
* [http://tigger.uic.edu/~rjensen/franklin.htm Guide to Benjamin Franklin] By a history professor at the University of Illinois.
* [http://www.pbs.org/benfranklin/ Benjamin Franklin: An extraordinary life] PBS
* [http://history.state.gov/milestones/1776-1783/BFranklin Benjamin Franklin: First American Diplomat, 1776–1785] US State Department
* [http://www.ushistory.org/franklin/ The Electric Benjamin Franklin] ushistory.org
* [http://www.english.udel.edu/lemay/franklin/ Benjamin Franklin: A Documentary History] by J. A. Leo Lemay
* [http://www.colonialhall.com/franklin/franklin.php Benjamin Franklin 1706–1790] Text of biography by Rev. Charles A. Goodrich, 1856
* [http://www.coopheroes.coop/inductees/franklin.html Cooperative Hall of Fame testimonial] for founding the [[Philadelphia Contributionship]]
* [http://www.librarything.com/profile/BenjaminFranklin Online edition of Franklin's personal library]
* {{Cite EB1911|wstitle=Franklin, Benjamin}}
* {{MacTutor Biography|id=Franklin_Benjamin}}
* [http://www.americanwriters.org/writers/franklin.asp Benjamin Franklin] at [[C-SPAN]]'s ''[[American Writers: A Journey Through History]]''
* [http://www.booknotes.org/Watch/170126-1/James+Srodes.aspx ''Booknotes'' interview with James Srodes on ''Franklin: The Essential Founding Father'', May 19, 2002.]
'''Online writings'''
* [http://franklinpapers.org/franklin/ Yale edition of complete works], the standard scholarly edition
* {{Gutenberg author |id=Franklin,+Benjamin | name=Benjamin Franklin}}
* {{Internet Archive author}}
* {{Librivox author |id=350}}
* [http://www.bartleby.com/people/FranklinB.html Online Works by Benjamin Franklin]
* [http://literalsystems.org/abooks/index.php/Audio-Book/DialogueBetweenFranklinAndTheGout "Dialogue Between Franklin and the Gout"] Creative Commons audio recording.
* [http://www.aip.org/history/gap/Franklin/Franklin.html American Institute of Physics]{{spaced ndash}} [http://www.aip.org/history/gap/PDF/franklin_letterIV.pdf Letter IV: Farther Experiments] ([[PDF]]), and [http://www.aip.org/history/gap/PDF/franklin_letterXI.pdf Letter XI: Observations in electricity] ([[PDF]])
* [http://www.ftrain.com/franklin_improving_self.html Franklin's 13 Virtues] Extract of Franklin's autobiography, compiled by Paul Ford.
* [http://sln.fi.edu/franklin/family/lastwill.html Franklin's Last Will & Testament] Transcription.
* [http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/treasures/franklin-home.html Library of Congress web resource: ''Benjamin Franklin ... In His Own Words'']
* [https://archive.org/details/SilenceDogood_201306 "A SILENCE DOGOOD SAMPLER" – Selections from Benjamin Franklin's Silence Dogood writings]
* [http://justus.anglican.org/resources/bcp/Franklin%20Abridged/index.html Abridgement of the Book of Common Prayer (1773), by Benjamin Franklin and Francis Dashwood], transcribed by Richard Mammana
'''Autobiography'''
* [http://www.ushistory.org/franklin/autobiography/index.htm The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin] [http://www.ushistory.org/franklin/autobiography/singlehtml.htm Single page version], UShistory.org
* [http://publicliterature.org/books/benjamin_franklin/xaa.php ''The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin''] text and audio
* [http://xroads.virginia.edu/~HYPER/Franklin/toc.html The Autobiography] from American Studies at the University of Virginia.
* [http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/148 The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin] Project Gutenberg
* [http://librivox.org/the-autobigraphy-of-benjamin-franklin-ed-by-frank-woodworth-pine/ The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin] LibriVox recording
'''In the arts'''
* [http://www.benfranklin300.com/ Benjamin Franklin 300 (1706–2006)] Official web site of the Benjamin Franklin Tercentenary.
* The [http://www.hsp.org/files/findingaid215franklin.pdf Historical Society of Pennsylvania Collection of Benjamin Franklin Papers], including correspondence, government documents, writings and a copy of his will, are available for research use at the [[Historical Society of Pennsylvania]].
* [http://www.benjaminfranklinhouse.org/ The Benjamin Franklin House] Franklin's only surviving residence.
* [http://www.planetware.com/boston/ben-franklin-birthplace-us-ma-ben.htm Ben Franklin Birthplace] A historic site, link provides location and map.
* [http://www.americanmusicpreservation.com/mamusic.htm Franklin and Music]
* "[[s:Benjamin Franklin (Coates)|Benjamin Franklin]]", a poem by [[Florence Earle Coates]]
{{Benjamin Franklin}}
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{{Persondata
| NAME =Franklin, Benjamin
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES =
| SHORT DESCRIPTION =American printer, writer, politician
| DATE OF BIRTH = January 17, 1706
| PLACE OF BIRTH =Boston, Massachusetts
| DATE OF DEATH = April 17, 1790
| PLACE OF DEATH =[[Philadelphia]], Pennsylvania
}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Franklin, Benjamin}}
[[Category:1706 births]]
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[[Category:American memoirists]]
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[[Category:American political philosophers]]
[[Category:American printers]]
[[Category:American scientists]]
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[[Category:Benjamin Franklin|Benjamin Franklin]]
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[[Category:Editors of Pennsylvania newspapers]]
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[[Category:Franklin family|Ben]]
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{{Infobox officeholder
|name = Benjamin Franklin
|image = BenFranklinDuplessis.jpg{{!}}border
|office = 6th [[List of Governors of Pennsylvania|President of Pennsylvania]]
|vicepresident = [[Charles Biddle]]<br>[[Thomas Mifflin]]
|term_start = October 18, 1785
|term_end = November 5, 1788
|predecessor = [[John Dickinson (Pennsylvania and Delaware)|John Dickinson]]
|successor = [[Thomas Mifflin]]
|office1 = [[United States Ambassador to Sweden|United States Minister to Sweden]]
|appointer1 = [[Congress of the Confederation]]
|term_start1 = September 28, 1782
|term_end1 = April 3, 1783
|predecessor1 = Position established
|successor1 = [[Jonathan Russell]]
|office2 = [[United States Ambassador to France|United States Minister to France]]
|appointer2 = [[Continental Congress]]
|alongside2 = [[Arthur Lee (diplomat)|Arthur Lee]], [[Silas Deane]], [[John Adams]]
|term_start2 = September 14, 1778
|term_end2 = May 17, 1785
|predecessor2 = Position established
|successor2 = [[Thomas Jefferson]]
|office3 = 1st [[United States Postmaster General]]
|term_start3 = July 26, 1775
|term_end3 = November 7, 1776
|predecessor3 = Position established
|successor3 = [[Richard Bache]]
|office4 = [[Speaker of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives|Speaker of the Pennsylvania Assembly]]
|term_start4 = May 1764
|term_end4 = October 1764
|predecessor4 = [[Isaac Norris (statesman)|Isaac Norris]]
|successor4 = [[Isaac Norris (statesman)|Isaac Norris]]
|birth_date = {{birth date|1706|1|17}}
|birth_place = [[Boston]], [[Province of Massachusetts Bay|Massachusetts Bay]], [[British America]]
|death_date = {{death date and age|1790|4|17|1706|1|17}}
|death_place = [[Philadelphia]], [[Pennsylvania]], [[United States|U.S.]]
|party = [[Independent politician|Independent]]
|spouse = [[Deborah Read]]
|children = [[William Franklin|William]]<br>[[Francis Folger Franklin|Francis]]<br>[[Sarah Franklin Bache|Sarah]]
|signature = Benjamin Franklin Signature.svg
}}
[[File:Benjamin Franklin 1767.jpg|left|A portrait of Benjamin Franklin|frameless|297x297px]]
'''Benjamin Franklin''' [[Royal Society|FRS]] ({{OldStyleDateDY|January 17,|1706|January 6, 1705}}<ref name="Engber">{{Cite web| |last=Engber |first=Daniel |date=2006 |url=http://www.slate.com/id/2134455/ |title=What's Benjamin Franklin's Birthday? |accessdate=2009-06-17 |postscript=. Engber clearly explains Franklin's confusing birthdates, which are shared by many notable people, not the least of whom are [[George Washington]] and [[Thomas Paine]]}}</ref>{{spaced ndash}} April 17, 1790) was one of the [[Founding Fathers of the United States]] and in many ways was "The First American".<ref>H. W. Brands, ''The First American: The Life and Times of Benjamin Franklin'' (2010)</ref> A renowned [[polymath]], Franklin was a leading author, printer, [[List of political philosophers|political theorist]], politician, postmaster, scientist, inventor, civic activist, statesman, and diplomat. As a scientist, he was a major figure in the [[American Enlightenment]] and the [[history of physics]] for his discoveries and theories regarding electricity. As an inventor, he is known for the [[lightning rod]], [[bifocals]], and the [[Franklin stove]], among other inventions.<ref>{{cite web|title=Inventor|url=http://fi.edu/franklin/inventor/inventor.html|publisher=The Franklin Institute|accessdate=April 25, 2012}}</ref> He facilitated many civic organizations, including Philadelphia's fire department and a university.
Franklin earned the title of "The First American" for his early and indefatigable campaigning for [[Thirteen Colonies|colonial unity]]; as an author and spokesman in London for several colonies, then as the first [[United States Ambassador to France]], he exemplified the emerging American nation.<ref>H.W. Brands, ''The First American: The Life and Times of Benjamin Franklin'' (2000)</ref> Franklin was foundational in defining the American ethos as a marriage of the practical values of thrift, hard work, education, community spirit, self-governing institutions, and opposition to authoritarianism both political and religious, with the scientific and tolerant values of the [[Age of Enlightenment|Enlightenment]]. In the words of historian [[Henry Steele Commager]], "In a Franklin could be merged the virtues of [[Puritanism]] without its defects, the illumination of the Enlightenment without its heat."<ref>Isaacson 2003, p. 491</ref> To [[Walter Isaacson]], this makes Franklin "the most accomplished American of his age and the most influential in inventing the type of society America would become."<ref>Walter Isaacson, ''Benjamin Franklin'' (2003), p. 492</ref>
Franklin, always proud of his working class roots, became a successful newspaper editor and printer in [[Philadelphia]], the leading city in the colonies.<ref>H.W. Brands. ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=B2bPCEbMAvwC&pg=PA390 The First American: The Life and Times of Benjamin Franklin]''. (2010). p. 390.</ref> With two partners he published the ''[[Pennsylvania Chronicle]],'' a newspaper that was known for its revolutionary sentiments and criticisms of the British policies. He became wealthy publishing ''[[Poor Richard's Almanack]]'' and ''[[Pennsylvania Gazette|The Pennsylvania Gazette]]''. Franklin was also the printer of books for the [[Moravian Church|Moravians]] of [[Bethlehem, Pennsylvania]] (1742 on). Franklin's printed Moravian books (printed in [[German language|German]]) are preserved, and can be viewed, at the Moravian Archives located in Bethlehem. Franklin visited Bethlehem many times and stayed at the [[Moravian Sun Inn]].
He played a major role in establishing the [[University of Pennsylvania]] and was elected the first president of the [[American Philosophical Society]]. Franklin became a national hero in America when as agent for several colonies he spearheaded the effort to have Parliament in London repeal the unpopular [[Stamp Act 1765|Stamp Act]]. An accomplished diplomat, he was widely admired among the French as American minister to Paris and was a major figure in the development of positive [[France–United States relations|Franco-American relations]]. His efforts to secure support for the [[American Revolution]] by shipments of crucial munitions proved vital for the American war effort.
For many years he was the British postmaster for the colonies, which enabled him to set up the first national communications network. He was active in community affairs, colonial and state politics, as well as national and international affairs. From 1785 to 1788, he served as [[Supreme Executive Council of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania#Presidents of Council|governor of Pennsylvania]]. Toward the end of his life, he freed his own slaves and became one of the most prominent [[Abolitionism in the United States|abolitionists]].
His colorful life and legacy of scientific and political achievement, and status as one of America's most influential Founding Fathers, have seen Franklin honored on [[Franklin half dollar|coinage]] and the [[United States one hundred-dollar bill|$100 bill]]; [[USS Benjamin Franklin (SSBN-640)|warships]]; [[List of places named for Benjamin Franklin|the names of many towns]]; counties; educational institutions; corporations; and, more than two centuries after his death, countless [[Benjamin Franklin in popular culture|cultural references]].
==Birth and Early life in Boston==
[[File:Benjamin Franklin Birthplace 2.JPG|thumb|upright0.1|Franklin's birthplace on [[Milk Street]], Boston, Massachusetts]]
[[File:Benjamin Franklin Birthplace.jpg|thumb|upright0.1|Franklin's birthplace site directly across from [[Old South Meeting House]] on [[Milk Street]] is commemorated by a [[bust (sculpture)|bust]] above the second floor facade of this building.]]
Benjamin Franklin was born on [[Milk Street]], in [[Boston]], [[Province of Massachusetts Bay|Massachusetts]], on January 17, 1706,<ref name="Engber" /><ref name="calendar" group="Note">Contemporary records, which used the Julian calendar and the [[New Year#Historical Christian new year dates|Annunciation Style]] of enumerating years, recorded his birth as January 6, 1705. The provisions of the British [[Calendar (New Style) Act 1750]], implemented in 1752, altered the official British dating method to the Gregorian calendar with the start of the year on January 1 (it had been March 25). These changes resulted in dates being moved forward 11 days, and for those between January 1 and March 25, an advance of one year. For a further explanation, see: [[Old Style and New Style dates]].</ref> and [[Infant baptism|baptized]] at Old South Meeting House. He was one of seventeen children born to [[Josiah Franklin]], and one of ten born by Josiah's second wife, Abiah Folger. Among Benjamin's siblings were his older brother [[James Franklin (printer)|James]] and his younger sister [[Jane Mecom|Jane]].
Josiah wanted Ben to attend school with the clergy, but he only had enough money to send him to school for two years. He attended [[Boston Latin School]] but did not graduate; he continued his education through voracious reading. Although "his parents talked of the church as a career"<ref name="autobio">{{cite book |last= Franklin |first= Benjamin |authormask= 2 |title= Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin |url= http://books.google.com/books?id=qW4VAAAAYAAJ |accessdate=February 1, 2011 |series= Macmillan's pocket English and American classics |origyear= 1771 |year= 1901 |publisher=Macmillan |location= New York |page= vi |chapter= Introduction}}<!-- Note: the introduction of this edition is the source for this quote; please do not change the edition without verifying the quote remains sourced. --></ref> for Franklin, his schooling ended when he was ten. He worked for his father for a time, and at 12 he became an [[apprenticeship|apprentice]] to his brother James, a printer, who taught Ben the printing trade. When Ben was 15, James founded ''[[The New-England Courant]]'', which was [[History of American newspapers|the first truly independent newspaper in the colonies]].
When he was denied the chance to write a letter to the paper for publication, Franklin adopted the [[pseudonym]] of "[[Mrs. Silence Dogood]]", a middle-aged widow. [[Silence Dogood|Mrs. Dogood's]] letters were published, and became a subject of conversation around town. Neither James nor the ''[[The New-England Courant|Courant'<nowiki/>]]''[[The New-England Courant|s]] readers were aware of the ruse, and James was unhappy with Ben when he discovered the popular correspondent was his younger brother. Franklin was an advocate of free speech from an early age. When his brother was jailed for three weeks in 1722 for publishing material unflattering to the governor, young Franklin took over the newspaper and had Mrs. Dogood (quoting ''[[Cato's Letters]]'') proclaim: "Without freedom of thought there can be no such thing as wisdom and no such thing as public liberty without freedom of speech."<ref>Isaacson, (2003) p 32</ref> Franklin left his apprenticeship without his brother's permission, and in so doing became a [[fugitive from justice|fugitive]].<ref name="vandoren">Carl Van Doren, ''Benjamin Franklin''. (1938).</ref>
==Running away to Philadelphia==
When he was 17, Franklin ran away to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, seeking a new start in a new city. When he first arrived, he worked in several printer shops around town, but he was not satisfied by the immediate prospects. After a few months, while working in a printing house, Franklin was convinced by Pennsylvania Governor [[Sir William Keith, 4th Baronet|Sir William Keith]] to go to [[London]], ostensibly to acquire the equipment necessary for establishing another newspaper in Philadelphia. Finding Keith's promises of backing a newspaper empty, Franklin worked as a [[typesetter]] in a printer's shop in what is now the [[St Bartholomew-the-Great|Church of St Bartholomew-the-Great]] in the [[Smithfield, London|Smithfield]] area of London. Following this, he returned to Philadelphia in 1726 with the help of Thomas Denham, a merchant who employed Franklin as clerk, shopkeeper, and bookkeeper in his business.<ref name="vandoren"/>
===Junto and library===
In 1727, Benjamin Franklin, then 21, created the [[Junto (club)|Junto]], a group of "like minded aspiring artisans and tradesmen who hoped to improve themselves while they improved their community." The Junto was a discussion group for issues of the day; it subsequently gave rise to many organizations in Philadelphia, PA.
Reading was a great pastime of the Junto, but books were rare and expensive. The members created a library, initially assembled from their own books. This did not suffice, however. Franklin conceived the idea of a [[subscription library]], which would pool the funds of the members to buy books for all to read. This was the birth of the [[Library Company of Philadelphia]]: its charter was composed by Franklin in 1731. In 1732, Franklin hired the first American librarian, [[Louis Timothee]].
Originally, the books were kept in the homes of the first librarians, but in 1739 the collection was moved to the second floor of the State House of Pennsylvania, now known as [[Independence Hall]]. In 1791, a new building was built specifically for the library. The Library Company is now a great scholarly and [[Library#Research library|research library]] with 500,000 rare books, pamphlets, and broadsides, more than 160,000 manuscripts, and 75,000 graphic items.
===Newspaperman===
[[File:Franklin the printer.jpg|thumb|Benjamin Franklin (center) at work on a [[printing press]]. Reproduction of a Charles Mills painting by the [[Detroit Publishing Company]].]]
Upon Denham's death, Franklin returned to his former trade. In 1728, Franklin had set up a printing house in partnership with [[Hugh Meredith]]; the following year he became the publisher of a newspaper called ''[[Pennsylvania Gazette|The Pennsylvania Gazette]]''. The ''Gazette'' gave Franklin a forum for agitation about a variety of local reforms and initiatives through printed essays and observations. Over time, his commentary, and his adroit cultivation of a positive image as an industrious and intellectual young man, earned him a great deal of social respect. But even after Franklin had achieved fame as a scientist and statesman, he habitually signed his letters with the unpretentious 'B. Franklin, Printer.'<ref name="vandoren"/>
In 1732, Ben Franklin published the first [[German language]] newspaper in America – ''Die Philadelphische Zeitung'' – although it failed after only one year, because four other newly founded German papers quickly dominated the newspaper market.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://german.about.com/library/weekly/aa071299.htm|title=German Newspapers in the US and Canada|publisher=|accessdate=October 7, 2014}}</ref>
Franklin saw the printing press as a device to instruct colonial Americans in moral virtue. Frasca argues he saw this as a service to God, because he understood moral virtue in terms of actions, thus, doing good provides a service to God. Despite his own moral lapses, Franklin saw himself as uniquely qualified to instruct Americans in morality. He tried to influence American moral life through construction of a printing network based on a chain of partnerships from the Carolinas to New England. Franklin thereby invented the first newspaper chain. It was more than a business venture, for like many publishers since, he believed that the press had a public-service duty.<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Frasca | first1 = Ralph | year = 1997 | title = Benjamin Franklin's Journalism | url = | journal = [[Fides et Historia]] | volume = 29 | issue = 1| pages = 60–72 }}</ref>
When Franklin established himself in Philadelphia, shortly before 1730, the town boasted two "wretched little" news sheets, [[Andrew Bradford]]'s ''American Mercury'', and [[Samuel Keimer|Keimer's]] ''Universal Instructor in all Arts and Sciences, and Pennsylvania Gazette''. This instruction in all arts and sciences consisted of weekly extracts from ''Chambers's Universal Dictionary''. Franklin quickly did away with all this when he took over the ''Instructor'' and made it ''The Pennsylvania Gazette''. The ''Gazette'' soon became Franklin's characteristic organ, which he freely used for satire, for the play of his wit, even for sheer excess of mischief or of fun. From the first he had a way of adapting his models to his own uses. The series of essays called "The Busy-Body", which he wrote for Bradford's ''American Mercury'' in 1729, followed the general [[Joseph Addison|Addisonian]] form, already modified to suit homelier conditions. The thrifty Patience, in her busy little shop, complaining of the useless visitors who waste her valuable time, is related to the ladies who address Mr. Spectator. The Busy-Body himself is a true Censor Morum, as [[Isaac Bickerstaff]] had been in the ''Tatler''. And a number of the fictitious characters, Ridentius, Eugenius, Cato, and Cretico, represent traditional 18th-century classicism. Even this Franklin could use for contemporary satire, since Cretico, the "sowre Philosopher", is evidently a portrait of Franklin's rival, Samuel Keimer.
As time went on, Franklin depended less on his literary conventions, and more on his own native humor. In this there is a new spirit—not suggested to him by the fine breeding of Addison, or the bitter irony of [[Jonathan Swift|Swift]], or the stinging completeness of [[Alexander Pope|Pope]]. The brilliant little pieces Franklin wrote for his ''Pennsylvania Gazette'' have an imperishable place in American literature.
The ''Pennsylvania Gazette'', like most other newspapers of the period, was often poorly printed. Franklin was busy with a hundred matters outside of his printing office, and never seriously attempted to raise the mechanical standards of his trade. Nor did he ever properly edit or collate the chance medley of stale items that passed for news in the ''Gazette.'' His influence on the practical side of journalism was minimal. On the other hand, his advertisements of books show his very great interest in popularizing secular literature. Undoubtedly his paper contributed to the broader culture that distinguished Pennsylvania from her neighbors before the Revolution. Like many publishers, Franklin built up a book shop in his printing office; he took the opportunity to read new books before selling them.
Franklin had mixed success in his plan to establish an inter-colonial network of newspapers that would produce a profit for him and disseminate virtue.<ref>Ralph Frasca, ''Benjamin Franklin's Printing Network: Disseminating Virtue in Early America'' (2006) [http://www.amazon.com/Benjamin-Franklins-Printing-Network-Disseminating/dp/0826216145/ excerpt and text search]</ref> He began in [[Charleston, South Carolina]], in 1731. After the second editor died, his widow Elizabeth Timothy took over and made it a success, 1738–46. She was one of the colonial era's first woman printers.<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Baker | first1 = Ira L. | year = 1977 | title = Elizabeth Timothy: America's First Woman Editor | url = | journal = Journalism Quarterly | volume = 54 | issue = 2| pages = 280–285 | doi=10.1177/107769907705400207}}</ref> For three decades Franklin maintained a close business relationship with her and her son Peter who took over in 1746.<ref>Ralph Frasca, "'The Partnership at Carolina Having succeeded, was Encourag'd to Engage in Others': The Genesis of Benjamin Franklin's Printing Network", ''Southern Studies: An Interdisciplinary Journal of the South'' (2006), Vol. 13 Issue 1/2, pp 1–23.</ref> The ''Gazette'' had a policy of impartiality in political debates, while creating the opportunity for public debate, which encouraged others to challenge authority. Editor Peter Timothy avoided blandness and crude bias, and after 1765 increasingly took a patriotic stand in the growing crisis with Great Britain.<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Smith | first1 = Jeffery A. | year = 1993 | title = Impartiality and Revolutionary Ideology: Editorial Policies of the 'South-Carolina Gazette,' 1732–1735 | url = | journal = Journal of Southern History | volume = 49 | issue = 4| pages = 511–526 }}</ref> However, Franklin's ''Connecticut Gazette'' (1755–68) proved unsuccessful.<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Frasca | first1 = Ralph | year = 2003 | title = 'I am now about to establish a small Printing Office ... at Newhaven": Benjamin Franklin and the First Newspaper in Connecticut | url = | journal = Connecticut History | volume = 44 | issue = 1| pages = 77–87 }}</ref>
===Freemason===
In 1731, Franklin was initiated into the local [[Freemasonry|Masonic]] Lodge. He became Grand Master in 1734, indicating his rapid rise to prominence in Pennsylvania.<ref name=HC>[[History (U.S. TV channel)|The History Channel]], ''Mysteries of the Freemasons: America'', video documentary, August 1, 2006, written by Noah Nicholas and Molly Bedell</ref><ref>{{cite web| url=http://freemasonry.bcy.ca/biography/franklin_b/franklin_b.html |title=Freemasonry Grand Lodge of British Columbia and Yukon website |publisher=Freemasonry.bcy.ca |accessdate=September 21, 2009}}</ref> That same year, he edited and published the first Masonic book in the Americas, a reprint of [[James Anderson (Freemason)|James Anderson's]] ''[[Constitutions of the Free-Masons]]''. Franklin remained a Freemason for the rest of his life.<ref>Van Horne, John C. "The History and Collections of the Library Company of Philadelphia," ''The Magazine Antiques'', v. 170. no. 2: 58–65 (1971).</ref><ref>Lemay, J. A. Leo. "Franklin, Benjamin (1706–1790)," [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/52466 ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'']. ed. H. C. G. Matthew and Brian Harrison (Oxford: OUP, 2004).</ref>
===Common-law marriage to Deborah Read===
{{double image|right|Deborah ReadFranklin.jpg|160|Sarah Franklin Bache1793.jpg|160|[[Deborah Read|Deborah Read Franklin]]<br />(c. 1759). Common-law wife of Benjamin Franklin|[[Sarah Franklin Bache]] (1743–1808). Daughter of Benjamin Franklin and Deborah Read}}
In 1723, at the age of 17, Franklin proposed to 15-year-old [[Deborah Read]] while a boarder in the Read home. At that time, Read's mother was wary of allowing her young daughter to marry Franklin, who was on his way to London at Governor [[Sir William Keith, 4th Baronet|Sir William Keith's]] request, and also because of his financial instability. Her own husband had recently died, and Mrs. Read declined Franklin's request to marry her daughter.<ref name="vandoren"/>
While Franklin was in London, his trip was extended, and there were problems with Sir William's promises of support. Perhaps because of the circumstances of this delay, Deborah married a man named John Rodgers. This proved to be a regrettable decision. Rodgers shortly avoided his debts and prosecution by fleeing to [[Barbados]] with her [[dowry]], leaving Deborah behind. Rodgers's fate was unknown, and because of [[bigamy]] laws, Deborah was not free to remarry.
Franklin established a [[common-law marriage]] with Deborah Read on September 1, 1730. They took in Franklin's young, recently acknowledged illegitimate son, [[William Franklin|William]], and raised him in their household. In addition, they had two children together. The first, [[Francis Folger Franklin]], born October 1732, died of [[smallpox]] in 1736. Their second child, [[Sarah Franklin Bache|Sarah Franklin]], familiarly called Sally, was born in 1743. She eventually married [[Richard Bache]], had seven children, and cared for her father in his old age.
Deborah's fear of the sea meant that she never accompanied Franklin on any of his extended trips to Europe, despite his repeated requests. She wrote to him in November 1769 saying she was ill due to "dissatisfied distress" from his prolonged absence, but he did not return until his business was done.<ref>November 1769 [http://franklinpapers.org/franklin/framedVolumes.jsp?vol=16&page=230a Letter] from Deborah Read to Ben Franklin, ''franklinpapers.org''</ref> Deborah Read Franklin died of a stroke in 1774, while Franklin was on an extended mission to England; he returned in 1775.
===William Franklin===
[[File:WilliamFranklin.jpeg|thumb|upright|[[William Franklin]]]]
{{see also|William Franklin}}
In 1730, at the age of 24, Franklin publicly acknowledged the existence of William, his son, who was deemed 'illegitimate' as he was born out of wedlock, and raised him in his household. His mother's identity is not known<ref>Skemp SL. ''William Franklin: Son of a Patriot, Servant of a King'', Oxford University Press US, 1990, ISBN 0-19-505745-7, p. 4</ref>, and he was educated in Philadelphia.
Beginning at about age 30, William studied law in London in the early 1760s. He fathered an illegitimate son, [[William Temple Franklin]], born February 22, 1762. The boy's mother was never identified, and he was placed in foster care. Franklin later that year married Elizabeth Downes, daughter of a [[plantation|planter]] from [[Barbados]]. After William passed the bar, his father helped him gain an appointment in 1763 as the last [[List of colonial governors of New Jersey|Royal Governor]] of New Jersey.
A [[Loyalist (American Revolution)|Loyalist]], William and his father eventually broke relations over their differences about the American Revolutionary War. The elder Franklin could never accept William's position. Deposed in 1776 by the revolutionary government of New Jersey, Franklin was arrested at his home in [[Perth Amboy]] at the [[Proprietary House]] and imprisoned for a time, the younger Franklin went to New York in 1782, which was still occupied by British troops. He became leader of the Board of Associated Loyalists — a quasi-military organization, headquartered in [[New York City]]. They initiated guerrilla forays into [[New Jersey]], southern [[Connecticut]], and [[New York]] counties north of the city.<ref>Fleming, Thomas, ''The Perils of Peace: America's Struggle for Survival'', (Collins, NY, 2007) p. 30</ref> When British troops evacuated from New York, William Franklin left with them and sailed to England. He settled in London, never to return to North America.
In the preliminary peace talks in 1782 with Britain, "... Benjamin Franklin insisted that loyalists who had borne arms against the United States would be excluded from this plea (that they be given a general pardon). He was undoubtedly thinking of William Franklin."<ref>Fleming, p. 236</ref>
[[File:William temple franklin by john trumbull.gif|thumb|[[William Temple Franklin]], painted by [[John Trumbull]] (1790–1791)]]
Benjamin Franklin found out about Temple (as he called him), his only patrilineal grandson, on his second mission to England. He got to know the boy and became fond of him, arranging for his education. He never told his wife Deborah about him.<ref name="Life">[http://www.yale.edu/opa/arc-ybc/v28.n34/story3.html "Editor Claude-Anne Lopez describes her 'life with Benjamin Franklin'"], ''Yale Bulletin and Calendar,'' Vol. 28, No. 34, June 23, 2000, accessed November 3, 2012</ref> Franklin gained custody and brought Temple with him upon return to Philadelphia in 1775. Deborah had died the year before. Franklin brought up Temple within his household.
Beginning at age 16, Temple Franklin served as secretary to his grandfather during his mission to Paris during the Revolutionary War. Although he returned to the United States with his grandfather in the 1780s, he could not find an appointment. He returned to Europe, living for a time in England and then in France. He died in Paris in 1823 and was buried in [[Père Lachaise Cemetery]].
===Success as an author===
[[File:The General Magazine and Historical Chronicle Vol 1, January, 1741.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Franklin's ''The General Magazine and Historical Chronicle'' (Jan. 1741)]]In 1733, Franklin began to publish ''[[Poor Richard's Almanack]]'' (with content both original and not) under the [[pseudonym]] Richard Saunders, on which much of his popular reputation is based. Franklin frequently wrote under [[pseudonym]]<nowiki/>s. Although it was no secret that Franklin was the author, his Richard Saunders character repeatedly denied it. "Poor Richard's Proverbs", adages from this almanac, such as "A penny saved is twopence dear" (often misquoted as "A penny saved is a penny earned") and "Fish and visitors stink in three days", remain common quotations in the modern world. Wisdom in folk society meant the ability to provide an apt adage for any occasion, and Franklin's readers became well prepared. He sold about ten thousand copies per year (a circulation equivalent to nearly three million today).<ref name="vandoren"/> In 1741 Franklin began publishing ''The General Magazine and Historical Chronicle for all the British Plantations in America'', the first such monthly magazine of this type published in America.
In 1758, the year he ceased writing for the Almanack, he printed ''Father Abraham's Sermon'', also known as ''[[The Way to Wealth]]''. Franklin's [[The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin|autobiography]], begun in 1771 but published after his death, has become one of the classics of the genre.
[[Daylight saving time]] (DST) is often erroneously attributed to a 1784 satire that Franklin published [[anonymity|anonymously]].<ref>{{cite journal
|author=Benjamin Franklin, writing [[anonymously]]
|title=Aux auteurs du Journal
|journal=Journal de Paris
|date=April 26, 1784
|issue=117
|language=French
|doi=10.2307/2922719
|volume=28
|page=23
|publisher=Duke University Press
|jstor=2922719}} [http://webexhibits.org/daylightsaving/franklin3.html Revised English version] retrieved on March 11, 2008.</ref> Modern DST was first proposed by [[George Vernon Hudson]] in 1895.<ref>{{cite journal |author=G. V. Hudson |title= On seasonal time |journal=Trans Proc R Soc N Z |year=1898 |volume=31 |pages=577–88 |url=http://rsnz.natlib.govt.nz/volume/rsnz_31/rsnz_31_00_008570.html}}</ref>
==Inventions and scientific inquiries==
{{Further|Social contributions and studies by Benjamin Franklin}}
[[File:Glassharmonica.png|thumb|[[Glass Armonica]]]]
Franklin was a prodigious inventor. Among his many creations were the [[lightning rod]], [[glass armonica]] (a glass instrument, not to be confused with the metal harmonica), [[Franklin stove]], [[bifocals|bifocal glasses]] and the flexible [[urinary catheterization|urinary catheter]]. Franklin never patented his inventions; in his [[The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin|autobiography]] he wrote, "... as we enjoy great advantages from the inventions of others, we should be glad of an opportunity to serve others by any invention of ours; and this we should do freely and generously."<ref>{{cite book
|title=The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin
|chapter=Part three
|author=Benjamin Franklin
|url=http://www.ushistory.org/franklin/autobiography/page55.htm}}</ref>
His inventions also included [[social innovation]]s, such as [[pay it forward|paying forward]]. Franklin's fascination with innovation could be viewed as altruistic; he wrote that his scientific works were to be used for increasing efficiency and human improvement. One such improvement was his effort to expedite news services through his printing presses.<ref>Franklin, Benjamin. "The Pennsylvania Gazette". [http://franklinpapers.org/franklin/framedNames.jsp FranklinPapers.org], October 23, 1729</ref>
===Population studies===
Franklin had a major influence on the emerging science of [[demography]], or population studies.<ref>{{cite book| author=Dr. Alan Houston| title=Benjamin Franklin and the Politics of Improvement| url=http://books.google.com/books?id=dMN9VEhrTxwC&pg=PA106| year=2008| publisher=Yale U.P.| pages=106–41}}</ref> [[Thomas Malthus]] is noted for his rule of population growth and credited Franklin for discovering it.<ref>{{cite book| author=I. Bernard Cohen| title=The Triumph Of Numbers: How Counting Shaped Modern Life| url=http://books.google.com/books?id=E_j-LAlHfHUC&pg=PA87| year=2005| publisher=W. W. Norton| page=87}}</ref> Kammen (1990) and Drake (2011) say Franklin's "[[Observations Concerning the Increase of Mankind, Peopling of Countries, etc.|Observations on the Increase of Mankind]]" (1755) stands alongside [[Ezra Stiles]]' "Discourse on Christian Union" (1760) as the leading works of eighteenth century Anglo-American demography; Drake credits Franklin's "wide readership and prophetic insight."<ref>{{cite book| author=James David Drake| title=The Nation's Nature: How Continental Presumptions Gave Rise to the United States of America| url=http://books.google.com/books?id=EWV9T2MT5SoC&pg=PA63| year=2011| publisher=U. of Virginia Press| page=63}}</ref><ref>{{cite book| author=Michael G. Kammen| title=People of Paradox: An Inquiry Concerning the Origins of American Civilization| url=http://books.google.com/books?id=yvmJZh38JQ4C&pg=PA81| year=1990| publisher=Cornell U.P.| page=81}}</ref>
In the 1730s and 1740s, Franklin began taking notes on population growth, finding that the American population had the fastest growth rates on earth.<ref>{{cite book| author=J. A. Leo Lemay| title=The Life of Benjamin Franklin, Volume 3: Soldier, Scientist, and Politician, 1748–1757| url=http://books.google.com/books?id=NL5bcRP5aRAC&pg=PA245| year=2008| publisher=U. of Pennsylvania Press| page=245}}</ref> Emphasizing that population growth depended on food supplies—a line of thought later developed by [[Thomas Malthus]]—Franklin emphasized the abundance of food and available farmland in America. He calculated that America's population was doubling every twenty years and would surpass that of England in a century.<ref>Isaacson 2003, p. 150</ref> In 1751, he drafted "Observations concerning the Increase of Mankind, Peopling of Countries, &c." Four years later, it was anonymously printed in Boston, and it was quickly reproduced in Britain, where it influenced the economists [[Adam Smith]] and later [[Thomas Malthus]]. Franklin's predictions alarmed British leaders who did not want to be surpassed by the colonies, so they became more willing to impose restrictions on the colonial economy.<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Owen Aldridge | first1 = Alfred | year = 1949 | title = Franklin as Demographer | journal = Journal of Economic History | volume = 9 | issue = 1| pages = 25–44 | jstor=2113719}}</ref>
Franklin was also a pioneer in the study of slave demography, as shown in his 1755 essay.<ref>{{cite book| author=George William Van Cleve| title=A Slaveholders' Union: Slavery, Politics, and the Constitution in the Early American Republic| url=http://books.google.com/books?id=Dgp26Y2KzxUC&pg=PA148| year= 2010| publisher=U. of Chicago Press| page=148}}</ref>
===Atlantic Ocean currents===
As deputy postmaster, Franklin became interested in the [[Atlantic Ocean|North Atlantic Ocean]] circulation patterns. While in England in 1768, he heard a complaint from the Colonial Board of Customs: Why did it take British packet ships carrying mail several weeks longer to reach New York than it took an average merchant ship to reach [[Newport, Rhode Island]]? The merchantmen had a longer and more complex voyage because they left from London, while the packets left from [[Falmouth, Cornwall|Falmouth]] in Cornwall.
Franklin put the question to his cousin Timothy Folger, a [[Nantucket]] whaler captain, who told him that merchant ships routinely avoided a strong eastbound mid-ocean current. The mail packet captains sailed dead into it, thus fighting an adverse current of {{convert|3|mph|km/h|0}}. Franklin worked with Folger and other experienced ship captains, learning enough to chart the current and name it the [[Gulf Stream]], by which it is still known today.
Franklin published his Gulf Stream chart in 1770 in England, where it was completely ignored. Subsequent versions were printed in France in 1778 and the U.S. in 1786. The British edition of the chart, which was the original, was so thoroughly ignored that everyone assumed it was lost forever until Phil Richardson, a [[Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution|Woods Hole oceanographer]] and Gulf Stream expert, discovered it in the [[Bibliothèque nationale de France|Bibliothèque Nationale]] in Paris in 1980.<ref>Philip L. Richardson (February 8, 1980), "Benjamin Franklin and Timothy Folger's first printed chart of the Gulf Stream", ''Science'', vol. 207, no. 4431, pp. 643–645.</ref><ref>[http://www.philly.com/philly/news/special_packages/inquirer/How_Franklin_s_chart_resurfaced.html "How Franklin's chart resurfaced"], ''The Philadelphia Inquirer,'' posted December 18, 2005, accessed November 26, 2010</ref> This find received front page coverage in the ''[[New York Times]]''.<ref>John N. Wilford, "Prints of Franklin's chart of Gulf Stream found," ''New York Times'' (N.Y., N.Y.), pp. A1, B7 (February 6, 1980).</ref>
It took many years for British sea captains to adopt Franklin's advice on navigating the current; once they did, they were able to trim two weeks from their sailing time.<ref>1785: Benjamin Franklin's 'Sundry Maritime Observations', The Academy of Natural Sciences, April 1939 m</ref><ref>[http://www.oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/library/readings/gulf/gulf.html ''1785: Benjamin Franklin's 'Sundry Maritime Observations' ''.] NOAA Ocean Explorer.</ref> In 1853, the oceanographer and cartographer [[Matthew Fontaine Maury]] noted that Franklin only charted and codified the Gulf Stream, he did not ''discover'' it:
{{quote|Though it was Dr. Franklin and Captain Tim Folger, who first turned the Gulf Stream to nautical account, the discovery that there was a Gulf Stream cannot be said to belong to either of them, for its existence was known to [[Peter Martyr d'Anghiera]], and to [[Sir Humphrey Gilbert]], in the 16th century.<ref>Source: ''Explanations and Sailing Directions to Accompany the Wind and Current Charts,'' 1853, p. 53, by [[Matthew Fontaine Maury]]</ref>}}
===Lightning, Electrical Fluid, and Electricity===
[[File:Benjamin West, English (born America) - Benjamin Franklin Drawing Electricity from the Sky - Google Art Project.jpg|thumb|''Benjamin Franklin Drawing Electricity from the Sky'' c. 1816 at the [[Philadelphia Museum of Art]], by [[Benjamin West]]]]
[[File:BEP-JONES-Franklin and Electricity.jpg|thumb|''Franklin and Electricity'' vignette [[Art and engraving on United States banknotes|engraved]] by the [[Bureau of Engraving and Printing|BEP]] (c. 1860).]]
Franklin's discoveries resulted from his investigations of [[electricity]]. Franklin proposed that "vitreous" and "resinous" electricity were not different types of "[[Aether theories|electrical fluid]]" (as electricity was called then), but the same electrical fluid under different pressures. He was the first to label them as [[electric charge|positive and negative]] respectively,<ref>[http://scienceworld.wolfram.com/biography/FranklinBenjamin.html "Benjamin Franklin (1706–1790)"], ''Science World,'' from Eric Weisstein's ''World of Scientific Biography''.</ref> and he was the first to discover the principle of [[charge conservation|conservation of charge]].<ref>{{Wayback |date=20080218104547 |url=http://www.physchem.co.za/Static%20Electricity/Charge.htm |title=''Conservation of Charge''}}. Archived February 18, 2008.</ref>
In 1750, he published a proposal for an experiment to prove that [[lightning]] is electricity by [[Kite experiment|flying a kite in a storm]] that appeared capable of becoming a lightning storm. On May 10, 1752, [[Thomas-François Dalibard]] of France conducted Franklin's experiment using a {{convert|40|ft|m|adj=mid|-tall}} iron rod instead of a kite, and he extracted electrical sparks from a cloud. On June 15 Franklin may possibly have conducted his well known kite experiment [[St. Stephen's Episcopal Church (Philadelphia)|in Philadelphia]], successfully extracting sparks from a cloud. Franklin's experiment was not written up with credit<ref>Steven Johnson (2008) in ''The Invention of Air'', p. 39, notes that Franklin published a description of the kite experiment in ''[[The Pennsylvania Gazette]]'' without claiming he had performed the experiment himself, a fact he shared with Priestley 15 years later.</ref> until [[Joseph Priestley]]'s 1767 ''History and Present Status of Electricity''; the evidence shows that Franklin was insulated (not in a conducting path, where he would have been in danger of [[electric shock|electrocution]]). Others, such as Prof. [[Georg Wilhelm Richmann]], were indeed electrocuted during the months following Franklin's experiment.
In his writings, Franklin indicates that he was aware of the dangers and offered alternative ways to demonstrate that lightning was electrical, as shown by his use of the concept of [[ground (electricity)|electrical ground]]. If Franklin did perform this experiment, he may not have done it in the way that is often described—flying the kite and waiting to be struck by lightning—as it would have been dangerous.<ref>[http://www.mos.org/sln/toe/kite.html ''Franklin's Kite''], Museum of Science, Boston.</ref> Instead he used the kite to collect some electric charge from a storm cloud, which implied that lightning was electrical.{{Citation needed|date=July 2011}} On October 19 in a letter to England with directions for repeating the experiment, Franklin wrote:
{{quote|When rain has wet the kite twine so that it can conduct the electric fire freely, you will find it streams out plentifully from the key at the approach of your knuckle, and with this key a phial, or [[Leyden jar]], may be charged: and from electric fire thus obtained spirits may be kindled, and all other electric experiments [may be] performed which are usually done by the help of a rubber glass globe or tube; and therefore the sameness of the electrical matter with that of lightening completely demonstrated.<ref>Wolf, A., ''History of Science, Technology, and Philosophy in the Eighteenth Century''. New York, 1939. p. 232</ref>}}
Franklin's electrical experiments led to his invention of the lightning rod. He noted that conductors with a sharp rather than a smooth point could discharge silently, and at a far greater distance. He surmised that this could help protect buildings from lightning by attaching "upright Rods of Iron, made sharp as a Needle and gilt to prevent Rusting, and from the Foot of those Rods a Wire down the outside of the Building into the Ground; ... Would not these pointed Rods probably draw the Electrical Fire silently out of a Cloud before it came nigh enough to strike, and thereby secure us from that most sudden and terrible Mischief!" Following a series of experiments on Franklin's own house, lightning rods were installed on the Academy of Philadelphia (later the [[University of Pennsylvania]]) and the Pennsylvania State House (later Independence Hall) in 1752.<ref>Krider, E. Philip. {{Wayback |date=20060110052254 |url=http://www.physicstoday.org/vol-59/iss-1/p42.html |title=''Benjamin Franklin and Lightning Rods''}}. ''Physics Today''. January 2006. Archived January 10, 2006.</ref>
In recognition of his work with electricity, Franklin received the [[Royal Society]]'s [[Copley Medal]] in 1753, and in 1756 he became one of the few 18th-century Americans elected as a Fellow of the Society. The [[centimetre–gram–second system of units|cgs]] unit of electric charge has been named after him: one ''franklin'' (Fr) is equal to one [[statcoulomb]].
===Wave theory of light===
Franklin was, along with his contemporary [[Leonhard Euler]], the only major scientist who supported [[Christiaan Huygens]]' [[wave theory of light]], which was basically ignored by the rest of the [[scientific community]]. In the 18th century [[Isaac Newton|Newton's]] [[corpuscular theory of light|corpuscular theory]] was held to be true; only after [[Thomas Young (scientist)|Young's]] well known [[slit experiment]] in 1803 were most scientists persuaded to believe Huygens' theory.<ref>Jogn Gribbin, "In search of Schrödinger's cat", Black Swan, p. 12</ref>
===Meteorology===
On October{{nbsp}}21, 1743, according to popular myth, a storm moving from the southwest denied Franklin the opportunity of witnessing a [[lunar eclipse]]. Franklin was said to have noted that the [[prevailing winds]] were actually from the northeast, contrary to what he had expected. In correspondence with his brother, Franklin learned that the same storm had not reached Boston until after the eclipse, despite the fact that Boston is to the northeast of Philadelphia. He deduced that storms do not always travel in the direction of the prevailing wind, a concept that greatly influenced [[meteorology]].<ref>Heidorn, Keith C. Heidorn, PhD. [http://www.islandnet.com/~see/weather/almanac/arc2003/alm03oct.htm ''Eclipsed By Storm''.] The Weather Doctor. October 1, 2003.</ref>
After the Icelandic volcanic eruption of [[Laki]] in 1783, and the subsequent harsh European winter of 1784, Franklin made observations connecting the causal nature of these two separate events. He wrote about them in a lecture series.<ref>http://www.dartmouth.edu/~volcano/Fr373p77.html</ref>
===Traction kiting===
Though Benjamin Franklin has been most noted kite-wise with his lightning experiments, he has also been noted by many for his using kites to pull humans and ships across waterways.<ref>{{cite book| url=http://www.gutenberg.org/files/34193/34193-h/34193-h.htm| title= The True Benjamin Franklin| first= Sydney George| last= Fisher| year=1903 |publisher=J. B. Lippincott Company| location=Philadelphia, PA| edition=5|page=19}}</ref> The [[George Pocock (inventor)|George Pocock]] in the book ''A TREATISE on The Aeropleustic Art, or Navigation in the Air, by means of Kites, or Buoyant Sails''<ref>{{cite book| url=http://books.google.com/books?id=oMo-DVp_ypUC| title= A TREATISE on The Aeropleustic Art, or Navigation in the Air, by means of Kites, or Buoyant Sails| first=George| last=Pocock| page=9| publisher=Longmans, Brown, and Co.| location=London| year=1851}}</ref> noted being inspired by Benjamin Franklin's traction of his body by kite power across a waterway. In his later years he suggested using the technique for pulling ships.
===Concept of cooling===
Franklin noted a principle of [[refrigeration]] by observing that on a very hot day, he stayed cooler in a wet shirt in a breeze than he did in a dry one. To understand this phenomenon more clearly Franklin conducted experiments. In 1758 on a warm day in [[Cambridge]], England, Franklin and fellow scientist [[John Hadley (chemist)|John Hadley]] experimented by continually wetting the ball of a mercury [[thermometer]] with [[diethyl ether|ether]] and using [[bellows]] to evaporate the ether.<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.historycarper.com/resources/twobf3/letter1.htm |title=The Writings of Benjamin Franklin: London, 1757–1775 |publisher=Historycarper.com |accessdate=September 14, 2010}}</ref> With each subsequent [[evaporation]], the thermometer read a lower temperature, eventually reaching {{convert|7|F}}. Another thermometer showed that the room temperature was constant at {{convert|65|F}}. In his letter ''[[Cooling by Evaporation]],'' Franklin noted that, "One may see the possibility of freezing a man to death on a warm summer's day."
===Temperature's effect on electrical conductivity===
According to [[Michael Faraday]], Franklin's experiments on the non-conduction of ice are worth mentioning, although the law of the general effect of liquefaction on electrolytes is not attributed to Franklin.<ref>{{cite book |last=Faraday |first=Michael |title=Experimental researches in electricity |url=http://books.google.com/?id=XuITAAAAQAAJ&pg=PR5&dq=non-conduction+of+ice#v=onepage&q=non-conduction%20of%20ice |page=v |volume=2 |year=1839 |publisher=R. & J.E. Taylor |quote=... Franklin's experiments on the non-conduction of ice ...}}</ref> However, as reported in 1836 by Prof. A. D. Bache of the University of Pennsylvania, the law of the effect of heat on the conduction of bodies otherwise non-conductors, for example, glass, could be attributed to Franklin. Franklin writes, "... A certain quantity of heat will make some bodies good conductors, that will not otherwise conduct ..." and again, "... And water, though naturally a good conductor, will not conduct well when frozen into ice."<ref>{{cite book |last=Jones |first=Thomas P. |title=Journal of the Franklin Institute of the State of Pennsylvania |url=http://books.google.com/?id=zV9DAAAAYAAJ&pg=PP7&dq=Thomas+P.+Jones+1836+Journal+of+the+Franklin+Institute+vol.xvii&q= |pages=182–183 |year=1836 |quote=In the fourth series of his electrical researches, Mr. Faraday ... |publisher=Pergamon Press}}</ref>
===Oceanography findings===
An aging Franklin accumulated all his oceanographic findings in ''Maritime Observations'', published by the Philosophical Society's ''transactions'' in 1786.<ref>{{cite book
|last1=Price
|first1=Richard
|last2=Thomas
|first2=David Oswald
|last3=Peach
|first3=Bernard
|authorlink1=Richard Price
|authorlink2=David Oswald Thomas
|year=1994
|title=The Correspondence of Richard Price: February 1786 – February 1791
|url=http://books.google.com/?id=fPQfNx2TQLAC&pg=RA1-PA23&lpg=RA1-PA23&dq=%22Maritime+Observations%22+%22American+Philosophical+Society%22+transactions+1786&q=%22Maritime%20Observations%22%20%22American%20Philosophical%20Society%22%20transactions%201786
|page=23
|publisher=Duke University Press
|isbn=0-8223-1327-8
|accessdate=October 2, 2009}}</ref> It contained ideas for [[sea anchor]]s, [[catamaran]] hulls, [[watertight compartment]]s, shipboard lightning rods and a soup bowl designed to stay stable in stormy weather.
===Decision-making===
[[File:Benjamin Franklin 1759.jpg|thumb|Benjamin Franklin by [[Benjamin Wilson (painter)|Benjamin Wilson]], 1759]]
In a 1772 letter to [[Joseph Priestley]], Franklin lays out the earliest known description of the Pro & Con list,<ref name="decisions">{{cite book | title=Mr. Franklin: A Selection from His Personal Letters | publisher=Yale University Press | year=1956 | location=New Haven, CT | editor=Bell Jr., Whitfield J. | chapter=Benjamin Franklin's 1772 letter to Joseph Priestley | chapter-url=http://www.procon.org/view.background-resource.php?resourceID=1474}}</ref> a common [[decision-making]] technique:
<blockquote>... my Way is, to divide half a Sheet of Paper by a Line into two Columns, writing over the one Pro, and over the other Con. Then during three or four Days Consideration I put down under the different Heads short Hints of the different Motives that at different Times occur to me for or against the Measure. When I have thus got them all together in one View, I endeavour to estimate their respective Weights; and where I find two, one on each side, that seem equal, I strike them both out: If I find a Reason pro equal to some two Reasons con, I strike out the three. If I judge some two Reasons con equal to some three Reasons pro, I strike out the five; and thus proceeding I find at length where the Ballance lies; and if after a Day or two of farther Consideration nothing new that is of Importance occurs on either side, I come to a Determination accordingly.<ref name="decisions" /></blockquote>
===Science Humor===
While traveling on a ship, Franklin had observed that the wake of a ship was diminished when the cooks scuttled their greasy water. He studied the effects at Clapham common [[London]] on a large pond there. "I fetched out a cruet of oil and dropt a little of it on the water...though not more than a teaspoon full, produced an instant calm over a space of several yards square." He later used the trick to "calm the waters" by carrying "a little oil in the hollow joint of my cane." <ref>*W. Gratzer, Eurekas and Euphorias, pgs 80,81</ref>
==Musical endeavors==
Franklin is known to have played the violin, the [[harp]], and the guitar. He also composed music, notably a [[string quartet]] in [[classical period (music)|early classical style]]. He developed a much-improved version of the [[glass harmonica]], in which the glasses rotate on a shaft, with the player's fingers held steady, instead of the other way around; this version soon found its way to Europe.<ref>Bloch, Thomas. [http://www.finkenbeiner.com/gh.html ''The Glassharmonica''.] GFI Scientific.</ref>
==Chess==
Franklin was an very good [[chess]] player. He was playing chess by around 1733, making him the first chess player known by name in the American colonies.<ref name="McCraryChessandFranklin">John McCrary, [http://www.benfranklin300.org/_etc_pdf/Chess_John_McCrary.pdf ''Chess and Benjamin Franklin-His Pioneering Contributions''] ([[PDF]]). Retrieved on April 26, 2009.</ref> His essay on "[[The Morals of Chess]]" in ''Columbian'' magazine<!-- WAIT--WAIT! Before you remove the brackets, consider writing a new article! -- Paine --> in December 1786 is the second known writing on chess in America.<ref name="McCraryChessandFranklin"/> This essay in praise of chess and prescribing a code of behavior for the game has been widely reprinted and translated.<ref>[[David Vincent Hooper|David Hooper]] and [[Kenneth Whyld]], ''The Oxford Companion to Chess'', Oxford University Press (2nd ed. 1992), p. 145. ISBN 0-19-866164-9.</ref><ref>The essay appears in [[Marcello Truzzi]] (ed.), ''Chess in Literature'', Avon Books, 1974, pp. 14–15. ISBN 0-380-00164-0.</ref><ref>The essay appears in a book by the felicitously named Norman Knight, ''Chess Pieces'', [[CHESS magazine]], [[Sutton Coldfield]], England (2nd ed. 1968), pp. 5–6. ISBN 0-380-00164-0.</ref><ref>Franklin's essay is also reproduced at the [http://www.washingtonpost.com/gog/museums/u.s.-chess-center-museum-and-hall-of-fame,800594.html U.S. Chess Center Museum and Hall of Fame] in Washington, D.C. Retrieved December 3, 2008.</ref> He and a friend also used chess as a means of learning the [[Italian language]], which both were studying; the winner of each game between them had the right to assign a task, such as parts of the Italian grammar to be learned by heart, to be performed by the loser before their next meeting.<ref>[[William Temple Franklin]], ''Memoirs of the Life and Writings of Benjamin Franklin'', reprinted in Knight, ''Chess Pieces'', pp. 136–37.</ref> Franklin was inducted into the [[World Chess Hall of Fame|U.S. Chess Hall of Fame]] in 1999.<ref name="McCraryChessandFranklin"/>
==Public life==
[[File:BenFranklin Waterspout 1806.jpg|thumb|An illustration from Franklin's paper on "[[waterspout|Water-spouts]] and Whirlwinds"]]
[[File:PennsylvaniaHospitalWilliamStrickland.jpg|thumb|[[Pennsylvania Hospital]] by [[William Strickland (architect)|William Strickland]], 1755]]
[[File:Benjamin Franklin - Join or Die.jpg|right|thumb|[[Join, or Die]]: This political cartoon by Franklin urged the colonies to join together during the [[French and Indian War]] ([[Seven Years' War]]).]]
[[File:Sketch of Tun Tavern in the Revolutionary War.jpg|thumb|Sketch of the original [[Tun Tavern]]]]
In 1736, Franklin created the [[Union Fire Company]], one of the first volunteer [[firefighting]] companies in [[United States|America]]. In the same year, he printed a new currency for [[New Jersey]] based on innovative anti-[[counterfeit]]ing techniques he had devised. Throughout his career, Franklin was an advocate for [[Banknote|paper money]], publishing ''A Modest Enquiry into the Nature and Necessity of a Paper Currency'' in 1729, and his printer printed money. He was influential in the more restrained and thus successful monetary experiments in the Middle Colonies, which stopped [[deflation]] without causing excessive inflation. In 1766 he made a case for paper money to the [[House of Commons of the United Kingdom|British House of Commons]].<ref>[[John Kenneth Galbraith]]. (1975). ''Money: Where It Came, Whence It Went'', pp. 54–54. Houghton Mifflin Company.</ref>
As he matured, Franklin began to concern himself more with public affairs. In 1743, he set forth a scheme for [[The Academy and College of Philadelphia|The Academy, Charity School, and College of Philadelphia]]. He was appointed president of the Academy on November 13, 1749; the Academy and the Charity School opened on August 13, 1751.
In 1743, Franklin founded the [[American Philosophical Society]] to help scientific men discuss their discoveries and theories. He began the electrical research that, along with other scientific inquiries, would occupy him for the rest of his life, in between bouts of politics and moneymaking.<ref name="vandoren"/>
In 1747, he retired from printing and went into other businesses.<ref>James N. Green, "English Books and Printing in the Age of Franklin," in ''The Colonial Book in the Atlantic World'' (2002), 257.</ref> He created a partnership with his foreman, David Hall, which provided Franklin with half of the shop's profits for 18 years. This lucrative business arrangement provided leisure time for study, and in a few years he had made discoveries that gave him a reputation with educated persons throughout Europe and especially in France.
Franklin became involved in Philadelphia politics and rapidly progressed. In October 1748, he was selected as a councilman, in June 1749 he became a [[Justice of the Peace]] for Philadelphia, and in 1751 he was elected to the [[Pennsylvania Provincial Assembly|Pennsylvania Assembly]]. On August 10, 1753, Franklin was appointed joint deputy postmaster-general of British North America, with [[William Hunter (publisher)|William Hunter]]. Franklin's most notable service in domestic politics was his reform of the postal system, with mail sent out every week.<ref name="vandoren"/>
In 1751, Franklin and [[Thomas Bond (physician)|Dr. Thomas Bond]] obtained a charter from the Pennsylvania legislature to establish a hospital. [[Pennsylvania Hospital]] was the first hospital in what was to become the United States of America.
Between 1750 and 1753, the "educational triumvirate"<ref>Olsen, Neil C., ''Pursuing Happiness: The Organizational Culture of the Continental Congress'', Nonagram Publications, ISBN 978-1-4800-6550-5 ISBN 1-4800-6550-1, 2013, p. 174</ref> of Dr. Benjamin Franklin, the American [[Samuel Johnson (American educator)|Dr. Samuel Johnson]] of [[Stratford, Connecticut]], and the immigrant Scottish schoolteacher [[William Smith (Episcopalian priest)|Dr. William Smith]] built on Franklin's initial scheme and created what [[James Madison (bishop)|Bishop James Madison]], president of the [[College of William & Mary]], called a "new-model"<ref>Smith, Horace Wemyss, ''The Life and Correspondence of the Rev. Wm. Smith, D.D.'', Philadelphia, 1880, Volume 1: pp. 566–567.</ref> plan or style of American college. Franklin solicited, printed in 1752, and promoted an American textbook of [[ethics|moral philosophy]] from the American [[Samuel Johnson (American educator)|Dr. Samuel Johnson]] titled ''Elementa Philosophica''<ref>Samuel Johnson, ''Elementa philosophica: containing chiefly, Noetica, or things relating to the mind or understanding: and Ethica, or things relating to the moral behaviour. Philadelphia'', Printed by B. Franklin and D. Hall, at the new-printing-office, near the market, 1752</ref> to be taught in the new colleges to replace courses in denominational divinity.
[[File:1757 UPenn Seal.png|thumb|upright=0.56|left|Seal of the College of Philadelphia]]
In June 1753, Johnson, Franklin, and Smith met in Stratford.<ref>Olsen, pp. 163–274</ref> They decided the new-model college would focus on the [[profession]]s, with classes taught in English instead of Latin, have subject matter experts as professors instead of one tutor leading a class for four years, and there would be no religious test for admission.<ref>Olsen, p. 163</ref> Johnson went on to found King's College (now [[Columbia University]]) in New York City in 1754, while Franklin hired [[William Smith (Episcopalian priest)|William Smith]] as Provost of the College of Philadelphia, which opened in 1755. At its first commencement, on May 17, 1757, seven men graduated; six with a Bachelor of Arts and one as [[Master of Arts]]. It was later merged with the University of the State of Pennsylvania to become the [[University of Pennsylvania]]. The College was to become influential in guiding the founding documents of the United States: in the [[Continental Congress]], for example, over one third of the college-affiliated men who contributed the ''[[United States Declaration of Independence|Declaration of Independence]]'' between September 4, 1774, and July 4, 1776, were affiliated with the College.<ref>Olsen, p. 308</ref>
In 1753, both [[Harvard University]]<ref>[http://www.harvard.edu/honorary-degrees Honorary Degrees] Harvard University. Retrieved August 20, 2012.</ref> and [[Yale University]]<ref>[http://ris-systech2.its.yale.edu/hondegrees/hondegrees.asp Honorary Degrees] Yale University. Retrieved August 20, 2012.</ref> awarded him honorary degrees.<ref>[http://www.benfranklinexhibit.org/resume ''Benjamin Franklin resume''.] In Search of a Better World. Benjamin Franklin Exhibit. Retrieved August 20, 2012.</ref>
In 1754, he headed the Pennsylvania delegation to the [[Albany Congress]]. This meeting of several colonies had been requested by the [[Board of Trade]] in England to improve relations with the Indians and defense against the French. Franklin proposed a broad [[Albany Plan|Plan of Union]] for the colonies. While the plan was not adopted, elements of it found their way into the [[Articles of Confederation]] and the [[United States Constitution|Constitution]].
In 1756, Franklin organized the Pennsylvania Militia (see "Associated Regiment of Philadelphia" under heading of Pennsylvania's 103rd Artillery and [[111th Infantry Regiment (United States)|111th Infantry Regiment]] at [[Continental Army]]). He used [[Tun Tavern]] as a gathering place to recruit a regiment of soldiers to go into battle against the [[Native Americans in the United States|Native American]] uprisings that beset the American colonies. Reportedly Franklin was elected "Colonel" of the Associated Regiment but declined the honor.
Also in 1756, Franklin became a member of the Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures & Commerce (now the [[Royal Society of Arts]] or RSA, which had been founded in 1754), whose early meetings took place in [[Coffeehouse|coffee shops]] in London's [[Covent Garden]] district, close to Franklin's main residence in Craven Street during his missions to England. The Craven street residence, which he used on various lengthy missions from 1757 to 1775, is the only one of his residences to survive. It opened to the public as the [[Benjamin Franklin House]] museum on January 17, 2006.
After his return to the United States in 1775, Franklin became the Society's Corresponding Member and remained closely connected with the Society. The RSA instituted a [[Benjamin Franklin Medal (Royal Society of Arts)|Benjamin Franklin Medal]] in 1956 to commemorate the 250th anniversary of Franklin's birth and the 200th anniversary of his membership of the RSA.
In 1757, he was sent to England by the Pennsylvania Assembly as a colonial agent to protest against the political influence of the [[Penn family]], the proprietors of the colony. He remained there for five years, striving to end the proprietors' prerogative to overturn legislation from the elected Assembly, and their exemption from paying taxes on their land. His lack of influential allies in [[Whitehall]] led to the failure of this mission.
Whilst in London, Franklin became involved in radical politics. He was a member of the Club of Honest Whigs, alongside thinkers such as [[Richard Price]], the minister of [[Newington Green Unitarian Church]] who ignited the [[Revolution Controversy]]. During his stays at Craven Street between 1757 and 1775, Franklin developed a close friendship with his landlady, Margaret Stevenson, and her circle of friends and relations, in particular her daughter Mary, who was more often known as Polly.
In 1759, he visited [[Edinburgh]] with his son, and recalled his conversations there as "the ''densest'' happiness of my life".<ref>Buchan, James. ''Crowded with Genius: The Scottish Enlightenment: Edinburgh's Moment of the Mind''. HarperCollins Publishers. 2003. p. 2</ref> In February 1759, the [[University of St Andrews]] awarded him an Honorary Doctor of Laws degree, and in October of the same year he was granted [[Freedom of the City|Freedom of the Borough]] of [[St Andrews]].<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.katekennedyclub.org.uk/news.aspx#19 |title=The Kate Kennedy Club |publisher=The Kate Kennedy Club |accessdate=September 21, 2009|archiveurl = http://web.archive.org/web/20090327111941/http://katekennedyclub.org.uk/news.aspx |archivedate= March 27, 2009}}</ref>
In 1762, [[Oxford University]] awarded Franklin an honorary doctorate for his scientific accomplishments; from then on he went by "Doctor Franklin". He also managed to secure an appointed post for his illegitimate son, William Franklin, by then an attorney, as [[Governor of New Jersey|Colonial Governor of New Jersey]].<ref name="vandoren"/>
He joined the influential [[Lunar Society of Birmingham]], with whom he regularly corresponded and, on occasion, visited in [[Birmingham]].
[[File:US-Colonial (PA-115)-Pennsylvania-18 Jun 1764.jpg|thumb|Pennsylvania colonial currency printed by Franklin in 1764]]
At this time, many members of the Pennsylvania Assembly were feuding with [[List of colonial governors of Pennsylvania#Proprietors|William Penn's heirs]], who controlled the colony as [[proprietary colony|proprietors]]. After his return to the colony, Franklin led the "anti-proprietary party" in the struggle against the Penn family, and was elected [[Speaker of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives|Speaker of the Pennsylvania House]] in May 1764. His call for a change from proprietary to royal government was a rare political miscalculation, however: Pennsylvanians worried that such a move would endanger their political and religious freedoms. Because of these fears, and because of political attacks on his character, Franklin lost his seat in the October 1764 Assembly elections.
The anti-proprietary party dispatched Franklin to England again to continue the struggle against the Penn family proprietorship. During this trip, events drastically changed the nature of his mission.<ref name="ANB">J. A. Leo Lematy, "Franklin, Benjamin". ''[[American National Biography]] Online'', February 2000.</ref>
===Years in Europe===
In London, Franklin opposed the [[Stamp Act 1765|1765 Stamp Act]]. Unable to prevent its passage, he made another political miscalculation and recommended a friend to the post of stamp distributor for Pennsylvania. Pennsylvanians were outraged, believing that he had supported the measure all along, and threatened to destroy his home in Philadelphia. Franklin soon learned of the extent of colonial resistance to the Stamp Act, and he testified during the House of Commons proceedings that led to its repeal.<ref>Anderson, Fred. ''Crucible of War'', pp. 762–764. Random House. 2000. The Commons debate on the repeal of the Stamp Act is treated in detail from page 760.</ref> With this, Franklin suddenly emerged as the leading spokesman for American interests in England. He wrote popular essays on behalf of the colonies, and [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]], [[New Jersey]], and [[Massachusetts]] also appointed him as their agent to the Crown.<ref name="ANB" />
[[File:Benjamin Franklin 1767.jpg|thumb|upright|Franklin in London, 1767, wearing a blue suit with elaborate gold braid and buttons, a far cry from the simple dress he affected at the [[Court (royal)|French court]] in later years. Painting by [[David Martin (artist)|David Martin]], displayed in the [[White House]].]]
Franklin spent two months in [[Germany]] in 1766, but his connections to the country stretched across a lifetime. He declared a debt of gratitude to German scientist [[Otto von Guericke]] for his early studies of electricity. Franklin also co-authored the first [[Treaty of Amity and Commerce (Prussia–United States)|treaty of friendship]] between Prussia and America in 1785.
In September 1767, Franklin visited Paris with his usual traveling partner, [[John Pringle|Sir John Pringle]]. News of his electrical discoveries was widespread in France. His reputation meant that he was introduced to many influential scientists and politicians, and also to [[Louis XV of France|King Louis XV]].<ref name="isaacson">Isaacson, Walter. ''Benjamin Franklin: An American Life''. Simon & Schuster. 2003.</ref>
While living in London in 1768, he developed a [[Benjamin Franklin's phonetic alphabet|phonetic alphabet]] in ''A Scheme for a new Alphabet and a Reformed Mode of Spelling''. This reformed alphabet discarded six letters Franklin regarded as redundant (c, j, q, w, x, and y), and substituted six new letters for sounds he felt lacked letters of their own. His new alphabet, however, never caught on, and he eventually lost interest.<ref>[http://www.omniglot.com/writing/franklin.htm ''Benjamin Franklin's Phonetic Alphabet''.] Omniglot.com.</ref>
In 1771, Franklin made short journeys through different parts of England, staying with [[Joseph Priestley]] at [[Leeds]], [[Thomas Percival]] at [[Manchester]] and Dr. Darwin at [[Lichfield]].<ref name="sparks">Sparks, Jared. [http://www.ushistory.org/franklin/biography/chap05.htm ''Life of Benjamin Franklin''.] US History.org.</ref> Franklin belonged to a gentleman's club (which he called "honest Whigs"), which held stated meetings, and included members such as [[Richard Price]] and [[Andrew Kippis]]. He was also a corresponding member of the [[Lunar Society of Birmingham]], which included such other scientific and industrial luminaries as [[Matthew Boulton]], [[James Watt]], [[Josiah Wedgwood]] and [[Erasmus Darwin]]. He had never been to [[Ireland]] before, and met and stayed with [[Wills Hill, 1st Marquess of Downshire|Lord Hillsborough]], whom he believed was especially attentive. Franklin noted of him that "all the plausible behaviour I have described is meant only, by patting and stroking the horse, to make him more patient, while the reins are drawn tighter, and the spurs set deeper into his sides."<ref>{{cite book| url=http://books.google.com/?id=BL1VXdTbDucC&pg=PR21 |title=Google Books – Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin By Benjamin Franklin, Nathan Haskell Dole, 2003 |publisher=Books.google.ie |date= March 31, 2003|accessdate=September 21, 2009|isbn=978-0-7661-4375-3}}</ref> In [[Dublin]], Franklin was invited to sit with the members of the [[Parliament of Ireland|Irish Parliament]] rather than in the gallery. He was the first American to receive this honor.<ref name="sparks" />
While touring Ireland, he was moved by the level of poverty he saw. Ireland's economy was affected by the same trade regulations and laws of Britain that governed America. Franklin feared that America could suffer the same effects should Britain's "colonial exploitation" continue.<ref>[http://www.pbs.org/benfranklin/exp_worldly_ireland.html ''Benjamin Franklin''.] PBS.org.</ref> In Scotland, he spent five days with [[Henry Home, Lord Kames|Lord Kames]] near [[Stirling]] and stayed for three weeks with [[David Hume]] in Edinburgh.
===Defending the American cause===
One line of argument in Parliament was that Americans should pay a share of the costs of the [[French and Indian War]], and that therefore taxes should be levied on them. Franklin became the American spokesman in highly publicized testimony in Parliament in 1766. He stated that Americans already contributed heavily to the defense of the Empire. He said local governments had raised, outfitted and paid 25,000 soldiers to fight France—as many as Britain itself sent—and spent many millions from American treasuries doing so in the [[French and Indian War]] alone.<ref>{{cite book|last=James A. Henretta, ed.|first=|title=Documents for America's History, Volume 1: To 1877|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=h_rsacFjVCAC&pg=PA110|year=2011|publisher=Bedford/St. Martin's|page=110}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Isaacson|title=Benjamin Franklin: An American Life|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=L64OOJGaCKIC&pg=PA229|year=2004|pages=229–30}}</ref>
In 1773, Franklin published two of his most celebrated pro-American satirical essays: [[s:Rules By Which A Great Empire May Be Reduced To A Small One|"Rules by Which a Great Empire May Be Reduced to a Small One"]], and "An Edict by the King of Prussia".<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.historycarper.com/resources/twobf3/pa-1773.htm| title=reprinted on The History Carper| last=Franklin| first=Benjamin}}</ref>
===Hutchinson letters===
{{main|Hutchinson Letters Affair}}
In June 1773 Franklin obtained private letters of [[Thomas Hutchinson (governor)|Thomas Hutchinson]] and [[Andrew Oliver]], governor and lieutenant governor of the [[Province of Massachusetts Bay]], that proved they were encouraging the Crown to crack down on the rights of Bostonians. Franklin sent them to America, where they escalated the tensions. The British began to regard him as the fomenter of serious trouble. Hopes for a peaceful solution ended as he was systematically ridiculed and humiliated by [[Solicitor General for England and Wales|Solicitor-General]] [[Alexander Wedderburn, 1st Earl of Rosslyn|Alexander Wedderburn]], before the [[Privy Council of the United Kingdom|Privy Council]] on January 29, 1774. He returned to Philadelphia in March 1775, and abandoned his accommodationist stance.<ref>Sheila L. Skemp, ''The Making of a Patriot: Benjamin Franklin at the Cockpit'' (Oxford University Press; 2012)</ref>
===Coming of revolution===
In 1763, soon after Franklin returned to Pennsylvania from England for the first time, the western frontier was engulfed in a bitter war known as [[Pontiac's Rebellion]]. The [[Paxton Boys]], a group of settlers convinced that the Pennsylvania government was not doing enough to protect them from [[Native Americans in the United States|American Indian]] raids, murdered a group of peaceful [[Susquehannock]] Indians and marched on Philadelphia. Franklin helped to organize a local [[militia]] to defend the capital against the mob. He met with the Paxton leaders and persuaded them to disperse. Franklin wrote a scathing attack against the [[racism|racial prejudice]] of the Paxton Boys. "If an ''Indian'' injures me," he asked, "does it follow that I may revenge that Injury on all ''Indians''?"<ref>Franklin, Benjamin. [http://www.historycarper.com/resources/twobf3/massacre.htm "A Narrative of the Late Massacres ..."] reprinted on The History Carper.</ref>
He provided an early response to British surveillance through his own network of [[Surveillance art|counter-surveillance and manipulation]]. "He waged a public relations campaign, secured secret aid, played a role in privateering expeditions, and churned out effective and inflammatory propaganda."<ref>{{cite journal| last=Crews| first= Ed| title= Spies and Scouts, Secret Writing, and Sympathetic Citizens| journal= Colonial Williamsburg Journal| publisher= The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation| url=http://www.history.org/foundation/journal/Summer04/spies.cfm| date= Summer 2004| accessdate=April 19, 2009}}</ref>
===Declaration of Independence===
[[File:Declaration independence.jpg|thumb|300px|alt=About 50 men, most of them seated, are in a large meeting room. Most are focused on the five men standing in the center of the room. The tallest of the five is laying a document on a table.|[[John Trumbull]] depicts the [[Committee of Five]] presenting their work to the Congress.<ref>[http://www.americanrevolution.org/deckey.html Key to Declaration] American Revolution.org.</ref>]]
By the time Franklin arrived in Philadelphia on May 5, 1775, after his second mission to Great Britain, the [[American Revolution]] had begun – with fighting between colonials and British at [[Battles of Lexington and Concord|Lexington and Concord]]. The New England militia had trapped the main British army in Boston. The Pennsylvania Assembly unanimously chose Franklin as their delegate to the [[Second Continental Congress]]. In June 1776, he was appointed a member of the [[Committee of Five]] that drafted the [[United States Declaration of Independence|Declaration of Independence]]. Although he was temporarily disabled by [[gout]] and unable to attend most meetings of the Committee, Franklin made several "small but important"<ref>Isaacson, pp. 311–312</ref> changes to the draft sent to him by [[Thomas Jefferson]].
At the signing, he is quoted as having replied to a comment by [[John Hancock|Hancock]] that they must all hang together: "Yes, we must, indeed, all hang together, or most assuredly we shall all hang separately."<ref>{{Cite book
|url=http://books.google.com/?id=MLAEAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA408&lpg=PA408&dq=franklin+%22shall+all+hang+separately%22+sparks|title=The Life of Benjamin Franklin: Containing the Autobiography, with Notes and a Continuation
|first=Jared
|last=Sparks
|authorlink=Jared Sparks
|page=408
|publisher=Whittemore, Niles and Hall
|location=Boston
|year=1856
|accessdate=December 16, 2007
}}</ref>
{{clear}}
===Postmaster===
<!--The 'Franklin on US Postage' section links to this section/image file. -->
:[[File:Franklin SC1 1847.jpg|right|thumb|180px|<center> Benjamin Franklin<br>First US [[Benjamin Franklin#Franklin on U.S. Postage|postage stamp]]<br> Issue of 1847</center>]]
Well known as a printer and publisher, Franklin was appointed postmaster of Philadelphia in 1737, holding the office until 1753, when he and publisher [[William Hunter (publisher)|William Hunter]] were named deputy postmasters–general of British North America, the first to hold the office. Franklin was responsible for the British colonies as far as the [[Newfoundland (island)|island of Newfoundland]], including mainland [[Nova Scotia]], while Hunter, the postal administrator in [[Colonial Williamsburg|Williamsburg]], [[Virginia]], oversaw areas south of [[Annapolis]], [[Maryland]]. Franklin reorganized the service's accounting system, then improved speed of delivery between Philadelphia, New York and Boston. By 1761, efficiencies lead to the first profits for the colonial post office.<ref>[http://www.historymuseum.ca/cmc/exhibitions/cpm/chrono/ch1753ae.shtml "1753 Benjamin Franklin"], Stéphanie Ouellet, in A Chronology of Canadian Postal History, National Museum of History, Ottawa.</ref>
[[File:Franklin stamp 2013.jpg|left|thumb|265px|<center> Benjamin Franklin on a [[Canada Post]] stamp of 2013, with colonial [[Quebec City]] in background]]When the lands of [[New France]] were ceded to the British under the [[Treaty of Paris (1763)|Treaty of Paris]] in 1763, the new British [[Province of Quebec (1763–91)|province of Quebec]] was created among them, and Franklin saw mail service expanded between [[Montreal]], [[Trois-Rivières]], [[Quebec City]], and New York. For the greater part of his appointment, Franklin lived in England (from 1757 to 1762, and again from 1764 to 1774) — about three-quarters of his term.<ref>[http://www.historymuseum.ca/cmc/exhibitions/cpm/chrono/chs1760e.shtml#yr-1774 "1760-1840 Planting the Imperial Postal System in British North America"], A Chronology of Canadian Postal History, National Museum of History, Ottawa.</ref> Eventually, his sympathies for the rebel cause in the American Revolution lead to his dismissal on January 31, 1774.
On July 26, 1775, the [[Second Continental Congress]] established the [[United States Postal Service|United States Post Office]] and named Benjamin Franklin as the first [[United States Postmaster General]]. Franklin had been a postmaster for decades and was a natural choice for the position.<ref>Walter Isaacson. ''Benjamin Franklin: an American life'', pp. 206–9, 301</ref> Franklin had just returned from England and was appointed chairman of a Committee of Investigation to establish a postal system. The report of the Committee, providing for the appointment of a postmaster general for the 13 American colonies, was considered by the Continental Congress on July 25 and 26. On July 26, 1775, Franklin was appointed Postmaster General, the first appointed under the Continental Congress. It established a postal system that became the United States Post Office, a system that continues to operate today.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://inventors.about.com/library/inventors/blmailus1.htm#CONGRESS |title=History of the United States Postal Systems |publisher=Inventors.about.com |accessdate=June 20, 2011}}</ref>
===Ambassador to France: 1776–1785===
[[File:Franklin1877.jpg|thumb|left|thumb|160px|Franklin, in his [[fur]] hat, charmed the French with what they perceived as rustic New World [[genius]].<ref name="lightning" group="Note">Portraits of Franklin at this time often contained an inscription, the best known being [[Anne-Robert-Jacques Turgot, Baron de Laune|Turgot's]] acclamation, "{{lang|la|Eripuit fulmen coelo sceptrumque tyrannis.}}" (He snatched the lightning from the skies and the scepter from the tyrants.) Historian [[Friedrich Christoph Schlosser]] remarked at the time, with ample hyperbole, that "Such was the number of portraits, busts and medallions of him in circulation before he left Paris, that he would have been recognized from them by any adult citizen in any part of the civilized world." – {{Cite EB1911|wstitle=Franklin, Benjamin}}</ref>]]
In December 1776, Franklin was dispatched to France as [[commissioner]] for the United States. He took with him as secretary his 16-year-old grandson, [[William Temple Franklin]]. They lived in a home in the Parisian suburb of [[Passy]], donated by [[Jacques-Donatien Le Ray de Chaumont]], who supported the United States. Franklin remained in France until 1785. He conducted the affairs of his country toward the French nation with great success, which included securing a critical military alliance in 1778 and negotiating the [[Treaty of Paris (1783)]].
Among his associates in France was [[Honoré Gabriel Riqueti, comte de Mirabeau]]—a French Revolutionary writer, orator and statesman who in early 1791 would be elected president of the [[National Constituent Assembly|National Assembly]].<ref>"[http://www.isthisjefferson.org/DLP_D04.html?zoom_highlight=Franklin The Book in the Painting: De la Caisse d'Escompte]." [http://www.isthisjefferson.org/DLP_D04.html?zoom_highlight=Franklin isthisjefferson.org] Accessed February 1, 2013.</ref> In July 1784, Franklin met with Mirabeau and contributed anonymous materials that the Frenchman used in his first signed work: ''Considerations sur l'ordre de Cincinnatus''.<ref>[https://archive.org/stream/cihm_39568#page/n3/mode/2up ''Considerations sur l'ordre de Cincinnatus''], December 2011.</ref> The publication was critical of the [[Society of the Cincinnati]], established in the United States. Franklin and Mirabeau thought of it as a "noble order", inconsistent with the [[egalitarian]] ideals of the new republic.<ref>Van Doren, Carl. ''Benjamin Franklin'' (The Viking Press: New York). 1938. pp. 709–710.</ref>
During his stay in France, Benjamin Franklin was active as a [[freemasonry|freemason]], serving as Grand Master of the Lodge [[Les Neuf Sœurs]] from 1779 until 1781. His lodge number was 24. He was a Past Grand Master of Pennsylvania. In 1784, when [[Franz Mesmer]] began to publicize his theory of "[[animal magnetism]]" which was considered offensive by many, [[Louis XVI of France|Louis XVI]] appointed a commission to investigate it. These included the chemist [[Antoine Lavoisier]], the physician [[Joseph-Ignace Guillotin]], the astronomer [[Jean Sylvain Bailly]], and Benjamin Franklin.<ref>Schwartz, Stephan A. "[http://www.americanheritage.com/content/franklin%E2%80%99s-forgotten-triumph-scientific-testing Franklin's Forgotten Triumph: Scientific Testing]" ''[[American Heritage (magazine)|American Heritage]]'', October 2004.</ref> In 1781, he was elected a Fellow of the [[American Academy of Arts and Sciences]].<ref name=AAAS>{{cite web|title=Book of Members, 1780–2010: Chapter F|url=http://www.amacad.org/publications/BookofMembers/ChapterF.pdf|publisher=American Academy of Arts and Sciences|accessdate=July 28, 2014}}</ref>
[[File:Libertas Americana silver medallion 1783.jpg|right|thumb|While in France Franklin designed and commissioned [[Augustin Dupré]] to engrave the medallion ''"Libertas Americana"'' minted in Paris in 1783.]]
Franklin's advocacy for religious tolerance in France contributed to arguments made by French philosophers and politicians that resulted in [[Louis XVI of France|Louis XVI]]'s signing of the [[Edict of Versailles]] in November 1787. This edict effectively nullified the [[Edict of Fontainebleau]], which had denied non-Catholics civil status and the right to openly practice their faith.<ref>[http://booking-help.org/book_338_glava_314_Edict_of_Versailles_%281787%29.html "Edict of Versailles (1787)"], ''Encyclopedia of the Age of Political Ideals,'' downloaded January 29, 2012</ref>
Franklin also served as American minister to [[Sweden]], although he never visited that country. He negotiated a [[Treaty of Amity and Commerce (United States–Sweden)|treaty]] that was signed in April 1783. On August 27, 1783, in Paris, Franklin witnessed the world's first hydrogen [[balloon (aircraft)|balloon]] flight.<ref name="EcceF">{{cite book| url=http://books.google.com/?id=5_7IRHZGyzMC&pg=PA36&lpg=PA36&dq=%22jacques+charles%22+%22Eccentric+France%22&q=%22jacques%20charles%22%20%22Eccentric%20France%22 |title=Eccentric France: Bradt Guide to mad, magical and marvellous France| author=Piers Letcher – Jacques Charles |publisher=Books.google.co.uk |date= May 25, 2003|accessdate=March 17, 2010| isbn=978-1-84162-068-8}}</ref> ''[[Robert brothers#First hydrogen balloon|Le Globe]]'', created by professor [[Jacques Charles]] and [[Robert brothers|Les Frères Robert]], was watched by a vast crowd as it rose from the [[Champ de Mars]] (now the site of the [[Eiffel Tower]]).<ref name="Sci&Soc">{{cite web| url=http://www.scienceandsociety.co.uk/results.asp?image=10447673 |title=Science and Society, Medal commemorating Charles and Robert's balloon ascent, Paris, 1783 |publisher=Scienceandsociety.co.uk |accessdate=March 17, 2010}}</ref> This so enthused Franklin that he subscribed financially to the next project to build a manned hydrogen balloon.<ref name="Fid Green">{{cite web| url=https://www.fiddlersgreen.net/models/Aircraft/Balloon-Charles.html |title=Fiddlers Green, History of Ballooning, Jacques Charles |publisher=Fiddlersgreen.net |accessdate=June 20, 2011}}</ref> On December 1, 1783, Franklin was seated in the special enclosure for honoured guests when ''[[Robert brothers#First manned hydrogen balloon flight|La Charlière]]'' took off from the [[Jardin des Tuileries]], piloted by Jacques Charles and [[Robert brothers|Nicolas-Louis Robert]].<ref name="EcceF"/><ref name="FAI">{{cite web| url=http://www.fai.org/ballooning/newsletter/pr00-02.htm |title=Federation Aeronautique Internationale, Ballooning Commission, Hall of Fame, Robert Brothers |publisher=Fai.org |accessdate=March 17, 2010| archiveurl = http://web.archive.org/web/20080516222023/http://www.fai.org/ballooning/newsletter/pr00-02.htm |archivedate=May 16, 2008}}</ref>
===Constitutional Convention===
[[File:Franklin's return to Philadelphia 1785 cph.3g09906.jpg|thumb|''Franklin's return to Philadelphia, 1785'', by [[Jean Leon Gerome Ferris]]]]
When he returned home in 1785, Franklin occupied a position only second to that of [[George Washington]] as the champion of American independence. Le Ray honored him with a commissioned portrait painted by [[Joseph Duplessis]], which now hangs in the [[National Portrait Gallery (United States)|National Portrait Gallery]] of the [[Smithsonian Institution]] in Washington, D.C. After his return, Franklin became an [[abolitionism|abolitionist]] and freed his two slaves. He eventually became president of the [[Pennsylvania Abolition Society]].<ref>[http://www.pbs.org/benfranklin/l3_citizen_abolitionist.html ''Citizen Ben, Abolitionist''], PBS</ref>
In 1787, Franklin served as a delegate to the [[Philadelphia Convention]]. He held an honorary position and seldom engaged in debate. He is the only Founding Father who is a signatory of all four of the major documents of the founding of the United States: the Declaration of Independence, the [[Treaty of Alliance (1778)|Treaty of Alliance]] with France, the [[Treaty of Paris (1783)|Treaty of Paris]] and the [[United States Constitution]].
In 1787, a group of prominent ministers in [[Lancaster, Pennsylvania]], proposed the foundation of a new college named in Franklin's honor. Franklin donated £200 towards the development of Franklin College (now called [[Franklin & Marshall College]]).
Between 1771 and 1788, he finished his [[The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin|autobiography]]. While it was at first addressed to his son, it was later completed for the benefit of mankind at the request of a friend.
Franklin strongly supported the right to [[freedom of speech]]:
<blockquote>In those wretched countries where a man cannot call his tongue his own, he can scarce call anything his own. Whoever would overthrow the liberty of a nation must begin by subduing the freeness of speech ...
Without freedom of thought there can be no such thing as wisdom, and no such thing as public liberty without freedom of speech, which is the right of every man ...
:—[[Silence Dogood]] no. 8, 1722<ref>{{cite book |editor1-last=Coffman |editor1-first=Steve |title=Words of the Founding Fathers: Selected Quotations of Franklin, Washington, Adams, Jefferson, Madison and Hamilton, with Sources |year=2012 |publisher=McFarland |location=Jefferson, N.C. |isbn=978-0-7864-5862-2| page=97| url=http://books.google.com/books?id=PsFnB7FA11YC&pg=PA97#v=onepage&q&f=false}}</ref></blockquote>
In his later years, as Congress was forced to deal with the issue of [[slavery in the United States|slavery]], Franklin wrote several essays that stressed the importance of the [[Abolitionism in the United States|abolition of slavery]] and of the integration of blacks into American society. These writings included:
* ''[[s:An Address to the Public|An Address to the Public]]'' (1789)
* ''[[s:A Plan for Improving the Condition of the Free Blacks|A Plan for Improving the Condition of the Free Blacks]]'' (1789)
* ''Sidi Mehemet Ibrahim on the Slave Trade'' (1790)<ref>Myra Jehlen, Michael Warner, editors, ''The English Literatures of America, 1500-1800'', Psychology Press, [http://books.google.com/books?id=LAYDAZmrKkgC&pg=PA891 p 891] 1997, ISBN 0415919037</ref>
In 1790, [[Quakers]] from New York and Pennsylvania presented their petition for abolition to Congress. Their argument against slavery was backed by the [[Pennsylvania Abolitionist Society]] and its president, Benjamin Franklin.
===President of Pennsylvania===
[[File:FRANKLIN, Benjamin (signed check).jpg|thumb|Franklin autograph check signed during his Presidency of Pennsylvania]]
Special balloting conducted October 18, 1785, unanimously elected Franklin the sixth [[Supreme Executive Council of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania#Presidents of Council|president]] of the [[Supreme Executive Council of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania|Supreme Executive Council of Pennsylvania]], replacing [[John Dickinson (Pennsylvania and Delaware)|John Dickinson]]. The office of president of Pennsylvania was analogous to the modern position of [[List of Governors of Pennsylvania|governor]]. It is not clear why Dickinson had to be replaced with less than two weeks remaining before the regular election. Franklin held that office for slightly over three years, longer than any other, and served the constitutional limit of three full terms. Shortly after his initial election he was reelected to a full term on October 29, 1785, and again in the fall of 1786 and on October 31, 1787. Officially, his term concluded on November 5, 1788, but there is some question regarding the ''de facto'' end of his term, suggesting that the aging Franklin may not have been actively involved in the day-to-day operation of the council toward the end of his time in office.
==Virtue, religion, and personal beliefs==
[[File:Houdon - Benjamin Franklin (1778).jpg|thumb|upright|A bust of Franklin by [[Jean-Antoine Houdon]]]]
[[File:Pedro Américo - Voltaire abençoando o neto de Franklin em nome de Deus e da Liberdade.jpg|thumb|right|300px|''Voltaire blessing Franklin's grandson, in the name of God and Liberty'', by [[Pedro Américo]]]]
[[File:Benjamin Franklin by Hiram Powers.jpg|thumb|Benjamin Frankline by Hiram Powers]]
Like the other advocates of [[Republicanism in the United States|republicanism]], Franklin emphasized that the new republic could survive only if the people were virtuous. All his life he explored the role of civic and personal virtue, as expressed in ''Poor Richard's'' [[aphorism]]s. Franklin felt that organized religion was necessary to keep men good to their fellow men, but rarely attended religious services himself.<ref>Franklin, ''Autobiography,'' ed. Lemay, p. 65</ref> When Franklin met [[Voltaire]] in Paris and asked this great apostle of the Enlightenment to bless his grandson, Voltaire said in English, "God and Liberty," and added, "this is the only appropriate benediction for the grandson of Monsieur Franklin."<ref>Isaacson, 2003, p. 354</ref>
Franklin's parents were both pious [[Puritan]]s.<ref>Isaacson, 2003, pp. 5–18</ref> The family attended the [[Old South Church]], the most liberal Puritan congregation in Boston, where Benjamin Franklin was baptized in 1706.<ref>{{cite web| author=Old South Church |url=http://www.oldsouth.org/history.html |title=Isaacson, 2003, p. 15 |publisher=Oldsouth.org |accessdate=September 21, 2009 |archiveurl = http://web.archive.org/web/20080531090015/http://www.oldsouth.org/history.html |archivedate = May 31, 2008}}</ref> Franklin's father, a poor [[chandlery|chandler]], owned a copy of a book, ''Bonifacius: Essays to Do Good'', by the Puritan preacher and family friend [[Cotton Mather]], which Franklin often cited as a key influence on his life.<ref>"If I have been," Franklin wrote to Cotton Mather's son seventy years later, "a useful citizen, the public owes the advantage of it to that book." in Isaacson, 2003, p. 26</ref> Franklin's first pen name, Silence Dogood, paid homage both to the book and to a widely known sermon by Mather. The book preached the importance of forming voluntary associations to benefit society. Franklin learned about forming do-good associations from Cotton Mather, but his organizational skills made him the most influential force in making voluntarism an enduring part of the American ethos.<ref>Isaacson, 2003, p. 102</ref>
Franklin formulated a presentation of his beliefs and published it in 1728.<ref>{{cite web| last = Franklin | first = Benjamin | title = Articles of Belief and Acts of Religion| work=Benjamin Franklin Papers| publisher=franklinpapers.org| date = November 20, 1728| url = http://franklinpapers.org/franklin/yale;jsessionid=9379F5D050E36AA9D1F95700EE223865?d=-363718316&d=1379669530&vol=1&page=101a| accessdate =December 24, 2010}}</ref> It did not mention many of the Puritan ideas as regards belief in salvation, the [[divinity of Jesus]], and indeed most religious dogma. He clarified himself as a [[Deism|deist]] in his 1771 autobiography,<ref>{{Cite book
| last = Franklin| first = Benjamin|title = Autobiography and other writings| publisher=Riverside| year = 1771 | location = Cambridge| page = 52| url = | id = | isbn = }}</ref> although he still considered himself a Christian.<ref name="Christian">{{cite book| last=Olson| first=Roger| url=http://books.google.com/books?id=rGMKbaNIjIoC&pg=PA61&dq=benjamin+franklin+christian+or+deist&hl=en&ei=h0fLTeXZEcaUtwev6qWDCA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=3&ved=0CDYQ6AEwAjgK#v=onepage&q&f=false| title=The Mosaic of Christian Belief: Twenty Centuries of Unity and Diversity| publisher=InterVarsity Press| quote=Other Deists and natural religionists who considered themselves Christians in some sense of the word included Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin.| date=October 19, 2009}}</ref> He retained a strong faith in a God as the wellspring of morality and goodness in man, and as a Providential actor in history responsible for American independence.<ref>Isaacson, 2003, p. 486</ref>
It was Ben Franklin who, at a critical impasse during the [[Philadelphia Convention|Constitutional Convention]] in June 1787, attempted to introduce the practice of daily common prayer with these words:
<blockquote>... In the beginning of the contest with G. Britain, when we were sensible of danger we had daily prayer in this room for the Divine Protection. – Our prayers, Sir, were heard, and they were graciously answered. All of us who were engaged in the struggle must have observed frequent instances of a Superintending providence in our favor. ... And have we now forgotten that powerful friend? or do we imagine that we no longer need His assistance. I have lived, Sir, a long time and the longer I live, the more convincing proofs I see of this truth – that God governs in the affairs of men. And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without his notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without his aid? We have been assured, Sir, in the sacred writings that "except the Lord build they labor in vain that build it." I firmly believe this; and I also believe that without his concurring aid we shall succeed in this political building no better than the Builders of Babel: ... I therefore beg leave to move – that henceforth prayers imploring the assistance of Heaven, and its blessings on our deliberations, be held in this Assembly every morning before we proceed to business, and that one or more of the Clergy of this City be requested to officiate in that service.<ref>{{cite web| author=Michael E. Eidenmuller |url=http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/benfranklin.htm |title=Online Speech Bank: Benjamin Franklin's Prayer Speech at the Constitutional Convention of 1787 |publisher=Americanrhetoric.com |accessdate=September 21, 2009}}</ref>
</blockquote>
However, the motion met with resistance and was never brought to a vote.<ref>[[Clinton Rossiter|Rossiter, Clinton]]. 1787. ''The Grand Convention'' (1966), pp. 184–85</ref>
Franklin was an enthusiastic supporter of the evangelical minister [[George Whitefield]] during the [[First Great Awakening]]. Franklin did not subscribe to Whitefield's theology, but he admired Whitefield for exhorting people to worship God through good works. Franklin published all of Whitefield's sermons and journals, thereby boosting the Great Awakening.<ref>Isaacson, 2003, pp. 107–13</ref>
When he stopped attending church, Franklin wrote in his autobiography:
<blockquote>... Sunday being my studying day, I never was without some religious principles. I never doubted, for instance, the existence of the Deity; that He made the world, and governed it by His providence; that the most acceptable service of God was the doing good to man; that our souls are immortal; and that all crime will be punished, and virtue rewarded, either here or hereafter.<ref name="autogenerated1">Franklin Benjamin [http://www.ushistory.org/franklin/autobiography/singlehtml.htm "Benjamin Franklin's Autobiography".] Section 2 reprinted on UShistory.org.</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://history.hanover.edu/courses/excerpts/111frank2.html |title=Benjamin Franklin |publisher=History.hanover.edu |accessdate=September 21, 2009}}</ref>
</blockquote>
Franklin retained a lifelong commitment to the Puritan virtues and political values he had grown up with, and through his civic work and publishing, he succeeded in passing these values into the American culture permanently. He had a "passion for virtue".<ref>Isaacson, p. 485</ref> These Puritan values included his devotion to egalitarianism, education, industry, thrift, honesty, temperance, charity and community spirit.<ref>Isaacson, 2003, p.149</ref>
The classical authors read in the Enlightenment period taught an abstract [[Republicanism in the United States|ideal of republican government]] based on hierarchical social orders of king, aristocracy and commoners. It was widely believed that English liberties relied on their balance of power, but also hierarchal deference to the privileged class.<ref>Bailyn, 1992, pp. 273–4, 299–300</ref> "Puritanism ... and the epidemic evangelism of the mid-eighteenth century, had created challenges to the traditional notions of social stratification"<ref name="Bailyn303" /> by preaching that the Bible taught all men are equal, that the true value of a man lies in his moral behavior, not his class, and that all men can be saved.<ref name="Bailyn303">Bailyn, 1992, p. 303</ref> Franklin, steeped in Puritanism and an enthusiastic supporter of the evangelical movement, rejected the salvation dogma, but embraced the radical notion of egalitarian democracy.
Franklin's commitment to teach these values was itself something he gained from his Puritan upbringing, with its stress on "inculcating virtue and character in themselves and their communities."<ref>Isaacson, 2003, pp. 10, 102, 489</ref> These Puritan values and the desire to pass them on, were one of Franklin's quintessentially American characteristics, and helped shape the character of the nation. Franklin's writings on [[virtue]] were derided by some European authors, such as Jackob Fugger in his critical work ''Portrait of American Culture''. [[Max Weber]] considered Franklin's ethical writings a culmination of the [[Protestant work ethic|Protestant ethic]], which ethic created the social conditions necessary for the birth of [[capitalism]].<ref>Weber, Max ''The Protestant Ethic and the "Spirit of Capitalism"'', (Penguin Books, 2002), translated by Peter Baehr and Gordon C. Wells, pp. 9–11</ref>
One of Franklin's notable characteristics was his respect, tolerance and promotion of all churches. Referring to his experience in Philadelphia, he wrote in [[The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin|his autobiography]], "new Places of worship were continually wanted, and generally erected by voluntary Contribution, my Mite for such purpose, whatever might be the Sect, was never refused."<ref name="autogenerated1" /> "He helped create a new type of nation that would draw strength from its religious pluralism."<ref name="Isaacson 2003 p 93ff">Isaacson,2003 pp. 93ff</ref> The first generation of Puritans had been intolerant of [[dissent]], but by the early 18th century, when Franklin grew up in the Puritan church, tolerance of different churches was the norm, and Massachusetts was known, in [[John Adams]]' words, as "the most mild and equitable establishment of religion that was known in the world."<ref>Bailyn, 1992, p. 248</ref> The evangelical revivalists who were active mid-century, such as Franklin's friend and preacher, George Whitefield, were the greatest advocates of religious freedom, "claiming liberty of conscience to be an 'inalienable right of every rational creature.'"<ref>Bailyn, 1992, p. 249</ref> Whitefield's supporters in Philadelphia, including Franklin, erected "a large, new hall, that ... could provide a pulpit to anyone of any belief."<ref>Isaacson, 2003, p. 112</ref> Franklin's rejection of dogma and doctrine and his stress on the God of ethics and morality and [[civic virtue]] made him the "prophet of tolerance."<ref name="Isaacson 2003 p 93ff"/> While he was living in London in 1774, he was present at the birth of [[General Assembly of Unitarian and Free Christian Churches|British Unitarianism]], attending the inaugural session of the [[Essex Street Chapel]], at which [[Theophilus Lindsey]] drew together the first avowedly [[Unitarianism|Unitarian]] congregation in England; this was somewhat politically risky, and pushed religious tolerance to new boundaries, as a denial of the doctrine of the [[Trinity]] was illegal until [[Doctrine of the Trinity Act 1813|the 1813 Act]].<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.unitarian.org.uk/support/doc-EssexHall1.shtml |title=Chapter 2, ''The History of Essex Hall'' by Mortimer Rowe B.A., D.D. Lindsey Press, 1959 |publisher=Unitarian.org.uk |accessdate=June 20, 2011}}</ref>
Although Franklin's parents had intended for him to have a career in the Church,<ref name="autobio" /> Franklin as a young man adopted the Enlightenment religious belief in [[deism]], that God's truths can be found entirely through nature and reason.<ref>Isaacson, 2003, p. 46</ref> "I soon became a thorough Deist."<ref>Franklin, Benjamin. [http://www.usgennet.org/usa/topic/preservation/bios/franklin/chpt4.htm ''Benjamin Franklin's Autobiography''.] Chapter IV. reprinted on USGenNet.org.</ref> As a young man he rejected Christian dogma in a 1725 pamphlet ''[[A Dissertation on Liberty and Necessity, Pleasure and Pain]]'',<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.historycarper.com/resources/twobf1/m7.htm |title=A Dissertation on Liberty and Necessity, Pleasure and Pain |publisher=Historycarper.com |accessdate=September 21, 2009}}</ref> which he later saw as an embarrassment,<ref name="Isaacson45">{{cite book| url=http://books.google.com/?id=oIW915dDMBwC&pg=PA45&lpg=PA45&dq=%22A+Dissertation+on+Liberty+and+Necessity,+Pleasure+and+Pain%22+%22Benjamin+Franklin%22+embarrassment| title=Isaacson, 2003, p. 45 |publisher=Google Books |date=November 30, 2004 |accessdate=September 21, 2009| isbn=978-0-684-80761-4| author1=Isaacson, Walter}}</ref> while simultaneously asserting that God is "all wise, [[Omnibenevolence|all good]], [[Omnipotence|all powerful]]."<ref name="Isaacson45" /> He defended his rejection of religious dogma with these words: "I think opinions should be judged by their influences and effects; and if a man holds none that tend to make him less virtuous or more vicious, it may be concluded that he holds none that are dangerous, which I hope is the case with me." After the disillusioning experience of seeing the decay in his own moral standards, and those of two friends in London whom he had converted to Deism, Franklin turned back to a belief in the importance of organized religion, on the pragmatic grounds that without God and organized churches, man will not be good.<ref>Isaacson, 2003, p 46, 486</ref> Moreover, because of his proposal that [[Christian prayer|prayers]] be said in the [[Constitutional Convention of 1787]], many have contended that in his later life Franklin became a [[piety|pious]] Christian.<ref name="Pious">{{cite book| author=Henry Louis Mencken, George Jean Nathan| url=http://books.google.com/books?id=LqJUonES6m8C&q=benjamin+franklin+identify+christian+religion&dq=benjamin+franklin+identify+christian+religion&hl=en&ei=dMHMTYaOHILe0QHKpYjeBA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=2&ved=0CC4Q6AEwATge| title=The American Mercury, Volume 8| publisher=Garber Communications| quote=It is well known that in his youth Benjamin Franklin was a thorough-going Deist, but because he proposed that prayers be said in the Constitution Convention of 1787 many have contended that in later life he became a pious Christian.| date=October 19, 2009}}</ref><ref name="Faith">{{cite book| author=Ralph Frasca| url=http://books.google.com/books?id=CY2UVzcU5l0C&pg=PA40&dq=benjamin+franklin+christian+or+deist&hl=en&ei=wEXLTe7uEY-2twf-rIXyBw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=7&ved=0CEcQ6AEwBg#v=onepage&q&f=false| title=Benjamin Franklin's Printing Network: Disseminating Virtue in Early America| publisher=[[University of Missouri Press]]| quote=Despite being raised a Puritan of the Congregationalist stripe by his parents, who "brought me through my Childhood piously in the Dissenting Way," Franklin recalled, he abandoned that denomination, briefly embraced deism, and finally became a non-denominational Protestant Christian. |date=October 19, 2009}}</ref>
At one point, he wrote to [[Thomas Paine]], criticizing his manuscript, ''[[The Age of Reason]]'':
{{Quote|For without the Belief of a Providence that takes Cognizance of, guards and guides and may favour particular Persons, there is no Motive to Worship a Deity, to fear its Displeasure, or to pray for its Protection ... think how great a Proportion of Mankind consists of weak and ignorant Men and Women, and of inexperienc'd and inconsiderate Youth of both Sexes, who have need of the Motives of Religion to restrain them from Vice, to support their Virtue, and retain them in the Practice of it till it becomes habitual, which is the great Point for its Security; And perhaps you are indebted to her originally that is to your Religious Education, for the Habits of Virtue upon which you now justly value yourself. If men are so wicked with religion, what would they be if without it.<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.wallbuilders.com/LIBissuesArticles.asp?id=58 |title=Historical Writings – Benjamin Franklin's letter to Thomas Paine |publisher=WallBuilders |date=September 11, 2001 |accessdate=September 21, 2009}}</ref>}}
According to David Morgan,<ref>Morgan, David T. "Benjamin Franklin: Champion of Generic Religion". ''The Historian''. 62#4 2000. pp 722+</ref> Franklin was a proponent of religion in general. He prayed to "Powerful Goodness" and referred to God as "the infinite". [[John Adams]] noted that Franklin was a mirror in which people saw their own religion: "The [[Catholic Church|Catholics]] thought him almost a Catholic. The [[Church of England]] claimed him as one of them. The [[Presbyterianism|Presbyterians]] thought him half a Presbyterian, and the [[Quakers|Friends]] believed him a wet Quaker." Whatever else Franklin was, concludes Morgan, "he was a true champion of generic religion." In a letter to Richard Price, Franklin stated that he believed that religion should support itself without help from the government, claiming, "When a Religion is good, I conceive that it will support itself; and, when it cannot support itself, and God does not take care to support, so that its Professors are oblig'd to call for the help of the Civil Power, it is a sign, I apprehend, of its being a bad one."<ref>Benjamin Franklin to Richard Price, October 9, 1780 ''Writings'' 8:153–54</ref>
In 1790, just about a month before he died, Franklin wrote a letter to [[Ezra Stiles]], president of [[Yale University]], who had asked him his views on religion:
{{quote|As to [[Jesus of Nazareth]], my Opinion of whom you particularly desire, I think the System of Morals and his Religion, as he left them to us, the best the world ever saw or is likely to see; but I apprehend it has received various corrupt changes, and I have, with most of the present [[English Dissenters|Dissenters in England]], some Doubts as to his divinity; tho' it is a question I do not dogmatize upon, having never studied it, and I think it needless to busy myself with it now, when I expect soon an Opportunity of knowing the Truth with less Trouble. I see no harm, however, in its being believed, if that belief has the good consequence, as it probably has, of making his doctrines more respected and better observed; especially as I do not perceive that the Supreme takes it amiss, by distinguishing the unbelievers in his government of the world with any particular marks of his displeasure.<ref name="vandoren"/>}}
On July 4, 1776, Congress appointed a three-member committee composed of Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, and John Adams to design the [[Great Seal of the United States]]. Franklin's proposal (which was not adopted) featured the motto: "Rebellion to Tyrants is Obedience to God" and a scene from the [[Book of Exodus]], with [[Moses]], the [[Israelites]], the [[Pillar of Fire (theophany)|pillar of fire]], and [[George III of the United Kingdom|George III]] depicted as [[pharaoh]]. The design that was produced was never acted upon by Congress, and the Great Seal's design was not finalized until a third committee was appointed in 1782.<ref>"[http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/27807.pdf The Great Seal of the United States]" (July 2003). [[Bureau of Public Affairs]], [[United States Department of State]].</ref><ref>"1782: Original Design of the Great Seal of the United States," ''Our Documents: 100 Milestone Documents from the National Archives''. [[National Archives and Records Administration|National Archives]] ([[Oxford University Press]], 2006), pp. 18–19.</ref>
===Thirteen Virtues===
[[File:Franklin bust at Columbia University IMG 0924.JPG|right|thumb|Franklin bust in the [[Archives]] Department of [[Columbia University]] in [[New York City]]]]
Franklin sought to cultivate his character by a plan of 13 virtues, which he developed at age 20 (in 1726) and continued to practice in some form for the rest of his life. His [[The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin|autobiography]] lists his 13 virtues as:
# "[[Temperance (virtue)|Temperance]]. Eat not to dullness; drink not to elevation."
# "[[Silence]]. Speak not but what may benefit others or yourself; avoid trifling conversation."
# "[[Order (virtue)|Order]]. Let all your things have their places; let each part of your business have its time."
# "Resolution. Resolve to perform what you ought; perform without fail what you resolve."
# "[[Frugality]]. Make no expense but to do good to others or yourself; i.e., waste nothing."
# "Industry. Lose no time; be always employ'd in something useful; cut off all unnecessary actions."
# "[[Sincerity]]. Use no hurtful deceit; think innocently and justly, and, if you speak, speak accordingly."
# "[[Justice]]. Wrong none by doing injuries, or omitting the benefits that are your duty."
# "[[Moderation]]. Avoid extremes; forbear resenting injuries so much as you think they deserve."
# "[[Cleanliness]]. Tolerate no uncleanliness in body, cloaths, or habitation."
# "[[Tranquility]]. Be not disturbed at trifles, or at accidents common or unavoidable."
# "[[Chastity]]. Rarely use [[Human sexuality|venery]] but for health or offspring, never to dullness, weakness, or the injury of your own or another's peace or reputation."
# "[[Humility]]. Imitate Jesus and [[Socrates]]."
Franklin did not try to work on them all at once. Instead, he would work on one and only one each week "leaving all others to their ordinary chance." While Franklin did not live completely by his virtues, and by his own admission he fell short of them many times, he believed the attempt made him a better man contributing greatly to his success and happiness, which is why in his autobiography, he devoted more pages to this plan than to any other single point; in his autobiography Franklin wrote, "I hope, therefore, that some of my descendants may follow the example and reap the benefit."<ref>[http://www.ushistory.org/franklin/autobiography/page38.htm ''Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin page 38 forward''] by Benjamin Franklin</ref>
==Slaves and slavery==
During Franklin's lifetime [[Slavery in the United States|slaves]] were numerous in [[Philadelphia]]. In 1750, half the people in Philadelphia who had established probate estates owned slaves. Dock workers in the city consisted of 15% slaves. Franklin owned as many as seven slaves, two males of whom worked in his household and his shop. Franklin posted paid ads for the sale of slaves and for the capture of runaway slaves and allowed the sale of slaves in his general store. Franklin profited from both the international and domestic slave trade, even criticizing slaves who had run off to join the [[British Army]] during the colonial wars of the 1740s and 1750s. Franklin, however, later became a "cautious abolitionist" and became an outspoken critic of landed gentry slavery. In 1758, Franklin advocated the opening of a school for the education of black slaves in Philadelphia. After returning from England in 1762, Franklin became more anti-slavery, in his view believing that the institution promoted black degradation rather than the idea blacks were inherently inferior. By 1770, Franklin had freed his slaves and attacked the system of slavery and the [[international slave trade]]. Franklin, however, refused to publicly debate the issue of slavery at the [[1787 Constitutional Convention]]. Similar to [[Thomas Jefferson]], Franklin tended to take both sides of the issue of slavery, never fully divesting himself from the institution.<ref>Hoffer (2011), pp. 30–31</ref><ref>Waldstreicher (2004), p. xii, xiii</ref>
{{clear}}
==Death and legacy==
[[File:Philly 2010 transit 071.JPG|thumb|upright=1|The grave of Benjamin Franklin, [[Philadelphia]], Pennsylvania]]
[[File:Benjamin Franklin National Memorial.jpg|thumb|upright=1|Marble memorial statue, [[Benjamin Franklin National Memorial]]]]
[[File:New100front.jpg|thumb|left|Franklin on the Series 2009 [[United States one hundred-dollar bill|hundred dollar bill]]]]
Franklin struggled with [[obesity]] throughout his middle-aged and later years, which resulted in multiple health problems, particularly [[gout]], which worsened as he aged. In poor health during the signing of the US Constitution in 1787, he was rarely seen in public from then until his death.
Benjamin Franklin died from [[Pleurisy|pleuritic attack]]<ref>{{cite book| last=Isaacson| first=Walter| title=Benjamin Franklin: an American life| year=2003| publisher=Simon & Schuster| location=New York}}</ref><!-- nothing is mentioned about pleurisy in the Timeline:<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.benfranklin300.org/etc_timeline_1.htm|title=Franklin & Marshall College – ''Ben Franklin: A Timeline''|publisher=|accessdate=October 7, 2014}}</ref> --> at his home in Philadelphia on April 17, 1790, at age 84. Approximately 20,000 people attended his funeral. He was interred in [[Christ Church Burial Ground]] in Philadelphia. In 1728, aged 22, Franklin wrote what he hoped would be his own epitaph:
<blockquote>The Body of B. Franklin Printer; Like the Cover of an old Book, Its Contents torn out, And stript of its Lettering and Gilding, Lies here, Food for Worms. But the Work shall not be wholly lost: For it will, as he believ'd, appear once more, In a new & more perfect Edition, Corrected and Amended By the Author.<ref>[http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/treasures/franklin-epitaph.html ''Benjamin Franklin: In His Own Words''.] Library of Congress.</ref></blockquote>
Franklin's actual grave, however, as he specified in his final will, simply reads "Benjamin and Deborah Franklin".<ref>[http://sln.fi.edu/franklin/family/lastwill.html ''The Last Will and Testament of Benjamin Franklin''.] The Franklin Institute Science Museum.</ref>
In 1773, when Franklin's work had moved from printing to science and politics, he corresponded with a French scientist, [[Jacques Barbeu-Dubourg]], on the subject of preserving the dead for later revival by more advanced scientific methods, writing:
<blockquote>I should prefer to an ordinary death, being immersed with a few friends in a cask of [[Madeira wine|Madeira]], until that time, then to be recalled to life by the solar warmth of my dear country! But in all probability, we live in a century too little advanced, and too near the infancy of science, to see such an art brought in our time to its perfection.<ref>[http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/12.05/biotime.html?pg=1&topic=biotime&topic_set= The Doctor Will Freeze You Now] from [[Wired News|Wired.com]]</ref> (Extended excerpt also online.)<ref>[http://www.e-drexler.com/d/06/00/EOC/EOC_Chapter_9.html Engines of Creation] E-drexler.com</ref></blockquote>
His death is described in the book ''The Life of Benjamin Franklin'', quoting from the account of Dr. John Jones:
<blockquote>... when the pain and difficulty of breathing entirely left him, and his family were flattering themselves with the hopes of his recovery, when an imposthume, which had formed itself in his lungs, suddenly burst, and discharged a quantity of matter, which he continued to throw up while he had power; but, as that failed, the organs of respiration became gradually oppressed; a calm, lethargic state succeeded; and on the 17th instant (April 1790), about eleven o'clock at night, he quietly expired, closing a long and useful life of eighty-four years and three months.<ref>Sparks, pp 529–530.</ref>
</blockquote>
A signer of both the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, Franklin is considered one of the [[Founding Fathers of the United States]]. His pervasive influence in the early history of the nation has led to his being jocularly called "the only President of the United States who was never President of the United States."<ref>[[Everything You Know Is Wrong|Firesign Theater quote, meant humorously but poignantly.]]</ref> Franklin's likeness is ubiquitous. Since 1928, it has adorned American [[United States one hundred-dollar bill|$100 bills]], which are sometimes referred to in slang as "Benjamins" or "Franklins." From 1948 to 1963, Franklin's portrait was on the [[Franklin half dollar|half dollar]]. He has appeared on a [[United States fifty-dollar bill|$50 bill]] and on several varieties of the $100 bill from 1914 and 1918. Franklin appears on the $1,000 Series EE [[Treasury security#Savings bond|Savings bond]]. The city of Philadelphia contains around 5,000 likenesses of Benjamin Franklin, about half of which are located on the University of Pennsylvania campus. Philadelphia's [[Benjamin Franklin Parkway]] (a major thoroughfare) and [[Benjamin Franklin Bridge]] (the first major bridge to connect Philadelphia with New Jersey) are named in his honor.
In 1976, as part of a [[United States Bicentennial|bicentennial]] celebration, [[United States Congress|Congress]] dedicated a {{convert|20|ft|adj=on|0}} marble statue in Philadelphia's [[Franklin Institute]] as the [[Benjamin Franklin National Memorial]]. Many of Franklin's personal possessions are also on display at the Institute, one of the few national memorials located on [[property|private property]].
In London, his house at 36 Craven Street was first marked with a [[blue plaque]] and has since been opened to the public as the [[Benjamin Franklin House]].<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.benjaminfranklinhouse.org/site/sections/default.htm |title=Benjamin Franklin House |publisher=Benjamin Franklin House. |accessdate=September 21, 2009}}</ref> In 1998, workmen restoring the building dug up the remains of six children and four adults hidden below the home. ''[[The Times]]'' reported on February 11, 1998:
<blockquote>Initial estimates are that the bones are about 200 years old and were buried at the time Franklin was living in the house, which was his home from 1757 to 1762 and from 1764 to 1775. Most of the bones show signs of having been dissected, sawn or cut. One skull has been drilled with several holes. Paul Knapman, the Westminster Coroner, said yesterday: "I cannot totally discount the possibility of a crime. There is still a possibility that I may have to hold an inquest."</blockquote>
The Friends of Benjamin Franklin House (the organization responsible for the restoration) note that the bones were likely placed there by [[William Hewson (surgeon)|William Hewson]], who lived in the house for two years and who had built a small anatomy school at the back of the house. They note that while Franklin likely knew what Hewson was doing, he probably did not participate in any dissections because he was much more of a physicist than a medical man.<ref>[http://www.benjaminfranklinhouse.org/site/sections/news/pdf/Issue2.pdf ''The Craven Street Gazette''] ([[PDF]]), Newsletter of the Friends of Benjamin Franklin House, Issue 2, Autumn 1998</ref>
===Bequest===
Franklin [[bequest|bequeathed]] £1,000 (about $4,400 at the time, or about $112,000 in 2011 dollars<ref>[http://www.measuringworth.com/uscompare/relativevalue.php Measuring Worth] Select $4,400 and 1790 and 2011 in online calculator</ref>) each to the cities of Boston and Philadelphia, in trust to gather interest for 200 years. The trust began in 1785 when the French mathematician [[Charles-Joseph Mathon de la Cour]], who admired Franklin greatly, wrote a friendly [[parody]] of Franklin's "Poor Richard's Almanack" called "Fortunate Richard". The main character leaves a smallish amount of money in his will, five lots of 100 ''[[French livre|livres]]'', to collect interest over one, two, three, four or five full centuries, with the resulting astronomical sums to be spent on impossibly elaborate utopian projects.<ref>Richard Price. ''Observations on the Importance of the American Revolution, and the Means of Making it a Benefit to the World. To which is added, a Letter from M. Turgot, late Comptroller-General of the Finances of France: with an Appendix, containing a Translation of the Will of M. Fortuné Ricard, lately published in France.'' London: T. Cadell, 1785.</ref> Franklin, who was 79 years old at the time, wrote thanking him for a great idea and telling him that he had decided to leave a bequest of 1,000 pounds each to his native Boston and his adopted Philadelphia. By 1990, more than $2,000,000 had accumulated in Franklin's Philadelphia trust, which had loaned the money to local residents. From 1940 to 1990, the money was used mostly for mortgage loans. When the trust came due, Philadelphia decided to spend it on scholarships for local high school students. Franklin's Boston trust fund accumulated almost $5,000,000 during that same time; at the end of its first 100 years a portion was allocated to help establish a [[Vocational school|trade school]] that became the [[Benjamin Franklin Institute of Technology|Franklin Institute of Boston]], and the whole fund was later dedicated to supporting this institute.<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.mathsci.appstate.edu/~sjg/class/1010/wc/finance/franklin1.html |title=Excerpt from Philadelphia Inquirer article by Clark De Leon |publisher=Mathsci.appstate.edu |date=February 7, 1993 |accessdate=September 21, 2009}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bfit.edu/aboutus/history.php |title=History of the Benjamin Franklin Institute of Technology |publisher=Bfit.edu |accessdate=September 21, 2009| archiveurl = http://web.archive.org/web/20080731130624/http://www.bfit.edu/aboutus/history.php| archivedate = July 31, 2008}}</ref>
===Franklin on U.S. postage===
[[File:Benjamin Franklin 1861 Issue-1c.jpg|thumb|left|170px|<center>Issue of 1861</center>]]
[[File:Benjamin Franklin2 1895 Issue-1c.jpg|thumb|186px|<center>Issue of 1895</center>]]
Benjamin Franklin is a prominent figure in American history comparable to Washington, Jefferson and Lincoln, and as such he has been honored on U.S. postage stamps many times. The image of Franklin, the first [[United States Postmaster General|Postmaster General]] of the United States, occurs on the face of U.S. postage more than any other notable American save that of [[George Washington]].<ref name="Scotts">Scotts Specialized Catalogue of United States Stamps</ref>
Franklin appeared on the first U.S. postage stamp [[Benjamin Franklin#Postmaster|(displayed above)]] issued in 1847. From 1908 through 1923 the U.S. Post Office issued a series of postage stamps commonly referred to as the [[Washington-Franklin Issues]] where, along with George Washington, Franklin was depicted many times over a 14-year period, the longest run of any one series in U.S. postal history. Along with the regular issue stamps Franklin however only appears on a few [[:File:Ben Franklin 250th 1956 issue-3c.jpg|commemorative stamps]]. Some of the finest portrayals of Franklin on record can be found on the engravings inscribed on the face of U.S. postage.<ref name="Scotts"/>{{clear}}[[File:Benjamin Franklin 2-Big-Bens 1918 Issue.jpg|Benjamin Franklin 2-Big-Bens 1918 Issue|thumb|center|350px|<center>Issue of 1918</center>]]
===Bawdy Ben===
"[[Advice to a Friend on Choosing a Mistress]]" is a letter written by Benjamin Franklin, dated June 25, 1745, in which Franklin gives advice to a young man about channeling sexual urges. Due to its licentious nature, the letter was not published in collections of Franklin's papers in the United States during the nineteenth century. Federal court decisions from the mid- to late- twentieth century cited the document as a reason for overturning obscenity laws, using it to make a case against censorship.
===Exhibitions===
[[File:2012-07 ncc 04.JPG|thumb|Benjamin Franklin (seated) in the [[National Constitution Center]], Philadelphia]]
"The Princess and the Patriot: [[Yekaterina Vorontsova-Dashkova|Ekaterina Dashkova]], Benjamin Franklin and the Age of Enlightenment" exhibition opened in Philadelphia in February 2006 and ran through December 2006. Benjamin Franklin and Dashkova met only once, in Paris in 1781. Franklin was 75 and Dashkova was 37. Franklin invited Dashkova to become the first woman to join the American Philosophical Society; she was the only woman so honored for another 80 years. Later, Dashkova reciprocated by making him the first American member of the [[Russian Academy of Sciences]].
===Places and things named after Benjamin Franklin===
{{Further|List of places named for Benjamin Franklin}}
As a founding father of the United States, Franklin's name has been attached to many things. Among these are:
<!-- This list is not intended to be comprehensive. To prevent this list from becoming too long, Please consider adding additional places named for Franklin to the separate article titled "List of places named for Benjamin Franklin" as noted at the top of this section -->
* The [[State of Franklin]], a short-lived independent state formed during the American Revolutionary War
* [[County (United States)|Counties]] in at least 16 U.S. states
* Several major landmarks in and around [[Philadelphia]], Pennsylvania, Franklin's longtime home, including:
** [[Franklin and Marshall College]] in nearby [[Lancaster, Pennsylvania|Lancaster]]
** [[Franklin Field]], a [[American football|football]] field once home to the [[Philadelphia Eagles]] of the [[National Football League]] and the home field of the [[Penn Quakers football|University of Pennsylvania Quakers]] since 1895
** The [[Benjamin Franklin Bridge]] across the [[Delaware River]] between Philadelphia and [[Camden, New Jersey]]
** The [[Franklin Institute]], a [[science museum]] in Philadelphia, which presents the [[Benjamin Franklin Medal (Franklin Institute)|Benjamin Franklin Medal]]
* The [[Sons of Ben (MLS supporters association)|Sons of Ben]] soccer supporters club for the [[Philadelphia Union]]
* [[Ben Franklin Stores]] chain of variety stores, with a key-and-spark logo
* [[Franklin Templeton Investments]] an investment firm whose [[New York Stock Exchange]] ticker abbreviation, BEN, is also in honor of Franklin
* The [[Ben Franklin effect]] from the field of [[psychology]]
* [[Benjamin Franklin Shibe]], baseball executive and namesake of the longtime [[Shibe Park|Philadelphia baseball stadium]]
* [[Hawkeye Pierce|Benjamin Franklin "Hawkeye" Pierce]], the fictional character from the [[M*A*S*H]] novels, film, and television program
* Benjamin Franklin Gates, [[Nicolas Cage|Nicolas Cage's]] character from the [[National Treasure (franchise)|National Treasure]] films.
* Several [[US Navy]] ships have been named the {{USS|Franklin}} or the {{USS|Bonhomme Richard}}, the latter being a French translation of his penname "Poor Richard". Two aircraft carriers, {{USS|Franklin|CV-13}} and {{USS|Bon Homme Richard|CV-31}} were simultaneously in commission and in operation during World War II, and Franklin therefore had the distinction of having two simultaneously operational US Navy warships named in his honor. The [[French ship Franklin (1797)]] was also named in Franklin's honor.
* [[Franklinia alatamaha]], commonly called the Franklin tree. It was named after him by his friends and fellow Philadelphians, botanists James and [[William Bartram]].
==Ancestry==
[[File:Benjamin Franklin statue at National Portrait Gallery IMG 4374.JPG|upright=1.2|thumb|Statue of Ben Franklin in the [[National Portrait Gallery (United States)|National Portrait Gallery]] in Washington, D.C.]]
Franklin's father, [[Josiah Franklin]], was a [[tallow]] chandler, a soap-maker and a candle-maker. Josiah was born at [[Ecton, Northamptonshire|Ecton]], [[Northamptonshire]], England, on December 23, 1657, the son of Thomas Franklin, a blacksmith-farmer, and Jane White. Benjamin's mother, Abiah Folger, was born in [[Nantucket]], Massachusetts, on August 15, 1667, to Peter Folger, a miller and schoolteacher, and his wife [[Mary Morrill]], a former [[indentured servant]].
Josiah Franklin had 17 children with his two wives. He married his first wife, Anne Child, in about 1677 in Ecton and emigrated with her to Boston in 1683; they had three children before emigrating and four after. After her death, Josiah married Abiah Folger on July 9, 1689, in the [[Old South Meeting House]] by [[Samuel Willard]]. Benjamin, their eighth child, was Josiah Franklin's 15th child and tenth and last son.
Benjamin Franklin's mother, Abiah Folger, was born into a [[Puritan]] family among those that fled to Massachusetts to establish a purified [[Congregationalist]] Christianity in [[New England]], when [[Charles I of England|King Charles I of England]] began persecuting Puritans. They sailed for [[Boston]] in 1635. Her father was "the sort of rebel destined to transform colonial America";<ref>Isaacson 2003, p. 14</ref> as [[court clerk|clerk of the court]], he was jailed for disobeying the local magistrate in defense of middle-class shopkeepers and artisans in conflict with wealthy landowners. Ben Franklin followed in his grandfather's footsteps in his battles against the wealthy Penn family that owned the [[Province of Pennsylvania|Pennsylvania Colony]].
<div style="background:gainsboro; border:solid 2px steelblue;">
{{ahnentafel top|Ancestors of Benjamin Franklin|width=100%}}
<center>
{{ahnentafel-compact5
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|13=13. Meribah Gibbs<br>b. England
|12=12. John Folger Jr.<br>b. abt. 1594, [[Norwich]], England
|9= 9. Agnes Joanes<br>b. [[Ecton, Northamptonshire|Ecton]], Northamptonshire, England
|8= 8. Henry Franckline<br>b. 1573, [[Ecton, Northamptonshire|Ecton]], Northamptonshire, England<ref name="efamilytree-franckline">{{cite web|url=http://www.e-familytree.net/F257/F257111.htm|title=Thomas Franckline / Jane White|last=Salzman|first=Rob|publisher=e-familytree.net|accessdate=January 20, 2011}}</ref>
|7= 7. [[Mary Morrill]]<br>b. c. 1619, England
|6= 6. Peter Folger<br>b. 1617, [[Norwich]], Norfolk, England
|5= 5. Jane White<br>b. England
|4= 4. Thomas Franklin<br>b. 1598, [[Ecton, Northamptonshire|Ecton]], Northamptonshire, England<ref name="efamilytree-franckline"/>
|3= 3. Abiah Folger<br>b. August 15, 1667, [[Nantucket, Massachusetts]]
|2= 2. [[Josiah Franklin]]<br>b. December 23, 1657, [[Ecton, Northamptonshire|Ecton]], Northamptonshire, England
|1= 1. '''Benjamin Franklin'''<ref name="efamilytree-franklin">{{cite web|url=http://www.e-familytree.net/F257/F257111.htm|title=Benjamin Franklin / Deborah Read|last=Salzman|first=Rob|publisher=e-familytree.net|accessdate=January 20, 2011}}</ref><br>b. 1705, [[Boston, Massachusetts]]
}}</center>
{{ahnentafel bottom}}
</div>
==See also==
{{Portal|Philadelphia|Biography}}
{{Columns-list|2|
* [[Benjamin Franklin in popular culture]]
* [[United States Constitution#Sessions of the "House"|U.S. Constitution]], floor leader in Convention
* [[Thomas Birch]]'s newly discovered Franklin letters
* [[William Goddard (patriot/publisher)]], apprentice/partner of Franklin
* [[Louis Timothee]], apprentice/partner of Franklin
* [[Elizabeth Timothy]], apprentice/partner of Franklin
* [[James Parker (publisher)]], apprentice/partner of Franklin
* [[commons:Category:Benjamin Franklin on stamps|Benjamin Franklin on postage stamps]]
* [[Observations Concerning the Increase of Mankind, Peopling of Countries, etc.]], by Franklin
* [[Order (virtue)]]
* [[List of richest Americans in history]]
* [[List of slave owners]]
* [[List of opponents of slavery]]
}}
==Notes==
{{Reflist|group="Note"}}
==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}
==Further reading==
===Biographies===
* [[Carl L. Becker|Becker, Carl Lotus]]. "Benjamin Franklin", ''Dictionary of American Biography'' (1931) – vol 3, with hot links [http://tigger.uic.edu/~rjensen/franklin.htm#becker online]
* [[H. W. Brands|Brands, H. W.]] ''The First American: The Life and Times of Benjamin Franklin'' (2000) – excellent long scholarly biography [http://www.amazon.com/dp/0385495404/ excerpt and text search]
* {{Cite book| first=Walter| last=Isaacson| authorlink=Walter Isaacson| title=Benjamin Franklin: An American Life| year=2003| location=New York| publisher=Simon & Schuster| isbn=978-0-7432-6084-8|url=http://books.google.com/?id=oIW915dDMBwC&printsec=frontcover&dq=Benjamin+Franklin:+An+American+Life#v=onepage&q&f=false}}, well written popular biography
* Ketcham, Ralph. ''Benjamin Franklin'' (1966) 228 pp [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=34300175 online edition], short biography by scholar
* [[Leo Lemay|Lemay, J. A. Leo]]. ''The Life of Benjamin Franklin'', the most detailed scholarly biography, with very little interpretation; 3 volumes appeared before the author's death in 2008
** ''Volume 1: Journalist, 1706–1730'' (2005) 568pp [http://www.amazon.com/dp/0812238540/ excerpt and text search]
** ''Volume 2: Printer and Publisher, 1730–1747'' (2005) 664pp; [http://www.amazon.com/dp/0812238559/ excerpt and text search]
** ''Volume 3: Soldier, Scientist, and Politician, 1748–1757'' (2008), 768pp [http://www.amazon.com/dp/0812241215/ excerpt and text search]
* [[Edmund Morgan (historian)|Morgan, Edmund S]]. ''Benjamin Franklin'' (2003) the best short introduction [http://www.amazon.com/dp/0300101627/ excerpt and text search], interpretation by leading scholar
* [[Stacy Schiff|Schiff, Stacy]], ''A Great Improvisation: Franklin, France, and the Birth of America'', (2005) Henry Holt
* [[Carl Clinton Van Doren|Van Doren, Carl]]. ''Benjamin Franklin'' (1938), standard older biography [http://www.amazon.com/dp/193154185X/ excerpt and text search]
* [[Gordon S. Wood|Wood, Gordon]]. ''The Americanization of Benjamin Franklin'' (2005), influential intellectual history by leading historian. [http://www.amazon.com/dp/0143035282/ excerpt and text search]
* [[Esmond Wright|Wright, Esmond]]. ''Franklin of Philadelphia'' (1986) – excellent scholarly study [http://www.amazon.com/dp/0674318102/ excerpt and text search]
'''For young readers'''
* [[Isaac Asimov|Asimov, Isaac]]. ''The Kite That Won the Revolution'', a biography for children that focuses on Franklin's scientific and diplomatic contributions.
* Fleming, Candace. ''Ben Franklin's Almanac: Being a True Account of the Good Gentleman's Life.'' Atheneum/Anne Schwart, 2003, 128 pages, ISBN 978-0-689-83549-0.
===Scholarly studies===
* Anderson, Douglas. ''The Radical Enlightenments of Benjamin Franklin'' (1997) – fresh look at the intellectual roots of Franklin
* Buxbaum, M.H., ed. ''Critical Essays on Benjamin Franklin'' (1987)
* Chaplin, Joyce. ''The First Scientific American: Benjamin Franklin and the Pursuit of Genius.'' (2007)
* Cohen, I. Bernard. ''Benjamin Franklin's Science'' (1990) – Cohen, the leading specialist, has several books on Franklin's science
* Conner, Paul W. ''Poor Richard's Politicks'' (1965) – analyzes Franklin's ideas in terms of the Enlightenment and republicanism
* Dull, Jonathan. ''A Diplomatic History of the American Revolution'' (1985)
* [[Philip Dray|Dray, Philip]]. ''Stealing God's Thunder: Benjamin Franklin's Lightning Rod and the Invention of America.'' (2005). 279 pp.
* Ford, Paul Leicester. ''The Many-Sided Franklin'' (1899) [http://books.google.com/books?id=lU8j4QVPP_MC&dq=intitle:The+intitle:Many-Sided+intitle:Franklin+inauthor:ford&lr=&as_drrb_is=q&as_minm_is=0&as_miny_is=&as_maxm_is=0&as_maxy_is=&as_brr=0&ei=FyIRTM33BoiIkgTx-oy4CQ online edition] – collection of scholarly essays
** [http://cdl.library.cornell.edu/cgi-bin/moa/sgml/moa-idx?notisid=ABP2287-0057-169 "Franklin as Printer and Publisher"] in ''The Century'' (April 1899) v. 57 pp. 803–18.
** [http://cdl.library.cornell.edu/cgi-bin/moa/sgml/moa-idx?notisid=ABP2287-0058-172 "Franklin as Scientist"] in ''The Century'' (September 1899) v.57 pp. 750–63. By Paul Leicester Ford.
** [http://cdl.library.cornell.edu/cgi-bin/moa/sgml/moa-idx?notisid=ABP2287-0058-201 "Franklin as Politician and Diplomatist"] in ''The Century'' (October 1899) v. 57 pp. 881–899. By Paul Leicester Ford.
* Gleason, Philip. "Trouble in the Colonial Melting Pot." ''Journal of American Ethnic History'' 2000 20(1): 3–17. ISSN 0278-5927 Full text online in Ingenta and Ebsco. Considers the political consequences of the remarks in a 1751 pamphlet by Franklin on demographic growth and its implications for the colonies. He called the [[Pennsylvania Dutch|Pennsylvania Germans]] "Palatine Boors" who could never acquire the "Complexion" of the English settlers and to "Blacks and Tawneys" as weakening the [[social structure]] of the colonies. Although Franklin apparently reconsidered shortly thereafter, and the phrases were omitted from all later printings of the pamphlet, his views may have played a role in his political defeat in 1764.
* Houston, Alan. ''Benjamin Franklin and the Politics of Improvement'' (2009)
* Lemay, J. A. Leo, ed. ''Reappraising Benjamin Franklin: A Bicentennial Perspective'' (1993) – scholarly essays
* Mathews, L. K. "Benjamin Franklin's Plans for a Colonial Union, 1750–1775." ''American Political Science Review'' 8 (August 1914): 393–412.
* Olson, Lester C. ''Benjamin Franklin's Vision of American Community: A Study in Rhetorical Iconology.'' (2004). 323 pp.
* {{cite journal | last1 = McCoy | first1 = Drew R. | authorlink = Drew R. McCoy | year = 1978 | title = Benjamin Franklin's Vision of a Republican Political Economy for America | journal = William and Mary Quarterly | volume = 35 | issue = 4| pages = 607–628 | jstor=1923207}}
* Newman, Simon P. "Benjamin Franklin and the Leather-Apron Men: The Politics of Class in Eighteenth-Century Philadelphia," ''Journal of American Studies,'' August 2009, Vol. 43#2 pp 161–175; Franklin took pride in his working class origins and his printer's skills.
* Schiff, Stacy. ''A Great Improvisation: Franklin, France, and the Birth of America'' (2005) (UK title ''Dr Franklin Goes to France'')
* Schiffer, Michael Brian. ''Draw the Lightning Down: Benjamin Franklin and Electrical Technology in the Age of Enlightenment.'' (2003). 383 pp.
* [http://www.bartleby.com/225/index.html#6 Stuart Sherman "Franklin"] 1918 article on Franklin's writings.
* Skemp, Sheila L. ''Benjamin and William Franklin: Father and Son, Patriot and Loyalist'' (1994) - Ben's son was a leading Loyalist
* Sletcher, Michael. 'Domesticity: The Human Side of Benjamin Franklin', ''Magazine of History'', XXI (2006).
* Waldstreicher, David. ''Runaway America: Benjamin Franklin, Slavery, and the American Revolution.'' Hill and Wang, 2004. 315 pp.
* [[Kerry S. Walters|Walters, Kerry S.]] ''Benjamin Franklin and His Gods.'' (1999). 213 pp. Takes position midway between D. H. Lawrence's brutal 1930 denunciation of Franklin's religion as nothing more than a bourgeois commercialism tricked out in shallow utilitarian moralisms and [[Owen Aldridge]]'s sympathetic 1967 treatment of the dynamism and protean character of Franklin's "polytheistic" religion.
* York, Neil. "When Words Fail: William Pitt, Benjamin Franklin and the Imperial Crisis of 1766," ''Parliamentary History,'' October 2009, Vol. 28#3 pp 341–374
===Primary sources===
* ''Silence Dogood, The Busy-Body, & Early Writings'' (J.A. Leo Lemay, ed.) ([[Library of America]], 1987 one-volume, 2005 two-volume) ISBN 978-1-931082-22-8
* ''Autobiography, Poor Richard, & Later Writings'' (J.A. Leo Lemay, ed.) ([[Library of America]], 1987 one-volume, 2005 two-volume) ISBN 978-1-883011-53-6
* Bailyn, Bernard, ''The Ideological Origins of the American Revolution'' (1992)
* Benjamin Franklin papers, M. S. Coll. 900, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pa. [http://hdl.library.upenn.edu/1017/d/ead/upenn_rbml_MsColl900 Finding aid]
* ''Benjamin Franklin Reader'' edited by Walter Isaacson (2003)
* ''Benjamin Franklin's Autobiography'' edited by J. A. Leo Lemay and P. M. Zall, (Norton Critical Editions, 1986); 390pp; text, contemporary documents and 20th century analysis
* Houston, Alan, ed. ''Franklin: The Autobiography and other Writings on Politics, Economics, and Virtue.'' [[Cambridge University Press]], 2004. 371 pp.
* Ketcham, Ralph, ed. ''The Political Thought of Benjamin Franklin.'' (1965, reprinted 2003). 459 pp.
* Leonard Labaree, and others., eds., ''[http://www.yale.edu/franklinpapers/index.html The Papers of Benjamin Franklin]'', 39 vols. to date (1959–2008), definitive edition, through 1783. This massive collection of BF's writings, and letters to him, is available in large academic libraries. It is most useful for detailed research on specific topics. [http://franklinpapers.org/franklin/ The complete text of all the documents are online and searchable]; {{Wayback |date=20100928051438 |url=http://www.yale.edu/franklinpapers/indexintro.html |title=The ''Index'' is also online }}.
* "''[[The Way to Wealth]]''." Applewood Books; November 1986. ISBN 0-918222-88-5
* "''[[Poor Richard's Almanack]]''." Peter Pauper Press; November 1983. ISBN 0-88088-918-7
* ''Poor Richard Improved'' by Benjamin Franklin (1751)
* "''Writings (Franklin)|Writings''." ISBN 0-940450-29-1
* "''On Marriage''."
* "''Satires and Bagatelles''."
* "''[[A Dissertation on Liberty and Necessity, Pleasure and Pain]]''."
* "''Fart Proudly: Writings of Benjamin Franklin You Never Read in School''." Carl Japikse, Ed. Frog Ltd.; Reprint ed. May 2003. ISBN 1-58394-079-0
* "''Heroes of America Benjamin Franklin''."
* "''Experiments and Observations on Electricity''." (1751)
==External links==
{{Sister project links|s=Author:Benjamin Franklin|wikt=Franklin|v=Virtues/thirteen virtues|b=American Literature/Enlightenment Period (1760s–1820s)}}
{{Spoken Wikipedia-3|2008-08-04|Benjamin Franklin 1.ogg|Benjamin Franklin 2.ogg|Benjamin Franklin 3.ogg}}
{{Library resources box|by=yes|onlinebooks=yes|viaf=56609913}}
* [http://edsitement.neh.gov/lesson-plan/benjamin-franklins-many-hats Lesson plans for high schools] from National Endowment for the Humanities
* [http://www.compadre.org/psrc/Franklin/ Benjamin Franklin and Electrostatics] experiments and Franklin's electrical writings from Wright Center for Science Education
* {{IMDb title|id=0956098|title=Animated Hero Classics: Benjamin Franklin (1993)}}
* [http://www.abc.net.au/rn/ockhamsrazor/stories/2006/1814928.htm Franklin's impact on medicine] – talk by medical historian, Dr. Jim Leavesley celebrating the 300th anniversary of Franklin's birth on ''Okham's Razor'' ABC [[Radio National]] – December 2006
* {{Find a Grave|364}}
'''Biographical and guides'''
* [http://www.time.com/time/2003/franklin/bffranklin.html Special Report: Citizen Ben's Greatest Virtues] Time Magazine
* [http://www.loc.gov/rr/program/bib/franklin/franklin.html Finding Franklin: A Resource Guide] Library of Congress
* [http://tigger.uic.edu/~rjensen/franklin.htm Guide to Benjamin Franklin] By a history professor at the University of Illinois.
* [http://www.pbs.org/benfranklin/ Benjamin Franklin: An extraordinary life] PBS
* [http://history.state.gov/milestones/1776-1783/BFranklin Benjamin Franklin: First American Diplomat, 1776–1785] US State Department
* [http://www.ushistory.org/franklin/ The Electric Benjamin Franklin] ushistory.org
* [http://www.english.udel.edu/lemay/franklin/ Benjamin Franklin: A Documentary History] by J. A. Leo Lemay
* [http://www.colonialhall.com/franklin/franklin.php Benjamin Franklin 1706–1790] Text of biography by Rev. Charles A. Goodrich, 1856
* [http://www.coopheroes.coop/inductees/franklin.html Cooperative Hall of Fame testimonial] for founding the [[Philadelphia Contributionship]]
* [http://www.librarything.com/profile/BenjaminFranklin Online edition of Franklin's personal library]
* {{Cite EB1911|wstitle=Franklin, Benjamin}}
* {{MacTutor Biography|id=Franklin_Benjamin}}
* [http://www.americanwriters.org/writers/franklin.asp Benjamin Franklin] at [[C-SPAN]]'s ''[[American Writers: A Journey Through History]]''
* [http://www.booknotes.org/Watch/170126-1/James+Srodes.aspx ''Booknotes'' interview with James Srodes on ''Franklin: The Essential Founding Father'', May 19, 2002.]
'''Online writings'''
* [http://franklinpapers.org/franklin/ Yale edition of complete works], the standard scholarly edition
* {{Gutenberg author |id=Franklin,+Benjamin | name=Benjamin Franklin}}
* {{Internet Archive author}}
* {{Librivox author |id=350}}
* [http://www.bartleby.com/people/FranklinB.html Online Works by Benjamin Franklin]
* [http://literalsystems.org/abooks/index.php/Audio-Book/DialogueBetweenFranklinAndTheGout "Dialogue Between Franklin and the Gout"] Creative Commons audio recording.
* [http://www.aip.org/history/gap/Franklin/Franklin.html American Institute of Physics]{{spaced ndash}} [http://www.aip.org/history/gap/PDF/franklin_letterIV.pdf Letter IV: Farther Experiments] ([[PDF]]), and [http://www.aip.org/history/gap/PDF/franklin_letterXI.pdf Letter XI: Observations in electricity] ([[PDF]])
* [http://www.ftrain.com/franklin_improving_self.html Franklin's 13 Virtues] Extract of Franklin's autobiography, compiled by Paul Ford.
* [http://sln.fi.edu/franklin/family/lastwill.html Franklin's Last Will & Testament] Transcription.
* [http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/treasures/franklin-home.html Library of Congress web resource: ''Benjamin Franklin ... In His Own Words'']
* [https://archive.org/details/SilenceDogood_201306 "A SILENCE DOGOOD SAMPLER" – Selections from Benjamin Franklin's Silence Dogood writings]
* [http://justus.anglican.org/resources/bcp/Franklin%20Abridged/index.html Abridgement of the Book of Common Prayer (1773), by Benjamin Franklin and Francis Dashwood], transcribed by Richard Mammana
'''Autobiography'''
* [http://www.ushistory.org/franklin/autobiography/index.htm The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin] [http://www.ushistory.org/franklin/autobiography/singlehtml.htm Single page version], UShistory.org
* [http://publicliterature.org/books/benjamin_franklin/xaa.php ''The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin''] text and audio
* [http://xroads.virginia.edu/~HYPER/Franklin/toc.html The Autobiography] from American Studies at the University of Virginia.
* [http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/148 The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin] Project Gutenberg
* [http://librivox.org/the-autobigraphy-of-benjamin-franklin-ed-by-frank-woodworth-pine/ The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin] LibriVox recording
'''In the arts'''
* [http://www.benfranklin300.com/ Benjamin Franklin 300 (1706–2006)] Official web site of the Benjamin Franklin Tercentenary.
* The [http://www.hsp.org/files/findingaid215franklin.pdf Historical Society of Pennsylvania Collection of Benjamin Franklin Papers], including correspondence, government documents, writings and a copy of his will, are available for research use at the [[Historical Society of Pennsylvania]].
* [http://www.benjaminfranklinhouse.org/ The Benjamin Franklin House] Franklin's only surviving residence.
* [http://www.planetware.com/boston/ben-franklin-birthplace-us-ma-ben.htm Ben Franklin Birthplace] A historic site, link provides location and map.
* [http://www.americanmusicpreservation.com/mamusic.htm Franklin and Music]
* "[[s:Benjamin Franklin (Coates)|Benjamin Franklin]]", a poem by [[Florence Earle Coates]]
{{Benjamin Franklin}}
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{{Persondata
| NAME =Franklin, Benjamin
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES =
| SHORT DESCRIPTION =American printer, writer, politician
| DATE OF BIRTH = January 17, 1706
| PLACE OF BIRTH =Boston, Massachusetts
| DATE OF DEATH = April 17, 1790
| PLACE OF DEATH =[[Philadelphia]], Pennsylvania
}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Franklin, Benjamin}}
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