He was a true polymath and entrepreneur, which is no doubt why he is often called the "First American. Franklin died on April 17, , in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, at the home of his daughter, Sarah Bache. He was 84, suffered from gout and had complained of ailments for some time, completing the final codicil to his will a little more than a year and a half prior to his death. He bequeathed most of his estate to Sarah and very little to his son William, whose opposition to the patriot cause still stung him.
He also donated money that funded scholarships, schools and museums in Boston and Philadelphia. But the scope of things he applied himself to was so broad it seems a shame. Founding universities and libraries, the post office, shaping the foreign policy of the fledgling United States, helping to draft the Declaration of Independence, publishing newspapers, warming us with the Franklin stove, pioneering advances in science, letting us see with bifocals and lighting our way with electricity—all from a man who never finished school but shaped his life through abundant reading and experience, a strong moral compass and an unflagging commitment to civic duty.
Franklin illuminated corners of American life that still have the lingering glow of his attention. We strive for accuracy and fairness. If you see something that doesn't look right, contact us! Subscribe to the Biography newsletter to receive stories about the people who shaped our world and the stories that shaped their lives.
Benjamin Rush is best known for his political activities during the American Revolution, including signing the Declaration of Independence. Franklin D. Roosevelt and his New Deal led the nation through the Great Depression. Elected to four terms, his presidency helped ensure victory in World War II. Benjamin Harrison is best known as the 23rd president of the United States. He was the grandson of President William Henry Harrison. Benjamin Banneker was a largely self-educated mathematician, astronomer, compiler of almanacs and writer.
Alexander Hamilton was a Founding Father, a Constitutional Convention delegate, author of the Federalist papers and the first secretary of the U. The fourth U. Several Israeli officials and diplomats voiced disbelief, as the Japanese are known not to wear shoes at home or often even at work. Benjamin Franklin is best known as one of the Founding Fathers who never served as president but was a respected inventor, publisher, scientist and diplomat.
Olivia Rodrigo —. Megan Thee Stallion —. Benjamin was in charge of setting the letters for the printer and sell newspapers door to door.
This job did not satisfy him, he wanted to write but knew his brother would object. One day he left an anonymous article under the door of the print house signed under the pen name of Silence Dogood. From April to October he submitted 14 Dogood letters which were well received and published by the Courant.
She abhorred arbitrary government and unlimited power. The New England Courant was a liberal newspaper publishing humorous articles and cartoons against the colonial government. One of the pieces published in June offended the Assembly and James was jailed for two weeks for contempt as he did not disclose the author.
While James was in jail Benjamin ran the business. When James was discharged he was prohibited from printing the Courant so it was advertised as printed by Benjamin Franklin. The Courant was published until June for a total of issues. Conservative and puritanical Boston was no place for a publication like the Courant. James was the first fighter for journalistic freedom in America and the most important journalistic influence on Benjamin Franklin.
In April and July he assured her he would sail shortly. But he never came. Deborah Franklin suffered another stroke on December 14, , and died five days later. We tend to idealize our founding fathers. So what should we make of Benjamin Franklin? One popular image is that he was a free and easy libertine—our founding playboy. But he was married for 44 years. Biographers and historians tend to shy away from his married life, perhaps because it defies idealization.
John and Abigail Adams had a storybook union that spanned half a century. Benjamin and Deborah Franklin spent all but two of their final 17 years apart. Those things are true—up to a point. But staying away for a decade, dissembling year after year about his return, and then refusing to come home even when he knew his wife was declining and might soon die, suggests something beyond bored indifference.
Franklin was a great man—scientist, publisher, political theorist, diplomat. It involves their only son, a lethal disease and a disagreement over inoculation.
But a few weeks later, the stranger became a boarder in the Read home. After six months, he and the young woman were in love. His intention was to buy a printing press and type and return as quickly as possible. It was November Nothing went as planned. In London, Franklin discovered that the governor had lied to him.
There was no money waiting, not for equipment, not even for his return passage. Stranded, he wrote Deborah a single letter, saying he would be away indefinitely.
But the facts are more complicated. Benjamin, too, had been jilted. Deborah left him and moved back in with her mother. At some point she was told that Rogers had died in the West Indies, but proving his death—which would have freed Deborah to remarry formally—was impractically expensive and a long shot besides.
Franklin returned to Philadelphia in October While learning the trade from James, Ben worked on his writing, copying the style of essays he read in a copy of a magazine. When James started a paper in , called the New England Courant, Ben submitted a series of essays to the magazine under the pseudonym Silence Dogood.
The essays made fun of Boston society and became very popular. In , the Massachusetts government put James in prison twice for criticizing it in his newspaper—freedom of the press as we know it did not exist then. During these periods, Ben published the paper under his own name. When James returned from prison, he and Ben had several arguments. James likely sensed that his younger half-brother was too talented for his own good.
In any case, Ben soon lost his patience with James and quit the printing shop. Ben expected to find work with another Boston printer, but James secretly told all of the other printers in Boston not to hire Ben.
With no prospects for work, Ben decided to leave Boston. We know little about Franklin's early life aside from what he tells us in his Autobiography.
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