biography
| sex:
| male
|
| lived:
| (1706–90)
|
| biography:
| US statesman, printer, writer, and scientist, born in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. The 15th child in his family, he went to work at age 10 in his father's chandlery, then in a brother's printing house. Ambitious and intent on self-improvement, he became a skilled printer while reading widely and developing a writing style. At age 17 he left for Philadelphia where, starting with no capital, he advanced rapidly, and after a brief stint as a printer in London he had by 1730 become sole owner of a business that included the Pennsylvania Gazette. In 1732 he began compiling and publishing the annual Poor Richard's Almanac. With its pithy sayings espousing industry, frugality, and other homely virtues, it attracted a large readership and made Franklin's name a household word. Active in the community, he founded a discussion group called the Junta (1727) that evolved into the American Philosophical Association and helped establish the first US lending library (1731), as well as an academy (1751) that evolved into the University of Pennsylvania. Appointed in 1736 as a clerk in the Pennsylvania Assembly, he held a seat in 1751–64. He served as a city deputy postmaster (1737–53), and then, as joint deputy postmaster for the colonies (1753–74), he improved postal efficiency and made the postal service solvent. By 1748 his business had expanded and flourished and he retired, turning it over to his foreman in return for a regular stipend, thus gaining more time for scientific pursuits. In the early 1740s he had developed the fuel-efficient Franklin open stove. Later he conducted a series of experiments, described in his Experiments and Observations on Electricity (1751–3), which brought him international recognition as a scientist. In 1752 he conducted his famous kite experiment, demonstrating that lightning is an electrical discharge, and he announced his invention of the lightning rod. Later well-known inventions include the bifocal lens (1760). In 1754 he represented Pennsylvania at the Albany Congress, called in response to the French and Indian Wars. He then pursued diplomatic activities in England (1757–62, 1764–75), obtaining permission for Pennsylvania to tax the estates of its proprietors, securing repeal of the Stamp Act, and representing the interests of several colonies. He associated with eminent Britons, and wrote political satires and pamphlets on public affairs. In 1776 he went to France to help negotiate treaties of commerce and alliance, signed in 1778. Lionized there, he remained as plenipotentiary, won financial aid for the American Revolution, and helped negotiate a peace treaty with Great Britain, signed in Paris (1783). Returning to the USA (1785), he was a conciliating presence at the later Constitutional Convention (1787). In his last years he corresponded widely, received many visitors, and invented a device for lifting books from high shelves. His posthumously published Autobiography, written for his son William Franklin, became a classic. |
|
|
