The life and works of the great inventor benjamin franklin

This Book does a great job of using illustrations to further the understanding of the reader.

Inat age 12, he was apprenticed to his older brother James, a Boston printer. By age 16, Franklin was contributing essays under the pseudonym Silence Dogood to a newspaper published by his brother.

At age 17, Franklin ran away from his apprenticeship to Philadelphia, where he found work as a printer. In latehe traveled to London, England, and again found employment in the printing business. The business became highly successful producing a range of materials, including government pamphlets, books and currency.

InFranklin became the owner and publisher of a colonial newspaper, the Pennsylvania Gazette, which proved popular—and to which he contributed much of the content, often using pseudonyms. Franklin and Read had a son, Franciswho died of smallpox at age 4, and a daughter, Sarah Franklin had another son, William c.

William Franklin served as the last colonial governor of New Jerseyfrom toand remained loyal to the British during the American Revolution. He died in exile in England. Franklin also organized the Pennsylvania militia, raised funds to build a city hospital and spearheaded a program to pave and light city streets.

Additionally, Franklin was instrumental in the creation of the Academy of Philadelphia, a college which opened in and became known as the University of Pennsylvania in Franklin also was a key figure in the colonial postal system.

Inthe British appointed him postmaster of Philadelphia, and he went on to become, injoint postmaster general for all the American colonies. In this role he instituted various measures to improve mail service; however, the British dismissed him from the job in because he was deemed too sympathetic to colonial interests.

In Julythe Continental Congress appointed Franklin the first postmaster general of the United States, giving him authority over all post offices from Massachusetts to Georgia. He held this position until Novemberwhen he was succeeded by his son-in-law.

Interesting and Fun Facts About Ben Franklin for Kids

Scientist and Inventor InFranklin, then 42 years old, had expanded his printing business throughout the colonies and become successful enough to stop working.

Retirement allowed him to concentrate on public service and also pursue more fully his longtime interest in science. In the s, he conducted experiments that contributed to the understanding of electricity, and invented the lightning rod, which protected buildings from fires caused by lightning.

Inhe conducted his famous kite experiment and demonstrated that lightning is electricity.

Franklin also coined a number of electricity-related terms, including battery, charge and conductor. In addition to electricity, Franklin studied a number of other topics, including ocean currents, meteorology, causes of the common cold and refrigeration.

He developed the Franklin stove, which provided more heat while using less fuel than other stoves, and bifocal eyeglasses, which allow for distance and reading use. In the early s, Franklin invented a musical instrument called the glass armonica.

Franklin and the American Revolution Inat a meeting of colonial representatives in Albany, New YorkFranklin proposed a plan for uniting the colonies under a national congress. Although his Albany Plan was rejected, it helped lay the groundwork for the Articles of Confederationwhich became the first constitution of the United States when ratified in InFranklin traveled to London as a representative of the Pennsylvania Assembly, to which he was elected in Over several years, he worked to settle a tax dispute and other issues involving descendants of William Pennthe owners of the colony of Pennsylvania.

After a brief period back in the U. While he was abroad, the British government began, in the mids, to impose a series of regulatory measures to assert greater control over its American colonies. InFranklin testified in the British Parliament against the Stamp Act ofwhich required that all legal documents, newspapers, books, playing cards and other printed materials in the American colonies carry a tax stamp.

Although the Stamp Act was repealed inadditional regulatory measures followed, leading to ever-increasing anti-British sentiment and eventual armed uprising by the American colonists. Inhe was part of the five-member committee that helped draft the Declaration of Independencein which the 13 American colonies declared their freedom from British rule.

As minister to France starting inFranklin helped negotiate and draft the Treaty of Paris that ended the Revolutionary War.

Inhe was a Pennsylvania delegate to the Constitutional Convention. At the end of the convention, in Septemberhe urged his fellow delegates to support the heavily debated new document. Franklin died a year later, at age 84, on April 17,in Philadelphia. In his will, he left money to Boston and Philadelphia, which was later used to establish a trade school and a science museum and fund scholarships and other community projects.

More than years after his death, Franklin remains one of the most celebrated figures in U.A Picture Book of Benjamin Franklin is a great read.

it presents us a basic outline of Benjamin Franklin the printer, writer, Publisher, diplomat, and inventor. This Book does a great job of using illustrations to further the understanding of the reader. An example of this from the book is when they talked about the arm extender, for getting books/5.

Not only was Benjamin Franklin instrumental in the birth of the American nation, he was a great politician and inventor. Learn some interesting facts about Ben Franklin's life, including the many jobs he had and inventions he created that are still being used today. This odometer consists of a series of cogs and wheels that measure distance as noted above.

On top of the works is a flat metal plate that has a series of three circles. The left circle has a T above it and has numbers from 10 to 1 running counterclockwise around the circle (10 is in the noon position). Many people know Benjamin Franklin as one of the founding fathers of the United States of America, but not many people understand exactly what the famed inventor and politician contributed to society.

The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin is a compilation of some of the great events from the man's life that have made him an American legend. Franklin's contributions to the American Revolution and the building of a new nation were but a garnish on an already distinguished career as a writer, publisher, scientist and inventor.

Benjamin Franklin made an original and important invention in , the "Pennsylvania fireplace," which, under the name of the Franklin stove. Benjamin Franklin, however, never patented any of his inventions.