Benjamin Franklin Biography (presented in class by Jae Ku) (1706 - 1790)

"Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790): A Brief Literary Biography"

Prepared and Presented during Class by Ms. Marney Legendre

Benjamin Franklin was born the 15^th child in his family on January 17, 1706. He went to grammar school until about the age of ten years of age when he went to work for his father's tallow business where he worked for about two years, very unhappily. Franklin had a great sense of adventure and loved books, which led to his apprenticeship with his older brother's printing business. He was happy with this position because he had greater access to books, which he bought whenever possible. He had a falling out with his brother at the age of seventeen and went to Pennsylvania to seek his fortune.

Franklin worked as a printer for a brief time in Pennsylvania before opening his own newspaper, the Pennsylvania Gazette, in 1729. By 1732 he began publication of the Poor Richard Almanac which caused him great notoriety. It was during this time that Franklin decided to take a wife. His first priority was to find a woman with a large dowry to pay off his debts, but to no avail. He eventually married Deborah Read, a woman he had a great respect for, but did not seem to be madly in love with. He had said his passionate youth had caused him to fall in with many low women, and had cost too much money. He felt Read was a good match, and by all accounts they had a good partnership. Shortly after their marriage one of the two illegitimate children Franklin fathered came to live with him and his new wife, his son named William. Franklin and Read had two children together, a boy and girl. The boy, Francis, died at the age of four. Deborah died December 1774, about a year after she had suffered a severe stroke. Out of their forty-four year marriage, they had spent approximately fifteen of those years apart due to Franklin's extensive traveling.

After his great newspaper success he was able to turn the businesses over to a foreman so that he could devote more time to science. Franklin's autobiography, written for his son William, is probably his most famous work. He is also well known for his experiments with electricity, but Franklin had many other inventions. He invented bifocals, the catheter, the Franklin Stove, lightning rod, and the odometer. Franklin had worn many hats in his life and had accomplished much as a businessman, writer, scientist, and humanitarian. He began to look for a new challenge in politics.

In 1754 Franklin represented Pennsylvania in the Albany Congress, and later became a diplomat that required him to travel extensively to England and France. He had many relationships with women while abroad, but never remarried after Deborah's death. He returned to the United States, and in 1776 made his historical mark on the Declaration of Independence. At Benjamin Franklin's funeral, April 1790, there were approximately 20,000 people in attendance.

Franklin is the epitome of the American Dream of a "self-made man." With only a few years of formal schooling, Franklin perfected his writing skills. Most of Franklin's writings were for the use of others; he wrote to inform the public and the community, to keep record and instructions for his observations and experiments, and sometimes for entertainment. Even his autobiography was not written for his own gratification, but for his son William. His autobiography offers a view into the life and personal thoughts of a very intricate man. He was appointed to many positions and committees in his lifetime: Library Company of Philadelphia (1731), Deputy Postmaster General (1753), Royal Society (1756), Second to Continental Congress (1775), Declaration of Independence (1776), Minister to French Court (1779), President for the Abolition of Slavery (1789), (Franklin). Franklin was insightful, a man ahead of his time. Few people have made such accomplishments in one lifetime.

Primary Works

Benjamin Franklin: A Biography in His Own Words. 1771

The Writings of Benjamin Franklin, edited by Albert Henry Smith. 1907

Web Pages

Enlightened American. Http://library.advanced.org/22254/home.htm

Benjamin Franklin: A documented history. http://sln/fi.edu/franklin/

World of Benjamin Franklin. http://www.english.udel.edu/lemay/franklin/

Works Cited

Baym, Nina, Franklin, Wayne, et.al. The Norton Anthology of American Literature: Shorter Fourth Edition. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 1985.

Franklin, B. Benjamin Franklin: A Biography in His Own Words. New York: Harper & Row, 1972.

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