Ben Franklin
By Kaitlyn Crosscut
Introduction
Ben Franklin is one of the most known people to live in America. Ben Franklin isn't just famous for his inventions and discoveries, he was also well known before fame. Franklin, of course , was and still is famous for his discoveries. Even after "retirement" Franklin still did amazing things. Ben Franklin is an amazing person in our history to learn about.
FIRST FIRE DEPARTMENT
Ben Franklin in his fire department uniform.
ELECTRICITY KITE AND KEY
Ben Franklin's famous key/ kite/ and lightning discovery.
BEN FRANKLIN AFTER SCIENCE
Ben Franklin was always honored and treated well.
Before Fame
Ben Franklin was born in Boston, Massachusetts, January 17th, 1706. He was the 15th child in his family. Ashe grew up, Ben proved to be amazing at reading okay at writing, and awful at arithmetic. After two years of school Ben's father took him out of school and had Ben work for the family business of candle-making. Ben didn't like the candle-making business and wanted a different job. One day Ben's father told him he could work for his older brother, James, the Printer. Ben worked for James for about five years. Then he ran away and started his own printing business in Philadelphia. Ben also started the "POOR RICHARD'S ALMANAC". He wrote and published it from 1733 -1758. Ben Franklin was always trying to make the city of Philadelphia a better place. He helped build the first public library in the thirteen colonies. Franklin also built the first fire department and hospital. Ben Franklin was a hard worker from the start, he never gave up. Even though he had done many incredible things, he didn't stop there.
Ben Franklin's Inventions
As we all know Ben Franklin was a scientist and an inventor. I'm going to tell you about some of his inventions that you might not know of. One of Ben Franklin's inventions was the lightning rod. The lightning rod was supposed to keep your home safe from lightning, therefore giving it it's name. When lightning struck Franklin's own home, the lightning rod did indeed protect his home from destruction that would have been caused if he hadn't installed his invention. Franklin also also created a stove that used less fuel and kept the room two times warmer. While franklin was in Paris, he created the balloon. It first took flight in the year of 1783. Another one of Ben's brilliant inventions that we still use today are the bifocals, these became very popular after a very short amount of time because a lot of people needed them. Ben Franklin made many discoveries and inventions. He was still doing amazing things after that.
The Old Age
Everyone retires at some point in their life. Ben Franklin didn't exactly do that. Franklin returned to Philadelphia in 1785. He was elected president of the Pennsylvania Abolition Society. Franklin often made speeches against slavery. Even though, Franklin owned slaves he still went against it in public. He was, in the end, considered an "anti-slavery pioneer." His last public act was to sign an appeal to Congress calling for the speedy abolition of slavery. After 84 years of discovery, Benjamin Franklin died on the night of April 17th, 1790. He left $5, 000 to Boston and Philadelphia each. Twenty thousand people honored Ben Franklin on the night of his death, but he impacted so many more people.
Conclusion
I think we can all agree that Ben Franklin is a very important person to learn about. Ben Franklin was important before his big break through science. However, in science no one could have done more to make this world a better place. Even after all the science breakthroughs, he still did incredible things! As you can see, Ben Franklin is a man that has done many incredible things to help shape the country we know and love.
Glossary
abolition- the act of officially ending slavery
arithmatic- math
Sources:
Books:
BEN FRANKLIN
COLONIAL BIOGRAPHIES OF AMERICA
Online:
worldbookonline.com