Changes

==Early life==

==Early life==

Franklin was born on January 17, 1706, in [[Boston]], [[Massachusetts]] into a Puritan family.  His father was Josiah Franklin, a soap and candle maker, who was married twice and had 17 children.  Benjamin briefly attended the very good South Grammar School (affiliated with the Boston Latin School), then at age 10 was pulled out by his father. He was apprenticed at age 12 to his brother James Franklin  (1697-1735), one of the first American printers.  James published ''[[New England Courant]]'' and it became Ben's first public forum for his essays, written under the pseudonym "Silence Dogood."  Ben, pretending to be a widow, wrote 14 essays in 1722.  The essays drew the anger of the local authorities, who prohibited James from publishing it, citing that it mocked religion.  Ben, now aged 17, was under legal obligation to his brother but broke with him, and ran away to Philadelphia on his own.  Franklin visited his many relatives in Boston in 1733  and reconciled with his brother, and when James died at the age of 38, Ben helped his widow and took charge of James' oldest son.

Franklin was born on January 17, 1706, in [[Boston]], [[Massachusetts]] into a Puritan family.  His father was Josiah Franklin, a soap and candle maker, who was married twice and had 17 children.  Benjamin briefly attended the very good South Grammar School (affiliated with the Boston Latin School), then at age 10 was pulled out by his father. He was apprenticed at age 12 to his brother James Franklin  (1697-1735), one of the first American printers.  James published ''New England Courant'' and it became Ben's first public forum for his essays, written under the pseudonym "Silence Dogood."  Ben, pretending to be a widow, wrote 14 essays in 1722.  The essays drew the anger of the local authorities, who prohibited James from publishing it, citing that it mocked religion.  Ben, now aged 17, was under legal obligation to his brother but broke with him, and ran away to Philadelphia on his own.  Franklin visited his many relatives in Boston in 1733  and reconciled with his brother, and when James died at the age of 38, Ben helped his widow and took charge of James' oldest son.

==Philadelphia Printer ==

==Philadelphia Printer ==

Franklin found work as a printer in Philadelphia. Pennsylvania governor William Keith was one of his patrons, and he persuaded Franklin to go into business for himself and offered him letters of credit in London to purchase equipment.  When he arrived in London in December 1724, he learned that Keith's letters of credit were useless.  Franklin stayed in London, working in the local print shops.  In 1726, he returned to Philadelphia and again worked in print shops. In 1728, Franklin partnered with Hugh Meredith to open their own print shop.  Franklin soon bought out Meredith and in 1730 began publishing ''The Pennsylvania Gazette'' newspaper, which he bought from his former employer, Samuel Keimer.  Besides the newspaper and almanac, he was a job printer and churned out pamphlets, religious tracts, playbills, tickets, advertisements, legal forms, soap wrappers, election notices, currency, carrier addresses, government documents, book labels, school books such as [[The New England Primer]], and other ephemeral items.  In his leisure moments, he taught himself to read French, Spanish, Italian, and Latin.

Franklin found work as a printer in Philadelphia. Pennsylvania governor William Keith was one of his patrons, and he persuaded Franklin to go into business for himself and offered him letters of credit in London to purchase equipment.  When he arrived in London in December 1724, he learned that Keith's letters of credit were useless.  Franklin stayed in London, working in the local print shops.  In 1726, he returned to Philadelphia and again worked in print shops. In 1728, Franklin partnered with Hugh Meredith to open their own print shop.  Franklin soon bought out Meredith and in 1730 began publishing ''The Pennsylvania Gazette'' newspaper, which he bought from his former employer, Samuel Keimer.  Besides the newspaper and almanac, he was a job printer and churned out pamphlets, religious tracts, playbills, tickets, advertisements, legal forms, soap wrappers, election notices, currency, carrier addresses, government documents, book labels, school books such as [[The New England Primer]], and other ephemeral items.  In his leisure moments, he taught himself to read [[French]], [[Spanish]], [[Italian]], and [[Latin]].

===Almanack===

===Almanack===

{{main|Poor Richard's Almanack}}

{{main|Poor Richard's Almanack}}

==Marriage==

==Marriage==

In September 1730, Franklin entered a common law marriage with Deborah Read. No legal ceremony was possible because Deborah was still legally married; her husband had deserted to avoid paying a debt. Around this time, Franklin fathered an illegitimate son by an unknown woman; [[William Franklin]] was raised in his new household.  In 1732, his first son with Deborah, Francis died of smallpox at the age of 4, leading Franklin to become an advocate of vaccinations.  Sarah Franklin, who went by Sally, was born 11 years later in 1743.  

In September 1730, Franklin entered a common law marriage with Deborah Read. No legal ceremony was possible because Deborah was still legally married; her husband had deserted to avoid paying a debt. Around this time, Franklin fathered an illegitimate son by an unknown woman; William Franklin was raised in his new household.  In 1732, his first son with Deborah, Francis died of smallpox at the age of 4, leading Franklin to become an advocate of vaccinations.  Sarah Franklin, who went by Sally, was born 11 years later in 1743.

==Civic leader==

==Civic leader==

===Opposes multiculturalism===

===Opposes multiculturalism===

Franklin had a vision of an ethnically homogeneous America, and so he had negative views on the large and expanding German community in Pennsylvania (usually called the "Pennsylvania Dutch.")  Franklin's first contacts with the Pennsylvania Germans concerned business. In 1731 he printed two books in German for German Baptists; he also printed into pamphlet form a letter from Conrad Weiser, an Indian negotiator, to Christopher Sauer, a German-language publisher. However, in from the late 1740s into the 1750s, Franklin believed that the Germans could not be assimilated into Englishmen and thus would always be aliens. He disliked the failure of the Germans to assimilate—they had their own language, religion and customs, and showed no interest in becoming like Englishmen or in joining the militia.  In "Observations on the Increase of Mankind" (1751), Franklin expressed his opposition toward German immigrants, whom he ridiculed:

Franklin had a vision of an ethnically homogeneous America, and so he had negative views on the large and expanding German community in Pennsylvania (usually called the "Pennsylvania Dutch.")  Franklin's first contacts with the Pennsylvania Germans concerned business. In 1731 he printed two books in German for German Baptists; he also printed into pamphlet form a letter from Conrad Weiser, an Indian [[negotiator]], to Christopher Sauer, a German-language publisher. However, in from the late 1740s into the 1750s, Franklin believed that the Germans could not be assimilated into Englishmen and thus would always be aliens. He disliked the failure of the Germans to assimilate—they had their own language, religion and customs, and showed no interest in becoming like Englishmen or in joining the militia.  In "Observations on the Increase of Mankind" (1751), Franklin expressed his opposition toward German immigrants, whom he ridiculed:

:"why should the Palatine Boors be suffered to swarm into our Settlements and, by herding together, establish their Language and Manners, to the Exclusion of ours? Why should Pennsylvania, founded by the English, become a Colony of Aliens, who will shortly be so numerous as to Germanize us instead of our Angli-fying them .. .?"

:"why should the Palatine Boors be suffered to swarm into our Settlements and, by herding together, establish their Language and Manners, to the Exclusion of ours? Why should Pennsylvania, founded by the English, become a Colony of Aliens, who will shortly be so numerous as to Germanize us instead of our Angli-fying them .. .?"

[[Category:American Authors]]

[[Category:American Authors]]

[[Category:Scientists]]

[[Category:Scientists]]

[[Category:Diplomacy]]

[[Category:International Relations]]

[[Category:Enlightenment]]

[[Category:Enlightenment]]

[[Category:British Empire]]

[[Category:British Empire]]