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[[Image:Benjamin.jpg|thumb|'''Benjamin Franklin''' <br>by Jean Baptiste Greuze (1777)|right]]

[[Image:Benjamin.jpg|thumb|'''Benjamin Franklin''' <br>by Jean Baptiste Greuze (1777)|right]]

'''Benjamin Franklin''' (January 17, 1706, [[Boston]] &ndash; April 17, 1790 [[Philadelphia]]), was an American polymath, invetor, statesman, scientist and one of the most prominent [[Founding Fathers]].

'''Benjamin Franklin''' (January 17, 1706, [[Boston]] &ndash; April 17, 1790 [[Philadelphia]]), was an American polymath, inventor, statesman, scientist and one of the most prominent [[Founding Fathers]].  His createst invention was the United States of America.

   

   

==Priner==

==Printer==

As a youth, Franklin was apprenticed to his older brother James, as a printer. Using several different pen names, Benjamin contributed many articles to Jame's [[newspaper]].  However, Benjamin felt his brother mistreated him and in 1723, he ran away to Philadelphia, then the largest city in British North America.

As a youth, Franklin was apprenticed to his older brother James, as a printer. Using several different pen names, Benjamin contributed many articles to Jame's [[newspaper]].  However, Benjamin felt his brother mistreated him and in 1723, he ran away to Philadelphia, then the largest city in British North America.

He understood the risks the [[Founding Fathers]] were taking and told them, "We must all hang together, or we shall hang separately."

He understood the risks the [[Founding Fathers]] were taking and told them, "We must all hang together, or we shall hang separately."

==Fame==

==Ambassador==

By 1780 Franklin was the most famous American in the world. He was one of the most prominent of the Founding Fathers, early political figures and statesmen of the [[United States]].

He served as the American minister (ambassador) to [[France]], where where he was instrumental in obtaining military and economic support for the struggle against England. In Paris, Franklin mingled with scientists, writers and intellectuals in many of the salons. He avoided court costumes and cultivated the image of a rustic American, sometimes wearing a coonskin cap. The French loved every bit of it and his popularity helped in securing recognition, money and armies and navies to fight britain.  

Franklin is one of the few non-presidents whose likeness appears on U.S. currency. Franklin graces the $100 bill while [[Alexander Hamilton]] appears on the $10 bill.

Upon his return, Franklin was elected to the [[Second Continental Congress]].  On July 21, he presented plans for the [[Articles of Confederation]], similar to his Albany Plan, which called for a strong central government and a congress with proportional representation.  Most of his ideas were not included in the version Congress adopted in 1777.  As popular sentiment for independence grew in early 1776, Franklin, along with [[Thomas Jefferson]], [[John Adams]], [[Roger Sherman]], and [[Robert Livingston]], was selected by Congress to draft the [[Declaration of Independence]].  The document was written primarily by Jefferson, with Franklin offering his editorial commentary.  With America formally declaring it's sovereignty and the war going poorly, in December of 1776 Franklin was sent to France, along with [[Silas Deane]] and [[Arthur Lee]], to secure aid for the rebellion.

Franklin arrived to great fanfare in France.  Already popular for his lightning experiment,  his flirtatious manner and wit made him a favorite among the courtiers.  Franklin also proved himself to be a crafty diplomat.  By the end of 1777, after the American victory at [[Battle of Saratoga|Saratoga]], the French favored an alliance with the Americans which was dismissed by their ally [[Spain]].  Franklin played on the traditional hatred between the British and the French, using the press to get his messages across.  On February 5, 1778 America officially signed a treaty of alliance with France with the stipulation that they must have France's approval to negotiate peace with England. French aid proved to be critical to the Americans success, most notably in October 1781 at [[Siege of Yorktown|Yorktown]] in which the support of French naval forces and ground troops caused the British to surrender.   This gave America the leverage it needed to negotiate peace with England and Franklin, along with [[John Jay]] and John Adams, negotiated the [[Treaty of Paris (1783)]].

Franklin arrived back in Philadelphia in September 1785.  The [[Articles of Confederation]], which were ratified by all the colonies in 1781, proved to be inefficient for governing the new nation, particularly because they granted the national government no power to levy taxes.  In 1787 the [[Constitutional Convention]] convened in Philadelphia to write a new Constitution. Franklin, at age 81 the oldest delegate, played an honorific role and his support helped legitimize the project.

==Ambassador==

==Death==

He served as the [[Continental Congress]] ambassador to [[France]], where where he was instrumental in obtaining military and economic support for the struggle against England. In [[Paris]], Franklin attracted attention by attending many of the salons and downplayed his status as Dr. Franklin. Instead, he sometimes cultivated the image of a rustic American, sometimes wearing a coonskin cap. Franklin's popularity helped in securing monetary and later military support from France.  

Franklin died on April 17, 1790 at the age of 84 and was buried at Christ Church in Philadelphia. Civic-minded to the end, Franklin's will established a 200 year trust fund for Boston and Philadelphia which was to be used to train and educate young craftsmen. Both cities have held true to Franklin's wishes, providing aid to students and establishing the [[Franklin Institute of Boston]].

 

As Franklin grew older, he recognized that [[Christianity]] had positive effects on colonial society. Franklin befriended [[George Whitefield]], the best known of the [[Great Awakening]] [[evangelical]]s.  The two also had a business relationship, with Franklin printing nearly all of Whitefield’s North American sermons. After one of Whitefield's sermons, Franklin noted the ''"wonderful...change soon made in the manners of our inhabitants. From being thoughtless or indifferent about religion, it seem'd as if all the world were growing religious, so that one could not walk thro' the town in an evening without hearing psalms sung in different families of every street."''<ref>The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin, p.104-108</ref><ref>At the Constitutional Convention in 1787, Franklin proposed a prayer for divine intervention to aid the troubled proceedings.</ref>

As Franklin grew older, he recognized that [[Christianity]] had positive effects on colonial society. Franklin befriended [[George Whitefield]], the best known of the [[Great Awakening]] [[evangelical]]s.  The two also had a business relationship, with Franklin printing nearly all of Whitefield’s North American sermons. After one of Whitefield's sermons, Franklin noted the ''"wonderful...change soon made in the manners of our inhabitants. From being thoughtless or indifferent about religion, it seem'd as if all the world were growing religious, so that one could not walk thro' the town in an evening without hearing psalms sung in different families of every street."''<ref>The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin, p.104-108</ref><ref>At the Constitutional Convention in 1787, Franklin proposed a prayer for divine intervention to aid the troubled proceedings.</ref>

==In fiction and popular culture==

==In fiction and popular culture==