Benjamin Franklin example essay topic

Benjamin Franklin, one of the most important people of the new American Dream was born in Boston in January 1706 to a tradesman and a homemaker. It seemed unlikely that Benjamin Franklin would succeed in becoming one of the shapers of the American dream. Josiah Franklin, his father, a young Dyer in England with his first wife Anne and his three children, Josiah, Hanna, Samuel, and Elizabeth left England and came to Boston in 1683. In the begging society of Boston population 5,000 they seemed not to be in need of Josiah's skills forcing him to find a new trade candle and soap making. Many years later Anne Franklin died from complication of giving birth to her seventh child. Franklins father soon married Abash Folger of Nantucket who went on to have ten more children who Benjamin was the eight child.

From Benjamin's point of view his mother was a very caring and loving person. James Franklin, Benjamin's older brother had already become a printer by the age of twenty-one. Seeing the opportunity Benjamin signed on with his brother for nine years in 1718. The contract committed Benjamin to work for his brother nine years until the age of twenty-one. The new work opened doors for Benjamin. Through his brother's dealings with booksellers, Benjamin was exposed to a great deal of literature and philosophy.

Benjamin franklins talent and ingenuity were instrumental in making his brothers business a success. James had a contract for printing the Boston Gazette. After ten months the contract had ended and was transferred to a rival printer. This angered Benjamin so he started his own newspaper, The New England Courant, in august 1721. Benjamin was assigned to the duty of composing the type and printing the pages. He was also in charge of distributing to reach more readers.

Inspired by the dream of becoming a writer Benjamin, ascertain that his brother would not publish any of his work began slipping his work under the door at his brothers print shop. These tales published in the Franklin newspaper received much attention. No one suspected that a sixteen-year-old boy could write such great writings. When his true identity was revealed James was jealous and they came to physical blows on each other. The two brothers could no longer keep their work together as master and apprentice. Benjamin got his chance to leave in 1723, with his close friend John Collins they began a journey.

After a short stay in New York they arrived in Philadelphia in October with no money and not knowing what to expect of the future. Benjamin's major concern was to find employment. On the second day in town he found a job as a journeyman printer in the shop Samuel Keizer. He stayed at a boarding house next door to the shop maintained by John Reed. Strange enough John's daughter would soon become Benjamin's wife. Benjamin soon set sail for England to try to establish business connection and try to purchase a printing press, types and other equipment.

Benjamin continued his relationship with Deborah Reed. They made promises to each other to get married when he returned from England. Sailing on July 23, 1776 Franklin finally landed in Philadelphia on October 11. Unknown to Franklin was that Deborah Read the woman that Franklin had secretly made a promise to marry had lost all hope of his return from England. So she married a poor potter named John Rodgers. She soon realized that Rodgers practiced polygamy and soon left him and renounced his name.

Around 1730 Benjamin wanted to hurry up and get married since he had just fathered a son, named William out of wedlock. To this day the identity of Williams true mother remains a mystery. Benjamin never told anyone the mothers true name. Instead, Deborah Read quickly moved into Franklin's house and was soon declared his common law wife. Deborah seemed like a perfect match taking good care of William and her two other legitimate children, son Francis and daughter Sarah. During this time Franklin had began to establish himself as a leader in the Philadelphia community.

He started the first library. Then a little after all these great achievements Franklin suffered a tremendous loss of his four-year-old son Francis from small pox. Franklins political career started in 1736 when he was elected clerk of the state legislator. The next year he was given the job Postmaster. Mean while his many ideas improved the city of Philadelphia.

He started a tax to provide better watchmen. He also helped organize groups of volunteer fire fighters. Franklin also founded what is known today as the University of Pennsylvania. Franklin's great ideas provided huge gain to the city of Philadelphia. The Franklin Stove invented by him in 1748 at the age of 42 improved heating and reduced fire hazards. As his printing industry prospered, Franklin could afford to devote more and more of his energy to improving life in Philadelphia.

Printing had never been known as a wealthy trade. However, he used his talent and determination to create an extremely profitable enterprise. By 1748, the success of Benjamin's print shop entitled him to an early retirement. Franklin then turned his attention to the activities he most adored: science and politics. Retiring early from the printing industry, Benjamin Franklin was destined to achieve international fame through his experiments in electricity. Franklin became interested in the natural experience known as electricity after witnessing demonstrations about static charge.

Consequently, he contacted a friend from London and asked him to get glass tubes and data on the procedure of electrical experiments. Rubbing the glass tubes with silk, Benjamin was able to produce a static charge that could be used in his many experiments. Franklin was among the first to suggest that lightning was merely naturally -occurring electricity and that it could be drawn from the clouds. To prove this theory, he set up tall pointed rods that provided an easy path for the electricity of lightning to follow. Eventually these pointed rods were modified to serve as lightning rods designed to protect people's homes. In 1752, Franklin performed his famous kite experiment with the help of his twenty-one year old son, William.

On a stormy day, lightning struck the kite, and electricity streamed down toward the key, presenting the final proof of lightning's electrical nature. While electricity brought him international praise, the brilliant Franklin investigated a variety of other sciences as well. Throughout his life, Benjamin studied weather and proposed models to describe the progression of storm systems across the continent. He also examined medicine under his own ideas.

Benjamin Franklin accomplished many other things throughout his life. Franklin knew that he had only a short time to live. One of his last visitors was Thomas Jefferson, one of the few people to receive a copy of Franklin's autobiography, which was designed to be a legacy to Benjamin's family and relatives although in tremendous agony, Benjamin informed George Washington that he was happy to be alive to see the establishment of his young and great nation. Unable to go on any longer he quietly passed away on April 17, 1790. I don't know really why I chose to write about Benjamin Franklin, but as I started reading about all his great ideas and stuff he accomplished he started to interest me. I never knew about half the stuff Franklin accomplished.

He started the first library in Philadelphia. And founded a college which is today know as the University of Pennsylvania. Among all his other accomplishments he helped preacher George Whitefield in establishing an orphanage. Franklin, started most of the electrical terms we use still to this day such as battery, positive and negative charge. Among the other things he had a great political career. He helped persuade the French into helping the American patriots in the war.

Still as inventive in his elderly state Franklin went on to invent the bifocals and conducted many more experiments and inventions. To sum things up I think that Benjamin Franklin was one of the main shapers of the American dream.