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Benjamin Franklin (1706–1790

American thinker, diplomat, and inventor who traveled frequently between the American colonies and Europe during the Enlightenment and facilitated an exchange of ideasbetween them. Franklin exerted profound influence on the formation of the new government of the United States, with a hand in both the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution.

Born1706 in Boston, Benjamin Franklin was the 15th of his father's 17 children. He went to school as a child with the intent of becoming a minister, as his father, Josiah, intended. However, that idea wasdropped after Franklin showed a keen interest in reading and writing. He was apprenticed to his brother, James at a young age, but after fighting with his brother he quit the job and moved toPhiladelphia, where he worked for a man named Samuel Keimer. After befriending some prominent political figures, including the royal Governor, Franklin left for England, where he spent 18 months working for aprinter with his friend James Ralph, with whom he later became estranged. Shortly after returning to America in 1726, Franklin formed a debating club called the Junto. Two years later, he took overThe Pennsylvania Gazette from Keimer and turned it into a successful publication with tools from London. In 1730, Franklin wed his old sweetheart, Deborah Read, with whom he had two children. Thefirst, William Franklin, was born approximately one year later; he is the man to whom the Autobiography is addressed in Part One.

Throughout the 1730s, Franklin held some minor positions doing printingwork for the government. In that time, he began Poor Richard's Almanac and became postmaster of Philadelphia. Towards the end of the decade, he invented the Franklin stove. In the 1740s, Franklinworked on several projects, including the fire brigade, the police force, the University of Pennsylvania, the street sweeping service and some other smaller public works projects. He retired from the...