Chapter 7: Benjamin Franklin
Born in Boston in 1706, Benjamin Franklin organized the United States’ first lending library and volunteer fire department. His scientific pursuits included investigations into electricity, mathematics and mapmaking. He helped draft the Declaration of Independence and the U.S Constitution, and negotiated the 1783 Treaty of Paris, which marked the end of the Revolutionary War (American war of Independence). Benjamin, a man who never finished school but shaped his life through abundant reading and experience, a strong moral compass and an unflagging commitment to civic duty, and an overall wit, good humor and integrity. Franklin illumined corners of American life that still have the lingering glow of his attention. He was a true polymath and entrepreneur, which is no doubt why he is often called the First American.
Benjamin Franklin was born on January 17, 1706, in Boston. He furthered his education in the printing trade in Philadelphia, lodging at the home of John Read in 1723. Nevertheless, the following year, he left for London under the auspices of Pennsylvania Governor William Keith. Franklin returned to Philadelphia in 1726 and in the next few years he held varied jobs such as bookkeeper, shopkeeper and currency cutter. In early 1728, Franklin was able to establish his own print shop with a partner. After publishing another pamphlet, "The Nature and Necessity of a Paper Currency," Franklin was able to purchase The Pennsylvania Gazette newspaper from a former boss. His prominence and success grew during the 1730s. Franklin amassed real estate and businesses, organized the Union Fire Company to counteract dangerous fire hazards, established a lending library so others could share his passion for reading, and was elected Grand Master of the Pennsylvania Masons, clerk of the state assembly and postmaster of Philadelphia.
The 1740s, he expanded into entrepreneurship with invention of the Franklin stove, and also into scientific pursuits. He became a soldier in the Pennsylvania militia at the age of 42, but his abiding interest in electricity was ignited at this time, too. He conducted the famous kite-and-key experiment in 1752 after some of his theories on electricity were published in England the previous year. Franklin was tapped as a foreign diplomat and represented the Pennsylvania Assembly, and subsequently Massachusetts, Georgia and New Jersey, in England, but he continued to work toward colonial union and in 1766 supported the repeal of the Stamp Act. In 1775, Franklin was elected to the Second Continental Congress and as postmaster general for the colonies, having mapped the postal routes in 1762. And in 1776, he was one of five men to draft the Declaration of Independence. Franklin was also one of the 13 men who drafted the Articles of Confederation. In 1785, he was elected to represent Pennsylvania at the Constitutional Convention, which drafted and ratified the new U.S Constitution, and participated in electing George Washington as the country’s first president, inaugurated in April 1789. He also served as president of the Pennsylvania Society for Promoting the Abolition of Slavery, wrote many tracts urging the abolition of slavery and petitioned the U.S Congress for it in 1790.
With so many of America’s early heroes, successes take the spotlight, while failures are rarely mentioned. But with any great entrepreneur the failures are just paving stones to the triumphs. Franklin himself said, “Do not fear mistakes. You will know failure. Continue to reach out.” He took his own advice. Franklin mapped the Gulf Stream, invented swim fins, the lightning rod and musical instruments, established colleges, and amassed scores of other accomplishments. His self-education earned him honorary degrees from Harvard, Yale, Oxford University in England, and the University of St. Andrews in Scotland. Franklin’s voracious capacity for knowledge, investigation and finding practical solutions to problems
was his primary focus, as was his commitment to “doing good,” which led to the concept of paying it forward.
Translation: English –Thai
1. Have you ever watched lightning during a storm? Have you ever wondered about its power? Have you ever wanted to know more about it? Ben Franklin did. Actually, Ben's interest in electricity was not just limited to lightning. He received an electricity tube from his friend and began to play around with it, performing experiments. However, it is Ben's interest in lightning that we best remember.
2. Ben suspected that lightning was an electrical current in nature, and he wanted to see if he was right. One way to test his idea would be to see if the lightning would pass through metal. He decided to use a metal key and looked around for a way to get the key up near the lightning.
3. As you probably already know, he used a child's toy, a kite, to prove that lightning is really a stream of electrified air, known today as plasma. His famous stormy kite flight in June of 1752 led him to develop many of the terms that we still use today when we talk about electricity: battery, conductor, condenser, charge, discharge, uncharged, negative, minus, plus, electric shock, and electrician.
4. Although electricity was just a hobby for Ben Franklin, he made many important contributions. Even today, scientists are still studying electricity and learning more about it. They've learned that all citizens need to practice good safety habits, since electricity can be very dangerous. Ben Franklin would be amazed at how important his stormy kite flight really was!
5. Benjamin Franklin studied electricity, and is quite famous even today for his kite and key experiment with lightning. We must always remember that Ben could have been seriously injured during that experiment. It is never a good idea to be careless with something as powerful as electrical energy!