History Series: Ben Franklin
History of Ben Franklin
The First American
We know this polymath as a writer, publisher, printer, merchant, scientist, moral philosopher, international diplomat, and inventor.
He invented the glass harmonica in music, but he also invented the Franklin stove and started the first lending library and fire brigade in Philadelphia.
He did experiments with electricity and developed the lightning rod. He was considered:
America’s best scientist, inventor, diplomat, writer, and business strategist, and he was also one of its most practical, though not most profound, political thinkers. — Walter Isaacson. Benjamin Franklin: An American Life
What is he remembered for, what were his roles as a Founding Father, what did he do in France, and what were his thoughts on religion?
Ben Franklin in America
Born in Boston on January 17, 1706 *, he was among the earliest and oldest of the American Founding Fathers. He served as a lobbyist to England, was the first Ambassador to France, and has been called “The First American.”
He was one of the five drafters of the American Declaration of Independence, along with John Adams and primary drafter Thomas Jefferson. Franklin…
