Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) (2107)

Benjamin Franklin lived a long life. He was journalist and inventor, scientist and statesman, politician and writer. His accomplishments, his talents and interests have caused him to be called both "the first American" and "the last universal man".

Benjamin was one of 17 children in the family. As a young child, he worked in the shop of his father, a candle maker, but this work did not appeal to the boy who loved to read and study. Therefore, when he was 12, Benjamin was sent to assist his half-brother James who had a printing shop. There, surrounded by books, young Ben would often stay up late into the night reading on a wide range of subjects.

Benjamin liked to make things with his own hands. He made a lot of experiments and invented an open stove, which gave more heat and wasted less fuel than a fireplace. He also made the first pair of bifocal glasses and invented a musical instrument called the glass harmonica and the stepladder chair.

Franklin is especially famous for his contributions in the field of electricity. He proved that the electric charge can be taken from a passing cloud and conducted harmlessly to earth. Thus a rod placed above the highest part of a building or a ship and reaching the ground protects them from lightning. The lightning rod was Franklin's greatest discovery. This invention and his studies of electricity brought Franklin universal fame. He turned the subject of electricity into a science. His theory was expressed in simple physical terms and showed the usefulness of electricity in many ways. The commonest terms used in electricity today are Franklin's words: battery, brush, armature; charge; condense, conductor, plus, minus, positive, negative.

Franklin studied heat conductors, the origin of storms, medicine, natural history, political economy and mathematics. He spoke several languages.

Franklin was known and respected all over the world as a citizen. He had broad, generous and progressive political ideas. He defended American Negroes. He said that slavery was a crime from the moral point of view and proved that it was against the interests of the United States of America. He worked much for the cause of independence and helped Jefferson in writing the Declaration of Independence. Later he rendered great assistance in making up a constitution for a democratic federal government.

Franklin was a talented diplomat. At the age of 77 he made negotiations on the peace treaty with England after the British had surrendered. In 1783 the treaty was signed.

Check your comprehension.

1. What is Benjamin Franklin? 2. When was he born? 3. How did he spend his childhood? 4. What did Benjamin invent when a youth? 5. What discoveries did he make in electricity? 6. What physical terms did he invent? 7. What fields of science was he interested in? 8. What were his political views? 9. What assistance did Franklin render in the making of the young U.S. government? 10. What was his contribution as a diplomat?

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