Benjamin Franklin
Susanna Dey
19 November 2011
Benjamin Franklin
Say the name Benjamin Franklin and you may picture a chubby man with spectacles holding a kite during a lightening storm. Perhaps you picture him a older man with spectacles propped up on his nose standing in a great room full of distinguished gentlemen signing the Declaration of Independence. Both of these facts about Benjamin Franklin's life would be true. However, there was so much more to Mr. Franklin. He was a diplomat, a statesman, a scientist, and a writer. His contributions to our society were more than just to America but to the world. For the purpose of this paper we will just discuss the inventions he produced which had a world impact. (Fish 2).
Ben Franklin was born 17 January 1706 in Boston, Massachusetts to Josiah and Abiah Franklin. (Isaacson 26). His father was a candle and soap maker. Tried as he might, this career did not interest him. Neither did the business of printing as he discovered while working as an apprentice for his older brother. Though Ben Franklin possessed at an early age the talent of persuasive writing via “anonymous letters” to the editor, young Ben Franklin was destined for much more. At the age of 17 years old, he decided he did not want to work in his brother's printing shop. He caught a sailing vessel to Pennsylvania. (Brands 54).
During the colonial era, gold and silver coins were the only sources of currency. Furthermore, they were minted in Britain. The colonies were chronically short of coins and they wished to mint their own currency (Levenson 26). There were attempts at printing paper currency by the different colonies, but these attempts were short-lived and unpopular. The biggest reason for this was the ease at which they could be counterfeited. While in Pennsylvania in 1739, Ben Franklin began printing fine currency. The problem with printed money was the ease of counterfeiting. To remedy this, Mr. Franklin enlisted the help of
19 November 2011
Benjamin Franklin
Say the name Benjamin Franklin and you may picture a chubby man with spectacles holding a kite during a lightening storm. Perhaps you picture him a older man with spectacles propped up on his nose standing in a great room full of distinguished gentlemen signing the Declaration of Independence. Both of these facts about Benjamin Franklin's life would be true. However, there was so much more to Mr. Franklin. He was a diplomat, a statesman, a scientist, and a writer. His contributions to our society were more than just to America but to the world. For the purpose of this paper we will just discuss the inventions he produced which had a world impact. (Fish 2).
Ben Franklin was born 17 January 1706 in Boston, Massachusetts to Josiah and Abiah Franklin. (Isaacson 26). His father was a candle and soap maker. Tried as he might, this career did not interest him. Neither did the business of printing as he discovered while working as an apprentice for his older brother. Though Ben Franklin possessed at an early age the talent of persuasive writing via “anonymous letters” to the editor, young Ben Franklin was destined for much more. At the age of 17 years old, he decided he did not want to work in his brother's printing shop. He caught a sailing vessel to Pennsylvania. (Brands 54).
During the colonial era, gold and silver coins were the only sources of currency. Furthermore, they were minted in Britain. The colonies were chronically short of coins and they wished to mint their own currency (Levenson 26). There were attempts at printing paper currency by the different colonies, but these attempts were short-lived and unpopular. The biggest reason for this was the ease at which they could be counterfeited. While in Pennsylvania in 1739, Ben Franklin began printing fine currency. The problem with printed money was the ease of counterfeiting. To remedy this, Mr. Franklin enlisted the help of
Cited: Asimov, Isaac. Asimov 's chronology of science and discovery. New York: Harper & Row, 1989. Print. Brands, H.W.. The first American: the life and times of Benjamin Franklin. New York: Doubleday, 2000 Print. Fish, Bruce, and Becky Durost Fish. Benjamin Franklin: American Statesman, Scientist, & Writer Philadelphia: Chelsea House Publishers, 2000. Print. Isaacson, Walter. Benjamin Franklin: an American Life. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2003. Print. Nov 2011. . Levenson, Thomas. "Greatest Invention." American History 45.4 (n.d.): 26. Science Reference Center. Web. 24 Nov. 2011. Mapp, Alf J.. The faiths of our fathers: what America 's founders really believed. Lanham, Md.: Rowman & Littlefield, 2003. Print. Morgan, Edmund S. Benjamin Franklin. New haven: Yale University Press, 2002. Print. Mount, Ellis, and Barbara A List. Milestones in science and technology: the ready reference guide to discoveries, inventions, and facts. Phoenix, AZ: Oryx Press, 1987. Print.