Involve Me And I Remember: Benjamin Franklin

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“Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn.” Over the course of Franklin’s life, he achieved many feats. His many experiments led to the modern understanding of electricity we have today. Franklin was an avid inventor, as well as a very active politician. While doing all of this he also finding time to publish literary works such as Poor Richard’s Almanac. Benjamin Franklin spent some of his time invested in business as well. He is often coined as the “First American” because of his many achievements. Franklin is to thank for most things we have in the world today. Due to his intrigued interest of electricity, we have everything from lamps to laptops and the vocabulary pertaining to electricity, such as conductor, …show more content…
He spent a lot of his life improving government, whether it be local, state, or federal levels. Franklin served on the city council of Philadelphia in 1748. He went on to be a representative for Pennsylvania, keeping this office until 1764. Franklin is also to credit for the Join or Die cartoon, often used in today’s history classrooms, created during the French and Indian War to prove that the colonies needed to work together or suffer many consequences. In 1757, he served as the colony’s agent for England. Sailing off to London, with only his son, William and his two slaves leaving his wife, Deborah and daughter, Sarah behind, to settle things between England. Franklin was not to return to the colonies for twenty more years as he was drawn to the society and workings of London. Once he and his accompaniments returned, William took office for New Jersey’s royal governor and Franklin soon lost his seat in the Pennsylvania assembly in 1764. After losing his seat he returned to London without Deborah, who would not leave Philadelphia. Franklin’s arrival home would not be welcomed by Deborah as she had suffered a stroke and died in 1774. He once again returned to London while times were rough between the colonies and the mother country. Once he returned to America he was elected to the Second Continental Congress and in 1776 he and four other men began drafting the Declaration of Independence. Benjamin soon voted for …show more content…
When he was young he worked in his older brother’s print shop, where he was mistreated. Benjamin requested his work be published in his brother’s newspaper, but was denied every time. Franklin, clever, made up a pseudonym to write under, Mrs. Silence Dogood and the letters “she” wrote entertained readers to no end. It wasn’t long before his brother, James, caught on and grew furious. To escape the harsh treatment of his brother Ben fled to Boston in 1723. This isn’t Franklin’s only writing masterpiece, he also wrote our Declaration of Independence, Poor Richard’s Almanac, The Autobiography, and so much more. Benjamin Franklin was also a great businessman, he created so many business opportunities for many people, including himself. Franklin created a lot of business with his Franklin Stove making money for himself and others. He also was involved in real estate and helped people out by selling homes to them and again, making money for himself. Franklin selflessly decided to not patent his inventions because he believed everyone should benefit from them. Sadly, Franklin retired from business at the ae

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