He was reelected in and , serving for three years, the limit set by the constitution. The Council of Pennsylvania elected him to represent the state in the Constitutional Convention which met in Philadelphia from May 25 to September 17, The Constitutional Convention is considered one of the most significant events in the history of the United States as it created the Constitution.
When the New Jersey militia stripped William Franklin of his post as royal governor and imprisoned him in , his father chose not to intercede on his behalf.
After his return to Philadelphia in , Franklin held varied jobs including bookkeeper, shopkeeper and currency cutter.
In he returned to a familiar trade - printing paper currency - in New Jersey before partnering with a friend to open his own print shop in Philadelphia that published government pamphlets and books. In Franklin was named the official printer of Pennsylvania. In Franklin published another pamphlet, "A Modest Enquiry into The Nature and Necessity of a Paper Currency," which advocated for an increase in the money supply to stimulate the economy.
With the cash Franklin earned from his money-related treatise, he was able to purchase The Pennsylvania Gazette newspaper from a former boss.
Under his ownership, the struggling newspaper was transformed into the most widely-read paper in the colonies and became one of the first to turn a profit. He had less luck in when he launched the first German-language newspaper in the colonies, the short-lived Philadelphische Zeitung. Franklin amassed real estate and businesses and organized the volunteer Union Fire Company to counteract dangerous fire hazards in Philadelphia.
He joined the Freemasons in and was eventually elected grand master of the Masons of Pennsylvania. In the s, Franklin expanded into science and entrepreneurship. His pamphlet "A Proposal for Promoting Useful Knowledge" underscored his interests and served as the founding document of the American Philosophical Society , the first scientific society in the colonies.
By , the year-old Franklin had become one of the richest men in Pennsylvania, and he became a soldier in the Pennsylvania militia. He turned his printing business over to a partner to give himself more time to conduct scientific experiments. He moved into a new house in Franklin also discovered the Gulf Stream after his return trip across the Atlantic Ocean from London in He began to speculate about why the westbound trip always took longer, and his measurements of ocean temperatures led to his discovery of the existence of the Gulf Stream.
This knowledge served to cut two weeks off the previous sailing time from Europe to North America. Andrews in Scotland. In , Franklin wrote a pamphlet concerning the education of youth in Pennsylvania that resulted in the establishment of the Academy of Philadelphia, now the University of Pennsylvania. In , Franklin conducted the famous kite-and-key experiment to demonstrate that lightning was electricity and soon after invented the lightning rod.
He coined new electricity-related terms that are still part of the lexicon, such as battery, charge, conductor and electrify. In , Franklin acquired the first of several enslaved people to work in his new home and in the print shop. Later in life, he became more vociferous in his opposition to slavery. Search for: Search. Close search. Check Mate Among his many other talents, Benjamin Franklin was a skilled chess player. All Hail the Bucket Brigade In keeping with his desire to help others, Franklin created the first volunteer fire department in America.
Death Defying Including his risky experiment with the kite, Franklin did several others that were just as, if not more, dangerous. Musically Inclined While it is still unclear who actually invented the instrument, Ben Franklin is known for perfecting the glass harmonica. Please Sign Here Franklin is the only founding father that signed all four key documents that led to the formation of the United States.
Tea Time While Franklin was fond of tea, he did not agree with the extreme measures taken during the Boston Tea Party. Go Top. More about museum contributor. Having returned to America, Franklin became an early advocate of confederation and was one of the committee of five appointed to draft the Declaration of Independence. Franklin was the only man to sign the three key documents in the birth of the United States: the Declaration of Independence, the Treaty of Paris, and the Constitution.
To those can be added an important fourth, the Treaty of Alliance with France. This made him second only to Washington for his importance in winning the War of American Independence.
Then Franklin electrified him, and thence forward those two conducted all the Policy, Negotiations, Legislations, and War.
After his return from France in , Franklin became, at the age of seventy-nine, the President and effective Governor of Pennsylvania for three years. He was also a member of the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia in Though enfeebled by ill-health, his few contributions to the Convention were important.
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