Benjamin Franklin

Benjamin Franklin was awarded the Copley Medal in 1753 for his work on electricity involving identifying the existence of conductors and insulators, as well as proving that lightning is electricity. His famous kite flight during a thunderstorm led to the invention of the lightning rod, which…

In chapter 10 of the Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin, he outlines a system devised to achieve 13 specific virtues. These virtues are listed as temperance, silence, order, resolution, frugality, industry, sincerity, justice, moderation, cleanliness, tranquility, chastity, and humility. Franklin…

This vivid allegorical cartoon, which illustrates the fatal effects on the empire that would result from taxing the colonies, was designed by Franklin in 1766. Franklin printed the image on cards that he distributed to Parliament during the debate over the repeal of the Stamp Act.

WIlliam Franklin (1730-1813) was the illegitimate son of Benjamin Franklin and an unknown woman. He was born in Philadelphia, PA and attended school in London. He pursued a law education in London and was admitted to the bar. In 1763, he was appointed the Royal Governor of New Jersey.

This essay, by Benjamin Franklin in 1781, was written in response to the Royal Academy of Brussels call for scientific papers. His essay suggests that research should be taken to create methods to improve the oder of human flatulence. The essay is an example of flatulence humor and is satirical in…

A young Benjamin Franklin wrote this doggerel verse in 1728 to serve as his epitaph. Franklin, who loved to write humorous and satirical verses as well as essays, made copies of this verse for friends at various times in his life. This version, not in Franklin's hand, was among the papers…

Summary from Library of Congress: Franklin was widely popular in France, where he had lived from 1776 to 1785 as the chief US diplomatic representative. After hearing of his death on April 17, 1790, the French National Assembly issued a decree that its members would observe three days of mourning.…

The treaty, sent to Congress by the American negotiators, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, and John Jay, formally ended the Revolutionary War. They emerged from the peace process with one of the most advantageous treaties ever negotiated for the United States. Two crucial provisions of the treaty…

This treaty, signed on February 8th, 1778, formalized France’s financial and military support of the revolutionary government in America. As part of the alliance between “the most Christian King and the United of North America,” neither party could conclude a peace “with Great Britain without the…

This letter, written by Benjamin Franklin on January 4th, 1777, was addressed to the Committee of Secret Correspondence to inform them of renegotiations with France. This committee, which was a part of the Second Continental Congress, was assigned with communicating with Europeans sympathetic to…

This is a copy of an engraving of Benjamin Franklin at the Court of France by W.O Cellar based on a painting by Anton Hohenstein.

This political cartoon, created by Benjamin Franklin and originally published in The Philadelphia Gazette on May 9, 1754, represented colonial disunity preceding the French and Indian War.

This portrait of Benjamin Franklin was painted in 1785 by American artist Charles Wilson Peale. Peale painted this work of Franklin to display in the portrait gallery at his museum in Independence Hall in Philadelphia, PA. 

<p><span class="deck">When Benjamin Franklin came home from France in diplomatic triumph, he left behind a lovely, highborn lady mourning the miles between them.</span> </p>

<p><span class="deck"> “So convenient a thing it is to be a <span class="typestyle"> reasonable creature</span> , since it enables one to find or make a reason for everything one has a mind to do’ </span></p>

<p>Common Sense was a bestseller and turned the tide of public feeling toward independence, but for its author fame was followed by ingratitude.</p>

<p><span class="deck"> OF BALLOONS, THE FIRST AIR-MAIL LETTERS, AND THE EVER-ENTERPRISING FRANKLIN FAMILY</span> </p>

<p>Rakehells, men of good will, adventurers, and bunglers were all in the glittering pageant when the Old World came to help out the New</p>

<p><span class="deck"> “It is astonishing that the murderous practice of duelling should continue so long in vogue,” said Benjamin Franklin. Yet continue it did, often with peculiarly American variations</span> </p>

<p><span class="deck"> <span class="typestyle"> “I … sigh in the midst of cheerful company”</span> </span></p>

<p><span class="deck"> THE AMERICAN BALD EAGLE</span> </p>

<p><span class="deck"> James Wilson was an important but now obscure draftsman of the Constitution. Carry Wills is a journalist and historian fascinated by what went on in the minds of our founders. The two men meet in an imaginary dialogue across the centuries.</span> </p>

<p><span class="deck">Only one man had the wit, audacity, and self-confidence to make the case.</span></p>

<p><span class="deck">When the French Revolution broke out 200 years ago this month, Americans greeted it enthusiastically. After all, without the French, <span class="typestyle">we</span> could never have become free. But the cheers faded as the brutality of the convulsion emerged, and Americans realized that they were still only a feeble newborn facing a giant, intimidating world power. </span></p>

<p><span class="deck">A controversial recent book suggests that what we think of as good manners is a relatively new thing, a commodity manufactured to meet the needs of an industrial age. But, now that the Industrial Revolution is over, we may need them more than ever, for very different reasons.</span></p>

<p><span class="deck">THE STRANGE FORGOTTEN LIFE OF AMERICA’S OTHER BEN FRANKLIN, BY AN AUTHOR SO FASCINATED THAT HE’S WRITING A NOVEL ABOUT HIM.</span></p>

<p>Ben Franklin flies a kite.</p>

<p><span class="deck">More than two decades before the Revolution broke out, a group of Americans voted on a scheme to unite the colonies. For the rest of his life, Benjamin Franklin thought it could have prevented the war. It didn’t, but it did give us our Constitution.</span></p>

<p><span class="deck">The French helped us win our revolution. A few years later, we were at war with Napoleon’s navy. The two countries have been falling in and out of love ever since. Why?</span></p>

<p><span class="deck">One of his least-known contributions to modern life is also one of his most important.</span></p>

<p><span class="deck"> The Revolution’s Second Toughest Job</span> </p>

<p><span class="deck">The 70-year-old statesman lived the high life in Paris and pulled off a diplomatic miracle.</span></p>