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A Benjamin Franklin National Holiday
Now is the time that American establish a Ben Franklin national holiday: January
17. How American historians could over looked this patriotic giant and super
hero? Without Benjamin
Franklin there would have been no funding for the Revolution. Without him,
there would not have been a United States Constitution. He is the lynch pen
that held the many pieces together that cemented our county.
Ben Franklin is the key patriot who moved rebellion into
liberty. He deserves a special national holiday! Samuel Adams launched the
Sons of Liberty. Paul Revere organized the first spy network.
Patrick Henry
was the voice for the Southern rebellion. George Washington managed a fragile volunteer army
into a victory. But not one of
these held the world class prominence of Benjamin Franklin. He was the
colonies world class rock star of 1770’s.
He, also, was our
first stellar entrepreneur. He was a champion of free trade and individual
capitalism. His remarkable accomplishments place his as a fore-runner to
Thomas Edison, Andrew Carnegie, Henry Ford, Bill gates, etc. At the age of
65, having accomplished so many fetes, Benjamin Franklin began writing
his autobiography with the purpose of sharing his success and failures with
others in business.
Our county should
officially honor him as being one of countries greatest
and
most influential founding fathers. How can argue against his profound
impact in making the “United States of America”? It was Franklin who wrote
the first draft of our Declaration of Independence and mediated our U.S.
constitution. It was Ambassador Franklin who secured from Europe for the
entire Revolutionary War. It was Franklin who negotiated the peace Treaty
with Great Britain, as well as troop exchange.
In addition to his commitment for Liberty, his unusual curiosity leads Franklin to many scientific
discoveries. One example is his discovery of the Gulf Stream. When traveling
across the Atlantic, he found it took much longer going than returning. He
then mapped the Gulf Stream, made calculations, and scientifically
demonstrated how it slowed east bound shipping. His hands on involvement for
solutions made him famous throughout the world.
He was the
exclusive printer for Pennsylvania paper currency from 1718-1764 because of
his anti-counterfeiting printing techniques. He printed an estimated 2.5
million in currency, while employing many different methods to protect the
state and citizens from thieves: exclusive imported English paper, infused
mica, unbreakable engraving codes, mixed various type fonts, and misspelled
words.
His worldwide fame came from his many scientific discoveries
and inventions. He invented bi-focal glasses. He gave the colonists an
effective, efficient stove. He was by scientific communities for his
experiments with lightening, and he identified it as an electrical power
source. He invented the lightening rod. He invented a lever for fetching
books from high book shelves. He invented the “glass Aromonica” and wrote
music with Mozart and Beethoven. This pronounced global footprint is the
exact reason for celebrating a Ben Franklin national holiday.
Benjamin Franklin was one of the wealthiest people in the
American colonies. He derived revenue from his publications and mostly from
“Poor Richard’s Almanac”. He retired at age forty to devote his time to
scientific work and public service. Without his profound influence, our
United States would not have happened.
The follow list is a summary of his
major accomplishments by date,
then his deeds.
Benjamin Franklin, the doer and true American patriot
1706. Born in Boston, Massachusetts on January 17th,
the 10th child
among 17 siblings.
1723. Relocates to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
1728. Began printing money for the Pennsylvania Colony. His ingenious
printing methods aborted counterfeiters. He was contacted until 1764.
1732. Begins “Poor Richard’s Almanac”, which published homespun
philosophies and unique
sayings.
1734. Elected grand Master of Masons in Pennsylvania.
1741. Invented a new stove called the “Pennsylvania fireplace”.
1743. Established the American Philosophical Society.
1748. Reports scientific finds about electricity to the Royal Society
of London; devotes his life to
scientific inquiry.
1749. Designed the lightening rod.
1751. Elected to the Pennsylvania assembly, where he helped to establish the
first public hospital in the American colonies.
1752. Appointed deputy post master general of the colonies.
1752. Received world recognitions for his scientific work with electricity;
awarded the Copley medal from
the Royal Society of London.
1754. Published famous ‘Join or Die” cartoon, making Franklin the
first political cartoonist in
the American colonies.
1755. Appointed by the Pennsylvania assembly to oversee construction
of forts, following
General Braddock’s defeat during the French
and Indian Wars.
1756. Introduced a plan to pave streets, install lighting and trash
collection in Philadelphia.
1759. While on official business in England, Franklin receives another
honorary degree, which is
from St. Andrews University in Scotland.
Then, he was bestowed
another by Oxford University.
1765. Franklin opposed the Stamp Act, and
1766. His organizing a successful resistance that it was repealed.
Later, he traveled to Holland,
where he is elected into the German
Academy of Sciences.
1768. He scientifically identifies lead poisoning, along with its causes.
He published his map and
calculations of the Gulf Stream.
1771. He began writing his autobiography as a book of stories, promoting
success, virtues, cooperation,
and business practices.
1772. Elected as a foreign member into the French Royal Academy
of Sciences. He wrote a first
denunciation of slavery, the slave trade,
and its consequences.
1775. Selected as a delegate to the Second Continental Congress,
where he wrote our first
Constitution; the Articles of Confederation.
1776. Assisted in the drafting of The Declaration of Independence,
which he signed.
1778. Appointed as sole ambassador to France, where he signed
treaties with France.
1779. Franklin obtained a three million livres loan from France.
He arranged the first official
exchange of war prisoners between
Britain and the colonies.
1780. He secured a second needed loan from France for four million livres.
1781. Appointed to a four member commission to seek peace with
England: Franklin, Adams,
Jefferson and Jay.
1783. Attended the signing of Anglo-French and Anglo-Spanish Articles
of Peace. He, again, acquired
another loan for six million livres,
bring the French loans to
twenty million livres.
He signed a treaty of
Amity and Commerce with Spain.
1785. Arrived home from Europe and was elected Governor of Pennsylvania.
1787. Organizes and became the first president of the Society for Political
Inquiries and president
of the Pennsylvania Society for Abolition
of Slavery. He is elected
as a representative to the Constitutional
Convention, which he
attended regularly in spite of poor health.
His
role was chief peace maker, arbiter, and statesman, He
consistently press
delegates toward unity, compromises and used
his considerable
political skills. These attributes overcame a major
obstacle by proposing the
“Great Compromise”, which reconciled
congressional vote impact
between big states and small states.
His final speech
admonished delegates to sign the new
national Constitution.
(Benjamin Franklin was in
such poor health that he had to be carried
in a sedan chair.
He was carried to sign the final written draft.)
1790. Petitioned Congress to abolish slavery and the slave trade.
*** Died in his home on April
17th; buried beside his wife, Deborah,
in Christ Church,
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Our Blog:
http://poorbastardsalmanac.blogspot.com/
References:
Benjamin Franklin:
Genius of Kites, Flights and Voting Rights
Seymon Stanton Block
McFarlin & Company, Publishers
Jefferson, N.C. 2004
Benjamin Franklin
Edmond S. Morgan
Yale Univeristy Press
New haven & London 2002
Ben Franklin: America's
Original Entrepreneur
Blaine McCormick
Entrepreneur Press
Canada 2005
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