Benjamin
Benjamin Franklin was born on January 17,
1706 in Boston, Massachusetts. He was
born into a modest family, but later
became to be one of the greatest statesmen
in the country. He shaped this
country’s course of events, which forever
changed the way we live today. Ben
Franklin made many contributions to the
revolutionary cause. One could say he
was one of the greatest fighters in the
Revolutionary War. Although he
did not fight physically with weapons, he
powerfully fought with words. Among
many revolutionary contributions, he helped
draft and sign the "Declaration
of Independence," he secured financial and
physical aid from France for the
war cause, he lifted many laws that were
imposed on the colonies by the King
of England, and in 1787, and he signed
"The Constitution of the United
States of America." When he met with the
assembly meeting over the
"Declaration of Independence," he addressed the
delegates with the statement,
"We must all hang together, or assuredly we
shall all hang separately."
During the French and Indian War, he supplied
General Braddock and his
men with 150 wagons and 259 horses so he could march on
Fort Duquesne.
Ben Franklin led a small group of soldiers along with his son
to
Gnadenhuetten to build a fort to protect Pennsylvania from the French
and Indian
invaders. Within a few weeks, he had three well-fortified forts
spaced out over
15 miles and suitable living quarters for the men. If Ben
Franklin had not
participated in the politics of the American Revolution, the
Americans could
have easily lost the war. When he went to France to secure
financial and
physical aid for the war cause, it gave more power to the
Americans, which
probably led them to win the war. If he had not gone to
England to lift the
taxes, that could have mean that more British troops most
likely would have been
sent over to make people pay taxes, which could have
lengthened the war. Had he
not participated in the war, it most likely would
have changed the outcome of
the war. It was very interesting the way that
Franklin came up with and proved
that electricity came from lightning. In
1752, he and his son Billy set out on a
stormy night to prove the electricity
was generated by lightning. He took a kite
and attached a long ribbon to the
end of it. He tied a key on the ribbon, about
7 feet away from the
bottom, and was flying it as close as he could get it to
the clouds. Franklin
waited for lightning to strike the kite, which would pass
down the ribbon to
the key. Then, it struck! He touched the key, and he felt
that stinging
feeling of a shock! He was right, lightning did generate
electricity!! He
waited for it to happen again, and he put a special jar around
the key, which
will trap the electricity inside. Once the electricity was in the
jar, he
touched it and he fell back to the ground. He was right! Soon after
the
experience, Ben went to tell his colleagues who had worked on the study
with
him. To learn more about Ben Franklin would be a great idea. He was one
of the
leading statesmen in the new America and was a historical figure who
shaped our
nations history. He was a very bright and intelligent man who
could enlighten
anyone in many areas of learning. He was an inventor who came
up with many ideas
which are taken for granted today, such as the post
office, or the library, or
the fire department, he introduce methods of
street paving and lighting, and he
found ways to correct the excessive
smoking of chimneys. Not too many people
know of all the things he invented,
and most people would probably be interested
in learning about the things he
invented or thought of. By reading The story of
Benjamin Franklin by Enid
Lamonte Meadowcraft, the reader learns of the things
that Ben Franklin had
invented, or the many Revolutionary contributions he made,
or that he signed
the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence and
helped draft the
"Declaration of Independence." The reader would also learn
that Ben was a
modest man from Boston who had moved to Philadelphia and worked
up into the
highest ranks in Philadelphia and became loved by everyone
in
Philadelphia and all of the colonies. I would recommend The Story of
Benjamin
Franklin by Enid Lamonte Meadowcraft to third through fourth
graders at the
most. This is a very easy read and can be read very quickly.
If one is looking
for a book of facts on Benjamin Franklin, this is not the
book for such detailed
information. It is more of a story than a
sophisticated biography of Ben
Franklin. This book is not recommended to
many people beyond fourth grade, for
it is too easy.