‘age 73’
(1779)
(painting by french painter ‘joseph duplessis’)
.
.
(’17 january 1706’ – ’17 april 1790’)
(julian birthdate –> ‘6 january 1705’]
(that ’11 year’ julian/gregorian gap)
(until the brits finally acccepted the catholic ‘gregorian’ calendar)
.
(though by now they were ‘anglicans’)
(not quite ‘protestants’)
(the ‘english variation’ of ‘german protestants’)
.
*died @ ‘age 84’*
.
(‘benjamin franklin’ was one of the ‘founding fathers’ of the ‘united states’)
(‘franklin’ was a renowned ‘polymath’ and a leading…
author,
printer,
political theorist,
politician,
freemason,
postmaster,
scientist,
inventor,
civic activist,
statesman,
and diplomat)
.
(as a scientist, he was a major figure in the ‘American Enlightenment’ and the history of physics for his discoveries and theories regarding ‘electricity’)
(as an inventor, he is known for the ‘lightning rod’, ‘bifocals’, and the ‘Franklin stove’, among other inventions)
(he facilitated many civic organizations, including Philadelphia’s fire department and the ‘University of Pennsylvania’, an Ivy League institution)
(‘Franklin’ earned the title of “The First American” for his early and indefatigable campaigning for colonial unity, initially as an author and spokesman in London for several colonies)
(as the first ‘United States Ambassador to France’, he exemplified the emerging American nation)
(‘Franklin’ was foundational in defining the American ethos as a marriage of the practical values of thrift, hard work, education, community spirit, self-governing institutions, and opposition to ‘authoritarianism’ both political and religious, with the scientific and tolerant values of the ‘Enlightenment’)
(in the words of historian ‘Henry Steele Commager’, “In a Franklin could be merged the virtues of ‘Puritanism’ without its defects, the illumination of the ‘Enlightenment’ without its heat”)
(to ‘Walter Isaacson’, this makes Franklin “the most accomplished American of his age and the most influential in inventing the type of society America would become”)
(‘Franklin’ became a successful newspaper editor and printer in ‘Philadelphia’, the leading city in the colonies, publishing the Pennsylvania Gazette at the age of 23)
(he became wealthy publishing this and Poor Richard’s Almanack, which he authored under the pseudonym”Richard Saunders”)
(after 1767, he was associated with the Pennsylvania Chronicle, a newspaper that was known for its revolutionary sentiments and criticisms of the British policies)
(he pioneered and was first president of ‘The Academy and College of Philadelphia’ which opened in 1751 and later became the ‘University of Pennsylvania’)
(he organized and was the first secretary of the ‘American Philosophical Society’ and was elected president in 1769)
(‘Franklin’ became a national hero in America as an agent for several colonies when he spearheaded an effort in London to have the Parliament of Great Britain repeal the unpopular ‘Stamp Act’)
(an accomplished diplomat, he was widely admired among the French as American minister to Paris and was a major figure in the development of positive ‘Franco-American’ relations)
(his efforts proved vital for the ‘American Revolution’ in securing shipments of crucial munitions from ‘France’)
(he was promoted to ‘deputy postmaster-general’ for the British colonies in 1753, having been Philadelphia postmaster for many years, and this enabled him to set up the first national communications network)
(during the ‘Revolution’, he became the first ‘US Postmaster General’)
(he was active in community affairs and colonial and state politics, as well as national and international affairs)
(from 1785 to 1788, he served as governor of ‘Pennsylvania’)
(he initially owned + dealt in ‘slaves’ but, by the ‘1750s’, he argued against ‘slavery’ from an ‘economic perspective’ and became 1 of the most prominent ‘abolitionists’)
.
(his ‘colorful life’ + legacy of ‘scientific’ + ‘political achievement’ (and his status as one of america’s most influential ‘founding fathers’) have seen ‘franklin’ honored more than 2 centuries after his death on…)
‘coinage’
(the $100 bill)
‘warships’
.
(and the names of many…)
‘towns’
‘counties’
‘educational institutions’
‘corporations’
.
(as well as countless ‘cultural references’)
.
.
.
.
.
.
💕💝💖💓🖤💙🖤💙🖤💙🖤❤️💚💛🧡❣️💞💔💘❣️🧡💛💚❤️🖤💜🖤💙🖤💙🖤💗💖💝💘
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*🌈✨ *TABLE OF CONTENTS* ✨🌷*
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🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥*we won the war* 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥