David Colbert - Benjamin Franklin

Statesman, scientist, publisher, and popular authorFranklin witnessed and shaped more events leading to independence than any other colonist.

DAY 1:
SEPTEMBER 25, 1723
RUNAWAY

Teenage Benjamin Franklin makes a difficult break from home and family.

DAY 2:
DECEMBER 24, 1724
STRANDED

Fooled by a man he trusted, Franklin arrives in London penniless on Christmas Eve.

DAY 3:
DECEMBER 28, 1732
POOR RICHARD

Franklins almanac treats the colonies to his commonsense philosophy.

DAY 4:
MAY 10, 1752
LIGHTNING IN A BOTTLE

An ingenious experiment with electricity makes Franklin internationally famous.

DAY 5:
JANUARY 15, 1758
A DANGEROUS MAN

Franklin becomes sworn enemies with a man who wants to rule Pennsylvania.

DAY 6:
FEBRUARY 13, 1766
FORCE OF ARMS

Franklin warns the British Parliament that its facing a disaster in America.

DAY 7:
JANUARY 29, 1774
AMBUSHED

In a humiliating attack, enemies of the American colonists accuse Franklin of treason.

DAY 8:
JULY 4, 1776
UNLUCKY EXPRESSIONS

With Franklins help, the rebel Americans declare their independence from Great Britain.

DAY 9:
MARCH 20, 1778
KING VS. KING

Franklin convinces a king to support an uprising of angry commoners.

DAY 10:
SEPTEMBER 17, 1787
A RISING SUN

A new Constitution for the United States is shaped by Franklins philosophy.

AFTERWORD:
DECEMBER 15, 1791
A NEW EDITION

After Franklins death, passage of the Bill of Rights proves the wisdom of Franklins belief in democracy.

S tatesman, scientist, publisher, and popular authorBenjamin Franklin witnessed and shaped more events leading to independence than any other colonist. He represented the colonies in Britain. He signed the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States. He negotiated the treaty with France that helped win the Revolution, and the peace treaty with Great Britain that ended the war.

With just two years of traditional schooling, he became a celebrated philosopher and scientist. He discovered rules about electricity that are still taught today. Some of his many other scientific observations were more than a century ahead of their time.

Long before governments began to provide services to their citizens, he helped organize firefighters, schools, and a hospital.

His books were bestsellers. Some were translated and published across Europe. Lines he wrote are now common phrases.

He had remarkably few enemies for a man who played a part in creating a new, complex nation. When he made an enemy, there was usually a reason. By nature he was an optimist. He gave his trust generously and found that even difficult people gave him their trust in return.

He also had faults. He was obsessed with financial success and in business occasionally left people feeling misled. Though he preached often about avoiding vanity, at times his modesty was an act. His optimism sometimes blinded him to reality: He failed to understand for a long time that Britains king, George III, would never give the colonists the rights they demanded. He was against slavery as an institution, but he owned slaves for a while and printed advertisements for slaves. For part of his life he held the usual prejudices against African Americans, slave or free. However, it must be said that he came around to the idea that the black race was in every respect equal to his own, which was a rare belief at the time, even among those people who wanted to end slavery.

Hes an icon now, but he was a man once. He had his good days and his bad days, his boring days and his interesting days. He lived 30,761 days in all. Here are the ten that shook his world and yours.