Where would America be without Benjamin Franklin?  Throughout the course of his life, he contributed several ideas and hopes that have shaped the nation.  To this day, his accomplishments continue to influence the country.  It is important to note that Franklin was more than a Founding Father or the fellow who connected electricity to lightning by flying a kite in a thunderstorm.  He was by every sense of the term, a renaissance man.  Franklin was skilled in printing, publishing, writing, and science.

   Franklin’s formal education ended once he had reached the age of ten.  However, he had a thirst for knowledge and taught himself many subjects through literature.  In his early teens, Franklin worked as an apprentice to his older brother at his weekly newspaper, the New-England Courant.  As time passed, he developed a fascination for writing, which prompted him to transcribe a series of fourteen compositions under the alias “Silence Dogood” at the age of sixteen.  The feedback from the public was a boost of encouragement to Franklin, they adored his writing.  Franklin grew in age and so did his passion for the printing and publishing industry.  In 1729, he purchased the Pennsylvania Gazette, which eventually earned him wealth and status in society.  Perhaps it was this passion that aided him in his other achievements as well.

Franklin had a desire to improve life for society, he did this by investing in public projects.  He was concerned with providing widows with welfare, forming a volunteer militia, and building the University of Pennsylvania in order to educate middle class children.  Franklin also built institutions for the mentally disabled and a lending library.  He even devised a number of inventions for the public such as the lightning rod, bifocals, the Franklin stove, and the glass harmonica.   

  Franklin’s ambition only became bolder as he grew older.  In 1754, he printed his renowned cartoon “Join or Die” in the Pennsylvania Gazette, which would later become a symbol of colonial unity against the British.  Soon, Franklin found himself immersed in the political world.  He was elected as president of the American Philosophical Society in 1769 and later was elected as a delegate to the Second Continental Congress.  Time passed and Franklin continued to climb the political ladder.  In 1776, he was appointed as a member of the committee of five who drafted the Declaration of Independence.   

  The results of Franklin’s ambition still echo throughout the country to this day.  Franklin has inspired countless individuals with his words and his wisdom.   His ideas and inventions did not die with him, they carried out into the modern world.  Americans have admired Franklin’s success for ages and will admire him for many years to come.