5 little known facts about Benjamin Franklin

Today, January 17, 2019, we celebrate the 313^th birthday of Benjamin Franklin. He was born in the city of Boston in the year 1706 and died in Philadelphia in 1790.

To most people when they hear the name Benjamin Franklin you think of him as a founding father of the United States of America, his kite experiment during a lightning storm, poor Richard's almanac, his securing funds for the Revolution, being Postmaster General. All of these are major accomplishments and show how diverse of a life he lead.

There is much though that many of us may not know about the man that play such a big roll in shaping our country. The following are a few of those lesser known facts:

1. He only had two years of formal education. As a young child Benjamin attended both Boston Latin School and a private academy. After just two years at these schools he was put to work for his parents in their candle and soap making shop.
2. At the age of 12 he went to work for his brother as an apprentice in his print shop. This was were Benjamin started what would be a successful printing and journalism career. Four years after starting there Benjamin started writing essays and commentary as a fictitious Widow named “Silence Dogood”.
3. He was an abolitionist in his later life. Much like many business and land owners at the time, Yes, Benjamin Franklin was a slave owner. A few years after the Revolution, he came to the conclusion that slaves should enjoy all of the freedoms that the rest of the country receives. In 1787 he became the president of the Pennsylvania abolitionist society and in 1790 he petitioned congress to grant liberty “to those unhappy men who alone in this land of freedom are degraded into perpetual bondage”. Upon his death he not only freed his slaves but put a clause in his will that his children must release their slaves to get their inheritance.
4. He is a member of the international swimming hall of fame. Early in his life, one of his first inventions were hand paddles that he would use to propel himself.
5. He was not in favor of the Revolution at first. Benjamin lived in London for many years and received several royal appointments. Because of all this he still wanted to remain on good terms with England. So, when the other founding fathers talked about Revolution, he talk about trying to compromise with the crown. He even called the Boston tea party “ an act of violent injustice on our part”. Of course this raised some suspicions and started rumors of him being a British spy.