![]() ![]() He spent two years in a colonial prison for opposing the revolution and later became a leader in a loyalist group before moving to England at the end of the war. While Franklin joined in calling for independence from the mother country, William remained a staunch Tory who branded the patriots “intemperate zealots” and refused to resign his post as the royal governor of New Jersey. The two were once close friends and partners-William helped Franklin with his famous kite experiment-but they later had a major falling out over the American Revolution. His son was a British loyalist.Īlong with the two children he had with his wife, Deborah Read, Franklin also fathered an illegitimate son named William around 1730. While living in London in 1768, Franklin embarked on a project “to give the alphabet a more natural order.” Annoyed by the many inconsistencies in English spelling, he devised his own phonetic system that ditched the redundant consonants C, J, Q, W, X and Y and added six new letters, each designed to represent its own specific vocal sound.įranklin unveiled his “Scheme for a new Alphabet and a Reformed Mode of Spelling” in an essay published in 1779, but later scrapped the project after it failed to arouse public interest. Before he publicly announced his support for American independence, a few even suspected he might be a British spy. Franklin had soured on the monarchy by the time he returned to the United States for the Second Continental Congress in 1775, but his past support for King George III earned him the suspicion of many of his fellow patriots. ![]() When the Boston Tea Party took place in 1773, he dubbed it an “act of violent injustice on our part” and insisted that the East India Company should be compensated for its losses. Having lived in London for several years and held royal appointments, he instead pushed for peaceful compromise and the preservation of the empire, once writing that, “every encroachment on rights is not worth a rebellion.” He was a reluctant revolutionary.įranklin was among the last of the Founding Fathers to come out in favor of full separation from Britain. Thousands were manufactured, and the likes of Mozart, Beethoven and Strauss all composed music for it.įranklin would later write that “Of all my inventions, the glass armonica has given me the greatest personal satisfaction.” 5. The armonica would go on to amass a considerable following during the 18th and early 19th centuries. To play the instrument, the user would simply wet their fingers, rotate the apparatus and then touch the glass pieces to create individual tones or melodies. He made his first prototype in 1761 by having a London glassmaker build him 37 glass orbs of different sizes and pitches, which he then mounted on a spindle controlled by a foot pedal. ![]() London had been rebuilt and reborn, cleansed after the Great Fire and adorned with the architectural marvel of the new St Paul’s.Among Franklin’s more unusual inventions is his “glass armonica,” an instrument designed to replicate the otherworldly sound that a wet finger makes when rubbed along the rim of a glass. Rebuilt and rebornįranklin’s 18 months as a teenage printer in the imperial capital were to have a profound effect on him. By bringing France into the war against Britain, Franklin is crucial in securing American independence.ġ776–87 | Franklin is the only person to sign all three key documents in the creation of the United States: the Declaration of Independence (1776) the Treaty of Paris (1783) and the Constitution (1787). In 1775, he is forced to flee.ġ776–85 | In Paris in an ambassadorial role. This is rejected in 1768.ġ766: Following Franklin’s triumphant appearance before the House of Commons, the hated Stamp Act is repealed.ġ764–75 | The slow transformation of Franklin from government supporter to British opponent. After the accession of George III, he builds links with Prime Minister Bute.ġ762–64 | After a spell in Philadelphia, he returns to London to make Pennsylvania a British Royal Colony. At age 12, he is apprenticed to his printer brother, before moving to Philadelphia in 1723.ġ724–26 | Franklin becomes a printer in London before returning to Philadelphia as a fierce Anglophile.ġ726–57 | He enjoys great success as a printer, newspaper owner and journalist and then turns to science, winning the 18th‑century equivalent of the Nobel Prize.ġ757–62 | Franklin returns to London as the first great transatlantic celebrity on a mission to make the Penn proprietors of Pennsylvania pay taxes. Timeline: Benjamin Franklin's life and revolutionary activitiesġ706 | Benjamin Franklin is born the son of a tallow chandler (candlemaker). ![]()
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