When you think of Benjamin Franklin, do you see a brilliant, bespectacled statesman? Or do you picture an eccentric inventor flying a kite in a storm to learn about electricity? Both images of Franklin are equally true. Long before he became a "founding father" of the United States, Franklin was a successful merchant, scientist, publisher, and diplomat.
Franklin was born in Boston in 1706 to a poor family. One of 17 children, he was the first of his siblings to receive any formal education. He made the best of his opportunities, learning to read and write at a very young age and eventually continuing his studies on his own.
For many years before the American Revolution, Franklin lived in England and, thanks to his wit and charm, was a favorite dinner guest in London society. However, his efforts to champion the cause of the American colonies eventually earned him the disfavor of Parliament and the press. He returned to Boston at the start of the Revolutionary War and worked with Thomas Jefferson to draft the Declaration of Independence. When the war was over, Franklin helped negotiate the terms of peace.
Question
How might Benjamin Franklin's life have been different if his father had raised him and his siblings in England?
