Timeline
1718 - became an indentured servant to his brother James
1723 - runs away from apprenticeship, goes to New York and then Philadelphia, and becomes employed as a printer
1727 - helps to establish the Junto
1736 - organized the Union Fire Company
1748 - becomes a soldier in the Pennsylvania militia
1752 - conducts kite experiment
1753 - received honorary degrees from Harvard and Yale
1776 - serves on a committee who draft the Declaration of Independence
1776 - arrives in France on December 21st as one of the commissioners of Congress to the French Court
1778 - signs French alliance
1779-81 - appointed to negotiate a treaty with England
1783-84 - signs Treaty of Paris
1787 - signs the U.S. Constitution
1790 - dies on April 17th at the age of 84, 20,000 mourners attend his funeral
The two most important of these events are Benjamin Franklin signing the Treaty of Paris in 1783 and signing the Constitution in 1787. The British wanted the thirteen colonies to still be linked to Great Britain with some freedoms, but Franklin insisted on Britain recognizing America as an independent nation. Both Franklin and the British agreed on a negotiation to end the war. After two months of bargaining, the British accepted American boundaries and independence.
In 1787, Benjamin Franklin was 81, and in such poor health that he had to be carried to the Constitutional Convention in a sedan chair. He was one of the 39 delegates who actually signed the Constitution that day. While other representatives signed the Constitution, Franklin stared at the president's chair at the front, which had the image of a sun painted on it. He told the members near him that he had always wondered "whether it was rising or setting. But now at length I have the happiness to know that it is a rising and not a setting sun." Franklin had high hopes for the future of America.
1723 - runs away from apprenticeship, goes to New York and then Philadelphia, and becomes employed as a printer
1727 - helps to establish the Junto
1736 - organized the Union Fire Company
1748 - becomes a soldier in the Pennsylvania militia
1752 - conducts kite experiment
1753 - received honorary degrees from Harvard and Yale
1776 - serves on a committee who draft the Declaration of Independence
1776 - arrives in France on December 21st as one of the commissioners of Congress to the French Court
1778 - signs French alliance
1779-81 - appointed to negotiate a treaty with England
1783-84 - signs Treaty of Paris
1787 - signs the U.S. Constitution
1790 - dies on April 17th at the age of 84, 20,000 mourners attend his funeral
The two most important of these events are Benjamin Franklin signing the Treaty of Paris in 1783 and signing the Constitution in 1787. The British wanted the thirteen colonies to still be linked to Great Britain with some freedoms, but Franklin insisted on Britain recognizing America as an independent nation. Both Franklin and the British agreed on a negotiation to end the war. After two months of bargaining, the British accepted American boundaries and independence.
In 1787, Benjamin Franklin was 81, and in such poor health that he had to be carried to the Constitutional Convention in a sedan chair. He was one of the 39 delegates who actually signed the Constitution that day. While other representatives signed the Constitution, Franklin stared at the president's chair at the front, which had the image of a sun painted on it. He told the members near him that he had always wondered "whether it was rising or setting. But now at length I have the happiness to know that it is a rising and not a setting sun." Franklin had high hopes for the future of America.