Basic Information
Name: Benjamin Franklin
Nickname: Poor Richard, The First American, Gentle Ben
Born: January 17th, 1706
Died: April 17th, 1790
Nationality: American
Hometown: Philadelphia
WORK & EDUCATION
Occupation: Scientist, inventor, statesman, writer, printer…actually, it would be easier to list the occupations he didn't have. He wasn't an astronaut.
Education: Boston Latin School (dropped out) and self-education
FAMILY & FRIENDS
Parents: Josiah Franklin, Abiah Folger
Siblings: James Franklin, Jane Franklin, and eight others
Spouse: Deborah Read
Children: William Franklin, Sarah Franklin
Friends: Thomas Jefferson, John Hancock, George Washington
Foes: King George III, Thomas Penn, John Adams
Analysis
Writer, Scientist, Cliché-ist
If this is the first time you're reading his name, you probably didn't grow up in America. There's more than one reason that Ben Franklin is called "The First American." And no, it has nothing to do with his famous cameo in The Office or the fact that his smiling mug graces our $100 bills.
While the younger Founding Fathers were still playing with Nerf Muskets, Benjamin Franklin was experimenting with electricity, writing his own dang epitaph and creating the institution of the public library. (Source)
Like many of the other famous statesmen of the 1700s, he was largely self-educated—he taught himself letters and law—and became a printer to earn a living. His personal guide to surviving life, Poor Richard's Almanack, is the source of half the clichés you've probably heard. ("Early to bed, early to rise," and "A penny saved is a penny earned" are two examples your dad probably loves.)
Franklin's Government Demo Tapes
Aside from his literary contributions (his autobiography is among the most popular books in the genre, BTW), Franklin made important contributions to American statehood.
He was an early proponent of colonial unity: in 1754, he wrote The Albany Plan, a proposal for a "General Government" of the colonies (source).
At the time, British authorities and American landowners were constantly in conflict over westward expansion—Americans' desire to extend their territory ultimately landed the Empire in the costly French and Indian War (source). Around this time, Franklin came to believe that the colonies needed to form a unified front to stand up against the mother government, and he published the famous "Join or Die" cartoon to argue his point.
In July of 1775, a year before the signing of the Declaration of Independence, Franklin proposed a plan for something called "The Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union." Though Congress rejected his plan, Franklin still gets credit for originating the idea of creating a government to supersede the temporary Continental Congress. A year later, John Dickinson would take his idea and totally run with it.
When the Constitutional Convention rolled around in the late 1780s, Franklin was near the end of his life, and he wasn't completely gung-ho about the stronger national government the Constitution created.
Still, in a final speech before the assembled delegates, he gave his blessing to the document, "with all its Faults," and a move that unified the convention and eased fears that the new government would become too tyrannical.
It's a good thing he did—after all, it wouldn't be right if "The First American" hadn't given the thumbs-up to the future government of America, would it?