Benjamin Franklin - Printer
As a child, I loved to read, write, and collect books; so when it came time to choose a job, my father decided I would become a printer. At the age of twelve, I started as an apprentice with my brother James. At the age of twenty-two, I opened my own printing shop. My newspaper, the Pennsylvania Gazette became very popular and profitable. A few years later, Poor Richard’s Almanack was released and soon became the best selling book in the colonies, selling over 10,000 copies a year. Soon, I became the most active printer in the colonies and I became the official printer of Pennsylvania. I printed money, laws, and documents for the colony. Then, I became the public printer for Delaware, New Jersey, and Maryland. I also helped establish newspapers in New York, Connecticut, and two islands in the West Indies.
Benjamin Franklin - Librarian
Books were very expensive during my time and few people could afford them. Some friends and I, known as the Leather Apron Club (because we wore leather aprons) discussed ways we could help the community. Through my suggestion, we started a lending library that was open to everyone. We bought books, which people could borrow.
So, in 1731, the first lending library in America opened. Soon, other towns began to imitate the library, until reading became fashionable even among the less educated.
I can afford = j'ai les moyens de..
to borrow = emprunter
Attention! N'oubliez pas que "library" est un faux-ami: il s'agit d'une bibliothèque et non d'une librairie...
Benjamin Franklin - Inventor
At the age of forty-two, I retired from printing to explore my other interests. I devoted this time to inventing. During my life, I invented many things, including:
Swim fins, bifocals, a glass armonica, watertight bulkheads for ships, the lightning rod, an odometer, and the wood stove (called the Franklin stove).
In addition to inventing, I enjoyed experimenting. One thing that always fascinated me was electricity. so, one stormy night my son, William, and I were experimenting with lightning. You see, during my time, people thought that lightning was a mysterious force that was a punishment from God; however, I wanted to prove that lightning is a form of electricity.
I attached a pointed metal piece on the top of my kite and a metal key to the base of the string. Lightning struck the kite and traveled down the kite string to the key. When I touched the key with my hand, there was a spark! It's a good thing I didn't electrocute myself (although I was knocked unconscious twice before when experimenting with electricity, so don't try this at home!), but I proved that lightning is electricity! After that, I invented the lightning rod to protect buildings and ships from lightning .
my kite = mon cerf-volant
the string = la corde
lightning = la foudre
the lightning rod= le paratonnerre
Benjamin Franklin - Statesman
When I was born, America was made up of thirteen colonies which were ruled by England. Trouble between England and the thirteen colonies started and on April 19th, 1775, the colonists went to war.
During the fight for independence, I went to Europe to represent the colonies. In 1776, I signed the Declaration of Independence and, in 1778, the Treaty of Alliance with France. In addition, I negotiated with the French to help the colonists and became the first United States minister to France. I helped secure guns, ammunition, and other provisions for the army as well as volunteer troops. When the colonists won their independence in 1781, I helped negotiate the peace with England and signed what ultimately became known as Treaty of Peace with Great Britain (1782).
Now that the colonists were free and independent, it became necessary to decide what type of government would be established. Even though I was not in my prime and my health was starting to fail, at eighty-one, I was the oldest delegate at the Constitutional Convention.
Upon signing the Constitution on September 17, 1787, I became the only Founding Father to have signed all five documents that established American independence: the Declaration of Independence, the Treaty of Amity and Commerce with France, the Treaty of Alliance with France, the Treaty of Peace with Great Britain, and the Constitution of the United States of America.
