Title Page | Collection Summary | Biographical/Organizational Note | Scope and Content | Arrangement
Biographical Note
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| 1706, Jan. 17 | Born, Boston, Mass. |
| 1718-1723 | Apprenticed as a printer to his brother James Franklin |
| 1725-1726 | Journeyman printer, London, England |
| 1727 | Founded the Junta, a debating club, Philadelphia, Pa. |
| 1728 | Wrote Articles of Belief and Acts of Religion |
| 1729 | Purchased Pennsylvania Gazette |
| 1730 | Married Deborah Read Rogers (died 1774) |
| 1731 | Established the Library Company of Philadelphia, Pa. |
| 1732-1758 | Published Poor Richard, 1732-1747, and Poor Richard Improved, 1748-1758, commonly known under collective title Poor Richard's Almanack |
| 1736-1751 | Clerk, Pennsylvania Assembly |
| 1740 | Invented the Pennsylvania fireplace (Franklin stove) |
| 1743 | Proposed formation of the American Philosophical Society |
| 1751 | Founded with others, the Academy for Education of Youth (now University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pa.) Founded Philadelphia City Hospital, Philadelphia, Pa. Published letters to Peter Collinson, Experiments and Observations on Electricity. London: Printed and Sold by E. Cave |
| 1751-1764 | Represented Philadelphia at the Pennsylvania Assembly |
| 1754 | Represented Pennsylvania at the Albany Congress |
| 1757-1762 | Political agent of the Pennsylvania Assembly, London, England |
| 1766 | Reappointed as agent for Pennsylvania, London, England |
| 1771 | Began autobiography |
| 1775 | Left London, England, for Massachusetts Elected member of the Second Continental Congress Named postmaster general |
| 1776 | Served on committee to draft the Declaration of Independence Went to France as one of three American commissioners to negotiate a treaty |
| 1778 | Negotiated treaties of commerce and defense with France Appointed sole plenipotentiary in France |
| 1781 | Appointed with John Jay and John Adams to negotiate a peace with Great Britain |
| 1783 | Signed Treaty of Paris with Great Britain and asked Congress for his recall |
| 1785 | Returned to the United States |
| 1785-1788 | President, Supreme Executive Council of Pennsylvania |
| 1787 | Represented Pennsylvania at the Constitutional Convention |
| 1790 | Signed memorial to Congress as last official act as president of the Pennsylvania Society for Promoting the Abolition of Slavery |
| 1790, Apr. 17 | Died, Philadelphia, Pa. |