Was Benjamin Franklin An Important Founding Father?

Who was the founding father who stated that "a penny saved is a penny earned" (librarycompany.org)? On January 17th, 1706, Benjamin Franklin was born in the Massachusetts Bay Colony (now known as Boston). Even though he learned to read at a young age, Franklin was taken out of schooling at age 10 to help his father with work. When Franklin grew up, her 'married' Deborah Read, and he had three children: Sarah, William, and Francis, who died at age four. Sadly, Benjamin Franklin died April 17th, 1790, leaving us with his work and revolutionary ideas. Benjamin Franklin was an important Founding Father because of his business in printing, his government expertise, and his genius ideas and inventions. Many people may know Franklin for his

Franklin was a hard working man in government, signing all 3 major U.S. documents that freed the colonies from the British control. He also served as a delegate to the Second Continental Congress and in that time Franklin joined the five person committee that drafted the Declaration of Independence. However, not all the government projects he did were as big as that. Franklin also helped with forming new ways of transportation and communication throughout Pennsylvania. Not only was Benjamin Franklin very important to the events taking place in the colonies, but he was also well known for the work he did in France as well. Franklin had a history of working with the French for support in the Revolutionary War. Franklin served on a commission to France that was assigned to gain the French support from the years 1776 to 1778. As stated on history.state.gov, "his popularity and diplomatic skill (...) convinced France to recognize American independence and conclude an alliance with the thirteen states in 1778". Due to Franklin's impressive work as the first American diplomat, the French supplied the American colonies with soldiers, supplies, and money, which ultimately allowed the colonies to win the Revolutionary War against the British. Overall, if it hadn't been for Benjamin Franklin and his excellent works in government, the Americas still may not have been independent

Franklin's inventions made many every day tasks of the colonial times a lot easier. Benjamin Franklin was the inventor of the lightning rod and he is well known for his experiments in electricity field. Using only a key, a kite, and a jar, Benjamin Franklin discovered how to conduct electricity. Franklin later constructed the lightning rod, a metal rod attached to the highest point of a building with a cable running it from the rod into the ground, safely conducting the electricity away from the building. No longer would houses and stores catch on fire due to lightning strikes during intense storms. However, electricity still wasn't used the way we do today for another hundred years. Franklin also worked with the idea of time, not only creating the 3 wheel clock, but also invented day lights saving time. "Franklin invented a 24-hour, three-wheel clock that was much simpler than most clock designs of the time" (pbs.org), even though the minute hand wasn't added for many years. Benjamin Franklin also invented daylights saving time because he believed that it would be simpler if instead of melting excessive amounts of candles and oil lamps, that it would be easier to use natural lighting. Benjamin Franklin's vast amount of inventions completely changed the course of history for the