Benjamin Franklin, American Genius: His Life and Ideas with 21 Activities
NOTE TO READERS A MANY OF Benjamin Franklin's writings have sur vived over 200 years When you read Franklin s origi nal words you'll notice that spelling grammar and punctuation have often changed over the centuries Also sometimes words were capitalized in the mid dle of a sentence this was common and proper in writings from the
Preface THE RUNAWAY A ONE DAY he'd be a famous man in Philadelphia in America and across the sea in Europe But on a Sunday morning in early October 1723 the 17 year old was simply running away from his home in Bos ton He climbed out of a boat onto Philadelphia's Market Street Wharf exhausted his stomach growl ing with hunger his plain working clothes grimy from the trip The few coins in his pocket weighed almost nothing He knew not a soul in Philadelphia Where should he even look for a place to sleep that night He wandered up Market Street gazing all about him At a bakery he handed over a precious coin for three puffy golden rolls With the extra rolls stuffed one under each arm he munched his way up the street His coat pockets bulged with some additional shirts and stockings stuffed inside He noted a girl standing in a doorway who seemed to think his appearance perfectly ridiculous He wandered down Chestnut Street and turned onto Walnut all the while stuffing down his bread But his wandering only brought him in a great circle back to the river There he handed his extra rolls to a mother and child he'd met on the
A flock of people headed up Market Street and he joined them shuffling into the hushed Quaker Meet ing House Sitting down the lad looked around the plain building No minister rose to speak as in the Sunday church services in Boston In the silence he promptly fell asleep How do you start a new life in a new place with nothing to call your own The runaway teenager pos sessed a brightly sharp and curious brain He worked hard planned hard and saved hard His natural charm and ease with people from common folk to great gentlemen sped his climb of success in colonial America The lad's name was Benjamin Franklin and on this October morning he started from scratch to earn his place in the
III AS A YOUNG GENIUS N OCTOBER 1683 Josiah Franklin his wife Anne and their three small children gazed hungrily for their first sight of land They'd left England nine long weeks before on a cramped ship packed tight with 100 other passengers and crew Twenty five year old Josiah hoped not only to find religious freedom in New England but also to better support his growing family In Massachusetts a man could live more cheaply and earn more for his hard work In Boston the Franklins would build a new life Josiah labored as a silk and fabric dyer in
