hat he wrote. He also wrote an autobiography. In there he included his plan for moral perfection. Number 12 on his list of 13 things was chastity (Franklin 188-189). I don't think he got that far considering there is proof that he fathered over 30 illegitimate children.In the 1740s Ben Franklin began to experiment with electricity. Although it was a great idea then, I wouldn't suggest "experimenting with electricity" today. This obviously led to the invention of the lightning rod. In 1748 he sold his business in order to pursue his interest in science. Shortly after that, in 1752, Franklin pulled off the famous "kite in the storm trick (Sahlman)."In 1757 Franklin shifted gears. He was no longer a scientist, he was now a diplomat (Kavasery). This was the kind of thing that made him not only an extremely effective founding father, it also made him one of the truly great minds of all time. I can't think of anyone else who could be a great business man one year, a great scientist the next, and then decide that today is the day I am a diplomat. He was extremely well rounded.As a diplomat in 1757, he went to England to petition the king for the right to levy taxes. He stayed in England for the next five years and represented colonies (Sahlman). He returned to England in 1764 as an agent of Pennsylvania, to negotiate a new charter. He was able to repeal the Stamp Act, but Parliament continued to levy taxes on the colonies (Sahlman). In 1775, with war seemingly unavoidable, Franklin returned to America. Shortly after that, he became a member of the Second Continental Congress. He then signed the Declaration of Independence ("The Electric Franklin"). What a lot of people don't realize is that if the war didn't turn out well, they probably signed their death certificate. It is highly unlikely that they would let him live after signing a document of that caliber. Although Thomas Jefferson is given credit for being the author of th...
