Benjamin Franklin (1706–1790) was a writer, scientist, inventor, diplomat, and statesman. Born the tenth son of a man who made soap and candles, Franklin entered the printing trade as his brother's apprentice at the age of twelve. In 1722, at the age of sixteen, he wrote a series of fourteen essays published in his brother's paper under the name "Silence Dogood." That same year, Franklin undertook the responsibility of running his brother's paper while his brother was imprisoned for an article he printed.

At seventeen, Franklin moved to Philadelphia, where he started a printing shop that produced paper currency for the Pennsylvania colony as well as a newspaper, the Pennsylvania Gazette. His Poor Richard's Almanac was enormously successful and was published annually for twenty-five years; many of the sayings he scattered through each issue preach the virtues of hard work, frugality, and thrift. These enterprises helped to make Franklin quite wealthy. A man of many talents and interests with a keen intelligence and a passion for science, Franklin experimented with electricity and invented a cookstove, bifocal glasses, and the lightning rod. He also founded the first American subscription library and was instrumental in founding the University of Pennsylvania.

Respected for his insight and wisdom, Franklin spent eighteen years in England as an unofficial ambassador, seeking to protect the rights of the American Colonies while keeping them within the British empire. After the Revolutionary War began, Franklin helped draft the Declaration of Independence and secured military and financial support from the French. As minister to France from 1776 to 1785, Franklin helped draft and signed the treaty that ended the Revolutionary War. His last public service was acting as a delegate to the Constitutional Convention at the age of eighty-one. "He seized the lightning from Heaven and the scepter from tyrants," said one French admirer of Franklin's contributions.