Benjamin Franklin - Statesman
During the fight for independence, I was sent to Europe to represent the colonies. In 1776, I signed the Declaration of Independence and, in 1778, the Treaty of Alliance with France. In addition, I negotiated with the French to help the colonists and became the first United States minister to France. I helped secure guns, ammunition, and other provisions for the army as well as volunteer troops. When the colonists won their independence in 1781, I helped negotiate the peace with England and signed what ultimately became known as Treaty of Peace with Great Britain (1782). Now that the colonists were free and independent, it became necessary to decide what type of government would be established. Even though I was not in my prime and my health was starting to fail, at eighty-one, I was the oldest delegate at the Constitutional Convention. Upon signing the Constitution on September 17, 1787, I became the only Founding Father to have signed all five documents that established American independence: the Declaration of Independence, the Treaty of Amity and Commerce with France, the Treaty of Alliance with France, the Treaty of Peace with Great Britain, and the Constitution of the United States of America. To learn more, choose from the following:
Last updated:February 5, 2007 12:56 |
When
I was born, America was made up of thirteen colonies that were ruled
by England. Trouble between England and the thirteen colonies started
to unfold following the French and Indian War. The imposition of the
Stamp, Townshend, and Intolerable Acts angered the colonists to rebel
against Mother England. On April 19, 1775, the colonists went to war
for their freedom.
