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Benjamin Franklin was born in Boston on January 17, 1706 as the tenth of his father’s seventeen children. His father, Josiah Franklin, made candles and soaps for a living, and had his own shop. Benjamin had to leave school at the age of ten to begin working there, but continued to study independently afterwards. When he was twelve, he became his older brother, James’ apprentice.

James Franklin worked as a printer for a newspaper, and soon enough, Benjamin Franklin started submitting his own writing to be published in the paper. However, he did so with the pen name Silence Dogood, because he knew his brother would never allow him to submit his work. After writing over a dozen essays, Ben Franklin confessed to his older brother that he was Silence Dogood, and James Franklin was furious. Later, James Franklin was imprisoned for the opinions featured in his newspaper, and Benjamin had to maintain the shop in his absence. When James was released, he treated his younger brother with the same hostility as before James’ arrest. Due to his brother’s mistreatment of him, Benjamin Franklin went to live in Philadelphia. …show more content…
All of these led to him accumulating a fair amount of wealth. It was at about this time that Franklin married his wife, Deborah Read. He had a child prior to the union named William, who lived with his father, step-mother, and their children, Sarah and Francis. Francis Franklin passed away from smallpox before he was five years old, but Sarah remained in good

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