Born January 17, 1706 (Boston, Massachusetts)

Died April 17, 1790 (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)

Statesman, diplomat, writer, publisher, scientist

Benjamin Franklin, though much older than other leading revolutionaries, profoundly influenced younger Founding Fathers in the 1780s. Franklin was earlier the chief spokesman for the American colonies through the 1750s and 1760s, helped in writing the 1776 Declaration of Independence, gained foreign support during the war against Britain through a treaty with France, negotiated the 1783 Treaty of Paris with Britain to end the war, and then signed the 1787 U.S. Constitution and presented a stirring speech encouraging other delegates at the Constitutional Convention to sign as well. Franklin was the only American to sign all three of the major documents that brought about the birth of the United States: the Declaration of Independence, the Treaty of Paris, and the U.S. Constitution. By the 1780s, he was looked upon as a living sage. Though...