What was Benjamin Franklin's role in the American Revolution?

One of the leading figures of early American history, Benjamin Franklin (1706-90) was a statesman, author, publisher, scientist, inventor and diplomat. Born into a Boston family of modest means, Franklin had little formal education. He went on to start a successful printing business in Philadelphia and grew wealthy. read more

Benjamin Franklin was among the first to encourage cooperation among the British-American colonies (“We must all hang together or each hang separately”, the famous political cartoon of the segmented snake representing the colonies, etc). read more

Franklin was the most famous American in the world at the time, and when he returned to the colonies on May 5th, 1775—just a few weeks after the first shots of the war were fired at Lexington and Concord—he immediately found himself elected as a delegate to the Second Continental Congress. read more