Benjamin Franklin was born in Boston on January 17, 1706. He was the youngest boy of a very traditional family of seventeen (Franklin 4). Franklin's family was so set on customs that his father made him sign his life away as an indentured servant at the age

Franklin's influence started with the enhancement of the common almanac. Almanacs were every printer's staple product. Everyone in colonial times was familiar with almanac-books containing calendars, astronomical data, statistics, charts, tables, holidays, festivals, weather forecasting, and scrapes of facts about anything the editor hopes the reader will like. So in 1732, only three years after Franklin had launched his newspaper, he concocted Poor Richard's Almanac (87). And once again, Franklin decided to use a pseudonym in order to remain anonymous. Hence, Richard Saunders "Philomath" is created by Franklin and predestined to write his almanac.

In addition to Franklin's many victories for the community in general, he also helped to establish a militia for the protection of the establishment itself (Doren 88). As previously mentioned the Philadelphia colony was established and ran by Quakers-who because of religious reasons and values absolutely refused to take arms. This philosophy had helped keep the community safe hitherto. However, in 1747 there was a serious threat of invasion by the natives, so Franklin sprang into action. He rushed a pamphlet to the press and soon received the support from the Governor of Philadelphia (Meltzer 106). In a matter of days over ten thousand men volunteered for the militia (107). The troops brought their own arms and drilled themselves over and over. Fortunately for the community the invasion never took place, however, the men where glad to know that they would have been ready. Being the only man to take charge during the communities' time of crisis, Franklin now received a whole new sort of respect from his contemporaries.

The English Quaker, William Penn founded the Philadelphia colony. Penn had provided for tolerance of all religions, for free education, for the election of representatives, and for jury trial in open court (Meltzer 54). Franklin quickly realized that he was in a much freer society than Boston. Philadelphia was considered an asylum for the persecuted and a happy place for craftsmen, traders, shopkeepers, and homesteaders' (55). In essence, this was the perfect place for a self-educated peasant (like Franklin) to make something of himself. It did not take long before Benjamin Franklin fell in love with Philadelphia.

Benjamin Franklin did a lot toward improving the Philadelphian community and soon the entire nation. In 1727, Franklin started the Junto Club as a collective effort at self-improvement (Doren 74). The Junto Club was like a modern day "salon" in which intellects could discuss everyday problems. One of the club's most impressive feats was the commencement of the first circulating library in America, an idea that was soon copied throughout the colonies (Meltzer 96). This was vintage Franklin, for he always knew how to take everyday problems and solve them. For example, one of the first challenges he undertook was the paving of the streets. Everyone in Philadelphia knew that the roads were dangerous and a nuisance, but no one ever took action, until Franklin came along. He would first discuss the problem at hand with his friends at the Junto Club, and if they all seemed to agree, Franklin would take it a step further and publish it in his newspaper (Meltzer 98). If he noticed he had the public's solidarity, he would take it yet another step further by printing pamphlets and distributing them door to door (99). This finally put enough pressure on the establishment to do something and soon all the streets began to get paved. Franklin's perseverance and influence had won him a victory. This must have had a tremendous psychological effect on Franklin, for shortly there after, he began to tackle many issues by taking the same steps as noted before. With this persistence Franklin helped to establish a fire department, a police department, and the University of Pennsylvania (103).

The success of the almanac helped establi

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