Benjamin+Franklin-2

Tyler Bova Benjamin Franklin


 * __Benjamin Franklin: A big part of the Constitutional Convention__**



The main purpose of the Constitutional Convention was to outline the objectives of government for the new nation that we know as the United States. It was also supposed to secure the right to life, liberty, property, and the pursuit of happiness for all people in America.. For four months, 55 delegates from the several states met to frame a Constitution in Pennsylvania (The states Capital at the time) for everyone in the United States. As you all know, Ben Franklin was one of the most important parts of the constitutional convention. Could the constitutional convention even have been possible without him?
 * __ Introduction: __**

Benjamin Franklin was born in Boston, Massachusetts, on January 17, 1706. Ben was one of the founding fathers of America. He went to grammar school at age eight, but ended up working at ten. He apprenticed as a printer to his brother James. He ran away to New York and then on to Philadelphia at the age of 16, looking for work as a printer. He was elected to the Pennsylvania Assembly in 1751 and served as an agent for Pennsylvania (and ultimately for three other colonies) to England, France, and several other European powers. He was elected to the Continental Congress in 1775, where he played a crucial role in the rebellion against Gr. Britain, including service to Jefferson in editing the Declaration of Independence. He was the United States first Postmaster General, Minister to the French Court, Treaty agent and signer to the peace with Gr. Britain, Celebrated Member of the Constitutional convention. In his life, Benjamin Franklin was considered a Businessman, Writer, Publisher, Scientist, Diplomat Legislator, and Social activist. He was also one of the earliest and strongest advocates for the abolition of Slavery. He died on the 17th of April in 1790. On that day he was still one of the most celebrated characters in America. He remains to be like that to this day.
 * __ Background: __**


 * __ Role at Constitutional Convention: __** Benjamin Franklin, being the President (Governor) of Pennsylvania and representing Pennsylvania at the Convention, hosted the rest of the 55 delegates attending the Convention. Being the senior member of the convention, at 81 years of age, he commanded the respect of all present, and, as recorded on James Madison's detailed records, he arose to address the Congress when the rest of the delegates needed him most. Ben was one of the most influential figures at the convention. At the Constitutional Convention Franklin was very quiet about his ideas, except when a dispute arose. Franklin concluded that the president should only be allowed one term in office, because he feared that if a president served more than one term it could possibly lead to tyranny. He also suggested the president should be without pay. He was for the separation of power in the government, to also avoid tyranny. Franklin was also concerned over the issue of slavery in the new nation. At the convention, he did support the three-fifths compromise in which each slave was worth three-fifths a free white man. His calm personality kept minimal arguments at the convention. His solutions to the various arguments was a compromise. His ideas were never really spoken of at the convention, because of his quiet personality. However his ideas were significant even though most of them never were stated in the constitution.




 * __DBQ:__** Ben Franklin was strongly in favor of having the United States being a tyranny free country. Federalism was something Ben Franklin was in favor for. Federalism means equal amount of power was given to the states as well as the government. Ben Franklin wanted federalism to keep the United Sates tyranny free.

Franklin was also in favor of of equal power given to the big states vs. the small states. This was one of the major ways the constitution guarded against tyranny. Ben Franklin wanted equal power given to each state in order to protect the U.S. aginst tyranny.

Checks and balances kept the government under control and made it so if one branch gained too much power, then the other branches had the right to control that one branch.. This greatly protected the new nation the delegates created at the convention to guard against tyranny. Again, Ben Franklin thought the idea of checks and balances was very good. He wanted checks and balances to guard against tyranny.

Separation of power was something Ben Franklin was greatly in favor for. Seperation of power meant to split the government into three parts, the judicial, legislative, and executive branch so no one of the branches got too much of the power. Ben Franklin was essentially against tyranny in the United States. **__

Attendance Record:__** Ben Franklin attended 83 days out of the 89 total days (93%) of the total time during the Constitutional Convention. He attended most of the time mostly because of how important he was in the convention. As I said before, Ben Franklin played a crucial role in the creation of the constitution. May 28 May 29 May 30 May 31 June 1 June 2 June 4 June 5 June 6 June 7 June 8 June 9 June 11 June 12 June 13 June 15 June 16 June 18 June 19 June 20 June 21 June 22 June 23 June 25 June 26 June 28 June 29 June 30 July 2 July 5 July 6 July 7 July 9 July 10 July 11 July 12 July 13 July 14 July 16 July 17 July 18 July 19 July 20 July 21 July 23 July 24 July 25 July 26 August 6 August 7 August 8 August 9 August 10 August 11 August 13 August 14 August 15 August 16 August 17 August 18 August 20 August 21 August 22 August 23 August 24 August 25 August 27 August 28 August 29 August 30 August 31 September 1 September 3 September 4 September 5 September 6 September 7 September 8 September 10 September 12 September 13 September 14 September 15 September 17


 * __Constitutional Connection:__** As I said before, Ben Franklin had a big role at the convention. At the convention, Franklin remained very quiet about his ideas. He was a big help when disputes arose, his calm characteristic helped stop arguments from escalating at the convention. You could have thought of him as the head moderator of the convention. As I stated earlier, Ben hosted the convention, and was the one of the oldest delegates attending it. This means people respected him and especially his opinions greatly. Ben Franklin was respected and was fair to all delegates at the constitution, and played a great part in the making of the constitution.


 * __Bill of Rights:__** Ben Franklin was a supporter of the Bill of Rights. He signed the Bill of Rights, and was the oldest person out of everyone to sign the entire document. The Bill of Rights consisted of the first ten amendments of the United States Constitution. The Bill of Rights contains the most important rights to an American citizen as defined by the Founding Fathers. The Bill of Rights was the start of the constitution, and made our new nation independent from all other countries.

__**Works Cited:**__ [] [] http://constitution-a.wikispaces.com/Benjamin+Franklin-2 [] [] []
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