Query: Benjamin Franklin was a person.

Relevant passages:
Founding Fathers of the United States <=SEP=> The Founding Fathers of the United States are those individuals of the Thirteen Colonies in North America who led the American Revolution against the authority of the British Crown in word and deed and contributed to the establishment of the United States of America .   Historian Richard B. Morris in 1973 identified the following seven figures as the key Founding Fathers : John Adams , Benjamin Franklin , Alexander Hamilton , John Jay , Thomas Jefferson , James Madison , and George Washington . Adams , Jefferson , and Franklin were members of the Committee of Five that drafted the Declaration of Independence . Hamilton , Madison , and Jay were authors of the The Federalist Papers , advocating ratification of the Constitution . Jay , Adams and Franklin negotiated the Treaty of Paris ( 1783 ) that would end the American Revolutionary War . Washington was Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army and was President of the Constitutional Convention . Washington , Jay and Franklin are considered the Founding Fathers of U.S. Intelligence by the CIA . All held additional important roles in the early government of the United States , with Washington , Adams , Jefferson , and Madison serving as President . Four of these seven - Washington , Jay , Hamilton and Madison - did not sign the Declaration of Independence .   The term Founding Fathers is sometimes used to refer to the Signers of the embossed version of the Declaration of Independence in 1776 . It is not to be confused with the term Framers ; the Framers are defined by the National Archives as those 55 individuals who were appointed to be delegates to the 1787 Constitutional Convention and took part in drafting the proposed Constitution of the United States . Of the 55 Framers , only 39 were signers of the Constitution . Two further groupings of Founding Founders include : 1 ) those who signed the Continental Association , a trade ban and one of the colonists ' first collective volleys protesting British control and the Intolerable Acts in 1774 or 2 ) those who signed the Articles of Confederation , the first U.S. constitutional document .   The phrase `` Founding Fathers '' is a twentieth-century appellation , first coined by Warren G. Harding in 1916 . In the 19th century , they were referred to as simply , the `` Fathers '' . Some historians have begun to eschew the limiting Great Man theory associated with the term `` Founding Fathers '' and apply it to a broader group of people , that includes not only Morris ' `` Seven '' or the Signers or the Framers but also all those , no matter their race or gender , who , whether as politicians , jurists , statesmen , soldiers , diplomats , or ordinary citizens , took part in winning U.S. independence and creating the United States of America .

Benjamin Franklin <=SEP=> Benjamin Franklin FRS , FRSE ( April 17 , 1790 ) was one of the Founding Fathers of the United States . Franklin was a renowned polymath and a leading author , printer , political theorist , politician , freemason , postmaster , scientist , inventor , civic activist , statesman , and diplomat . As a scientist , he was a major figure in the American Enlightenment and the history of physics for his discoveries and theories regarding electricity . As an inventor , he is known for the lightning rod , bifocals , and the Franklin stove , among other inventions . He facilitated many civic organizations , including Philadelphia 's fire department and the University of Pennsylvania , an Ivy League institution .   Franklin earned the title of `` The First American '' for his early and indefatigable campaigning for colonial unity , initially as an author and spokesman in London for several colonies . As the first United States Ambassador to France , he exemplified the emerging American nation . Franklin was foundational in defining the American ethos as a marriage of the practical values of thrift , hard work , education , community spirit , self-governing institutions , and opposition to authoritarianism both political and religious , with the scientific and tolerant values of the Enlightenment . In the words of historian Henry Steele Commager , `` In a Franklin could be merged the virtues of Puritanism without its defects , the illumination of the Enlightenment without its heat . '' To Walter Isaacson , this makes Franklin `` the most accomplished American of his age and the most influential in inventing the type of society America would become . ''   Franklin became a successful newspaper editor and printer in Philadelphia , the leading city in the colonies , publishing the Pennsylvania Gazette at the age of 23 . He became wealthy publishing this and Poor Richard 's Almanack , which he authored under the pseudonym `` Richard Saunders '' . After 1767 , he was associated with the Pennsylvania Chronicle , a newspaper that was known for its revolutionary sentiments and criticisms of the British policies .   He pioneered and was first president of The Academy and College of Philadelphia which opened in 1751 and later became the University of Pennsylvania . He organized and was the first secretary of the American Philosophical Society and was elected president in 1769 . Franklin became a national hero in America as an agent for several colonies when he spearheaded an effort in London to have the Parliament of Great Britain repeal the unpopular Stamp Act . An accomplished diplomat , he was widely admired among the French as American minister to Paris and was a major figure in the development of positive Franco-American relations . His efforts proved vital for the American Revolution in securing shipments of crucial munitions from France .   He was promoted to deputy postmaster-general for the British colonies in 1753 , having been Philadelphia postmaster for many years , and this enabled him to set up the first national communications network . During the Revolution , he became the first US Postmaster General . He was active in community affairs and colonial and state politics , as well as national and international affairs . From 1785 to 1788 , he served as governor of Pennsylvania . He initially owned and dealt in slaves but , by the 1750s , he argued against slavery from an economic perspective and became one of the most prominent abolitionists .   His colorful life and legacy of scientific and political achievement , and his status as one of America 's most influential Founding Fathers have seen Franklin honored more than two centuries after his death on coinage and the $ 100 bill , warships , and the names of many towns , counties , educational institutions , and corporations , as well as countless cultural references .