In Benjamin Franklin’s 42 years long political career, it's clear he accomplished many
things. He was one of America’s Founding Fathers, the sixth president of
Pennsylvania, a statesman, political theorist, and a Freemason, on top of his many
other positions. He was an influential figure who people looked up to, and explored
many diverse areas, gaining knowledge in them. That was just the start, however.
Franklin still had a long way to progress and plenty of ambition to accompany it.
In May 1751, he was elected to the Pennsylvania assembly, after being a clerk for
the assembly since 1738. He went on to stay in the assembly until 1764, being
re-elected multiple years later in 1773, and staying until his concluding year in 1776.
On August 10, 1753, he was appointed as a deputy postmaster general of North
America. The following year he was appointed a justice of the peace, meaning he
was responsible for enforcing the laws.
By the early 1750s, things were getting worse. Colonists were attempting to push
Indians out of their land, people from either side getting killed in the process. This
inference inspired the famous “Join or Die” comic Benjamin Franklin published in
1954. The comic featured a drawing of a snake separated into pieces, each piece
labeled as one of the colonies with the words ‘Join or Die’ written under. The simple
comic garnered a lot of attention, as it was most likely America’s first political
cartoon. That summer, Franklin attended a meeting of the colonies the British
government initiated. During the meeting, Franklin proposed a plan, that although
approved by the colonies representatives, the colonies rejected.
By 1755, France and Britain were at war with each other over America. Benjamin
Franklin took charge and created another army and took charge of it, leading 500
soldiers to the frontier and building a fort before being called back to Philadelphia for
a meeting. While he was gone, his troop elected him the colonel, however before
Benjamin returned the board of trade disbanded the militia, in fear it was too
democratic. Fast forward two years to 1757, Franklin travels to England to plead the
cause of the Assembly against the Proprietaries, then remains there as an agent for
Pennsylvania and finds entertainment in the friendships he makes with men of the
kingdom, returning to Amer...
