Benjamin Franklin

(1706-1790)

One reason why the Declaration and the Constitution were written in Philadelphia is that in the late 1700s Philadelphia was America's most important city. Philadelphia's importance had much to do with one man - Benjamin Franklin.

In 1723, at the age of 17, Benjamin Franklin ran away to Philadelphia, looking for work as an apprentice printer. A few years later he had his own print shop and was publishing one of the most widely read newspapers in the colonies. Franklin did a lot for Philadelphia - for example, he started a library (the first in the colonies), a fire department, a city hospital, and a school that is now the University of Pennsylvania.

Franklin also did a lot for his country. He helped write the Declaration of Independence. During the war, he persuaded the French to aid the colonists; without French help, the colonists might not have won the war. When the Constitution was written, Franklin solved some serious disagreements; at 81, he was twice as old as most of the other men and was greatly respected. (884)

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Honest Abe

(1809-1865)

Although President Abraham Lincoln was president of the United States for only four years, he is one of the most famous presidents in American history. He led the country through the terrible Civil War and preserved the Union of the states. More than 600,000 soldiers died in that war, the most to die in any war in the history of the United States.

Abraham Lincoln, nicknamed "Honest Abe", is respected for his ideals. In his most famous speech, the Gettysburg Address of 1863, he spoke of his commitment to the unity of the United States and his belief in democracy and freedom. His idea of government was one "of the people, by the people, for the people".

Lincoln was the first president to be assassinated; he was shot by John Wilkes Booth, who was angry that the South had lost the war.

(675)

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