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Representative Ben Franklin proudly serves the 1st Congressional District of Indigov in Pennsylvania. Born into a Boston family of modest means, Ben had little formal education. He went on to start a successful printing business in Philadelphia and was deeply active in public affairs in his adopted city. He helped launch a lending library, hospital and college and garnered acclaim for his experiments with electricity, among other projects. During the American Revolution, he served in the Second Continental Congress and helped draft the Declaration of Independence in 1776. He also negotiated the 1783 Treaty of Paris that ended the Revolutionary War. In 1787, he was a delegate to the convention that produced the U.S. Constitution.

Ben has called Philadelphia his adopted home since 1723, where he obtained first employment as a printer there. He rose rapidly in the printing industry when he published The Pennsylvania Gazette, which had been founded by another man in 1728, but his most successful literary venture was the annual Poor Richard ‘s Almanac.

By 1748 he had achieved financial independence and gained recognition for his philanthropy and the stimulus he provided to such civic causes as libraries, educational institutions, and hospitals. Energetic and tireless, he also found time to pursue his interest in science, as well as to enter politics.

Ben served as clerk and member of the colonial legislature and as deputy postmaster of Philadelphia and deputy postmaster general of the colonies. In addition, he represented Pennsylvania at the Albany Congress, called to unite the colonies during the French and Indian War.

In the succeeding years, Ben became a distinguished member of the Continental Congress. Thirteen months later, he served on the committee that drafted the Declaration of Independence. He subsequently contributed to the government in other important ways, including service as postmaster general, and took over the duties of president of the Pennsylvania constitutional convention.

In the years 1776-79, as one of three commissioners, he directed the negotiations that led to treaties of commerce and alliance with France, which would eventually end the Revolutionary War.

In his spare time, Ben continues to be a prolific author, publisher, scientist, and inventor.