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pseudonym, he published Poor Richard's Almanac which regularly reminded his readers of the necessity of thrift, hard work and good works.

Franklin was a prolific inventor, with the rocking chair, bifocals, the wood stove, swim fins, lightning rods and many other conveniences to his credit. In his tenure as Philadelphia post master, he improved the mail routing system so that the letter was at long last a reliable form of communication. Acting as state printer, he instituted the first security-enhancing engraving processes to discourage counterfeiting. He developed the first fire-fighting company, founded the first fire insurance company, a library, a hospital and a university. On his ocean voyages, he identified the Gulf Stream and, after finally enticing a couple of ocean-going vessels to utilize it, shaved two weeks of trans-ocean voyages. By age 42, Franklin had amassed enough personal wealth to retire from active business and devote himself to the building of a new nation.

When disagreements between England and the colonies warranted, Franklin became the first true American diplomat, spending years abroad, testing the waters, negotiating agreements and defusing confrontations. Dr Franklin, as he was known, was in high demand in European society and the prized guest at society balls and dinners. For his part, Franklin enjoyed the company of the ladies and his name was speculated in affairs of the heart with many high-ranking ladies. Franklin forged alliances with French political forces and instituted trade treaties to strengthen the new colonies. Among his acquaintances, Franklin could count the famed orators, thinkers and philosophers of two continents. Adam Smith visited Franklin in London to read to him each chapter of his great thesis on the nature of money and trade.

While at home, however, he resided with his common-law wife of many years, Deborah Read, their two children and a son reputedly from a former alliance'. William may well have been the natural son of Franklin and Deborah before the common-law marriage, necessitated by her having been previously married and abandoned but not divorced, was instituted. Another son died in childhood.

A full thirty years before the Revolutionary War, the movers and shakers of the Colonies were hashing out the pros and cons of separation from England. Franklin's preference originally was for maintaining a separately-governed English colony but restrictive and arbitrary rulings from England stifled trade and limited

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