Benjamin Franklin's Life, ideas, and legacy offer an outstanding lens through which to view early American history and culture. During his long life (1706-1790), Benjamin Franklin was a writer, inventor, community leader, scholar, revolutionary, diplomat, and lawmaker. His words gave meaning to the lives of colonists who were becoming Americans. His inventions relfected the ideas and needs of his fellow citizens. His actions ensured the development of colonial society, the creation of the American republic, and its security under the Constitution.

This website, created at Penn State Harrisburg as part of our NEH-funded “A Rising People: Benjamin Franklin and the Americans” summer 2007 teachers’ workshops, seeks to provide information on Franklin and eighteenth-century studies to K-12 teachers around the world. It includes links to publications, original documents, historic sites, and instructional materials. Please feel free to use this information, to let us know how it has worked in your classroom, and please share your ideas for further updates or other lesson plans that can benefit other teachers and students.