Benjamin Franklin and his contribution to US - Essay Example

He is favourably considered by many historians as a person who valued personal freedom and fought to see the wishes of the people prevail. This paper is dedicated to the analysis of the contributions of Benjamin Franklin to the country he played a role in founding. Fire was very a dangerous threat to Philadelphians therefore Benjamin Franklin created the Union Fire Company in 1736 to remedy the situation. The company became one of the first volunteer firefighting companies in the United States of America.

In 1752, Benjamin created the Philadelphia Contribution for Insurance against Loss by Fire to help those who often suffered irreversible economic loss because of fire damages (Brands 83). Those who had insurance policies were lucky because they could not be wiped out financially by fire damages. In London Benjamin opposed the Stamp Act but failed to prevent its passage. Consequently, he made a political miscalculation by recommending a friend of his to the post of stamp distributor for Pennsylvania.

This act annoyed the Pennsylvanians and they threatened to destroy his home in Philadelphia because they believed he had been supporting the measure that they were against all along. However, Benjamin soon realized the extent to which the colonies were resistant to the Stamp Act and gave a testimony before the House of Commons that led to its repeal as noted by Brands (56). In his testimony he said that the Americans would not pay taxes if the Stamp Act was adopted. This made Benjamin the leading American spokesman for American interests in England.

He wrote famous essays on behalf of the colonies and was appointed by as an agent of many other colonies to the crown. In 1773, Benjamin wrote two essays that were his most celebrated pro American satirical writings. His essays were An Edict by the King of Prussia and Rules by Which a Great Empire May Be Reduced to a Small One (Houston 312). After the return of Benjamin to Pennsylvania, in 1963, the western frontier