Ben Franklin
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Who wrote the book?
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Russell Freedman
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In what year did Franklin arrive in Philadelphia to find work?
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1723
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How old was Franklin when he arrived in Philadelphia?
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17 years old
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What job did Franklin run away from at the beginning of the book?
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printer's apprentice
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In what city was Franklin's apprenticeship?
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Boston
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How many days did it take Franklin to travel from Boston to Philadelphia?
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10
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How did Franklin travel from Boston to Philadelphia?
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he walked part of the way and took a boat part of the way
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Name the Philadelphia street Franklin first stepped on when he arrived in the city.
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Market St.
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What were Franklin's pockets stuffed with on his journey from Boston to Philadelphia?
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shirts and stockings
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How much money did Franklin have when he left Boston?
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a dutch dollar and a shilling of copper
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Why did the boatmen who had taken Franklin from Boston to Philadelphia at first refuse Franklin's money at the end of the journey?
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Franklin had helped to row the boat
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Why did Franklin insist the boatmen take his money?
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Ben was afraid the boatmen would think he had little money
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Franklin was starving when he landed in Philadelphia. What food did he buy, and how much did it cost?
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3 puffy rolls for a penny each
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What did Franklin do with the 3 rolls?
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He ate one and gave the other two to a woman and her child who had been on the boat.
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In 1723 when Franklin arrived in Philadelphia, what was its population?
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2,000
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What city had more people than Philadelphia in 1723?
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Boston
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Who did Franklin notice standing in the doorway of his father's house when he arrived in Philadelphia?
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15 year old Deborah Reed who later because his wife
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Franklin first went to a meeting house when he landed in Philadelphia. What religious affiliation was the meeting house?
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quaker
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What did Franklin do during the meeting at the Quaker meeting house?
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he fell asleep
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To what place was Ben directed for proper food and lodging when he woke up at the meeting house?
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a tavern and inn called the Crooked Billet
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Why did several people think Franklin might be due to his haggard appearance when he first arrived in town?
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they thought he might be a runaway .
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When is Franklin's birth date?
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January 17, 1706
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Where does Franklin rank in birth order in his family?
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fifteenth of seventeen children, the youngest son
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What job did Franklin's father hold?
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he was a soap and candle maker
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For Franklin, what was an advantage of growing up with so many brothers and sisters did the author state Franklin had?
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he learned to get along with other people
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How many children did Ben remember sitting down with at one time at his father's dinner table?
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13
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Before Franklin ran away to Philadelphia, how many nights had he spent away from home?
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none
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Name the street where Franklin was born.
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Milk Street
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When Franklin was young, Boston was the busiest seaport between the New World and Old. About how many ships passed through the seaport? give the estimate.
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more than a thousand
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Always an inventor, Franklin built wooden paddles for his hands and wooden flippers for his feet, which were a flop, so he could do what better?
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swim
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Why didn't the hand paddle and foot flippers work?
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the paddles were too heavy, the flippers too stiff
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Franklin also experimented with a kite and swimming. What did he do with them?
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he floated on his back and let the kite pull him as the wind pulled the kite
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Franklin and his friends liked to fish in a salt marsh along what river?
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Charles River
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Due to the boys constantly trampling over the marsh, it got all muddy. What did Franklin suggest they build to fix that problem?
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build a stone wharf
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Where did Franklin and his friends get the stones for the stone wharf they built?
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they took them from a house construction project
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Name the kind of fish the boys liked to fish for.
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minnows
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How much schooling did Franklin have before he started working as a full-time apprentice?
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2 years
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How much formal schooling did most girls get in the colonies in the 1700's?
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none
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In what school subject did Franklin excel?
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writing
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In which school subject did Franklin struggle?
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math
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How old was Franklin when he became an apprentice in his father's soap and candle-making shop?
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ten
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What was Franklin's father's first name?
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Josiah
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What word begin with the letter \"t\" was \"skimmed from a boiling vat of animal fat and poured into molds\" to make candles?
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tallow
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What happened to Franklin's older brother, Josiah, Jr.?
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he was lost at sea when he left his father business because it bored him
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How did Franklin's father solve the problem of Ben being bored with the candle making business?
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he allowed him to be apprenticed to his brother who had a printing shop
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Why did Franklin's father think he would enjoy the printing business?
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because Franklin was good at reading, writing, and spelling
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How many years was Franklin supposed to be an apprentice for his brother?
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9
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How old was Franklin when he started his printer apprenticeship?
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12
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How old would Ben be when he could stop being an apprentice to his brother and work on his own?
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21
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Name the bound journal volume that Franklin was given to read by his book apprentice friend.
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The Spectator
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How did Franklin use the essays in The Spectator to improve his own writing? he would read the essays, take notes on their meaning, rewrite the essays using only his notes, then compare his essays to the originals to see where he needed to improve
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he would read the essays, take notes on their meaning, rewrite the essays using only his notes, then compare his essays to the originals to see where he needed to improve
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How did Franklin \"improve his stock of words or readiness in recollecting and using them?\" he would turn his work into verse (poetry) or jumble up his essay notes and try to rewrite everything again
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he would turn his work into verse (poetry) or jumble up his essay notes and try to rewrite everything again
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How old was Ben when he had his first piece of writing published?
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16
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Who published Franklin's first piece of writing?
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his brother James published it in his new newspaper, The New-England Courant
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Under what pseudonym was Franklin's first piece of writing published?
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\"Silence Dogwood\"
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How many essays did Franklin get published writing as 'Silence Dogood
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14
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What did James, Ben's brother, do when he found out Ben was \"Silence Dogood?\"
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he got angry and beat Ben
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Why was Ben Franklin named publisher of his brother's newspaper for a short while?
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James was put in jail for printing articles that criticized the government
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Why did Ben decide to leave his apprenticeship with his brother?
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Ben felt he'd been treated harshly and tyrannically
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How did Ben raise money to escape his brother and travel to New York?
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he sold some of his books
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What two factors made it difficult for Ben to find work in New York making it necessary for him to go to Philadelphia?
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He was only 17( too young), and no one knew him
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How long did it take Ben to get to Philadelphia, including his 50 mile hike across New Jersey?
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5 days
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What river crossed by George Washington during the Revolutionary War was the last stage of Ben's rowboat journey into Philadelphia?
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Delaware River
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By what means did Franklin carry the paper he purchased for his press through the streets of Philadelphia?
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by wheelbarrow
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Why did the people in Philadelphia like Ben?
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because he was witty and could tell a good story
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What was the first job Ben was hired to do in Philadelphia?
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work at Samuel Keimer's print shop after fixing Keimer's printing press
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From whom did Ben rent a room in Philadelphia?
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Deborah's father, John Read
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How did Ben spend his free time with his new clerk friends in Philadelphia?
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they would read together and talk about what they'd read
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Name the governor of Pennsylvania who saw promise in Ben and offered to help him start his own printing press?
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Sir William Keith
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What deal did Franklin's father make with him when he returned to Boston with a letter from Governor Keith regarding Ben setting up his own printing shop?
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he thought Ben was too young, but if he could save up most of the money by the time he was 21, he would help him then
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Who offered to finance Ben's print shop when Franklin's father said he would not do it?
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Governor Keith
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How much money did Ben think he would need to start his print shop?
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100 pounds
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Where did Governor Keith suggest Ben go to pick out his printing equipment?
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London
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How long did the voyage to London take?
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7 weeks
