Summary
Ben left Boston on September 25, 1723, and headed to New
York. He hoped to find work as a printer there, but he struck out.
With no money and no friends, he continued south to Philadelphia,
which at the time was the biggest city in America. Arriving in
the morning of October 6, with only a dollar and some bread, Ben
soon found a job in the printing shop of Samuel Keimer. Next door
he found a place to sleep, in the home of John and Sarah Read.
There he met Deborah, the Reads' daughter, and before long the
couple planned to get married.
Seven months after arriving in Philadelphia, Franklin
met the Pennsylvania governor, William Keith. Keith liked Franklin
and promised to help him start his own printing shop. Franklin
returned to Boston to ask his father for a loan to get started,
but Josiah refused. Back in Philadelphia, Governor Keith told Franklin
to go to London, where he could buy the supplies he would need.
Keith would provide the credit. With this promise, Franklin sailed
on November 5. He arrived in London on Christmas Eve, 1724, only to
learn that Keith had not kept his promise. With no credit and no money
of his own, Franklin could not even afford to return to Philadelphia.
Franklin was unfazed. He soon found a job Samuel Palmer's printing
shop in London, where in February of 1725 he helped print an edition
of William Wollaston's Religion of Nature Delineated. Unimpressed
by Wollaston's arguments, Franklin published an anonymous essay
in response. Called A Dissertation on Liberty and Necessity,
Pleasure and Pain, it caught the attention of London's liberal
freethinkers.
Later that year Franklin moved to a different printing
shop in London, then agreed to work for a Quaker merchant named
Thomas Denham back in Philadelphia. Franklin sailed for America with
Denham on July 23, 1726. Back home, he learned Denham's business
quickly. Soon, however, both Franklin and Denham fell gravely ill
with pleurisy. Nearly dying, Franklin recovered in March 1727; Denham
died soon after. Franklin returned to Samuel Keimer's printing
shop and took up his old job. Before long he was back to his old
energetic self, establishing a weekly discussion and debating club
called the Junto.
In the spring of 1728, Franklin and a business partner,
James Meredith, decided start their own printing shop with a loan
from Meredith's parents. They intended to start a newspaper; when
Samuel Keimer learned this he immediately started the Pennsylvania Gazette. Annoyed,
Franklin wrote a series essays for a competing newspaper. Within
a year, Keimer was bankrupt; Franklin and Meredith bought the Pennsylvania
Gazette at a bargain and turned it into a successful paper.
In 1730, Franklin and Meredith won a contract to print the colony's
official papers. Franklin bought out his partner Meredith and soon
was the most successful printer in town.
Commentary
Franklin's move to Philadelphia was bold. It was remarkable
that a young man with limited education and no experience would
leave all that he knew behind in Boston and head for a new city.
Philadelphia was the biggest city in America, a bustling center
of trade and culture. When Franklin got there he was optimistic,
certain he would succeed. Many Americans have since shared Franklin's
optimism, believing one can achieve one's dreams by going somewhere new
and starting over. This is probably why Franklin's story of arriving
empty-handed in Philadelphia and starting from scratch still appeals
to so many of us. It is part of our mythology.
