He was the tenth son of a Boston soap maker. His father intended for him to enter the ministry but had only enough money for one year of schooling, and the profession required many. He therefore apprenticed the young man to another son, James, a printer.

The apprenticeship did not go all that well, so after years of tedious work and regular beatings from James, young Ben Franklin ran away to Philadelphia at the tender age of 17. Finding work there as an apprentice printer, he so distinguished himself that he began to make his mark in the city.

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