Franklin’s first published essays were printed under a pseudonym—Silence Dogood.
Franklin, who had only two years of formal education, largely taught himself through reading and on the job. At age 12, he joined his older brother James’s print shop as an apprentice printer. Later, when an essay appeared in James’s newspaper over the name Silence Dogood, no one, including James, knew the real author was 16-year-old Benjamin.
AIR DATE 4/4/22
Ken Burns’s two-part, four-hour documentary, “Benjamin Franklin,” explores the revolutionary life of one of the18th century’s most consequential and compelling personalities, whose work and words unlocked the mystery of electricity and helped create the United States.
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