Ben Franklin

Of the Founders, Benjamin Franklin was the only one to sign all three major documents establishing the United States as an independent nation: the Declaration of Independence; the Treaty of Paris; and the United States Constitution. Franklin was a prolific inventor—of the Franklin Stove, the lightning rod, bifocal lenses, and more—and the author of “Poor Richard’s Almanac” in 1732, read by thousands of people in its twenty-five-year history.

Franklin was also an avid student of the Bible. His Constitutional Convention address on June 28, 1787 contains many references to the Bible, including Genesis and Psalms: “We have been assured . . . in the sacred writings that ‘except the Lord build the house they labor in vain that build it.’ I firmly believe . . . without his concurring aid we shall succeed in this political building no better than the Builders of Babel.”