To the Future Ben Franklin! Read online

  “Phones?” said Ben. “What are phones?”

  “Uh, hard to explain. Let’s look at this computer now,” said Jack.

  Annie and Jack grabbed chairs and sat next to Ben.

  “Watch,” said Jack. He tapped a key, and the screen lit up.

  Ben gasped.

  “Wait,” said Jack. He did a search for “United States of America.” Then he clicked on an entry.

  A map of the United States and the country’s Great Seal appeared on the screen.

  “Oh! How did that happen? Where did that come from?” Ben asked.

  “That’s hard to explain, too,” said Annie. “But read what it says.”

  Ben read aloud softly from the screen:

  The United States is a country of fifty states. Stretching from the Atlantic to the Pacific Oceans, it covers a vast part of North America. It has a population of more than 325 million people. Since its founding, immigrants from all over the globe have moved to the United States and become citizens.

  “My goodness!” whispered Ben.

  Jack pointed to the Great Seal of the United States at the top of the screen. “That’s a symbol for our country,” he said.

  “I know that symbol,” said Ben. “In 1776, I was on a committee to create it.” He read the writing on the seal. “‘E pluribus unum.’ That’s Latin for ‘Out of many, one.’ ”

  “Right, out of many, one,” said Annie. “Our teacher told us what that means: The United States is made up of many different states, and people from all over the world. But we are all one nation.”

  “Yes! Yes!” said Ben. “I wonder if our delegates have forgotten those words.”

  “Probably,” said Annie. “People forget them in our time, too.”

  “It’s so important to come together as one country,” said Ben. “But how can we do that? We are very divided.”

  “Maybe the different sides have to keep talking to each other, and listening to each other, and agree to go forward.” said Annie.

  “She’s right,” said Jack. “Don’t forget—you can add important stuff later. They’ll be called amendments. Like amendments that guarantee freedom of speech and freedom of religion.”

  “And give women the vote!” said Annie.

  “And end slavery and give everyone equal rights,” said Jack.

  “Yes, yes…that makes sense,” Ben said. “Perhaps creating a Constitution is only the first step…not the last.”

  “Exactly!” said Jack.

  Ben stood up. “I must go now. I must go home. I have to be back for the afternoon session. This Constitution is very important! They need me to be there. You need me to be there!”

  “We do!” said Annie.

  Ben hobbled across the library, heading for the door.

  “Good-bye, Ben!” Sandy the librarian called. “Have a good show!”

  Readers looked up from their books and stared as Ben Franklin hurried outside.

  Jack and Annie caught up with Ben in front of the library. The three of them walked quickly to the sidewalk.

  “My world may seem very rough and simple compared with yours,” Ben said breathlessly. “But ’tis filled with the discovery of new things and new ideas! Why, I can even help create a Constitution that will change the history of the world!”

  “You can!” said Annie.

  “Of course, there are parts that I absolutely do not agree with,” said Ben. “But additions, as you said, and changes—amendments—will be made later. First, we must come together to create one country. We may never get another chance.”

  “That’s true,” said Jack.

  “This way!” said Annie. She and Jack led Ben into the woods. In spite of the heat, Ben moved quickly between the trees.

  “Here we are!” Jack said when they reached the oak tree.

  Jack and Annie held the ladder steady. Ben tucked his walking stick under his arm and climbed up slowly.

  Once Ben was inside the tree house, Jack grabbed the ladder to follow him. But then he heard Ben say, “Hello, my good lady…!”

  The sound of a woman’s voice came from the tree house.

  Jack froze at the bottom of the ladder.

  “Jack! It’s her!” said Annie.

  “I know!” Jack said. They looked up.

  “Morgan!” cried Annie.

  Morgan le Fay and Ben Franklin stood at the tree house window together.

  “Hello, Jack! Hello, Annie!” Morgan called. “Congratulations! You successfully carried out my wishes on your last four adventures. You learned a great lesson from Jackie Robinson. You worked with Mother Mary Joseph in Texas. You spent time with Emperor Marcus Aurelius of Rome.”

  “And you have just given me one of the most remarkable adventures of my life!” said Ben. “You have showed me the wonders of your world. All people here—men, women, black, white, young, old—are to be treated equally. This country is full of different communities and different people. And yet it is one country.”

  “Yes!” said Jack.

  “Please, Jack and Annie, never take all the wondrous things of your world for granted,” said Ben. “Promise me you will always be filled with curiosity and wonder.”

  “We promise!” said Jack and Annie.

  “Thank you again for everything!” said Ben.

  “Farewell!” called Morgan.

  A mighty swirl of wind—

  a flash of lightning—

  a crack of thunder—

  and the magic tree house, Morgan le Fay, and Benjamin Franklin were gone!

  Jack and Annie stared up at the top of the oak for a long moment. Then they both sighed and started walking through the woods.

  “Remember in Morgan’s rhyme, Morgan says, ‘Everyday wonders will show Ben the way,’ ” said Annie. “At first, I thought she meant modern inventions.”

  “Me too,” said Jack. “But those things just seemed to scare Ben.”

  “Right,” said Annie. “So then I thought, what if we show him the public library? He wouldn’t be afraid of that.”

  “Yeah, especially since he started the first one,” said Jack. “And he’d get to see how everyone’s allowed to go there and borrow books and use computers—”

  “And get tons of information,” said Annie. “Like how cars work.”

  “And planes,” said Jack, “and electricity.”

  Annie stopped walking. “So let’s go back,” she said.

  “Where?”

  “There.”

  “Now?”

  “Now.”

  “Why not?”

  Without another word, Jack and Annie started running through the summer heat, heading back to the Frog Creek Library.

  MORE FACTS FOR YOU AND JACK

  On September 17, 1787, the Constitution of the United States was signed. Benjamin Franklin felt that the document was not perfect, but he urged everyone to be humble and stand together in the spirit of compromise.

  By 1791, ten amendments, known as the Bill of Rights, were added to the Constitution.

  Since that time, more amendments have been added. Today the Constitution includes twenty-seven amendments.

  The United States Constitution is the supreme law of the nation. It is the longest-standing constitution in the history of the world.

  The Latin phrase E pluribus unum, meaning “Out of many, one,” appears on every U.S. coin.

  Benjamin Franklin was born more than three hundred years ago. Today he is still one of the most famous and beloved men in American history. Benjamin was a great scientist, thinker, inventor, writer, and printer. He created or helped create the first lending library, the first fire department, the first public hospital, and the first post office in America.

  When he wasn’t working, Benjamin used his spare time wisely. He played musi
c and taught himself five languages. He also learned to swim, and many years after he died, he was made a member of the International Swimming Hall of Fame!

  Although people today think of him as Ben, he did not use that nickname.

  But Benjamin is probably best known as one of America’s Founding Fathers. His wisdom helped guide the country in its struggle to break free from English rule and become a new nation.

  People often wonder how this poor boy, with just two years of school, was able to lead such an amazing life. Benjamin Franklin’s story is hard to believe.

  Boston

  Benjamin was born in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1706. At the time of his birth, the United States wasn’t a country. It was divided into thirteen colonies and ruled by England, a country thousands of miles across the ocean.

  Boston was part of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Because the city is on the Atlantic Ocean and has a deep harbor, it was one of the busiest seaports in the colonies.

  At the printshop Benjamin often read articles in a journal called the Spectator. He tried to write the same articles from memory. After he finished writing, he’d read the Spectator again. If he didn’t think what he’d written was good enough, he’d rewrite it over and over.

  Benjamin became an excellent writer. Throughout his life he produced books and thousands of letters and articles. He sent or received over 15,000 letters in his life! His most famous book is the story of his life.

  Benjamin needed one pair of glasses to see things up close and a second pair to see far away. He carried around two pairs of glasses to deal with this.

  Trying to remember to bring two pairs of glasses was so annoying that in 1779, Benjamin decided to do something about it. He came up with a great idea. Why not put two different lenses together in one pair of glasses?

  He had lenses in each set of glasses cut in half. Then he had an optician join the two halves together into one frame. The top lens was for seeing far away, and the lower one was for reading close up. Benjamin had solved his problem! He called the new glasses double spectacles, but today we call them bifocals.

  If you see glasses with a faint line running through the middle of the lenses, you’re looking at bifocals!

  Benjamin Franklin has many nicknames. Because of all the work he did for the colonies and the United States, he is sometimes called the First American. This nickname was given to him after he died.

  However, some nicknames were given to him during his life. When he was in England, most of the workers at the printer’s drank beer. Benjamin always drank water, so people called him Water-American.

  Some names Benjamin gave himself. Writers in Benjamin’s days often used fake names to sign their work. Benjamin used many different names! Silence Dogood is probably his most famous, but here are some others:

  WILL OSBORNE

  is the author of many novels, picture books, story collections, and nonfiction books. Her New York Times number one bestselling Magic Tree House series has been translated into numerous languages around the world. Highly recommended by parents and educators everywhere, the series introduces young readers to different cultures and times in history, as well as to the world’s legacy of ancient myth and storytelling. She and her husband, writer Will Osborne (author of Magic Tree House: The Musical), live in northwestern Connecticut with their three dogs. Ms. Osborne is coauthor of the companion Magic Tree House® Fact Trackers with Will and with her sister, Natalie Pope Boyce.

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  Mary Pope Osborne, To the Future, Ben Franklin!

 

 

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