Ben Franklin's Will - News Article Web Readings

Each underlined phrase represents a link that you should read through on the web.

In Ben Franklin Part 1, you explored Ben's ideas in Excel in order to find out the interest rate he had planned on receiving. In addition, you learned that in real-life, Boston ended up with 5 million dollars after 200 years, while Philadelphia ended up with $2256952.05. You solved for the average earned interest rates after the first and second hundred years.

In the following readings, you will learn what happened to the funds in real life by reading reports, articles and research that Dr. Sarah has compiled for you.

Ben's Life and Will

Read through this summary of Ben's life and will and then read the actual codicil in Benjamin Franklin's will.

The Actual First Hundred Years

Unfortunately, it was not always possible to find as many borrowers as Franklin had planned and there were other problems as well. Skim over some of the problems that the Philadelphia and Boston funds faced as of 1836.

In January 1894, at the end of 100 years from the inception of the Franklin gift, because of these problems, the Boston fund had grown from $4444.44 dollars (the equivalent of $1000 pounds) to $391,000 dollars. (Note that while this is less than the $582,221.64 (the equivalent of 131,000 pounds) that Franklin had imagined, it is significantly more than Philly's earnings because Boston gave up on Franklin's loan scheme and played the stock market.) After legal battles in Boston, 3/4 of this money (about $300,000 US) was used to fund the Franklin Institute of Boston, and the remainder, about $100,000 US, was maintained for loans for the 2nd century.

By 1907, the Benjamin Franklin Fund in Philadelphia totaled $172,350, less than a fourth of what Franklin had projected. Of that sum, $133,076 was transferred to the Franklin Institute, a hands-on science education museum.

The Actual Second Hundred Years

In Boston, the $100,000 reinvested at the end of the first hundred years grew to 5 million dollars at the end of the second hundred years.

In Philly, the $39,274 reinvested at the end of the first hundred years grew to $2,256,952.05 by the end of the second hundred years.

The Actual Disposition of the Funds

Carefully read this Philadelphia Inquirer article by Clark DeLeon from February 1993 that describes the situation in Philadelphia and Boston at the end of the second hundred years. It also gives some interesting insights into contemporary city government. (See Dr. Sarah's update in red.)

Also see this Boston Globe article by Patricia Nealon from December 1993 that describes a court decision on the Boston fund. (See Dr. Sarah's update in red.)

And finally, take a look at What "Miracle of Compound Interest"?

List of References for Your Writing Project

Here is the list of references that I compiled for you that you will include in your writing project. Your list will also contain any other references that you used and a brief description of what was contained in each reference. You can use any reference format you like and you may wish to copy this directly from the web page in order to save time and so that you don't have to type it in yourself:
  1. De Leon, Clark, Divvying Up Ben: Let's Try for 200 More, The Philadelphia Inquirer, 1993.
    A newspaper article that describes the situation in Philadelphia and Boston at the end of the second hundred years.

  2. Franklin, Benjamin, Ben Franklin's Will - Note by the Editor, Independence Hall Association, electronically publishing as ushistory.org, 1999.
    Benjamin Franklin's will and codicil includes his instructions, motivation and wishes for the creation and disposition of the funds.

  3. Franklin Institute of Boston, About FIB - A Long History, http://www.bfit.edu/pages/aboutfib/long_hist.html
    A web page that describes the history of the Franklin Fund in Boston and the creation of the Franklin Institute after the end of the first hundred years. This also contains some additional background on Benjamin Franklin.

  4. Greenwald, Sarah J, Math 1010 labs, updates and private communication, 2002.

  5. Nealon, Patricia, Ben Franklin Trust To Go To State, City, Not School, SJC Says, The Boston Globe, 1993.
    A newspaper article that describes a court decision on the Boston fund at the end of the second hundred years.

  6. What "Miracle of Compound Interest"? - How Ben Franklin's best laid plans came a cropper, Philanthropy Magazine, The Last Page, August/September 2001.
    Includes a summary of the history of the funds.