Franklin never actively sought public office, even though he was interested in public affairs. In 1736, he became clerk of the Pennsylvania Assembly. The colonies" poor postal service disturbed him greatly. Hoping to improve these conditions, Franklin agreed to become Philadelphia's postmaster in 1737. In 1753, he became deputy postmaster general for all of the colonies.
Franklin worked hard at this job and introduced many needed reforms. He set up the first city delivery system and dead-mail office. He sped up foreign mail deliveries by using the fastest packet ships available across the Atlantic Ocean. He hired more post riders and required couriers to ride both night and day in order to speed up domestic mail service. .
Throughout his life, Franklin had a great curiosity about the world around him. He wondered why and how things worked. He was also able to think clearly and devise simple and uncomplicated tools or experiments to find the answers.
In the spring of 1754, war broke out between the British and French in America. Franklin thought the colonies needed to unite for self-defense against the French and Indians. Franklin presented this "Plan of Union" at a conference of seven colonies held in Albany, New York. This plan tried to bring together the thirteen colonies into one general government. The .
delegates at the Albany Congress approved Franklin's plan, but the colonies failed to ratify it.
The war forced Franklin to turn his attention to the field of military matters. The British had trouble finding horses and wagons for an expedition and he helped to provide the necessary equipment. He was one of the many who tried to give General Braddock a timely warning. He said, above all, the British must avoid a surprise attack by the French and Indians. Braddock ignored his warning. As a result, the French and Indians ambushed the British. Meanwhile, Franklin raised volunteer colonial armies to defend frontier towns and supervised construction of a fort in Carbon County, Pennsylvania.