The war ended on October 17, 1781, when George Washington defeated General Cornwallis’s army at the Battle of Yorktown in Virginia. As the British surrendered, French soldiers in their neat blue and white uniforms stood side by side with the ragged American army.

The war had lasted for seven years. Now that the fighting was over, America was free. Benjamin and some other Americans went to Paris to draw up a peace treaty with England. In 1783, Ben and two other Americans signed the Treaty of Paris.

Benjamin Goes Home

In 1785, after many parties, honors, and celebrations, Ben sailed home. Even though he was seventy-nine, he was still active and ready to jump back into life in America.

Ben lived with his daughter, Sarah “Sally” Bache, and his grandchildren. He spent a lot of time enjoying life and visiting with his old friends. George Washington even stopped by for a chat!

America in Crisis

Two years after its victory, America was still struggling. The biggest problem was that the government was not strong enough to govern all the states well. There was no way to collect taxes or make laws.

Abraham Lincoln visited the same room where the U.S. Constitution and the Declaration of Independence were signed.

On May 25, 1787, fifty-five men from all the states except Rhode Island met in Independence Hall in Philadelphia. They were there to hold a Constitutional Convention. Their goal was to form a single government that could make laws for all the states.

Guards stood at the doors, and windows were kept shut so nobody could hear what the delegates were saying.

At the age of eighty-one, Ben was the oldest delegate. His friend George Washington was chosen as president of the convention.

Independence Hall served as the Pennsylvania State House.

For four months they worked hard writing the United States Constitution. It laid out the way the government should work and laws that Americans should obey.

Benjamin was carried to the meetings in a sedan chair. Every time he entered the hall, the delegates stood as a sign of respect.

Delegates finally signed the Constitution on September 17, 1787.

The Constitutional Convention was Benjamin’s final duty. But there was one last thing he wanted to do. Benjamin urged Congress to end slavery. He became head of the Pennsylvania Abolition Society and argued that all people deserve to be free.

Abolition means putting an end to something.

Benjamin had been sick for a while, and on April 17, 1790, he died. He was eighty-four years old. Two of his grandsons and his daughter were at his bedside.

In his will, Benjamin left money to the cities of Boston and Philadelphia to help young tradesmen who had been apprentices. George Washington got his favorite walking stick, and his grandson Temple received Ben’s library and papers.

Temple didn’t take good care of Benjamin’s papers, and many were lost.

On April 21, 1790, a crowd of 20,000 people gathered for Ben’s funeral. Since only 28,000 people lived in Philadelphia, his was the largest funeral the city had ever seen. Ships in the harbor lowered their flags to half-mast. Scientists, doctors, members of the American Philosophical Society, and printers walked in the procession with his casket.

People in France also mourned his passing.

Benjamin was buried next to his wife and a son who had died when he was four.