In a summarizing sentence, combine the keys to state the main idea of the paragraph. use no more than two sentences.

1"the final phase of franklin's public service is the most spectacular. 2after his return to america he was elected to the second continental congress and served with jefferson and john adams on the committee which drafted the declaration of independence. 3then, in 1776, he was appointed one of the three commissioners to seek military and naval assistance from france. 4for nearly ten years paris was his center of operations, and, in large part because of his personal popularity, he secured the much-needed support of france and spain and eventually negotiate the treaty of paris (1783), by which england recognized american independence. 5when he returned to america in 1785 he was old and ill, yet he found strength to serve as a delegate to the constitutional convention, and to continue his work with many humanitarian and scientific societies."