As a deputy postmaster, he became interested in the North Altlantic Ocean circulation patterns. While in England, Franklin heard a question about why it took mail longer to reach than RI. He then asked his cousin who told him that merchant ships routinely avouded a strong eastbound mid-ocean current while the mail packets captain sailed dead into it, fighting an adverse current.
To get it to raise funds to crush a rebellion :)
To be protected, to get treated fairly, and money
It's called the "volcano of water"
