The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin PDF
The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin PDF
The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin PDF
Autobiography of
Benjamin
Franklin
Study Guide by Course Hero
are subject to Franklin's point of view and editorial choices.
What's Inside
TENSE
The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin is written in the past
j Book Basics ................................................................................................. 1 tense.
l Symbols ...................................................................................................... 18
Revolutionary Times
j Book Basics Many historians have commented that the seeds of the
American Revolution (1765–83) were planted during the
French and Indian War (1754–63). Benjamin Franklin was
AUTHOR
nearing age 50 when this conflict broke out in North America.
Benjamin Franklin
The war, which pitted England against her arch-rival France for
YEARS WRITTEN control of overseas colonies and territories, spanned three
1771–90 continents, with battles in Europe and India as well as in the
New World. The British won a decisive victory, formalized by
GENRE the Treaty of Paris in 1763.
Autobiography
The war's result spelled the end to French hopes for primacy,
PERSPECTIVE AND NARRATOR or even influence, in North America. At the same time, however,
The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin is told in the first the conflict left the British hamstrung by colossal,
person by Benjamin Franklin. As such, the events he relates unprecedented debt. Britain's solution was to tax the American
The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin Study Guide In Context 2
colonies—a policy that led, in little more than a decade, to the egocentrism. To succeed in persuading and influencing people,
American Revolution against British rule of the colonies. Franklin argues, let others think that a project or proposal
According to American historian Gordon S. Wood, there was a results from their common effort, rather than from one's own
change in Britain's mindset as well: the English began to think initiative. He suggests putting aside vanity and letting others
of the colonists in America as "less ... fellow Englishmen across take the credit to best achieve the realization of one's goals.
the Atlantic than ... another set of people to be ruled."
Time and again in the Autobiography, Franklin stresses this
Franklin was slow to fathom the trend. Widely praised for his theme. Paradoxically, the fact that he declines to take credit
judgment and finesse, he fell awkwardly behind the curve on for numerous civic improvement projects actually burnishes his
the steep increase of colonial resistance and alienation: he did reputation with us, his readers. Clearly, Franklin enjoyed being
not seem to understand the depth or intensity of colonial credited for his very substantial achievements. But just as
opposition to the British. A passionate admirer of Britain as late plainly, he was psychologically savvy enough to know that envy
as the 1760s, he badly underestimated colonial reaction to the could destroy even a brilliant person's reputation.
Stamp Act of 1765, and until the early 1770s, he seems to have
cherished hopes for an Anglo-American reconciliation. It was
not until 1774 or 1775 that he began to see revolution as Enlightenment-Age Media
inevitable and even desirable.
In an age when newspapers were in their first generation,
when pamphlets and advertisements were making their way as
America's First Autobiography the new media, Franklin was on the cutting edge. Franklin's
work as a printer, writer, and editor in the publishing industry
Franklin wrote his autobiography in several widely separated projected him into a multifaceted career that epitomized the
stints, beginning in 1771 and continuing until close to his death Enlightenment—an age of scientific inquiry and rational
in 1790. He had few models for such a project and none from debate—and that placed him at the epicenter of a new nation's
American writers. In Western literature, two of the best-known birth.
precedents for Franklin's work were the Confessions
(397–400 CE) of Christian theologian St. Augustine and the The Enlightenment was an intellectual and cultural movement
autobiography of the Swiss-French philosopher Jean-Jacques that began in Europe, primarily in France and England, during
Rousseau, also known as the Confessions (1782 and 1789). the 1600s and swiftly spread to various other European
Franklin first titled his work Memoirs, which now describes a countries and then overseas. Enlightenment values
personal experience narrative. At the time he wrote, the word championed reason, experimentation, and scientific inquiry,
autobiography was not in common English usage. rather than religious faith, trust in divine Providence, and the
authoritarian decrees of monarchies.
Franklin's work, in fact, was deeply original, having little in
common with the autobiographies of his predecessors: The great philosophers of the Enlightenment—Frenchmen
René Descartes, Voltaire, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Denis
It was the first autobiography to be widely popular. Diderot; Englishmen Thomas Hobbes and John Locke; and
It is still engaging to modern readers more than 200 years Scottishman David Hume—laid the foundations for a rationalist,
later. experience-based approach to human existence and social
It can be read as a guide to achieving success. relations. Such philosophical assumptions as the essential
It revealed information about his trade, printing, along with equality of human beings, the social contract between
his civic career. government and the individual, and popular sovereignty or rule
by the people became key concepts for the American founders
In addition Franklin wrote with a keen understanding of his in the Revolution (1765–83): George Washington, Thomas
readers. Even a cursory reading of the Autobiography should Jefferson, and James Madison. Whatever their formal
leave no doubt that Franklin was a master at public relations. education, these figures were all children of the Enlightenment.
While autobiography is, by nature, self-centered, Franklin
instinctively knew the temptations and dangers of envy and Benjamin Franklin was a man of the Enlightenment in almost
experimentation to determine the identities of lightning and the events he describes, Franklin provides in the opening
electricity. In addition, in the course of his long life, he invested pages of his Autobiography a vivid account of his arrival and
boundless energy into the new media that served the early employment in Philadelphia. After an uneven beginning,
Enlightenment so effectively: the printed pamphlet, the letter, he established himself in the printing profession and made
the newspaper essay, the almanac, and the public appeal. gradual but steady progress. His circle of contacts expanded,
Before and during the American Revolution, it was media such and his participation in civic improvements—a hallmark of his
as these that enabled the British colonies in America to career for many decades—increased. Such projects included
develop shared principles, a common outlook, and concerted the foundation of a lending library, the paving of city streets,
a Author Biography
role in his business activities.
Franklin's membership in the colonial assembly, roughly probably swung the tide in the colonies' favor during the
equivalent to today's state legislature, led directly to another Revolution, he remained controversial on his home ground.
milestone in his life when he was 50: his appointment as that Just as some Americans had thought him too British in former
body's agent in London. Franklin's task was to persuade the years, some of his compatriots now viewed him as too French.
British government to remove the Pennsylvania "proprietors," Nevertheless, in 1787 Franklin played a key role in the
or the heirs of the colony's founder William Penn, from their Constitutional Convention (he was by far the oldest delegate).
positions of authority and to transform Pennsylvania into a After his death on April 17, 1790, his reputation steadily
royal province, accountable directly to the British monarch. magnified his position as a heroic exemplar of the rags to
Many Pennsylvanians—including Franklin—detested the riches American dream.
proprietors for their inequitable and self-serving taxation
policies. Arriving in London in 1757 Franklin spent the next 18
years living abroad, with the exception of a two-year interval
h Key Figures
back in Philadelphia (1762–64).
James Franklin
The brief but striking portrayal of James Franklin in his younger
brother's autobiography is notable for its presentation of
strongly felt, conflicting emotions. On one level, James had no
scruples in exploiting Benjamin; on another, Benjamin's vanity
and injured pride made him easily angered and defensive. The
quarrel between James and Benjamin motivated the latter's
running away from Boston to Philadelphia, where he struck out
on his own and achieved great success. Even with half a
century's perspective, the quarrel between the two seems
fresh and raw. James, of course, was the loser, and Benjamin's
summary mentioning his "aversion to arbitrary power" is
tantamount to a condemnation. However, the reconciliation
between the brothers years later (1735) in Newport, Rhode
Island, showed Benjamin in a more flattering light. And the rift
did not permanently mar the relationship: upon James's death,
Benjamin educated his brother's son and took him into the
printing business.
Samuel Keimer
Keimer and Franklin eventually quarreled, and Franklin struck
out on his own to work as a printer. Franklin reports that
Samuel Keimer's business and credit declined steadily. He was
compelled to sell his printing house to pay his debts, and he
later died in reduced circumstances on the island of Barbados.
Samuel Keimer
Philadelphia printer
William Franklin
Dr. John
British official;
Forthergill
loyalist during
British physician
the Revolution Employer
Father
Friend and
supporter
Benjamin Franklin
Printer and writer;
Opponent
businessman; diplomat
Abbé Jean- Spouses
Deborah Read
Antoine Nollet
Industrious, frugal woman
French scientist
Brothers
Son
Josiah Franklin
James Franklin Maker of soaps and
Domineering Boston printer Son candles; emigrated from
England to America
James Franklin was one of Benjamin Sir William Keith was the colonial
Franklin's older brothers. Almost nine governor of Pennsylvania when Franklin
years Ben's senior, James plays an was just beginning his career in
important role in the Autobiography, Sir William Philadelphia. Keith promised to help the
James Keith young Franklin, but his assurances prove
acting as both mentor and quasi-
Franklin to be empty and vain; whether Keith is
employer of Ben in the writing and
production of one of the first malicious or just empty-headed is left up
independent colonial newspapers, the to the reader to decide.
New England Courant.
Lord Loudon was a British nobleman and
Samuel Keimer was a Philadelphia printer Lord military officer. He treated Franklin
Samuel Loudon shabbily and delayed him on his journey
who was Franklin's first employer in that
Keimer to London in 1757.
city.
Dr. John Dr. John Fothergill was an English Hugh Meredith was a friend and short-
Fothergill physician and supporter of Franklin's. term business partner of Franklin.
Hugh
Meredith was overly fond of strong drinks
Meredith
and eventually he and Franklin had a
General Edward Braddock was a British parting of the ways.
General
military commander who headed colonial
Edward
forces in the early stages of the French
Braddock Abbé Jean-Antoine Nollet was a French
and Indian War.
clergyman and scientist whom Franklin
describes as "an able experimenter."
Peter Collinson was a Quaker British However, Nollet published a volume of
merchant and scientist who was a friend Abbé Jean-
Peter letters opposing Franklin's conclusions
of Franklin and a fellow of the elite Royal Antoine
Collinson on electricity, to which Franklin decided
Society. He corresponded regularly with Nollet
not to reply, preferring "to let [his] papers
Franklin on the subject of electricity. speak for themselves;" in the end,
Franklin's theories on electricity replaced
those of Nollet.
Part 3
k Plot Summary Franklin resumes writing his life story in 1788, even though
many of his papers and records have been lost in the
Revolution. He recounts his first publication of Poor Richard's
Almanack in 1732, his reactions to the sermons of the
Presbyterian preacher Samuel Hemphill, and the studies of
languages he began in 1733. On a visit to Newport, Rhode
Part 4
Franklin describes how, in 1757, he embarked on a diplomatic
mission in London as the agent of the Pennsylvania Assembly.
His first two meetings, however, were not promising. Lord
Granville, the President of the King's Council, told him that King
George III's decisions about the colonies are binding. The
proprietors, or hereditary trustees of the colony, indulged in
delaying tactics and complex legal maneuvers.
Timeline of Events
1706
1723
1724–26
1727
Franklin and his friends found the "Junto," a club for the
"mutual improvement" of its members.
1730
1748
1757
1771
Franklin reports on his research about the family ancestry in After some tentative explorations of various printers, Franklin
England, dating back to the year 1555. He states that his acquired employment with Samuel Keimer, even though he
father, Josiah Franklin, emigrated from England to the regarded Keimer as somewhat unqualified. He amassed a
American colonies about 1682. Josiah Franklin fathered 17 circle of acquaintances in Philadelphia and came to the notice
children, of whom Benjamin, born in 1706, was the youngest of the provincial governor, Sir William Keith. Over the following
son and the third-youngest child. few months, Keith led Franklin to understand that the young
man could depend on his support for backing in the printing
Benjamin's father was a candle and soap maker, a "chandler," industry, and the governor encouraged Franklin to undertake a
and his older brothers all became employed in various trades. journey to London. Depending on Keith's promises, Ben made
Such a large family necessarily limited young Ben's choices for the journey, but he was disappointed to discover in London
education. After assisting his father in the chandler trade, that Keith had proffered empty assurances.
which did not appeal to Ben, the youngster was finally
apprenticed at the age of 12 to his older brother James in the Franklin remained in London for about a year and a half. He
printing business. Josiah Franklin judged this appropriate gained employment in the printing trade, made a number of
because of Ben's love, even when young, of reading and good friends (including Mr. Denham and James Ralph), and
writing. practiced swimming, at which he was proficient.
Franklin spent every spare penny he had on books. As a youth Back in Philadelphia Franklin returned to work for Samuel
he happened on a spare copy of The Spectator, the Keimer. He founded a club named the Junto, intended for
periodically published pamphlet of essays by the British writers "mutual improvement" and discussion of current issues in
Joseph Addison and Richard Steele. He adopted The politics, morals, and science. He contemplated founding a
Spectator as a model for his own prose style. newspaper. Using his connections, he acquired printing jobs
and split with Keimer, going out on his own. Together with his
According to Franklin, in either 1720 or 1721 his brother James friends, he planned on establishing a lending library in
decided to establish a newspaper, the New England Courant, Philadelphia.
one of the very first papers in the colonies. As James's
apprentice Ben played an important role in this enterprise.
Franklin, a creative and playful teenager, determined to make a Analysis
pseudonymous contribution to the paper, penning an essay
and disguising his handwriting. James and his friends At the start of the Autobiography, Franklin phrases the
commended the essay, which was signed with the name dedicatory letter to his son William carefully. Behind the mask
"Silence Dogood." But Ben's subsequent admission of of proud fatherhood and due modesty, there is the firm will of a
self-made man eager for both appreciation and The quarrel between Ben Franklin and his older brother James
acknowledgment of mentorship. Franklin comes close to constitutes one of the central episodes of Part 1 in the
complacency but rescues himself from such an accusation Autobiography. Franklin's account, though naturally biased in
with his thanks to God for a fruitful life and with his apparently his own favor, allows for more than one perspective: in
humble admission of occasional faults. particular, he admits that he was somewhat at fault. At the
same time, he criticizes James for employing "arbitrary power"
Franklin's quest for details about his ancestors will surprise no and harshly remarks that his brother took care to "prevent my
one in the modern age of genealogical research. His results getting employment in any other printing-house of the town."
amount to a solid, middle-class British ancestry, with most of
his male forebears situated in the trading professions, dating In the brief anecdotes that occupy a substantial portion of Part
back to 1555. For five generations, Franklin was descended 1, Franklin gives us persuasive, vivid vignettes of a young man's
from the youngest son of youngest sons. In an era of experiences in his early career: the forging of friendships
primogeniture, with only the eldest son in a family able to (James Ralph as an "inseparable companion"), the naiveté of a
receive a substantial inheritance, this meant that Franklin's protégé misled by a patron (Franklin and Governor Keith),
ancestors were increasingly compelled to earn a living. novel experimentation (vegetarianism and a new sect with
Keimer), exhilaration in athletic activity (swimming in the
In the discussion of his immediate family, Franklin plainly Thames), public embarrassment (the quarrel with Keimer), and
reserves special honor for his father, Josiah Franklin: he had, self-confession (doubts that led Franklin to become "a
he says, "a good deal of respect for his judgment and advice." thorough Deist").
Franklin furnishes a special testimony to the memory of his
parents by including the text of the memorial he later created Thematically, the most important event in the remainder of Part
for their burial place. 1 is Franklin's founding of the Junto. This association, like
Samuel Johnson's Literary Club in London some years later,
Franklin's admiration for Joseph Addison's Spectator is had both social and serious aims, being focused on "mutual
noteworthy. The paper began publication in 1711, when Franklin improvement" and "points of morals, politics, or natural
was five years old, with a stated aim "to enliven morality with philosophy." It is noteworthy that the members were
wit, and to temper wit with morality." The readership, Addison encouraged to produce and read aloud an original essay once
estimated, reached 60,000, or 10% of London's population at every three months on a topic of their choice. There have been
the time. Addison made a special pitch for woman readers, and numerous modern-day Juntos founded in imitation of Franklin's
his efforts seem to have been successful. club.
week, imposing a fine of twice the value in the case of any It is in the same spirit that he presents his plan for the
unreturned books. Franklin himself put aside an hour or two achievement of moral perfection, which, he specifically points
each day to devote to his studies, which afforded him "the out, "might be serviceable to people in all religions." Franklin is
means of improvement" and served to make up for the loss of at pains to explain the order of the 13 virtues, commenting that
a learned education. temperance holds the prime position because it "tends to
promote the coolness and clearness of head, which is so
After a brief discussion of religion and the "utility" of public necessary where constant vigilance [is] to be kept up."
worship, Franklin turns to his principal topic in Part 2: his quest
for "moral perfection." This effort involved the description and
tabulation of 13 virtues, beginning with temperance, silence,
and order, and continuing with resolution, frugality, industry,
Part 3
sincerity, justice, moderation, cleanliness, tranquility, chastity,
and humility. In an extended discussion, Franklin analyzes
these virtues and then explains how he was able to keep track
Summary
of his progress in the cultivation of each one on a daily basis.
Once again Franklin resumes writing the Autobiography after a
significant interval. It is now August 1788, around the time of
Franklin's inclusion of the two letters in his own praise at the a brief paper he wrote in 1731, entitled "Observations on My
beginning of Part 2 might be viewed as egotism, but in an Reading History, in Library." There we find that Franklin, at the
eighteenth-century context his display of plaudits would be age of twenty-five, harbored a somewhat pessimistic view of
favorably received. As long as others were the source of men's actions, at least in public affairs. Few people in public
praise, advertisement of one's own virtues and achievements service, he declares, are motivated by the public good; instead,
Once again, Franklin stresses tact and restraint when he Franklin turns next to his ideas regarding an ideal sect that
discusses the effort to solicit subscriptions for the new would contain the essentials of every known religion. Franklin's
Philadelphia public library. The chief concern of any would-be universal creed specifies the existence of God, a creator
philanthropist or community benefactor, Franklin notes, should whose Providence governs the world; the doing of good to
be to avoid other people's envy and resentment. This can be fellow human beings as the most acceptable service of God;
accomplished by taking a back seat and by characterizing a the immortality of the soul; and the eventual reward of virtue
Before he delves into the discussion of his effort to achieve calendar, which contained weather forecasts, poems, sayings,
moral perfection, Franklin devotes some space to the way he and other entertaining pieces, was exceptionally popular,
spends his Sundays. He declares that Sunday is his "studying- selling continuously for over 25 years. Together with Franklin's
day" and that he seldom attends any public worship—although newspaper, the Pennsylvania Gazette, it provided the author
he believes in both the propriety and the utility of people's with considerable income. Franklin notes that he scrupulously
church attendance. Characteristically, however, Franklin finds excluded all libel and personal abuse from his newspaper.
delivered plagiarized sermons, but Franklin supported the Franklin then moves into discussing the opening years of the
clergyman, remarking that he would rather hear good sermons French and Indian War (1754–1763), which saw him engaged
written by others than bad ones "of his own manufacture." on a variety of fronts. He encouraged the Albany Plan of
Union—a system of inter-colonial cooperation doomed by
In this period Franklin describes, he also began his study of British lack of enthusiasm. Franklin was also active in
foreign languages, focusing on French, Italian, and Spanish, negotiations with the Indians at Carlisle and in raising arms and
whereupon he found his comprehension of Latin increased. He supplies for the British military effort. He even went so far as to
also journeyed to Newport, Rhode Island, where he had a advance a sizable amount of his own funds for the war effort.
reconciliation with his brother James, who was then very ill and
died shortly afterwards. Franklin helped James's young son get Franklin's account of his electricity experiments is especially
a footing in the printing business. He reports as well that he intriguing. This field of endeavor made him a worldwide
lost his own young son to smallpox at this time, having celebrity. Yet, acknowledgment of his achievement was not
neglected to have had the boy inoculated. unobstructed. In particular, a French clergyman named Abbé
Jean-Antoine Nollet opposed Franklin's theories, in large part
Meanwhile, Franklin continued in his civic and public activities, because they contradicted his own, and he published a volume
participating in the City Watch and forming a fire department. of letters denying the validity of Franklin's conclusions. Franklin
In 1739 he reacted enthusiastically to the visit of the Rev. made up his mind not to reply in print, and ultimately he
George Whitefield, an influential English clergyman with whom prevailed. Franklin was honored by a medal from the Royal
Franklin formed a lifelong friendship. Franklin calculated that Society in London and by degrees from several prestigious
the huge attendance at Whitefield's outdoor sermons universities.
exceeded 30,000 people.
In the concluding section of Part 3, Franklin recounts his
Franklin then reports that in the early 1740s he retired from appointment as agent for the Pennsylvania Assembly to
full-time participation in business activities, but he still represent the colony's interests in London. For practical
maintained his involvement in public affairs. He was especially purposes, this meant that Franklin would try all expedients to
concerned that Philadelphia lacked infrastructure in defense release Pennsylvania from the grip of the "proprietors"—the
and education. To bolster the first, he authored a pamphlet descendants of the original founder, William Penn. Many
called "Plain Truth" and then succeeded in persuading Pennsylvania colonists, including Franklin, believed that the
Governor Clinton of New York to lend 18 cannons to proprietors were unjustly abusing their tax-exempt status and
Philadelphia. In the field of education, he published another ignoring the legitimate interests of the colony. Franklin
pamphlet promoting the establishment of an academy, with the accepted this mission in 1757, but his departure for England
result that an initial subscription of five thousand pounds was was greatly delayed by the British official Lord Loudon, who
raised. As usual, he did not advertise himself as the initiator of prevaricated on the issue of Franklin's reimbursement for his
such a plan, but attributed it instead to "some public-spirited financial advances earlier in the French and Indian War.
gentlemen." Regarding the trustees of the future University of
Pennsylvania, Franklin was careful to ensure that no particular At the close of Part 3, Franklin describes his arrival in England
religious sect would predominate. at the end of an eventful sea voyage, commenting with typical,
concrete pragmatism on "the utility of lighthouses," since
Franklin busied himself with a broad range of projects in the shortly before Franklin's ship landed in port, a lighthouse had
early 1750s. One of the most important was his scientific saved his vessel from shipwreck.
exploration of the nature and characteristics of electricity. In
this area Franklin's friendships with Peter Collinson and Dr.
John Fothergill, both Quakers who resided in London, were Analysis
especially important. Another project was Franklin's
collaboration with Dr. Thomas Bond in plans for the Poor Richard's Almanack, first published by Franklin in 1732,
establishment of a hospital in Philadelphia. A third interest was employed a pseudonym, Richard Saunders, for its authorship.
a project for paving the city's streets. In 1753 Franklin was This was one of the many aliases that Franklin used
appointed co-Postmaster General of America. throughout his career, By American standards of the era, the
almanac was a best-seller, with annual print runs of 10,000 colonies," meaning that the American colonial assemblies
copies. lacked the right to make their own laws.
George Whitefield, an itinerant preacher, travelled from place Dr. Fothergill serving as intermediary, Franklin then met with
to place, up and down the eastern seaboard. He was one of the Pennsylvania proprietors. This meeting, too, was less than
the most eloquent, popular voices of the religious movement satisfactory. The proprietors seemed bent on delay and on
known as the First Great Awakening. This movement legal counter-strategies.
downplayed ceremony and ritual in religious observance,
emphasizing instead every individual's need to be "reborn" and
to achieve salvation in Christ. Other influential figures in the Analysis
Great Awakening included Samuel Davies and Jonathan
Edwards, whose sermon "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry The two meetings recounted by Franklin in Part 4 provide a
God" (1741) became an American classic. (Both Davies and brooding, somewhat pessimistic end to the Autobiography. Of
Edwards served as presidents of Princeton University.) course, it should be remembered that Franklin left his work
unfinished. Lord Granville, in particular, treated Franklin with
Franklin's retirement from active business was accompanied studied arrogance, asserting a tyrannical view of the way the
by several symbolic acts. He moved to a larger house, for colonies should be governed. The proprietors seemed
example—one that was not connected to the premises of his altogether unwilling to negotiate. The reader may very well
business. (In the 18th century, tradesmen usually lived where conclude that Franklin, as a diplomat, has his work cut out for
they worked.) He left the printing house and the shop in the him in London. He was, with one minor interval, to remain there
hands of a new partner, David Hall. He acquired several slaves. for the better part of the next 18 years.
And, he had his portrait painted. Though he doesn't discuss
these things in the Autobiography, they are markers of his Diplomacy dominated Franklin's later life, which is not covered
rising status and financial success. in the Autobiography. Although he failed to achieve colonial
reconciliation with the British, he was brilliantly successful at
The Albany Plan of Union (1754), though never implemented, is securing French aid to the colonies during the Revolution. After
historically important because it was the first significant the American victory, Franklin was instrumental in framing the
proposal to place the colonies under a centralized government. Treaty of Paris, whereby the British officially recognized
The plan, drawn up by Franklin, was occasioned by the American independence.
uncertainties of the French and Indian War, rather than by any
desire to gain independence from Great Britain. One of the
most significant features of the plan was that it separated the
executive and legislative branches of government.
g Quotes
with his life so far. He was 65 when he wrote this passage, political satire to fundraising advertisements, from
which occurs in the introductory letter to his son William at the philosophical letters to scientific research, from collections of
beginning of the Autobiography. The deep and permanent rift proverbs to humorous essays. An example of the latter, drawn
between father and son over the Revolution had not yet almost at random, is Franklin's essay "The Art of Procuring
occurred. As always, Franklin carefully manages his image, Pleasant Dreams," written when he was 80 years old (in 1786).
even in what on the surface appears to be an intimate letter. As usual, in this quotation Franklin plays his own achievements
He is satisfied with his life, but he admits mistakes and faults, down: note the phrase "what little ability."
using an amusing figure of speech drawn from printing, his own
profession.
"If you ... express yourself as firmly
reading, and all the little money you can seldom hope to
"This is not the only instance of The context for this observation is Franklin's discussion of his
experiences during the French and Indian War (1754–1763).
patents taken out for my Franklin's belief in the efficacy of industry, civic service, and
Inventions by others ... which I the practical application of one's talents seems to have been
unwavering throughout his life.
never contested, as having no
desire of profiting by patents
"This is the age of experiments."
myself, and hating disputes."
— Benjamin Franklin, Part 3
— Benjamin Franklin, Part 3
Public Image
The Junto
Many historians have remarked on Franklin's frequent
The Junto (meaning joining or club in Spanish) was the assumption of masks, personas, or disparate images—in the
Philadelphia club founded by Franklin and some of his Autobiography, in his essays, and in his letters. Who was
"ingenious acquaintance[s]" in 1727. Franklin was only 21 at the Franklin, exactly? One of his leading biographers, Gordon S.
time. Franklin explicitly asserts that the club was established Wood, has remarked that he is not an easy man to get to know.
"for mutual improvement." The details he provides are This intentionally kaleidoscopic view of Franklin is not, in fact,
instructive. The club's meetings were scheduled for Friday unique to him among the founders. George Washington and
nights, when the members would take turns in presenting Thomas Jefferson were also acutely conscious of being on
"queries on any point of morals, politics, or natural philosophy." stage or acting a role, and each assiduously managed his
Once every three months, each member would have to present public image.
an original essay, which the members would then discuss.
For Franklin specifically, his public image can be said to
Franklin declares that the Junto members gradually acquired
symbolize reputation or honor, that most precious quality of an
"better habits of conversation" because of these rules. The
18th-century gentleman—particularly for a first-generation
Junto comes to symbolize collective intellect and improvement
gentleman like Franklin, who had risen from humble origins. At
in the Autobiography. It is a visible sign of Franklin's belief in
dozens of points in the Autobiography, Franklin lets it be known
cooperative effort and progress.
that other people's opinions need to be carefully managed,
steered, or directed. Otherwise, envy or malicious
misinterpretation may easily skew the desired picture.
Books Toward the end of Part 1 of the Autobiography, Franklin makes
the following comment on his image, revealing how important
appearances were to him: "In order to secure my credit and
Books played a pre-eminent role in Franklin's long life, from character as a tradesman, I took care not only to be in reality
early childhood until his death. For young Ben books were industrious and frugal, but to avoid all appearances of the
almost like charms or talismans, worth the expense of all his contrary."
In an intriguing paragraph near the end of Part 2 of the Morgan, Edmund S. Benjamin Franklin. Yale UP, 2002.
Autobiography, Franklin discusses his "scheme" to achieve
moral perfection in terms of its sect-blind utility. He says that Seavey, Ormond. Becoming Benjamin Franklin: The
his plan, though it was "not wholly without religion ... might be Autobiography and the Life. Penn State UP, 1988.
serviceable to people in all religions." Franklin therefore
Wood, Gordon S. Revolutionary Characters: What Made the
contemplated writing a short book entitled The Art of Virtue,
Founders Different. Penguin, 2007.
noting the practical advantages of each virtue and the
corresponding drawbacks of its opposite vice. Wood, Gordon S. The Americanization of Benjamin Franklin.
Penguin, 2005.