The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin

What It's About

Written as a series of letters to his son, this is Franklin's own account of his early life and rise from modest beginnings. It follows his boyhood in Boston, his apprenticeship in his brother's print shop, his flight to Philadelphia as a teenager, and his building of a successful printing business. It also covers his early public projects, including a discussion club, a subscription library and a fire company. The narrative is unfinished and stops in the late 1750s, well before his later roles in the American Revolution and in diplomacy.

Key Concepts

The book's best-known feature is Franklin's plan for "moral perfection", built around thirteen virtues such as temperance, frugality, industry and humility, which he tracked in a daily record. Its wider themes are self-education, thrift, hard work and reputation as tools for getting on in the world, all told in a plain, practical and often humorous voice. Critics have long noted that it is a carefully shaped self-portrait rather than a complete record, and some find its moral bookkeeping calculating. It nonetheless became one of the most influential and widely read autobiographies in the English language.

About the Author

Benjamin Franklin (1706–1790) was born in Boston and became a printer, writer, scientist, inventor and statesman. He was one of the Founding Fathers of the United States and spent much of his later career as a diplomat in Europe.