Book Review 1: The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin

Melissa Chan

HIST 2313-06 Professor Frear September 11, 2012

Chan 1 The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin Most people remember Benjamin Franklin as an old politician who helped found our nation and as a person who liked making experiments. However, I think quite the opposite after reading other literature that quoted and respected him. He was a man of science, wisdom, influence, literature, and much more. His name influenced many books that take after his personality such as Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill and How to Win Friends and Influence by Dale Carnegie. Both are good reads and so I came to read this book as a way to give me insight to how a successful man lived his life. Let us begin with Benjamin Franklins family and his life around it. He was the youngest son of the youngest son for five generations. Franklin was the fifteenth child out of seventeen children. Unlike modern day families, having many children guaranteed better living for the parents. Since Benjamin had many siblings at different trades, he was able to find a trade other than candle-making to his favor. Benjamin Franklin was named after a well-respected uncle who was pious and also political. Although Franklin was from a typical colonist family, his personality in itself was very unique. He had a very curious nature, and often references the Socratic Method to gain more knowledge. Yet he was very arrogant and was generally a leader among the boys ever since childhood. His haughtiness could be supported because he was either generally in the right, or else a better pleader, because judgment was generally in [his] favor. Whenever he had time, Franklin

Chan 2 would leisurely experiment to make things more practical. In all his quests for knowledge, Benjamin found electricity through his famous kite experiment. He discovers that lightning and electricity are one and the same and his experimental papers made him an instant celebrity. Franklin was a very argumentative person and befriended John Collins who fueled each other in debates. Even when most people scorned the idea of vanity, he was persuaded that it is often productive of good to the possessor and to others that are within his sphere of action: and therefore in many cases it would not be quite absurd if a man were to thank God for his Vanity among the other comforts in life. Not only was did he have haughtiness and vanity, he was a man of influence. After his dismay of quality bookstore in Philadelphia, he established a library. It was such a success that it was imitated by other Towns and in other provinces, the Librarys were augmented by Donations, Reading became fashionable and people became better acquainted with books. Franklin was well known to be a deist, meaning a person who believed in God but that God only created life (like a clock) and did not interfere in its works. Though, how Franklin became a deist is another story. Benjamin Franklin grew up in a Puritan family. Since Franklin grew up with Puritan values, it helped shape his ideas about self-improvement and a source of his satire. Franklin was a real doubter in many points of [the] religious doctrine and kept his skepticism against religious strife. Though, he stresses the virtues of religion because of their utilitarian benefits rather than the moral benefits. Franklin completely converted to deism after exploring his own intellect. He used the

Chan 3 "truth, sincerity, integrity of the concept," and he discussed these meanings, and formed a group of called Junto to meet and discuss philosophical and ethical issues. Later in his life, he developed a list of 13 virtues: temperance, silence, command, resolution, frugality, industry, sincerity, justice, moderation, cleanliness, tranquility, chastity, and humility. Engrossed in self-enhancement, Franklin tried the project to reach moral perfection." Each week he focused on a virtue and although he never became perfect, he did become happier. Granted that Franklin was to be like his uncle (in which he was named after), his family put him in grammar school thinking he would service the church. As for his career, Benjamin strongly disliked working for a candle shop, so his father set out to find him a new trade and apprenticed him under his brother, James, a printer. From there, Benjamins career bloomed as he went out to another city to start his own printing career. In his twenties, he developed an almanac filled with forecasts and charts, recipes and aphorisms provided information and entertainment. Poor Richards Almanac was one pinnacle of Franklins successes. He always believed the purpose of speech was given to us, to wit, giving or receiving information, or pleasure and with that, he became an established and wealthy printer. Later on in life, we find the printer much involved in politics. He was appointed as an American Ambassador to represent English colonies. However, tensions between the mother country began to shift [from] dependence long before any colonist [and] envisioned establishing a new nation. Franklin had desired a world without war and a world without racism and slavery; he imagined vast progress in the centuries ahead, hoping that

Chan 4 true Science would ease the burdens of labor and prevent the terrors of disease, praying that Men would cease to be Wolves to one another. Given the insight of Benjamin Franklins life in accomplishments, it is really the betterment of oneself and for others that truly made him a success. We looked into the family, personality, religion, and career of this self-made man. Franklin is one of the prime examples of the fulfillment of the American Dream. Not only is this an epic of ones life, but a historical classic because Benjamin Franklin lived through a revolutionary time. Therefore this biography makes his writings valuable to all that read it and gives spectacular insight to eighteenth century America. If others asked me about this book, I would was an easy read because of the length, but at the same time, it is not an easy read because of the past English language. Not only that, the autobiography was not a continuous piece of work but rather segments and documents put together from his life. Especially those who need time to digest what eighteenth century English meant. All in all, it was a very enjoyable read and had many pearls of wisdom and humor.

Chan 5 Works Cited Franklin, Benjamin. The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin: With Related Documents. Ed. Louis P. Masur. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2003. Print.