Ben Franklin 2

Benjamin Franklin's Autobiography is broken up into four integral parts, all written during different periods in Franklin's life. The first part, addressed to his son, William, was written when Franklin was sixty-five years old. Before he began the task of recording his past, Franklin carefully wrote out a list of topics he would narrate to his readers. Eleven years later, this list somehow fell into the hands of Abel James who urged Franklin to finish …

…Franklin. Franklin is sometimes called the "the wisest American." Blessed with talents and ambition, Franklin was a statesman, author, and inventor in his time. Conscious of his celebrity status and popularity, he was able to create his own character. Having lived the American Dream, he wrote his autobiography for the public as a guideline to reach moral and social perfection. It was Franklin's extraordinary range of accomplishments that made him the American citizen to imitate.