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The Autobiography and Other Writings Book Review American hero, Benjamin Franklin was a man of many careers and hobbles. Franklin was an author, scientist, publisher, , Inventor, printer, and diplomat. Franklin was born In Boston, Massachusetts In the beginning of the 1 century. As an adolescent Franklins goal in life was to become a minister until his passion for reading and writing excelled.
At the young age of seventeen he had moved to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania after a fight with his brother James, which caused young Franklin to have to leave Boston in order to find work. In Philadelphia he met a printer named Andrew Bradford who couldn’t have him work for him but could provide housing for him in this new and foreign city. Bradford also introduces Franklin to a man named Kaiser who is a printer and has work for him. However, Franklin becomes popular in this new city he’d traveled to and moves in with a man named John Read.
While In Philadelphia Franklins brother-in-law writes to him and when Franklin responds his brother-in-law he shows Franklins response letter to the Governor of Pennsylvania, William Keith who Is extremely Impressed with Franklins ability to write. Keith offers to help Franklin start his own publishing house but first Franklin wants to travel to London. He became very successful in his writing and printing in London and made a decent amount of money but soon he realized he needed to go back to Philadelphia.
When returning home Franklin learns Keith is no longer a governor and is just an ordinary citizen and he continues to work for Kaiser and eventually takes over Keepers printing house with a plan to start a newspaper using all of the printing supplies he had from London. Franklin was always interested in meeting new people. When Kaiser moves to New Jersey for work, Franklin Joins in for that very reason. At this time he forms the Junta, which is a group that discusses morality and philosophy. Franklin marries John Reads daughter, and starts a library.
He begins becoming more Interested In politics and making the society a better place. At this time in his life, Franklin lost one of his son’s at a very young age. In the early Franklin begins inventing common things we use today. He publishes many of his own pieces of writing, and they are all very successful. Towards the end of the autobiography however, Franklin stops writing about all his accomplishments and events in his life. He seems to be more focused on his thoughts and ideas about society, religion, and it seems to be condescending.
I have mixed feelings about Benjamin Franklin: The Autobiography and Other Writings because I feel as if he started out to be such an intellectual and one of America’s most well know thinkers of all time and somehow evolved Into a somewhat bitter person. It may be silly to compare to but In my mind I think of when that really new, young, popular celebrity Is on the rise and everyone Just fawns over them they soon either take up strange religion’s, they have different beliefs, and they aren’t as down as like that in some way. American hero” with a lot of troubled thoughts and complex ideas is what comes to mind when I think of Benjamin Franklin now. All in all Benjamin Franklin helped shape The United States of America in the eighteenth century and even today in the twenty-first century. He is a pioneer of early American History and this book is hands down a perfect read for an American History course in college because it shows the way our country was in the and even how everything is worded gives a good outlook on the culture of early America.