Growing up in the Philadelphia area, Benjamin Franklin has always been a part of my home city's history and heritage. Whenever I have visitors from overseas, a trip to historic Philadelphia is always on the agenda. I have even toured the Ben Franklin House. However, prior to reading this selection, my knowledge and opinion of Franklin was limited. I would have described him as a Founding Father with a kite and a key. After reading this selection, I would describe him as one of the most interesting and admirable men I have ever read about. The selection from The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin inspired me to want to become a better version of myself. Benjamin Franklin lays out a step-by-step process in this writing that I decided to adapt to fit my own needs. .
Benjamin Franklin was born in 1706 in Boston. He was the fifteenth of seventeen children, and also the youngest boy. He was only given one year of formal education before starting to work. First, he studied under his father as a candle maker and then, eventually, he started a printing apprenticeship working for his older brother, James. During this time, he had his first letters published under the fictitious name "Silence Dogood." They were successful, and when he confessed to writing the letters to James, it strained their relationship and eventually Benjamin broke his contractual servitude and left Boston (Dull, 2010, p. 1-17). .
Franklin arrived in Philadelphia in 1723 at the age of 17, virtually penniless. He used his knowledge of the printing trade to eventually purchase the "Pennsylvania Gazette" and turn it into a successful newspaper. By the age of 42, Franklin had become quite successful, and retired from the printing business to concentrate on his many other interests. In addition to becoming a wealthy entrepreneur, over the years Franklin was a scientist, inventor, politician, author, innovator and philanthropist who was instrumental in helping to lead our country in it's fight for independence in the Revolutionary War (Dull, 2010, p.
