{"data":{"description":"Autobiography of Ben Franklin Edit this entry Benjamin Franklin was not only one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. He was a leading writer,","title":"Autobiography of Ben Franklin","post_type":"page","content":"\u003cp style=\"color: #000000;\"\u003eBenjamin Franklin was not only one of the Founding Fathers of the United States.\u003c/p\u003e\r\nHe was a leading writer, publisher, inventor, diplomat, scientist, and philosopher. He is well-known for his experiments with electricity and lightning, and for publishing \"Poor Richard's Almanac\" and the \u003ca href=\"/earlyamerica/pages-past/ben-franklins-pennsylvania-gazette/\"\u003ePennsylvania Gazette\u003c/a\u003e. He served as Postmaster General under the Continental Congress, and later became a prominent abolitionist. He is credited with inventing the lightning rod, the Franklin Stove, and bifocals.\r\n\u003cp style=\"color: #000000;\"\u003eA year after Benjamin Franklin's death, his autobiography, entitled \"Memoires De La Vie Privee,\" was published in Paris in March of 1791. The first English translation, \"The Private Life of the Late Benjamin Franklin, LL.D. Originally Written By Himself, And Now Translated From The French,\" porwas published in London in 1793.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003ca href=\"/earlyamerica/lives-early-america/autobiography-benjamin-franklin/\"\u003e\u003cimg class=\"alignnone\" title=\"Click for larger view\" src=\"/images/earlyamerica/private_life-thumb.jpg\" alt=\"Full-size view of title page of Benjamin Franklin's Autobiography: The Private Life of the Late Benjamin Franklin\" width=\"100\" height=\"165\" /\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003ca href=\"/earlyamerica/portrait/benjamin-franklin/\" style=\"margin-left:25px;\"\u003e\u003cimg src=\"/images/earlyamerica/franklin.jpg\" alt=\"Portrait of Benjamin Franklin\" height=\"165\" /\u003e Portrait of Benjamin Franklin\u003c/a\u003e\r\n\u003cbr\u003e\r\n\u003cp style=\"color: #000000;\"\u003eKnown today as \"The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin,\" this classic piece of Americana was originally written for Franklin's son William, then the Governor of New Jersey.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp style=\"color: #000000;\"\u003eHis work-- in effect the life of Benjamin Franklin-- portrays a fascinating picture of life in Philadelphia, as well as Franklin's shrewd observations on the literature, philosophy and religion of America's Colonial and Revolutionary periods.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp style=\"color: #000000;\"\u003eFranklin wrote the first five chapters of his autobiography in England in 1771, resumed again thirteen years later (1784-85) in Paris and later in 1788 when he returned to the United States. Franklin ends the account of his life in 1757 when he was 51 years old.\u003c/p\u003e\r\nConsidered to be the greatest autobiography produced in Colonial America, Franklin's Autobiography is published here in 14 chapters.\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"readchapter\" style=\"font-weight: bold; color: #000000;\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eRead The Autobiography of Benjamin FranklinRead Chapter: \u003ca style=\"color: #990000;\" href=\"/earlyamerica/lives-early-america/autobiography-benjamin-franklin/autobiography-benjamin-franklin-chapter-one/\"\u003e1\u003c/a\u003e \u003ca style=\"color: #990000;\" href=\"/earlyamerica/lives-early-america/autobiography-benjamin-franklin/autobiography-benjamin-franklin-chapter-two/\"\u003e2\u003c/a\u003e \u003ca style=\"color: #990000;\" href=\"/earlyamerica/lives-early-america/autobiography-benjamin-franklin/autobiography-benjamin-franklin-chapter-three/\"\u003e3\u003c/a\u003e \u003ca style=\"color: #990000;\" href=\"/earlyamerica/lives-early-america/autobiography-benjamin-franklin/autobiography-benjamin-franklin-chapter-four/\"\u003e4\u003c/a\u003e \u003ca style=\"color: #990000;\" href=\"/earlyamerica/lives-early-america/autobiography-benjamin-franklin/autobiography-benjamin-franklin-chapter-five/\"\u003e5\u003c/a\u003e \u003ca style=\"color: #990000;\" href=\"/earlyamerica/lives-early-america/autobiography-benjamin-franklin/autobiography-benjamin-franklin-chapter-six/\"\u003e6\u003c/a\u003e \u003ca style=\"color: #990000;\" href=\"/earlyamerica/lives-early-america/autobiography-benjamin-franklin/autobiography-benjamin-franklin-chapter-seven/\"\u003e7\u003c/a\u003e \u003ca style=\"color: #990000;\" href=\"/earlyamerica/lives-early-america/autobiography-benjamin-franklin/autobiography-benjamin-franklin-chapter-eight/\"\u003e8\u003c/a\u003e \u003ca style=\"color: #990000;\" href=\"/earlyamerica/lives-early-america/autobiography-benjamin-franklin/autobiography-benjamin-franklin-chapter-nine/\"\u003e9\u003c/a\u003e \u003ca style=\"color: #990000;\" href=\"/earlyamerica/lives-early-america/autobiography-benjamin-franklin/autobiography-benjamin-franklin-chapter-ten/\"\u003e10\u003c/a\u003e \u003ca style=\"color: #990000;\" href=\"/earlyamerica/lives-early-america/autobiography-benjamin-franklin/autobiography-benjamin-franklin-chapter-eleven/\"\u003e11\u003c/a\u003e \u003ca style=\"color: #990000;\" href=\"/earlyamerica/lives-early-america/autobiography-benjamin-franklin/autobiography-benjamin-franklin-chapter-twelve/\"\u003e12\u003c/a\u003e \u003ca style=\"color: #990000;\" href=\"/earlyamerica/lives-early-america/autobiography-benjamin-franklin/autobiography-benjamin-franklin-chapter-thirteen/\"\u003e13\u003c/a\u003e \u003ca style=\"color: #990000;\" href=\"/earlyamerica/lives-early-america/autobiography-benjamin-franklin/autobiography-benjamin-franklin-chapter-fourteen/\"\u003e14\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cstrong\u003eMore On Benjamin Franklin:\u003c/strong\u003e\r\n\u003cul style=\"color: #000000;\"\u003e\r\n\u003cul style=\"color: #000000;\"\u003e\r\n\t\u003cli\u003e\u003ca href=\"/earlyamerica/videos/ben-franklin-story/\"\u003eThe Ben Franklin Story - The Movie\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\r\n\t\u003cli\u003e\u003ca title=\"Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790)\" href=\"/earlyamerica/early-america-review/volume-7/benjamin-franklin-1706-1790/\"\u003eBenjamin Franklin: The Father of all the Yankees\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\r\n\t\u003cli\u003e\u003ca title=\"Promoting Science Through America’s Colonial Press\" href=\"/earlyamerica/early-america-review/volume-2/promoting-science-americas-colonial-press/\"\u003eHow Ben Franklin Used His Newspaper To Promote Science\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\r\n\t\u003cli\u003e\u003ca href=\"/earlyamerica/pages-past/ben-franklins-pennsylvania-gazette/\"\u003ePages From the Past: Ben Franklin's Pennsylvania Gazette\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\r\n\t\u003cli\u003e\u003ca title=\"Franklin on Free Will and Deism\" href=\"/earlyamerica/early-america-review/volume-16/franklin-free-will-deism/\"\u003eFranklin And Free Will\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\r\n\t\u003cli\u003e\u003ca title=\"Benjamin Franklin Marriage Letter\" href=\"/earlyamerica/bookmarks/benjamin-franklin-marriage/\"\u003eBenjamin Franklin On An Early Marriage\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\r\n\u003c/ul\u003e\r\n\u003c/ul\u003e","menu":[{"path":"lives-early-america","title":"Famous Lives","submenu":[{"path":"lives-early-america/autobiography-benjamin-franklin","title":"Autobiography of Ben Franklin"},{"path":"lives-early-america/ramsays-life-washington","title":"Ramsay's The Life of Washington"},{"path":"lives-early-america/adventures-col-daniel-boone","title":"The Adventures of Col. Daniel Boone"},{"path":"lives-early-america/true-story-paul-revere","title":"The True Story of Paul Revere"},{"path":"world-early-america/famous-obits","title":"Famous Obits"},{"path":"portrait","title":"Portraits"},{"path":"rare-images/last-men-revolution","title":"The Last Men of the Revolution"}]},{"path":"freedom-documents","title":"Freedom Documents","submenu":[{"path":"freedom-documents/bill-rights","title":"Bill of Rights"},{"path":"freedom-documents/declaration-independence","title":"Declaration of Independence"},{"path":"freedom-documents/u-s-constitution","title":"The U.S. Constitution"}]},{"path":"world-early-america","title":"World of Early America","submenu":[{"path":"bookmarks","title":"Early American Bookmarks"},{"path":"world-early-america/famous-obits","title":"Famous Obits"},{"path":"firsts","title":"Firsts!"},{"path":"rare-images/maps","title":"Maps"},{"path":"rare-images","title":"Rare Images"},{"path":"music1","title":"Music"},{"path":"writings","title":"The Writings of Early America"}]},{"path":"boston-massacre","title":"Boston Massacre"},{"path":"milestone-events","title":"Milestones"},{"path":"early-america-review","title":"The Review"},{"path":"home/teachers-students","title":"Teachers"},{"path":"sitemap","title":"Sitemap"}]},"success":true}