by Benjamin Franklin

Benjamin Franklin's life of eighty-four years (1706-1790) spanned most of the eighteenth century-a period in which the American colonies grew from small, isolated communities to a united nation of thirteen states. Franklin contributed greatly to the political founding of the nation and did much to help shape the American character. He thus became known by many as "the first American." In his autobiography, which stops almost twenty years before he helped to draft the Declaration of Independence and over thirty years before his death, he describes the formation of his own character as an example to others in the newly emerging nation.

Events in History at the Time the Autobiography Tahes Place

Proprietary politics. Decades before hostilities broke out between the English government and the American colonies, a small-scale conflict was already raging in the colony of...