Study Guide

for

The

Autobiography of

Benjamin Franklin

by Benjamin Franklin

T H E G L E N C O E L I T E R A T U R E L I B R A R Y

The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin Study Guide 9

Copyright © by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

Benjamin thought that his older brother James

was too hard on him, and they often fought.

When his apprenticeship ended, Franklin went

to Philadelphia. This city, far more than his

birthplace of Boston, became Franklin’s home.

In Philadelphia he established his own business and

raised his family.

After Franklin retired from business in 1748, he

embarked on a new career as a civil servant. He

served in the Pennsylvania Assembly and became

deputy postmaster-general. Sent to England as a representative

of the Assembly, he spent five years

there. During that time, he made the acquaintance

of statesmen and scientists alike. Years later, he

returned to England and found himself caught up in

the growing tension between the thirteen colonies

and the British government. Franklin’s loyalties were

divided. He felt affinities to the colonies and to King

George II of England. When he could tolerate the

British government’s policies toward the American

colonies no longer, he sailed back to the colonies.

By the time his ship arrived, the first battles of the

American Revolution had already been fought.

Franklin was chosen to serve on the Second

Continental Congress, which, acting as the government

for the colonies, declared independence from

Britain and appointed George Washington as commander

in chief of the American army. Franklin

was one of five men selected to draft the

Declaration of Independence, the formal document

proclaiming freedom from British rule.

During the war, Franklin secured from