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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 France financial assistance for the colonies. He also helped formulate the peace treaty between the colonies and