Joe Cohan
History 251
Writing Assignment #1

As human beings age, the opportunity to move up through the social hierarchy seems to disappear. In Gordon S. Wood’s biography, The Americanization of Benjamin Franklin, he tells a unique story that allows us to take a deeper look into almost every social class of the 18th century. As Franklin makes his way through the social hierarchy, Gordon Wood paints a picture of what society was like and how it works around Franklin. Franklin portrays this hierarchy through his own work and his interactions with other members of society. Also as Franklin moves up the social ladder, Wood gives different perspectives from Franklin on his social standing and how he is a “self-made man”. From being a child of a lower-class family to becoming a huge influence on the Revolutionary War, Benjamin Franklin is one of the most interesting Founding Fathers. Starting with Franklin’s father, who has one of the lowliest jobs as a candle and soap maker, the social hierarchy begins at the bottom and with all of the artisan jobs that fall into that category. Franklin being the 15th of 17 children in the family shows that low class families were very large in size, making it very difficult for the youngest children of the family to gain any property or status. Primogeniture being the custom of the American colonies in the early 18th century makes it difficult for Ben Franklin to advance, putting him at a disadvantage. This disadvantage only helps to spark his desire to pursue knowledge and skill in writing Life long careers for anyone in the lower class is based on apprenticeship. Apprenticeship acts as a deterent for anyone in the lowest social classes to advance throughout society professionally. Although Franklin seems to be placed as a candle and soap maker he finds a way with his very skilled, self-taught reading and writing skills to