Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) was an American printer, writer, inventor, scientist, diplomat, civic organizer, and statesman. Rising from apprentice to international figure, he cultivated a public persona of practical reason, industry, wit, and improvement. His experiments, institutions, diplomacy, and writings made him a central figure of the Enlightenment and the American founding.
Franklin's Autobiography and Poor Richard's Almanack present the founding era through self-fashioning, practical wisdom, and the culture of improvement. The Autobiography narrates Franklin's movement from Boston apprentice to Philadelphia printer, civic organizer, scientist, and public man.
