Tolerate no uncleanliness in body, cloaths, or habitation. Avoid extreams forbear resenting injuries so much as you think they deserve. Wrong none by doing injuries, or omitting the benefits that are your duty. Use no hurtful deceit think innocently and justly, and, if you speak, speak accordingly. Lose no time be always employ’d in something useful cut off all unnecessary actions. Make no expense but to do good to others or yourself i.e., waste nothing. Resolve to perform what you ought perform without fail what you resolve. Let all your things have their places let each part of your business have its time. Speak not but what may benefit others or yourself avoid trifling conversation. Eat not to dullness drink not to elevation. The List of 13 Virtuesįurthermore, Franklin has a very certain concept of right and wrong in life: “I grew convinc’d that truth, sincerity and integrity in dealings between man and man were of the utmost importance to the fecility of life and I form’d written resolutions, which still remain in my journal book, to practice them ever while I lived” (69), which were formed in the second part of his autobiography in a list of 13 virtues: This can be seen as the first very foundational Puritan belief: the ability to read and educate yourself ( notice that especially scholars and professors from Cambridge and Oxford converted to Puritanism in England in the 17th century). John Green, however, argues that Franklin was certainly born in the right social class (his printer family was rather wealthy than poor), the right sex, and the right skin color in order to achieve something. While especially the first part of the book is quite dreary to read, it is interesting to note the picture Franklin draws of himself: having come from a working class family he cannot remember not being able to read, “My early readiness in learning to read (which must have been very early, as I do not remember when I could not read) ” (Franklin 11), but attending only two to three years of school, he stresses the importance of self-discipline and self-education (note the early notion of the rags-to-riches-tale). “Franklin worked on his autobiography at four different times during a period of nearly nineteen years” (Labaree 22), but many drafts and papers got lost during the war.
(If you are interested in a introduction to Franklin’s life check out this documentation from the History Channel). At this point, I will not write about his life and his person, but about Puritan elements and ideas that can be found in his autobiography.
Benjamin Franklin’s Autobiography and the Puritan Heritageĥ7 years after John Winthrop’s death, Benjamin Franklin was born as “the youngest son of the youngest son for five generations back” (Franklin 7) and is considered to be “The First American” (Brands).
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