Benjamin Franklin came from a very simple Calvinist background. He was born in a poor candle-maker’s family---“poor and obscure” as he says of himself in his autobiography. As he was a greedy reader， however， he managed to make up for the deficiency by his own effort. Franklin’s public career began in the early 1750s. He wrote a good deal of writing to support the colonies in their disputes with Britain. During the War of Independence， he was made a delegate to the continental congress and a member of the committee to write the Declaration of Independence. Franklin was a rare genius in human history. Nature seemed particularly abundant and happy when he was shaped. His claim to a place in literature rests chiefly on his poor Richard’s almanac and autobiography. For almost a quarter of a century he kept publishing poor Richard’s almanac， expanding its literary part to the intense delight of its readers. The autobiography of Benjamin Franklin was probably the first of its kind in literature. The book consists of four parts， written at different times. The autobiography is， first of all， a puritan document. And second， it is also a powerful explanation of the fact that Franklin was spokesman for the new order of eighteenth-century enlightenment， and that he represented in America all its ideas， that man is basically good and free by nature， endowed by god with certain undeniable rights of liberty and the pursuit of happiness.