Benjamin Franklin: A Picture of the Struggles of Our Infant Nation One Hundred Years Ago

This 19th-century biography captures Benjamin Franklin at the height of American veneration for him. John S. C. Abbott traces Franklin's remarkable trajectory from Boston candle-maker's son to the courts of Versailles, weaving together the personal details of his early struggles, his apprenticeship under a harsh brother, and his daring escape to Philadelphia, with his later achievements as statesman, inventor, and diplomat. The narrative shines when depicting Franklin's years in France, where his wit and wisdom secured the crucial support that made American independence possible. Abbott writes with Victorian admiration, presenting Franklin as the embodiment of self-made American virtue, a man whose ingenuity and moral character helped forge a nation. The book endures not as scholarly history but as a window into how 19th-century Americans understood their founding fathers, with all the patriotic reverence and moral instruction that implies. Readers interested in the cultural history of American hero-worship will find this both illuminating and charmingly dated.