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#1 Franklin was born in Boston on January 17, 1706. He was the youngest son of 17 children, and the only one who did not receive an estate from his ancestors.

#2 Franklin’s father chose to train him to be a candle and soap maker, but he soon realized that his son’s bookish inclinations would better suit the printing trade. He placed him under the care of an older brother, who signed him up for an unusually long apprenticeship of nine years.

#3 Franklin’s brother started the New England Courant in Boston in 1721, which was the fourth newspaper in the city. These newspapers were simple and bland, and they usually contained reprints of European news, ship sailings, and various advertisements. They were expensive, but they could still reach beneath the topmost ranks of the city’s population of twelve thousand people.

#4 James Franklin’s first newspaper was not published by authority. It satirized the Boston establishment, and he took great pleasure in fooling people into thinking that only men of some character among us for learning and ingenuity could have written the newspaper pieces.

Summary of Gordon S. Wood's The Americanization of Benjamin Franklin

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