Benjamin Franklin's "The Autobiography"

Although Benjamin Franklin's autobiography was not as entertaining as Rousseau's autobiography, I think perhaps it was easier to read when compared to Augustine's "Confessions." Franklin does not seem to be concerned about religion, much less the focus of his story as is seen in Augustine's autobiography. Similar to Rousseau, Franklin gives his readers a more chronological account of his life beginning with his birth and describing his background. His background and boyhood are a part of his own development. Franklin was more concerned about his own thoughts and his self-education.

In Sidonie Smith and Julia Watson's chapter on "Life Narrative in Historical Perspective," they mention that Franklin's autobiography was not published until much later in mid-nineteenth century. They go on to say that, "Franklin's autobiography becomes a prototypical narrative for America's myth of the self-made man and the entrepreneurial republican subject, specifically marked as male, white, propertied, and socially and politically enfranchised" (98). This leaves me wondering who Franklin had in mind as his readers when he wrote his autobiography. Rousseau felt he needed to defend himself, his character, and even became a bit threatening at the end. We do not get the same feeling from Franklin's story. He seems to describe himself as the self-educated, self-made man. This would make sense for Franklin's story to become an example of the ideal American man. However, this happened much later. What were Franklin's true intentions and who was his intended audience while he was writing his autobiography?