Frederick Douglass's The Self-Made Man
[alert-success] THE SELF MADE MAN [/alert-success]
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Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey was an American social reformer, abolitionist, orator, writer, and statesman. After escaping from slavery in Maryland, he became a national leader of the abolitionist movement in Massachusetts and New York, becoming famous for his oratory. He was of mixed ancestry, most likely Native American and African. According to James Matlack's Autobiographies of Frederick Douglass, "most autobiographies open with a birth date and a description of the author's parentage." Douglass can't provide either." As Douglass mentions in his first autobiography, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, he began his story as a slave and had no idea who his father was. Douglass only saw his mother a few times since she died when he was seven, and he describes it as feeling like the death of a stranger. Douglass's childhood and background shape his identity and future as an unknown blank piece of paper. Douglas is indeed a self-made man who shows his life journey as he creates his own character from nothing.
Douglass was taken from his grandparents at the age of six and relocated to the White House plantation, where Aaron Anthony was his master. At the age of 12, he was taught the alphabet by his another master named Sophia. In 1838, he fled to the north, where he took the surname Douglas. In 1839, he joined the Methodist Church and became a licenced preacher. His first biography, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American slave, was published in 1845 and is his most well-known work. On February 20, 1895, he died of a heart attack.
“Self Made Men” is a lecture that was first given in 1859. Douglas was not allowed to learn reading or writing as a slave, so he defines himself as a self-made man. His literacy came about through an incident and then through his hard work to learn it. Aaron Anthony owned Douglas as a slave, and Thomas hauled him. This work examines his remarkable life and ideas, as well as the enduring principles of equality and liberty. It combines his vast scholarship with his personal experiences to illuminate his immense scholarship.
He begins the lecture by stating that man is a frequent and fruitful subject for the press, the pulpit and the platform. This subject of man has attractive titles like: Great men, Representative men, peculiar men, scientific men, literary men, successful men, men of genius, and men of the world. Though whatever name or designation is given, the interesting point of discussion is man himself. When man is considered as a subject of thought and inquiry, these titles are irrelevant. Unsatisfied human curiosity drives the discussion of man.
According to a poet, the proper study of mankind is men. The pleasure we derive from knowledge stems from the glimpse it provides us of our own nature. Though humans have many encounters around the world, his own wondrous attributes and power far outweigh them all. Human Thought is more expansive than all visible worlds and more profound than all depths. The sincere desire for knowledge distinguishes humans from animals; nothing but man can bring happiness or misery to a man. The best man discovers kinship with the worst, and the worst with the best.
From man comes all that we know or can imagine of heaven and earth, of time and eternity. Man is a prolific creator of customs, morals, religions, and governments. Men have the ability to discover, explore, and glorify their thoughts and feelings. We believe in the visible god of the New Testament who was revealed as a man, and made him our leader, Prophet, preacher, and lawgiver, as Emerson stated that it is natural. We revere great men and see them as symbols of justice and mercy. Douglas is not intended to discuss great men, but rather a unique type of manhood, a self-made man.
He claims that there is no such thing as a self-made man because we are all the result of acquisitions obtained from others. An individual is not independent of past and present. He can never exist without others who have preceded in the field of thought and discovery. Humans are as different as the waves, but they are the same as seen. Nevertheless, Dougles argues that this title is eminently descriptive of a class and is a fit and convenient one in illustrating his perspective on man. In the order to discuss Douglass adopted the style of an old-fashioned preacher, "firstly," a "secondly," a "thirdly," a "fourthly" and, possibly, a "conclusion.": "Who are self-made men?", "What is the true theory of their success?", "The advantages which self-made men derive from the manners and institutions of their surroundings,", "The grounds of the criticism to which they are, as a class, especially exposed."
Firstly, Douglas begins by explaining who self-made men are. He defines a self-made man as one who acquires knowledge and learns from themselves, despite difficulties and without assistance. Such men endured a lot of hardship and struggled hard to complete their education without any comfort. Their triumph represents genuine heroism and glory for them.Self-made men are the men who, under peculiar difficulties and without the ordinary helps of favoring circumstances, have attained knowledge, usefulness, power and position and have learned from themselves the best uses to which life can be put in this world, and in the exercises of these uses to build up worthy character. They are the men who owe little or nothing to birth, relationship, friendly surroundings; to wealth inherited or to early approved means of education; who are what they are, without the aid of any favoring conditions by which other men usually rise in the world and achieve great results.
In fact they are the men who are not brought up but who are obliged to come up, not only without the voluntary assistance or friendly co-operation of society, but often in open and derisive defiance of all the efforts of society and the tendency of circumstances to repress, retard and keep them down. They are the men who, in a world of schools, academies, colleges and other institutions of learning, are often compelled by unfriendly circumstances to acquire their education elsewhere and, amidst unfavorable conditions, to hew out for themselves a way to success, and thus to become the architects of their own good fortunes. They are in a peculiar sense, indebted to themselves for themselves.
If they have traveled far, they have made the road on which they have travelled. If they have ascended high, they have built their own ladder. From the depths of poverty such as these have often come. From the heartless pavements of large and crowded cities; barefooted, homeless, and friendless, they have come. From hunger, rags and destitution, they have come; motherless and fatherless, they have come, and may come. Flung overboard in the midnight storm on the broad and tempest-tossed ocean of life; left without ropes, planks, oars or lifepreservers, they have bravely buffeted the frowning billows and have risen in safety and life where others, supplied with the best appliances for safety and success, have fainted, despaired and gone down forever.
Such men as these, whether found in one position or another, whether in the college or in the factory; whether professors or plowmen; whether Caucasian or Indian; whether Anglo-Saxon or Anglo-African, are self-made men and are entitled to a certain measure of respect for their success and for proving to the world the grandest possibilities of human nature, of whatever variety of race or color. Though a man of this class need not claim to be a hero or to be worshiped as such, there is genuine heroism in his struggle and something of sublimity and glory in his triumph. Every instance of such success is an example and a help to humanity. It, better than any mere assertion, gives us assurance of the latent powers and resources of simple and unaided manhood. It dignifies labor, honors application, lessens pain and depression, dispels gloom from the brow of the destitute and weariness from the heart of him about to faint, and enables man to take hold of the roughest and flintiest hardships incident to the battle of life, with a lighter heart, with higher hopes and a larger courage.
According to Douglas' theory of self-made men, the various conditions and opportunities of human beings are full of contrasts and contradictions. Therefore, it is easy to dogmatize, but it is not so easy to define, explain and demonstrate. Although the natural laws of government appear to be equal, the subjects are bound by inequalities. The promise of youth frequently fails in manhood, and true excellence often comes from unexpected sources. He explains this by stating that 1000 arrows are aimed at a point, but not all of them will hit the exact point. United in the quiver, they are divided in the air. Matched when dormant, they are unmatched in action.
When a person strives for greatness, he may not achieve greatness but rather the classified conditions of greatness. He believes that genius is frequently overlooked as a compensation for disappointment and promise to perform. Men of very ordinary faculties have made a very respectable way in the world and have sometimes presented even brilliant examples of success. On the other hand, what is called genius is often found by the wayside, a miserable wreck; the more deplorable and shocking because from the height from which it has fallen and the loss and ruin involved in the fall. There is a compensation in disappointment and in the contradiction of means to ends and promise to performance. These imply a constant effort on the part of nature to hold the balance between all her children and to bring success within the reach of the humblest as well as of the most exalted.
Humanity that lies in the dust of neglect and poverty, like steel improved by laying on damp ground, may retain the divine impulse of improvement and progress. I do not think much of the good luck theory of self-made men. An apple carelessly flung into a crowd may hit one person, or it may hit another, or it may hit nobody. The probabilities are precisely the same in this accident theory of self-made men. Humans are stingy when it comes to praising their merit, but generous when it comes to praising chance.
Fortune may crown a man’s life with fortunate circumstances and happy opportunities, but they will avail him nothing unless he makes a wise and vigorous use of them. Opportunity is important, but effort is required because luck is destined to fade as the wisdom of adapting becomes more apparent. The fortune teller evolved alongside superstition, but a wise man makes little use of alters. He understands that knowledge is obtained through study, wealth is secured through saving, and battles are won through fighting. According to him, the unlucky man is the lazy man, and the lucky man is the man of work. He quotes Shakespeare as saying that our fault is not in the stars, but in ourselves. He speaks of Paul Dunbar's poem and the priest who prays for wisdom without instructing the congregation to strive for knowledge. There is no royal road to perfection; only hard work will lead to success.
The man who wants to stand up will be assisted, and the man who doesn't want to stand up will be permitted to remain seated. It is a virtue to be self-sufficient, and it is the soul from which the strongest manhood emerges. He cites opportunities for African Americans in all respectable professions. According to Thackeray, man is about as lazy as they can afford to be, despite the fact that industry is the obvious and obvious cause of success. In addition to being the root of all invention, necessity is also the source of all effort.
Giving up work entails giving up both the ability to work and the tools for success. Successful endeavours are the result of faithful, sincere, and long-term work that strengthens the mind and equips the hands. He asserts that his simple theory of self-made men is that they are labourers.
Physical prowess alone does not determine the highest services to men or the richest rewards to workers. He asserts that despite Milton's blindness and Montgomery's small stature and effeminacy, both men achieved fame. The power and influence that come with habit will ensure success through the orderly and systematic application of strenuous effort. Success also requires a strong focus on an important goal and a commanding object. He asserts that the nature and scope of his endeavour give him genuine pleasure.
Honest labour, not chance, is the primary cause of success for self-made men. Toil and trust was John Quincy Adams' motto, and his presidency validated its wisdom and veracity. He emphasises how Robert Burns and humility are in stark contrast. Abraham Lincoln is mentioned by him as an example of a self-made man. The industry is the most important factor in the success of those self-made men He gave as examples.
He acknowledged the disparities in the nation, but argued that they did not prevent the men who put in the necessary effort to succeed and excel from doing so. He asserts that a self-made man is more likely to despise ridiculous inequalities and inspire others to greatness.
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