{"id":497,"date":"2018-02-02T12:30:14","date_gmt":"2018-02-02T17:30:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.temple.edu\/americanicons\/?p=497"},"modified":"2018-02-02T12:30:43","modified_gmt":"2018-02-02T17:30:43","slug":"douglass-as-self-made-mad-by-suet-yuk-rainie-au-yeung","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.temple.edu\/americanicons\/2018\/02\/02\/douglass-as-self-made-mad-by-suet-yuk-rainie-au-yeung\/","title":{"rendered":"Douglass as Self-Made Man by Suet Yuk (Rainie) Au Yeung"},"content":{"rendered":"
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In the speech\u00a0Self-Made Men,<\/em>Frederick Douglass gives his definition of a self-made man. Douglass rejects the idea of a self-made man by claiming that \u201cproperly speaking, there are in the world no such men as self-made men.\u201d[1]<\/sup><\/a>\u00a0He believes that \u201cno generation of men can be independent of the preceding generation.\u201d[2]<\/sup><\/a>\u00a0Despite the fact that Douglass himself does not believe in the term of \u201cself-made man,\u201d the personal history of Douglass indeed illustrates what means to be a self-made man. Similar to Benjamin Franklin, Douglass is a self-made man who demonstrates his life as a journey in which he creates his own character out of nothingness. (Figure 1. Frederick Douglass (Photo fromhttps:\/\/www.biography.com\/people\/frederick-douglass-9278324<\/a>\u00a0))<\/em><\/p>\n

Born into slavery and without the care of parents, Douglass is the only person who determines his own identity. In\u00a0the Autobiographies of Frederick Douglass,\u00a0<\/em>James Matlack points out that \u201cmost autobiographies open with a birth date and a description of the author\u2019s parentage. Douglass can supply neither.\u201d[3]<\/sup><\/a>\u00a0As Douglass mentions\u00a0<\/em>in his\u00a0Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass,\u00a0<\/em>Douglass begins his story from slavery and never knew who his father was.[4]<\/sup><\/a>\u00a0Douglass saw his mother only a few times in the middle of the night. When he was seven, his mother died, and he describes it as making him feel like it was the death of a stranger.[5]<\/sup><\/a>Douglass\u2019s childhood and background make his identity and future as a piece of unknown blank paper. Douglass, \u201cmust forge his own character and sense of himself.\u201d[6]<\/sup><\/a>\u00a0He is the only person who is able to change his own fate.<\/p>\n

Like Franklin, who was an indentured slave to his brother and suffered \u201charsh and tyrannical treatment\u201d[7]<\/sup><\/a>\u00a0working in his brother\u2019s printing press that is described by David Waldstreicher in\u00a0Runaway America,\u00a0<\/em>Douglass was beaten by his master Mr. Covey, who gave him \u201ca very severe whipping,\u201d which cut his back causing the blood to run, and raising ridges on his flesh.[8]<\/sup><\/a>\u00a0Although they were living under oppression, Franklin and Douglass both highly valued education. They used all kinds of methods to create opportunities for self-improvement. In\u00a0The Self-Made Man The story of America\u2019s most pliable, pernicious, irrepressible myth,\u00a0<\/em>John Swansburg highlights that Franklin saved his money and invested them in books to \u201cfeed his hungry mind.\u201d[9]<\/sup><\/a>\u00a0In similar ways, Douglass demonstrates there is no limitation that can prevent him from obtaining knowledge.<\/p>\n

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When Douglass was eight years old in Baltimore, he began to learn his A B C\u2019s (alphabet) from Mrs. Auld.\u00a0[10]<\/sup><\/a>\u00a0However, this opportunity was prohibited by her husband, who claimed that \u201ca nigger should know nothing but to obey his master \u2014 to do as he is told to do. Learning would spoil the best nigger in the world.\u201d[11]<\/sup><\/a>\u00a0Even though Douglass was denied obtaining an education, he did not allow the condition to limit himself. Over the next seven years, Douglass used any possible resources that he was able to find to educate himself. \u201cHe stole bread and traded it for bits of knowledge from white street urchins. He picked up letters of the alphabet from marks on timbers in the shipyard. He practiced his handwriting between the lines of young Thomas Auld\u2019s discarded copy books.\u201d[12]<\/sup><\/a>Douglass\u2019s determination and hard work made it possible for him, a person born into slavery, to learn how to read and write. Later in Douglass\u2019s life, his autobiography\u00a0Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass: An American<\/em>\u00a0Slave<\/em>\u00a0became a bestseller. He also founded the North Star, which became \u201cone of the leading abolitionist newspapers of its time.\u201d[13]<\/sup><\/a>Through self-education, not only did Douglass learn how to read and write, he also became an influential writer, which illustrates what it means to be a self-made man. (Figure 2. Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave (Photo fromhttps:\/\/tinyurl.com\/ycjexdm7<\/a>)<\/em><\/p>\n

Knowledge is wealth, Douglass is a self-made man who created paths for himself to successfully become a \u201cwealthy man.\u201d Similar to Franklin, a son of a candle maker who later became a world-famous scientist, \u201can influential patriot and diplomat, and, not least, a wealthy man of business,\u201d[14]<\/sup><\/a>\u00a0Douglass changed his fate from a slave to a powerful abolitionist, an excellent orator, a bestselling author, and a famous newspaper publisher. Both Franklin and Douglass created opportunities for themselves beyond their limitations, which truly makes them self-made men and iconic figures in the United States.<\/p>\n

[1]<\/sup><\/a>\u00a0Frederick Douglass, \u201c\u2018Self-Made Men.\u2019 Address before the Students of the Indian Industrial School at Carlisle, PA,\u201d\u00a0Frederick Douglass Heritage The Official Website.<\/em>\u00a0Speech, 1872.\u00a0http:\/\/www.frederick-douglass-heritage.org\/self-made-men\/\u00a0<\/a>(Accessed February 01, 2018). (here after: Douglass,\u00a0Self-Made Men<\/em>).<\/p>\n

[2]<\/sup><\/a>\u00a0Ibid.<\/p>\n

[3]<\/sup><\/a>\u00a0James Matlack, \u201cThe Autobiographies of Frederick Douglass,\u201d\u00a0Phylon (1960- )<\/em>\u00a040, no. 1 (1979): 21.<\/p>\n

[4]<\/sup><\/a>\u00a0Frederick Douglass, \u201cNarrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave. Written by\u00a0Himself: Electronic Edition.\u201d 1818-1895.\u00a0http:\/\/docsouth.unc.edu\/neh\/douglass\/douglass.html<\/a>. (Accessed February 01, 2018). (here after: Douglass,\u00a0Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass<\/em>)<\/p>\n

[5]<\/sup><\/a>\u00a0Ibid.<\/p>\n

[6]<\/sup><\/a>\u00a0Matlack, \u201cThe Autobiographies of Frederick Douglass,\u201d 21.<\/p>\n

[7]<\/sup><\/a>\u00a0David Waldstreicher,\u00a0Runaway America: Benjamin Franklin, slavery, and the American\u00a0<\/em>Revolution<\/em>\u00a0( New York: Hill and Wang, 2004), 3-4.<\/p>\n

[8]<\/sup><\/a>\u00a0Douglass,\u00a0Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass.<\/em><\/p>\n

[9]<\/sup><\/a>\u00a0John Swansburg, \u201cThe Self-Made Man: The story of America\u2019s most pliable, pernicious, irrepressible myth.\u201d September 29, 2014, 6.<\/p>\n

[10]<\/sup><\/a>\u00a0Matlack, \u201cThe Autobiographies of Frederick Douglass,\u201d 21.<\/p>\n

[11]<\/sup><\/a>\u00a0Douglass,\u00a0Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass.<\/em><\/p>\n

[12]<\/sup><\/a>\u00a0Matlack, \u201cThe Autobiographies of Frederick Douglass,\u201d 22.<\/p>\n

[13]<\/sup><\/a>\u00a0\u201cThe North Star.\u201d The North Star (Educational Materials: African American Odyssey). December 9, 1998.\u00a0http:\/\/www.loc.gov\/exhibits\/odyssey\/educate\/norths.html<\/a>. (Accessed February 01, 2018).<\/p>\n

[14]<\/sup><\/a>\u00a0Swansburg, \u201cThe Self-Made Man,\u201d 7.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In the speech\u00a0Self-Made Men,Frederick Douglass gives his definition of a self-made man. Douglass rejects the idea of a self-made man by claiming that \u201cproperly speaking, there are in the world no such men as self-made men.\u201d[1]\u00a0He believes that \u201cno generation of men can be independent of the preceding generation.\u201d[2]\u00a0Despite the fact that Douglass himself does …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1329,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[198,196,272],"class_list":["post-497","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-self-made-man","tag-benjamin-franklin","tag-frederick-douglass"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.temple.edu\/americanicons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/497","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.temple.edu\/americanicons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.temple.edu\/americanicons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.temple.edu\/americanicons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1329"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.temple.edu\/americanicons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=497"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sites.temple.edu\/americanicons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/497\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.temple.edu\/americanicons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=497"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.temple.edu\/americanicons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=497"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.temple.edu\/americanicons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=497"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}