Self-Made Men by Fredrick Douglass

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(To read the entire speech right now, click here.)

In 1872, Fredrick Douglass gave a speech entitled “Self-Made Men.” Although I do not subscribe to most of his philosophical premises in regard to the nature of the world we live in and how we come to understand the things in nature, I do agree with some of his ethical conclusions and psychological assessments of what he describes as Self-Made Men. For that alone I am willing to share this document with you.

For example, I do not agree with him when he says, “the best man finds in his breast the evidence of kinship with the worst, and the worst with the best.” The reason that I do not subscribe to this idea is because it grants to the worst of us, the virtues of the best. It also implies that a good or great man (i.e. the Self-Made Man) is to be measured by the worst within him instead of by his best qualities.

Aside from several other instances where he and I disagree as to the assessment of the Self-Made Man in relation to other men, Mr. Douglass and I also differ about the role of man in regard to his destiny, role, and results in life. Unfortunately Douglass commits a further error in his philosophical outlook where ascribes to the Self-Made Man full command over the direction of his course in life, but then also contradicts himself when he considers that “Man was made a very insignificant agent in his own affairs,” because, “it was all the Lord’s doings.”

On the other hand, I absolutely agree with him when, at his better moments, he says about the Self-Made Men that “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.” And that “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 architect of their own good fortunes.” He ends with: “They are in a peculiar sense, indebted to themselves for themselves.”

The reason I am sharing his words with you is because I know that all of us to a greater or lesser degree are Self-Made Men. And for all that Douglass says in his conclusions which contain contradictions and errors, he does his best to reveal the character and virtues as well as any insights about the Self-Made Man in terms that he understood during his time.

So besides some of the observations I’ve already shared with you about some of the statements in this essay, “Self-Made Men” is a must-read and I highly recommend that you get your copy of this document, print it out, and read it.


To read the entire speech right now, click here.

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Related Article:

An Artist’s View and Commentary of "Self-Reliance" by Ralph Waldo Emerson: What Self-Reliance Really Means and How One Achieves It
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Marc

http://stereothesis.com/





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