Self-Made Men  From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to:
navigation, search Frederick Douglass, photographed between 1850
and 1860.  Self-Made Men is a famous lecture (1895). In this
speech, which was first delivered in 1859, Frederick Douglass
gives his own definition of the self-made man and explains what
he thinks are the means to become such a man.  The concept of
the self-made man is deeply rooted in the American Dream.
Benjamin Franklin, one of the Founding Fathers of the United
States, is sometimes said to have created the concept of the
self-made man. In his Autobiography, he describes his way from a
poor, unknown son of a candle-maker to a very successful
business man and highly acknowledged member of the American
society. Franklin creates the archetype of someone coming from
low origins, who, against all odds, breaks out of his inherited
social position, climbs up the social ladder and creates a new
identity for himself. Key factors in this rise from rags to
riches are hard work and a solid mor