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American Self-Making and Self-Help - Coggle Diagram
American Self-Making and Self-Help
Religion
Christians
Jonathan Edwards helped start the Great awakening, which was the rival of Christianity. He wrote the “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God,” where he preached the necessity to follow God’s rule, for immense sin will elicit God’s wrath. “The wrath of God is like waters that are dammed for the present; they increase more and more, and rise higher and higher, till an outlet is given; and the longer the stream is stopped, the more rapid and mighty is its course, when once it is let loose.” (Edwards) Essentially Edwards is trying to scare individuals into adhering to Christian expectations.
Puritans
Mary Rowlandson was a devout Puritan who was captured by Indians. She went through intense loss, pain and countless struggles while being held captive. However, she never deviated from her faith. Rowlandson believed God had a purpose for cruel and long captivity. She believed that God was giving her enough strength in order to endure the misery she went through. She stated, “…the Lord upheld me with his gracious and merciful spirit…” (Rowlandon, The Second remove)
Puritanism was a religious movement that adhered to a strict set of rules. Puritans believed in the elect vs. the non-elect, meaning God had predetermined whether one was destined for heaven or hell. John Winthrop is a well-known puritan leader who established the religion in Massachusetts Bay Colony. He wanted the Massachusetts Bay colony to exemplify Puritanism to other regions. He stated, “The eyes of all the people are upon us.” (Winthrop) Which that the Massachusetts Bay Colony had to embody God’s expectations.
Freedom
Justice
Henry David Thoreau was a transcendentalist who strongly valued idealism and justice above the law. He had strong views against the government, for he believed “That the government is best which governs least.” (Thoreau p.1) In other words, the government should not have enough power to take away people’s freedom. He deemed the government a corrupt system that put laws above people's livelihoods.
The Chinese Exclusion Act was one of the first laws restricting immigration. As a result, the possession of U.S. citizenship became critical. “For the first time, federal law proscribed entry of ethnic working groups on the premise that it endangered the good order of certain localities.” In other words, due to prejudices, the Rights of Chinese laborers living in America became unjustly stripped away. The Chinese Exclusion Act stands as an example of not taking away social justice.
Emma Lazarus wrote “The New Colossus,” which symbolizes the Statue of Liberty's welcomeness to all. The Statue of Liberty represents freedom and justice. In Lazarus’s poem, she states, “From her beacon-hand glows world-wide welcome…” Meaning that freedom can be granted to any individual coming to America.
Audre Lorde was an early feminist during the 1970s. She argued that women were not being treated fairly. For example, she stated “Only within a patriarchal structure is maternity the only social power open to women.” (Lorde, p.1) Lorde expresses how women were not viewed as equal contributors to society. Instead, the expectation for women was to follow men’s orders. This relates to social justice, for women at the time were not allocated the same social policies as men.
Rights
In “Thomas Paine, Common Sense (1776)” Paine expresses why America should break free from Britain's harsh rule. He explains how tyranny, unequal rights, secrecy and unfair taxes are forced onto the thirteen colonies. Paine declares, “We have it in our power to begin the world over again.” (Paine) Essentially he is urging Americans to fight for a new nation that elicits proper rights and freedom.
Leaders
Influential
Frederick Douglass was an abolitionist leader before and during the Civil War. He spent most of his life captive in slavery. The mistreatment he experienced made him realize that African Americans deserve freedom. He began to fight against the norms and challenged white supremacy. For example, Douglass noted, “Thus, after a long, tedious effort for years, I finally succeeded in learning how to write.” (Douglass, p.46) As a result, Douglass influenced many other slaves to fight against racial norms.
Theodore Roosevelt influenced the definition of what it is to be an American man. In the “American Boy,” Roosevelt explains how males must maintain certain expectations young to grow into desired characteristics. In sum, he believes boys should be good, but not too good. For example, he states, “The boy can best become a good man by being a good boy-not a goody-goody boy, but just a plain good boy.” (Roosevelt)
Success
Marco Rubio, an American politician, believes good leadership acknowledges the need for change. He states, “We must change the decisions we are making by changing the people who are making them.” (Rubio) In other words, progressive change can’t be made without new ideas and perspectives. Thus, new people need to be put into office. In his campaign announcement for 2015 for president, he claims he can bring success to America by pursuing a new American Century. Which essentially means focusing on the present rather than idealizing past views.
Inspirations
Individuals
Phillis Wheatley was a famous African American author. She was highly influential during the American Revolution, for she voiced her desire for equality through her writing. One of her most famous poems is “To His Excellency, General Washington.” In this poem, Phillis Wheatley praises George Washington and encourages him to continue fighting for American independence. She states, “Proceed, great chief, with virtue on thy side…” (Wheatley, line 40)
Anne Hutchinson was an inspiring colonial woman who challenged systemic patriarchy within Puritan beliefs. Hutchinson was highly religious, however she questioned church intervention. She believed one could build a connection with God through a personal relationship. Thus she started private meetings to instill her views. Her meetings were primarily with women, which John Winthrop opposed. He stated, “…we find such a course as this to be greatly prejudicial to the state…” (Winthrop) Thus Hutchinson was banished from Massachusetts Bay Colony. Though she was exiled, many women were inspired to go against the norm.
Events
John Brown was an abolitionist leader willing to die to end slavery. He was most known for his morals regarding equality and natural rights. After his public execution, people sought to finish what he started. His god-like character and resilience inspired them. Henry David Thoreau stated, “These men, in teaching us how to die, have at the same time taught us how to live.” (Thoreau) In other words, John Brown's character inspired how people should live their lives.
Charlotte Perkins Gilman inspired others to advocate for proper treatment. She wrote about a young woman wrongly diagnosed with Neurasthenia. She became isolated and lost in her thoughts due to her deteriorating mental health. The woman is compared to wallpaper “...that peeled off all the paper…(p.9), Which represents her losing her mind.
Labor
Factories
In Chaplin's movie, Modern Time, the trials and errors of early factory labor were explored. The use of an assembly line was mainly depicted. It showed how products can be made at a faster pace, however, there is more room for mistakes. Chaplin critiques and acknowledges the increasing use of industrial and mechanical labor.
Efficiency
Frederick Winslow Taylor was a well-known mechanical engineer. He sought to make the work environment as efficient as possible. Taylor believed scientific management would produce the best results. In sum, the manager would take on more responsibility. For instance, “The managers assume, for instance, the burden of gathering together all of the traditional knowledge which in the past has been possessed by the workmen…” (Taylor p.1) He saw this as a crucial element in obtaining efficiency.
Money
Charity
Andrew Carnegie is an example of someone who uses their money for good. Carnegie was a successful industrialist who accumulated a large amount of wealth. Instead of buying materialistic items, he donated most of his earnings to charity. In the “Gospel of Wealth,” Carnegie states, “The problem of our age is the proper administration of wealth…” (Carnegie, p.1) In other words, the rich are not allocating their wealth in ways that benefit everyone. Carnegie believes money should be given to institutions like schools and libraries because they can hel
Exploiter
Henry Ford is an example of someone who selfishly uses their money. Ford was a well-known industrialist who founded the Ford Motor Company. Through the success of his company, he became very wealthy. With some of his earnings, he bought the Dearborn Independent, where he spread hateful propaganda against Jewish individuals. “Ford saw Jews present in everything that he viewed as modern and distasteful…” (Henry Ford and Anti-Semitism: A Complex Story)
His hateful beliefs spread anti-semitism through his newspaper.
Materialism
The Jazz Age was a time of lavish parties, carefree purchases and ignorant behavior. F. Scott Fitzgerald stated, “It was a characteristic of the Jazz Age that it had no interest in politics at all.” As a consequence the Great Depression Emerged. Due to materialism and superficial purchases, individuals ignored what could happen to the economy.
