#selfmade - What does it mean to be self-made? Based on the assigned reading on Ben Franklin. PDF

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What does it mean to be self-made? Based on the assigned reading on Ben Franklin. Received an A....

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Self-Made Man: A Fallacy Throughout history, humankind has idolized the concept of a self-made man. This is understandably so as someone that achieved success based solely on their own merit and hard work is both honorable and emblematic of the American Dream. Many well-known individuals have been coined self-made, Ben Franklin being a relevant example, yet how many of them truly found fame without the aid and/or exploitation of others? Very few. In the novel Runaway America David Waldstreicher mocks the gluttonous use of this term, demonstrating how even such an emblem of self-made success like Ben Franklin did so through the labors of others. Through the parallels drawn between James Franklin’s abuse of Ben Franklin’s indentured servitude, Ben’s consequent manipulation of those dependent upon him in the printing industry, and the systematic exploitation of slaves by their owners, Wadsworth suggests that a true “selfmade” man does not exist; rather, in our society, our successes and failures are dependent on the toils and exploitations of others and rooted in the concept of slavery. James Franklin took advantage of Ben’s inferiority both in age and position to expand his profitability and protect his reputation. As a 17-year-old boy stripped of his economic freedom, Ben noted his “harsh tyrannical treatment,” that extended into both emotional and physical abuse. This eventually progressed into economic abuse as he attempted to manipulate Ben’s contract of servitude to guarantee himself additional free labor.1 James even went so far as to sabotage Ben’s chances with any other print shops, attempting to force him into submission by denying him other options. Regardless of their blood relation, James, like many others, was willing to take expansive and selfish measures to achieve success. Ultimately, as James continued to exploit his indentured servitude, even going so far as to use Ben’s name to escape political persecution, Franklin realized that unless he ran away, he would be oppressed forever, a nameless pawn in his brother’s own search for wealth and fame. Ironically, Ben grew up to do the same thing as his brother, although to a smaller degree, manipulating and restricting others for his own benefit. A prime example of the casualties of Ben’s own overarching pursuit of self-interest is his nephew Ben Mecom. While Ben Franklin had promised to “raise Benny up in the trade himself” in reality, he was both uninvolved and unencumbered by Benny’s rapid descent into unhappiness and failure.2 After signing Benny as a apprentice to James Parker, a strategic effort to expand his influence, Ben ignored and normalized Benny’s complaints of his unhappiness and abuse even after they became so great he ran away. Strikingly unsympathetic to a nearly identical situation to his own and clearly more concerned about his partnership, Ben justifies the “physical punishment of a 16-year old to his mother,” normalizing the unhappiness that he himself could not tolerate.3 After eight years, Benjamin sent Benny to run a shop in Antigua, a feigned generous chance to be self-made but really an effort to fill a post that had been left vacant due to the rampant disease in that area. After Benny told him of the horrors he experienced there, Benjamin only suggested he did not have enough “steadiness and perseverance” to be successful like himself. 4 A poor, nameless, economic pawn of his uncle, Benny eventually had enough and ended the partnership,

attempting to start his own company and truly be self-made—-a task that proved impossible in the exploitive society he lived in. Denied by his own uncle “a truly fair chance to prove himself worthy of his name” Benny quickly fell into insanity, a victim of the corruption and unfairness of his time.5 Like James Franklin, slave owners took every action possible to force their workers into permanent submission and servitude, reaping the benefit of their hard work and talents while justifying it with false accounts of poor character and inferiority. The Runaway Slave Ads discussed in class hold several consistent and intentional commonalities; while they focus on the runaway slaves’ skills and strengths, noting their trades and linguality, they combine this with connotative commentary on their poor moral character, suggesting that, while skilled and valuable, they are not deserving of any credit or rights. For example, in one ad, the slave owner describes how his runaway slave is skilled in the Fiddle, ‘Arithmeticks’ and Accounts and “extremely artful.” However, he continues to place a negative connotation on his cunning, suggesting that he uses it to “conceal a villainous Action or Design.” 6 By demoralizing and demeanizing the slaves, slave owners not only justify their servitude but also deny them any moral character, reducing them to what they were considered at the time: property. Another commonality between the ads was intentionally downplaying slave’s skills in order to avoid making them seem too valuable and intelligent, both to discourage further runaways and avoid appearing equals. Many ads, “disinclined to grant servants and slaves the status of artisan” describe how a slave “pretends to be a Tanner” or “professes to be a Barber, Cook, and Sailor” rather than successfully doing so.7 These efforts are intended to “strip the runaway of their hard work and skill” as well as “their respectability and success” as true “self-made men and women.” 7

Through the accounts of the exploitation of Ben Franklin, Benny Mecom, and slaves as a population, David Waldstreicher exposes the sad reality of the path to success in America... that being over the trampled bodies and aspirations of others. In doing so, he suggests that our own immorality and tendency to exploit others paved the way for and further instilled slavery in our society. In a society based upon unfreedom, true freedom for all cannot exist. While this inequality has dwindled in our society, the labors of poorer workers continue to be exploited by a few wealthy individuals, maintaining a vast gap between the rich and poor. Waldstreicher seems to suggest that rather than feigning self-made success, these figures we idolize should start living up to the name. 1

Waldstreicher, David. Runaway America. (New York: Hill and Wang, 2004), 4. Waldstreicher, David. Runaway America. (New York: Hill and Wang, 2004), 128. 3 Waldstreicher, David. Runaway America. (New York: Hill and Wang, 2004), 129. 4 Waldstreicher, David. Runaway America. (New York: Hill and Wang, 2004), 130. 5 Waldstreicher, David. Runaway America. (New York: Hill and Wang, 2004), 134. 6 Waldstreicher, David. Runaway America. (New York: Hill and Wang, 2004), 15. 7 Waldstreicher, David. Runaway America. (New York: Hill and Wang, 2004), 9. 2...