Advice Given to Young Men in the 19th Century on How to be Successful by Jason Toothaker

During the 19th century, there were many books, documents, and advice manuals that were available to young men on how to be successful. These sources spoke about various topics ranging from how one looks, to how one acts, and to how one behaves. These books were provided to the American youth to motivate and possibly mold them into American self-made men.

"Americans have always been the world's most enthusiastic proponents of self-made men. Many still believe that he is not only an American invention but a unique national product." It was the belief of these writers that if their advice was followed explicitly than it would ensure success to any young man with the courage and determination to seek it.

The four main points that were emphasized in almost all of my research material were:

Self-Education

Habits

Luck

Reasons for Failure

In 1998 many of the views I have talked about may be widely known or considered common knowledge and many still applied today. The key that one must understand is that for maybe the first time ever it was possible for young men to get an education and work in a trade different than that which your family was currently operating. Young men whose fathers were farmers now did not necessary have to become a farmer if he didn't wish, they could now pursue their interests. Today it is common for a young male or female to go to college and choose what they believe they want to become. Many times our fathers and mothers want us to be something other than the job or profession they're in, they want us to be something better. In the 19th century what we consider to be a basically normal way of life was just becoming a possibility. And for this reason I think that these manuals were so talked about and focused on, no one had a clear view of how to get to the top all that they knew was that they wanted to get there. These advice manuals written by these 19th century authors may have guided the way.