A Self-Made Nation: The People and Principles That Built America

The history of the United States is a rags-to-riches success story. In the 1780s the U.S. was a small, poor country with no factories, no wealth, and no international status; yet that same country was the richest and most powerful nation on Earth by the end of the next century. It is truly a self-made nation, like nothing else the world has ever seen. The nation's amazingly rapid rise was powered by the equally amazing achievements of countless ordinary Americans who grew up in poverty and created their own individual rags-to-riches success stories. In A Self-Made Nation, Al Fuller tells the story of America's early years; how ordinary Americans of that era grew up without wealth, status, or privilege, and created terrific success for themselves while building a world power. What allowed these ordinary folks to achieve such extraordinary things was the freedom and opportunity that America provides, combined with a set of habits and character qualities that any American can emulate. In A Self-Made Nation you'll read about children like Andrew Carnegie, who took advantage of their freedom to fulfill their God-given potential. When Carnegie was forced to support himself as a telegram delivery boy at the age of fifteen, he made up his mind to be a successful businessman, and didn't doubt that he could do it. "If I don't," he said, "it will be my own fault, for anyone can get along in this country." A Self-Made Nation illustrates how any ordinary American can follow the same path and achieve the same remarkable results.