Throughout history, there have been many individuals whose hardships demonstrate their remarkable bravery. These individuals overcame hardship and transformed their days of struggle into a lifetime of achievement, despite the fact that everything was screaming at them to give up. Here are some examples of people who overcame adversity throughout history.
1. Frederick Douglass was born into slavery, was taken from his mother when he was a child, taught himself to read in secret, and was brutally punished when his efforts at learning were discovered. He revolted and, after many failed efforts, became the head of the abolitionist movement, becoming famous for his brilliant oratory and sharp antislavery literature.
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Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey, the African-American social reformer, was born in the state of Maryland. It was common practice at the time to remove children born into slavery from their mothers when they were very small. Douglass was the victim of this. His master’s wife began educating him when he was twelve years old, but she stopped when his master objected. Then, in secret, Douglass started learning to read and write by studying the writings of the men with whom he worked and the neighborhood’s White youngsters.
Douglass started educating other slaves at the farm after being recruited by a new owner. When the other slaves’ masters discovered out, they beat them with clubs and stones, and the lessons were stopped. Douglass was then put to work for a number of masters, some of whom used to brutally discipline him. He revolted and attempted to flee many times. He successfully fled by boarding a train on September 3, 1838, and arrived in New York. He married there and took the surname Douglass.
Douglass began attending abolitionist gatherings and delivering brilliant speeches shortly after. He went to Ireland and the United Kingdom, giving talks in churches and chapels. His eloquent oratory attracted large crowds, and the facilities were often “packed to suffocation.” Douglass’ autobiography, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, is his most famous work. Some critics questioned if the book was really written by a Black guy due of his eloquence. [Source]
2. Colonel Sanders, the creator of Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC), dropped out of school at the age of 13, lost a number of jobs, his wife abandoned him, and at the age of 65, he retired as a failure reliant on his savings and social security payments. He borrowed some money, cooked some chicken, sold it door-to-door, and created Kentucky Fried Chicken, becoming a millionaire at the age of 88.
Harland David Sanders, often known as “Colonel Sanders,” was born on September 9, 1890, in Indiana. His father died while he was just six years old. As a consequence, his mother started working and he began cooking and caring for his siblings. He started working as a farmhand when he was ten years old. He left home at the age of 13 and started working as a horse carriage painter.
Sanders lied about his age and joined in the United States Army in 1906. He was honorably discharged from the service in February 1907. He subsequently moved to Alabama to live with his uncle, where he worked as a blacksmith’s assistant, then as a cleaner for the Northern Alabama Railroad, and finally as a firefighter. Wilbur started working as a laborer on the Norfolk and Western Railway in 1909.
He met and married Josephine King when he was there. However, when his kid died and he lost his work again, his wife abandoned him and her children. Meanwhile, he started practicing law, but his legal career was cut short following a fight in the courtroom with his client.
Sanders started operating a service station in Kentucky when he was 40 years old. The fried chicken at the service station was so popular that he was dubbed a “Kentucky Colonel” in 1935. His triumph, however, was short-lived, as he was forced to sell his restaurant at the age of 65, leaving him with just his savings and $105 a month from Social Security.
Rather of bending down, he took out a loan, sold his fried chicken door to door, and eventually established a new restaurant in Shelbyville in 1959. KFC quickly increased in popularity and became a global hit. Sanders was overwhelmed by the company’s fast growth, and he sold it in 1962 for $2 million ($15.4 million today). [Sources: 1, 2]
3. Despite being paralyzed from the waist down due to polio, Franklin D. Roosevelt was elected president of the United States four times. He trained himself to walk a short distance with a cane while wearing iron braces in order to run for public office, and he took great care to never appear in public in a wheelchair.
Franklin D. Roosevelt, commonly known as “FDR,” is widely regarded as one of the three greatest presidents of the United States. He is well-known for his four consecutive presidential election victories. Despite having had polio since 1921, he served as President of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945.
FDR became sick while on vacation in Canada with his family. He was paralyzed from the waist down as a result of the disease. Roosevelt started persuading people that he was improving because he intended to seek for public office. FDR had to need a wheelchair due to his disability, although he never used it in public. He taught himself to walk while wearing iron braces on his legs and hips, using his iron will. He could only travel short distances and used to appear in public standing erect with one of his sons or an assistant supporting him on one side. [Source]