There's Benjamin Franklin, the very model of the self-educated, self-made man, who rose from modest origins to become a well-known scientist, philosopher, and statesman.
It wasn't just the struggles of these men and women that had moved me. Rather, it was their determination, their self-reliance, a relentless optimism in the face of hardship.
Remember this is 1838, "Self-Reliance" was a novel idea at the time and the United States citizens were less secure about themselves as individuals and as Americans.