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There are certain qualities that make a person heroic which evolve over time, to fit the characteristics most admired by a particular culture at that moment in history. Christopher Columbus is an example of such a hero, specific to a particular culture and time, who has now become a controversial historical figure. King Ferdinand, the Spanish Monarch who funded Columbus’s explorations, viewed the venture as heroic. After his second voyage, when natives from the Caribbean Islands were transported to Spain as slaves. This ideology of slavery was lauded by many cultures, including American culture. While many believed that Columbus was heroic for what he did for “the good of the country,” today the idea of slavery and oppression is scorned by most cultures and societies, making Columbus a more ambiguous heroic figure.
In order to be considered a hero, a person must meet all the criteria of his or her society. If the hero fails to meet society’s changing standards, they will fall from their former echelon of prestige and respect. Thomas Jefferson's situation exemplifies this idea. He was the principal author of the Declaration of Independence and in his first presidential term, he was lauded for his purchase of the Louisiana territory upholding the American doctrine of Manifest Destiny. However, when he failed to meet the public’s expectations, and as overseas political tensions grew worse, he fell out of favor with the public. More specifically, he wanted the United States to be a neutral party in the ongoing war with Great Britain and France, and to continue trade with both countries; both Britain and France thought trading with the other was an act of war and refused to acknowledge America as a neutral party. To ease tensions, Jefferson proposed ending trade with both countries-- hoping it would give the United States leverage. However, the Embargo Act of 1807 backfired, eroding the United States Economy, and Jefferson lost his popular standing. Of course, while he lost prestige in the nineteenth century, he is remembered today as one of the Founding Fathers, a great man who was influential during the country’s nascence.
The Vietnam War, which began in 1955 and ended in 1975, demonstrates society’s fickleness about heroes on a much grander, sadder scale. While the courage of our soldiers was much admired in World War I and II, towards the later years of the Vietnam War, the public held a negative opinion of soldiers fighting that war. The public began to protest the high number of American casualties, the military draft, military abuses such as the massacre at My Lai in 1968, and the illegality of invasions by the United States government in neighboring countries. Vietnam veterans were shunned when they returned home-- cast down from the heroic stature because of the war’s unpopularity. The admirable qualities of courage, selflessness, and patriotism were not bestowed upon the veterans of the Vietnam War until a decade later, when, in the 1980s, the Vietnam Memorial was built to honor the fallen heroes of that war.
Sometimes a shift in societal ideals facilitates the rise of a hero, rather than causing the downfall of a current one. One example is Abraham Lincoln, whose actions drastically changed American history. Though remembered today as an abolitionist, he was not always against slavery-- he refrained from supporting anti-slavery measures throughout his early life and even the beginning of his presidency. During his presidency, however, as popular views shifted and support for the Union army grew, Lincoln’s own abolitionist activity grew, until his enactment of the Emancipation Proclamation of 1863, an act that elevated him even higher in heroic status because it made the ending of slavery one of the central goals of the north in the Civil War.
Heroes who have a great impact on their society are still influenced, to a certain degree, by the populace and social conditions around them. For example, Martin Luther King, Jr., is a hero we consider to have greatly influenced society rather than society having influenced him. Through his leadership in the civil rights movement and his political protests, he forever altered American society. Dr. King was not immune to the influences of society around him, as he, and the civil rights movement he led, were affected by the racism and prejudice that was endemic in America at the time. The degree of pre-existing social discrimination demonstrated in America, coupled with Dr. King’s education, helped facilitate his rise to the status of hero. His ability to motivate people to embrace the ideals he preached, and to transform society, was dictated and provided by the specific conditions of the society around him.
Society influences the definition of a hero just as much, if not more, than a hero makes their own mark.