One of the most influential leaders in American education in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries was Booker T. Washington. Washington excelled in the areas of teaching, writing and public speaking. It was through these avenues that he influenced countless numbers of people. During his lifetime, he was a national leader for the betterment of African-Americans in the post-Reconstruction South. In Washington’s book, Up from Slavery, he chronologically tells his life and how he rose from a slave to become accomplished in the areas of education and public speaking. In a very straightforward yet strong voice, he details the many obstacles he overcame throughout his life and how they contributed to his success. Washington’s …show more content…
When Freedom came, neither the slaves nor the masters were equipped to handle the new life (Washington, 1995). While the African Americans were free, they didn’t have any resources, home or education and were not use to the responsibilities. Many made deals to work for their old masters. Most of their masters were not use to manual labor, hadn’t specialized in a specific industry and didn’t know how to cook, sew, or care for a house. However, Washington’s family made a long and difficult trip to Malden, West Virginia to live with his stepfather. His surroundings were even bleaker than when he was enslaved and he was forced to work in the salt mines. He was determined to learn though and taught himself out of a book at home. He also made arrangements with a teacher for at night after his work was done. He was even permitted to attend school during the day for a short period, until he was needed to devote all his time to work. Washington (1995) stated, “There was never a time in my youth, no matter how dark and discouraging the days might be, when one resolve did not continually remain with me, and that was a determination to secure an education at any cost.” (p. 18). Washington heard of a great school for his race, the Hampton Normal and Agricultural Institute, where poor students could work off their room and board and be taught a trade or industry (Washington, 1995). Washington thought it must be “the greatest place
On September 18, 1895, an African-American spokesman and leader Booker T. Washington spoke in the front of thousands of whites at the Cotton States and International Exposition in Atlanta. His famous “Atlanta Compromise” was one of the most influential speeches in American. regardless Washington soothed his listeners’ concerns about the what they said “uppity” blacks. Mr. Washington was a very well-known black educator. Even though he was born into slavery he strongly felt and believed that racism would in fact end once the blacks put effort into labor skills and proved themselves to society. He pressured industrial education for African-Americans so that they would gain respect from the whites. Washington often was good for ignoring discrimination because it didn’t phase him. But he was so nervous
DuBois also had distinct theories of what he thought African-Americans needed to put into practice, so that they would not be oppressed any longer. DuBois definitely saw the value and worth of African-American people getting both industrial and traditional education. DuBois envisioned all African-Americans being well educated, in the industrial arts and the classics, which would lead to being able to rise up in the world as leaders and teachers. DuBois explained Washington’s mindset as “And so thoroughly did he learn the speech and thought of triumphant commercialism, and the ideals of material prosperity, that the picture of a lone black boy poring over a French grammar amid the weeds and dirt of a neglected home soon seemed to him the acme of absurdities.” (DuBois, 2).
Education was not readily available for Southern blacks as it was for whites, and Du Bois took notice. In an effort to teach, he was taken aback by “how faithfully, how piteously, this people strove to learn.” (Du Bois, 12) While most African Americans devoted themselves to learning, the information was not presented in an understandable way, and most struggled to even make an advance in basic courses. Du Bois commented that education was a freedom denied to none, and the aggressive pursuit of a higher education was the way of crossing the threshold into equality. In a similar matter, Booker T. Washington praised the school house as a place with equal deliverance as heaven itself. His point of view came through the looking-glass of slavery, being raised a slave himself. As a child, when he carried his mistress’ books to her schoolhouse, he felt that “to get into a schoolhouse and study in this way would be about the same as getting into paradise.”(Washington, 3) Washington,
In one site, Booker T. Washington, the most influential lieder of his period (1856-1915), who was born as a slave in 1856 (Virginia), who because of studying in the Hampton Normal and Agricultural Institute. Learned the skills he needed to be respected by the withes society and gain considerable influence over the black people. Washington philosophy was based on self-improvement, education, accommodation and others. He preaches that African American rather than concentrate their effort in combating segregation, they should be focus in self-improvement, education and wealth. He encourages Young African American develop patience, commercial agricultural skills and others instead of instead of
Born a slave on a Virginia farm, Booker Taliaferro Washington (1856-1915) rose to become one of the most influential African-American intellectuals of the late 19th century. He was nine years old when the Civil War ended. He worked hard as a young child and at 16, he left home to attend Hampton Institute. One of the few black high schools in the South, it focused on industrial and agricultural training while maintaining an extremely structured curriculum that stressed discipline and high moral character. Washington thrived in that environment. He eventually went on to head a new school in Tuskegee, Alabama. The Tuskegee Institute was devoted to the training of black teachers, farmers, and skilled workers. Under his
Washington like myself highly valued and found purpose in education for similar reasons. Since Washington was born into slavery he was mainly surrounded and only knew and spoke with people who were completely illiterate. Washington didn’t know anything about school or reading and writing because at the time there was no schooling for colored children; However he did say “I felt that getting into a schoolhouse and studying in this way must be like getting into heaven,”(6). Washington saying that shows that he valued education before he even knew what it was like because he knew there would be so much more opportunities for him if he could obtain one. Washington also had to struggle with another obstacle which was work. Just like my parents he had to work at a very young age to help support his family, because of this Washington couldn’t possibly attend day school once it became available for the colored children. Washington did not give up though he however attended night school when that became available to him. Booker T. Washington also struggled when he began to read because he had absolutely no help from anyone who knew about education or how to read and write. Booker did however have all the encouragement he needed from his mother “In all my efforts to learn to read, my mother encouraged me and aided me in every way that she could. Although she was illiterate, she had high ambitions for her children,”(17) stated Washington. This shows that like my mother
The school system in the country districts of the South is a disgrace and in few towns and cities are Negro schools what ought to be...and...when we call for education we mean real education,” he effectively made his audience view the logic in his claim about racial equality with a specific emphasis on the education of adults and more specifically children (DuBois 2). Mr. DuBois, being the well-educated man that he was, understood that by presenting his claim of educational importance in a logically and sound way, his audience would be exponentially more likely to agree with his view and act on his cause, which is exactly what transpired after his speech. In Mr. Washington’s attempt to persuade his audience in favor of educating the African American population, he chose to appeal to his perverse audience 's sense of desire and ambition. He stated that by “casting down [their] bucket among many people, helping and encouraging them as [they] are doing on these grounds, and to education of head, hand, and heart, [they] will find that [African Americans] will buy [their] surplus land, make blossom the waste of places in [their] fields, and run [their] factories” (Washington 2). In stating his claim the way he did, he hoped that his audience, which was comprised primarily of white, land-owning southerners, would realize the possible economic benefits that would result from educating the black population, and that their innate desire for material wealth would drive them to
Booker T. Washington was known as the premier of black activist. His theory for the African American progression or “racial uplift” was that African American’s would remain without objections and silence themselves regarding the issues of disenfranchisement and social segregation if whites supported the black progression in education, economics, and agriculture.
There has been much debate over Booker T. Washington and the effectiveness of his work at Tuskegee Institute. Some believe that he was a pioneer for black education in a time when few had the opportunity. Others believe that his conformity to the white ideal of what a black man should be hindered his ability to create real social change for his race. In his autobiography, Up From Slavery, Washington maps out his life from its humble beginnings as a slave up through the success of his school, Tuskegee Institute. He is quick to drop names of the important white businessmen and prominent citizens to ensure their support for his school. However, he is also quick to push his students to be productive members of their society. Through
Chapter one shall revolve around Washington’s philosophy of gradualism and industrial education. Hugh Hawkins has described how,
Washington revealed that he was always surrounded by educators, the idea of school was not foreign to him. Washington was born into a generation where there were no schools for black children, however, he was exposed to schoolhouses at an early age. As a child, Washington rode the plantation’s horses to drop off Laura, the Master's daughter, to work. Laura was a school teacher and Washington’s being required to provide transportation for Laura to get to work afforded him the opportunity to be exposed to what a school looked like. The glimpses he caught of boys and girls in a classroom made Booker feel that the chance to study that way would be “about the same as getting into paradise.”
Throughout the life of Booker T. Washington expressed in his autobiography, Up From Slavery, one element has remained the same through his influences, education, public speaking, and teaching of others. This is the fact that one cannot succeed solely on a “book” education, but must accompany this with that of an “industrial” education as well. He believed that with this type of education, the black man could provide necessary services not only for himself, but also for those in his community as well. Washington was born on a slave plantation in either 1858 or 1859 in Franklin County, Virginia. He grew up with his mother, his brother John, and his sister Amanda. They lived in an extremely small log
Washington did not believe in creating laws and policies that would demand that all African Americans be treated a certain way; rather, he believed that people should earn the rights and rewards that they deserve (448). Washington’s proposal created a “middle ground.” African Americans would work in order to improve and advance themselves, but whites would also appropriately value their endeavors. “Up from Slavery” was written with a simple writing style, and its tone is optimistic. Ultimately, he believed that his people could succeed if they worked hard. The value of education and the dignity of work are prevalent themes in “Up from Slavery.” In “Up from Slavery,” he says, “Cast down your bucket where you are—cast it down in making friends in every manly way of the people of all races by whom we are surrounded. Cast it down in agriculture, mechanics, in commerce, in domestic service, and in the professions” (450). He believed that as African Americans worked in order to improve themselves, progress would be
The autobiography of Booker T. Washing titled Up From Slavery is a rich narrative of the man's life from slavery to one of the founders of the Tuskegee Institute. The book takes us through one of the most dynamic periods in this country's history, especially African Americans. I am very interested in the period following the Civil War and especially in the transformation of African Americans from slaves to freemen. Up From Slavery provides a great deal of information on this time period and helped me to better understand the transition. Up From Slavery provided a narrative on Washington's life, as well as his views on education and integration of African Americans. All though this book was
Booker T. Washington was one of the most well-known African American educators of all time. Lessons from his life recordings and novelistic writings are still being talked and learned about today. His ideas of the accommodation of the Negro people and the instillation of a good work ethic into every student are opposed, though, by some well-known critics of both past and current times. They state their cases by claiming the Negro’s should not have stayed quiet and worked their way to wear they did, they should have demanded equal treatment from the southern whites and claimed what was previously promised to them. Also, they state that Washington did not really care about equality or respect, but about a status boost in his own life. Both