Primary Source Analysis: George Washington

These occupations included: “blacksmithing, wheelwrighting, carpentering, printing and building, shoe and harness making, [and] masonry” (Document G). He did not want the Blacks to have to perform slave-like work as it was grueling and was not really a life. Washington states that “no time is wasted on dead languages or superfluous studies of any kind. What is practical, what will best fit these young people for the work of life” (Document G). By saying this, Washington would settle for whatever trade job the Blacks were able to be hired for, just as long as the whites and Blacks were guaranteed the same privileges. Although he was appealing to both races, Washington had many critics saying that by going with his philosophy of gradually gaining social equality for Blacks, he allowed white supremacy to be present in society for a longer amount of time, which was not ideal. One critic remarks in Document H that “he [Washington] knows by sad experience that industrial education will not stand him in place of political, civil and intellectual liberty” (Document H). By saying this, the critic believed that Washington was not fighting for Blacks to receive a higher education because he himself knew that the highest possible placement for Blacks that wanted a form of education was in a trade school. In addition, he exclaimed that by attending these trade schools,

For starters, by using repetition and metaphor in his speech, Booker T. Washington informs his audience concerning the importance of collaboration between the white and black races during the process of developing and growing the economic conditions of the South. For instance, in the third paragraph of the address, Washington mirrors a crucial state on the ocean. The crew of the lost ship almost lost their lives as a result of the lack of water, but later get told to drop down the bucket and get some water by a friendly ship, “And a third and fourth signal for water was answered. ‘Cast down your bucket where you are.’ The captain of the distressed vessel, at last heeding the injunction, cast down his bucket, and it came up full of fresh, sparkling water from the mouth of the Amazon River” (Washington 450). Also, by metaphorically referring that particular situation he portrays to the reality that

Washington is remembered chiefly for this “Atlanta Compromise” address. In this speech, he called on white America to provide jobs and industrial-agricultural education for Negroes. In exchange,

Dubois said, “Mr. Washington distinctly asks that black people give up, at least for the present, three things, --First, political power, second, insistence on civil rights, third, higher education of Negro youth, and concentrate all their energies on industrial education, and accumulation of wealth, and the conciliation of the South.” Washington believed that the blacks could not move forward without giving up political power, civil rights, and higher education. He thought they had to give up those ideas for now and focus on wealth, industrial education and be friendly with the south. He thought once these objects were accomplished then the blacks could obtain the freedom and rights they wanted. Therefore, he felt that for now the color-line was ok because blacks needed to first earn their rights before they were handed over to them.

Washington was often looked at as an “Uncle Tom” because of the things he did, such as advising blacks to remain in the South and to avoid politics and protest in favor of economic self-help and industrial education. He eventually became a powerful political boss, friend of white businessmen like Andrew Carnegie, and advisor of some presidents. Washington publicly accepted without protest racial segregation and voting discrimination, but secretly financed and directed many court suits against such proscriptions of civil rights. To Washington his ideas was obvious and clear, by earning the respect of whites they would either help blacks or deal with their crime against humanity that will eventually bring them down.

He then uses it to encourage whites to accept the cultures of the African Americans because they will be faithful fighters and friends. Washington states that no one race will excel until they realize that manual labor is just as important as any other. He believes that the African Americans must start at the bottom to reach the top and encourages manual

of the races, and accommodation. He urged blacks to accept discrimination for the time being and concentrate on elevating themselves through hard work and material prosperity. Washington believed in education, industrial and farming skills and themes of patience, owning busineses and thrift. This, he belived, would win the respect of whites and lead to African Americans being fully accepted as citizens and integrated into all stagesof society. Washington's thinking was one of accommodation to white oppression. He advised blacks to trust southern whites and accept the fact of white supremacy. He stressed the interdependence of blacks and whites in the South, but said they were to remain socially separate: One of Washington's famous quotes was "In all things that are purely social we can be as separate as the fingers, yet one as the hand in all things essential to mutual progress." Up from slaves 1901p.Washington counseled blacks to remain in the South, obtain a useful education, save their money, work hard, and purchase property. By doing such things, Washington believed, the Negro could one day be a full fledge citizen.

The struggle for equality and the battle to have one’s suppressed voice be heard is prevalent throughout the history of the United States. The Native Americans, women, and even Catholics have all encountered discrimination and belittlement in one shape or form, which eventually urged individuals within those groups to rise up and demand equal opportunity. As the United States began to shift away from slavery, one of the most deep rooted, controversial dilemmas aroused- what do black people need to do in order to gain civil rights both economically and socially? Booker T. Washington’s “Atlanta Exposition Address” and W.E.B. Du Bois's “The Soul of Black Folks” were pieces of writings influenced by the puzzle that black people were left to solve. Booker T. Washington and W.E.B Du Bois had contrasting ideas, but they both contributed a piece to the puzzle in hopes of solving the never ending mind game.

In contrast to Douglass, Washington’s famous speech known as the “1865 Atlantic Compromise” was not a protest or challenge of the political system, nor did he speak about the lack of social equality. Instead he focused his efforts on what blacks could accomplish, how they could compromise. He believed the militant rhetoric of Douglass and others distracted blacks from the path of liberty, equality, and economic success. Washington’s speech emphasized that it was the dual responsibility of blacks and whites to make the blacks a more

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

DuBois philosophies possessed a “fight for right’s mentality”. His view was that everyone has a “constitutional right” to freedom and equality. Du Bois took a forceful stance against Booker T. Washington's strategies of “working within the system”, calling instead for "ceaseless agitation and insistent demand for equality," and the "use of force of every

"The wisest among my race understand that the agitation of questions of social equality is the extremest folly," Washington said in his address, "and that progress in the

Booker T. Washington’s speech “Atlanta Compromise” stressed on the importance of economics. Washington argued that blacks’ need for education and economic progress were foremost the important. He believed that blacks should focus on learning industrial skills for better wages. I believe his political views were shaped based on the way he was raised, Booker T. Washington was born into slavery on a southern plantation. His political positions were based on how blacks should focus on raising themselves through their labor work and to rather accept the discrimination that they received. In his speech he mentions the phrase “Cast down your bucket”, this hold strong importance because throughout the speech he stresses the powerful meaning that white men should be able to trust a black man. Washington wants white men to understand that black men are the ones who never get anything in return for doing jobs for white men, while they do these hard labor jobs it turns out successful. I believe that this what Booker T. Washington wanted, he wanted recognition for black men doing these hard labor jobs to one day earn better wages. Booker T. Washington wanted to please white men and white society to not cause a stir during the civil rights movement.

g named as a judge in the Atlanta Department of Education. At the Atlanta Exposition, he stated that, “As we have proved our loyalty to you in the past, in nursing your children, watching by the sick-bed of your mothers and fathers, and often following them with tear-dimmed eyes to their graves, so in the future, in our humble way, we shall stand by you with a devotion that no foreigner can approach, ready to lay down our lives, if need be, in defense of yours, interlacing our industrial, commercial, civil, and religious life with yours in a way that shall make the interests of both our races one” (Washington 450). Washington expressed that for so long African Americans have served underneath whites, and now all they wanted was an opportunity

Continuing to do so throughout the rest of his speech, Washington’s view of the necessity that black people buckle down and accept their surroundings never faltered. He told a brief story of two ships which ultimately boiled down to saying that African-Americans were trying to climb too high, too fast. That they immediately sought too prestigious of positions in society and overlooked what best suited them. He suggested that they instead help maintain the status quo by limiting the positions of power that African-Americans could hold. Pushing them more towards physical labor did nothing but reflect the divide between communities of white and black.