Speech At The Atlanta Compromise By Booker T. Washington

W.E.B. Du Bois and Booker T. Washington were two very influential leaders in the black community during the late 19th century, early 20th century. However, they both had different views on improvement of social and economic standing for blacks. Booker T. Washington, an ex-slave, put into practice his educational ideas at Tuskegee, which opened in 1881. Washington stressed patience, manual training, and hard work. He believed that blacks should go to school, learn skills, and work their way up the ladder. Washington also urged blacks to accept racial discrimination for the time being, and once they worked their way up, they would gain the respect of whites and be fully accepted as citizens. W.E.B. Du Bois on the other hand, wanted a more

Booker T. Washington’s philosophy and actions betrayed the interests of African Americans because he was more interested on the blacks getting educated and getting the respect of the white authorities, instead of worrying on getting their political and social equality right away, which was the main interest of the African Americans. In “The Atlanta Exposition Address”, Washington said that blacks would sacrifice their civil rights and social equality for the time being, as long as whites guaranteed that they would receive industrial education and jobs because he believed that in order to fully obtain equality, the blacks should improve themselves. “It is at the bottom of

In Booker T. Washington’s 1895 Atlanta Compromise Speech, he is trying to convince his audience by using vivid imagery, allegories, repetition, and reasonable ideas. He uses an optimistic tone to convey four appeals. Throughout the whole speech, he establishes his credibility to a predominantly white audience to make his point stand out for the changes he believes are necessary.

Washington was born into slavery in 1856, despite this he received an education at the Hampton Institute, a school designed to educate African Americans and Native Americas. In 1881, Washington built and became the headmaster at a school, the Tuskegee Institute, which was virtually all black in population. From this Washington lived a comfortable life and was able to give a number of addresses regarding issues of black rights. Washington’s famous speech, the Atlanta Exposition address, was given in 1895.The address was a speech designed to seek compromise between the races, through asking for greater treatment from white Southerners, in return for positive economic cooperation through educating black people in the industrial spheres. Washington

It was during the Recreation Period when the rights of Blacks were not the same as Whites and this made the lives of the Black difficult. Segregation was very common at the time. It affected many in the black society, including Booker T. Washington. He was a major contributor to the end of segregation, and in 1895, he delivered “The Atlanta Compromise Speech.” He believed that with the hard work of the Blacks, that they would earn and gain the respect of the esteemed whites. The main idea of “The Atlanta Compromise Speech” was that Blacks should obtain social responsibility and to achieve this, work from the bottom to top. Booker T. Washington’s speech was given to persuade the citizens to end the idea of segregation and promote cooperation between Blacks and Whites during the Recreation Period. The speech was also given to make an impact on how the people view society and the actions the citizens need to take. He used rhetorical strategies to make his speech argumentative. He focused on each strategy, and effectively configured his speech which made it effective for the audience.

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

W.E.B. DuBois, a black intellectual believed that Washington's strategy would only serve to perpetuate white oppression. DuBois initially advocated for Washington's strategy, however he grew to find it unacceptable as he became more outspoken about racial injustice. DuBois campaigned for a civil rights agenda and argued that educated blacks could accomplish social change. With the belief that African Americans should work together to battle inequality DuBois helped found the NAACP. DuBois was not content with attempting to gain an economic foothold; he wanted absolute equality in all aspects of life. DuBois believed that Washington "devalued the study of liberal arts, and ignored the economic exploitation of the black masses. He believed that "The Negro Race, like all races, is going to be saved by its exceptional men. The problem of education then, among Negroes, must first of all deal with the ‘Talented Tenth.' [which] is the problem of developing the best of this race that they may guide the Mass away from the contamination and death of the worst." He believed that the economic and political issues facing African Americans could be solved if the most talented ten

Lastly, Du Bois and Washington's individual experiences are historical in the fight for black equality. The two men both lived very fulfilling lives dedicated to their life work of the black cause. Washington began his educational career at the age of 16 at the Hampton Institute while performing janitorial duties to pay his board. After graduating he returned back to West Virginia and taught adults and children. He then went away to study at the Wayland Seminary in Washington D.C. where upon his completion joined the staff at the Hampton Institute. Years later in 1881 he was asked to be the president of the Tuskegee Institution which promoted literacy among freed blacks. Here began the monument of his life work, for the rest of his days would be spent supporting the school. Then, the year 1895 marked a turning point in his life when he gave the Atlanta Compromise Address speech that would outline his beliefs for the rest of his days. Furthermore, in 1900 with help from T. Thomas Fortune the creation of the National Negro Business League happened with Washington the first president. He even accepts and invitation by Andrew Garrison to go to Europe and preach his words of wisdom. The book ends with a speech before a mixed crowd of black and white to the City Council of Richmond, Virginia, and Washington never feeling more hopeful for the African-American race. Like

Booker T. Washington rose up from slavery and illiteracy to become the foremost educator and leader of black Americans at the turn of the century. He was born on April 5, 1856 in Franklin County, Virginia. As a child he worked in the salt mines but always found time for education. Washington constantly dreamed of college but as an African American this dream was nearly impossible. His scrupulous working habits from the mines set him out for college at the Hampton Institute. He graduated in 1876 and became a teacher at a rural school. After 2 years of teaching, he went back to the Hampton Institute and was a “professor” here for 2 more years. His next challenge would be at a new all black college, Tuskegee Institute where he would become president. Under Washington's leadership (1881-1915), Tuskegee Institute became an important force in black education. Washington won a Harvard honorary degree in 1891.

A well-known African-American spokesman and leader, Booker T. Washington, in his speech, The Atlanta Compromise, describes how the treatment and equality aren't the same for African American people as it is for white people. Washington’s purpose is to try and persuade his audience that black and white people should have the same rights and be treated equally. He adopts a passive tone in order to convey to his audience that the black community does a lot of services for white people and aren’t treated as such. Booker T. Washington effectively convinces his audience that everyone should have equal rights through diction, facts and statistics, and figurative language.

The compromise was announced at the Atlanta Exposition Speech. The primary architect of the compromise, on behalf of the African-Americans, was Booker T. Washington, president of the Tuskegee Institute. Supporters of Washington and the Atlanta compromise were termed the "Tuskegee Machine."

Racial discrimination, political, social and economic inequality during the late 19th century and early 20th century led various leaders within the black community to rise up and address the appalling circumstances that African Americans were forced to endure. Among these leaders were Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. DuBois whom possessed analogous desires as it pertained to the advancement and upliftment of the black race. While both individuals were fighting for the same cause and purpose they embraced contrary ideologies and approaches to African American struggle. In Booker T. Washington’s book “Up from Slavery” African Americans were encouraged to be passive and focus on vocational education whereas in W.E.B. DuBois book “The Souls of Black Folk”, African Americans were encouraged to fight for their merited rights and focus on academic education. However, although Washington was convinced that his ideologies would sincerely uplift the black race, they actually proved to be detrimental, leaving DuBois ideology to be the most reasonable and appropriate solution for the advancement of the black race.

On September 18, 1895, Booker T. Washington presented his "Atlanta Compromise Address". The speech was designed to release some of the racial tension presents between whites and blacks during the period. The speech has three notable attributes to it. One main point of the speech was that both blacks and whites must come to the realization that they both were reliant on each other. Another point was that blacks and whites should readjust their behavior in such a way that they could together have a peaceful coexistence. Lastly, the speech emphasized that whites must learn to see the goodness in blacks.

As the plight of African Americans in the South was beginning to worsen, Booker T. Washington, principal of Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute, was invited to speak before a bi-racial audience at the opening of the 1895 Atlanta Cotton States and International Exposition a celebration of the “new” industrializing South (Schaefer, 2015). A former slave who had toiled in West Virginia’s salt mines and earned a degree from Hampton Institute, Washington was the first African American to ever address such a large group of Southern whites. Frederick Douglass had died several months earlier, and Washington would immediately take his place as the

He warned that “Atlanta must not lead the South to dream of material prosperity as the touchstone of all success; already the fatal might of this idea is beginning to spread… instead of Truth, Beauty, and Goodness, wealth as the ideal of the Public School” (Du Bois 417). By emphasizing wealth, as Washington had urged blacks to do, there became no real rationale to be educated, so long as you knew how to do a profitable occupation. However, the major pitfall of blacks pursuing wealth was that they were fundamentally unable to access the same methods that whites were. That is, as one can see, exactly what whites wanted and Du Bois warned against. The result of this, as Du Bois points out, is that “the old leaders of Negro opinion, in the little groups where there is a Negro social consciousness, are being replaced by new; neither the black preacher nor the black teacher leads as he did two decades ago” (Du Bois 418). That was to say that the number of black teachers and preachers was dwindling because more blacks wanted higher paying jobs. Therefore, there were far less active voices within the black community that promoted education, which created a perpetuating cycle in which fewer and fewer blacks valued holistic education. Du Bois, having tremendous foresight, knew that he wouldn’t be able