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Background of Booker T. Washington and how it influenced his writings
Booker t Washington's influence
Booker t Washington's influence
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The South was a complete mess after the Civil War. The early part of the 20th century brought many changes for African Americans. There was a difficult challenge of helping newly free African American slaves assimilate among their white counterparts. They suffered from crop failures, economic hardships, and the early failures of Reconstruction in the south. So as result many Southern African Americans migrated to northern cities in search of employment and a chance at a better life. However, Southern African Americans migrating to northern cities quickly discovered that they were not able to enjoy the same social and economic mobility experienced by their European immigrant counterparts arriving around the same time. There were many questions that had to be asked and answered not just among politicians, but the entire white and black populations. Booker T. Washington, W.E.B. Du Bois and John Hope all attempted to conquer these tough issues based on their own experience and cultural influences by sharing their opinions. A well-respected African American leader named Booker T. Washington gave a speech that would be later named the "Atlanta Compromise" at the Cotton States and International Exposition in Atlanta on September 18, 1895 (Booker T. Washington Biography). Booker T. Washington was born in to slavery and would eventually gain his freedom after the Civil War was over. He was biracial, but never knew who his white father was (Booker T. Washington Biography). His “Atlanta Compromise” speech was very controversial amongst the African American community. This speech was controversial, because Washington basically told African Americans to “work within the system” and to “try to get along” with whites (43-45). It was an agreeme... ... middle of paper ... ....d. Web. 14 Feb. 2014. . Du bois, W.E.B. "On Mr. Booker T. Washington and Others." N.p.: n.p., n.d. 94-107. The Souls of Black Folk. Web. 16 Feb. 2014. < https://courses.cscc.edu/bbcswebdav/pid-4761040-dt-content-rid-25273687_1/courses/HIST-1152-600-62052-SP-2014/W.E.B. DuBois.pdf> Hope, John. "A Critique of the Atlanta Compromise." For the Record. 5th ed. Vol 2. New York & London: Norton & n.d. 46-47. Print. "John Hope Biography." Bio.com. A&E Networks Television, n.d. Web. 16 Feb. 2014. . Washington, Booker T. "The Atlanta Compromise." For the Record. 5th ed. Vol 2. New York & London: Norton & n.d. 43-45. Print. "W.E.B. Du Bois Biography." Bio.com. A&E Networks Television, n.d. Web. 15 Feb. 2014. .
Calhoun, John C. The Papers of John C. Calhoun. Robert L. Meriweather, W. Edwin Hemphill, et al., eds. 16 vols. Columbia, SC, 195
However controversial his methods and objectives, few can doubt that Washington worked hard to achieve them. Certainly the high point in his career was his famous speech at the Atlanta Cotton States and International Exposition in 1895, in which he accepted social and legal segregation but promised racial friendship and cooperation.
Two of the most influential people in shaping the social and political agenda of African Americans were Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. Dubois, both early twentieth century writers. While many of their goals were the same, the two men approached the problems facing African Americans in very different ways. This page is designed to show how these two distinct thinkers and writers shaped one movement, as well as political debate for years afterward.
When it all comes down to it, one of the greatest intellectual battles U.S. history was the legendary disagreement between Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. DuBois. This intellectual debate sparked the interest of the Northerners as well as the racist whites that occupied the south. This debate was simply about how the blacks, who just gained freedom from slavery, should exist in America with the white majority. Even though Washington and DuBois stood on opposite sides of the fence they both agreed on one thing, that it was a time for a change in the treatment of African Americans. I chose his topic to write about because I strongly agree with both of the men’s ideas but there is some things about their views that I don’t agree with. Their ideas and views are the things that will be addressed in this essay.
During the late 19th and early 20th century, racial injustice was very prominent and even wildly accepted in the South. Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. DuBois were two of the most renowned “pioneers in the [search] for African-American equality in America” (Washington, DuBois, and the Black Future). Washington was “born a slave” who highly believed in the concept of “separate but equal,” meaning that “we can be as [distant] as the fingers, yet one as the hand in all things essential to mutual progress” (Washington 1042). DuBois was a victim of many “racial problems before his years as a student” and disagreed with Washington’s point of view, which led
When talking about the history of African-Americans at the turn of the twentieth century, two notable names cannot be left out; Booker T. Washington and W.E.B Du Bois. They were both African-American leaders in the late 1800’s to early 1900’s, fighting for social justice, education and civil rights for slaves, and both stressed education. This was a time when blacks were segregated and discriminated against. Both these men had a vision to free blacks from this oppression. While they came from different backgrounds, Washington coming from a plantation in Virginia where he was a slave, and Du Bois coming from a free home in Massachusetts, they both experienced the heavy oppression blacks were under in this Post-Civil War society. Booker T. Washington and W.E.B Du Bois were both pioneers in striving to obtain equality for blacks, yet their ways of achieving this equality were completely different. W.E.B Du Bois is the more celebrated figure today since he had the better method because it didn’t give the whites any power, and his method was intended to achieve a more noble goal than Washington’s.
... rights for blacks as well. Washington was known for his famous “Atlanta Compromise” speech. Each of Washington’s speeches were moving to many and caused changes but not server changes like DuBois’s.
We can see that African Americans were still struggling for equality even after the emancipation and the abolishment of slavery. They still did not get the equal rights and opportunities compared to whites. This had been reflected in the first essay in Du Bois’s book with a title Of Our Spiritual Strivings that indicates blacks were denied the opportunity that were available to the whites even after emancipation. During the days of Jim Crow, people of color received unfair treatment from almost all aspects of their lives. At that time, not all people were brave enough to express and speak up their desire for transformation. Two most influential black leaders that were known to have the courage to speak up their beliefs in social equality were
Booker T Washington's strategy applied in The Atlanta Compromise Address would be to say that he wanted all Black Americans to learn trades and would like for them to pass on those skills, and use those skills so their families could have a better life and probably even a better education. Become united with one another, become part of the industry, become someone, and show what you are. "Cast down your bucket where you are while doing this you can be sure in the future, as in the past, that you and your families will be surrounded by the most patient, faithful, law-abiding, and un resentful people that the world has seen." He's showing that when you are taught a specific trade and teach it to your families, they can in turn be successful and live better lives and be unionized with the whites. If you "cast down your bucket" to the Black people they are no longer going to be the same because they are going to change. The Blacks will make an effort to succeed in life. And they only hope for peace with the white folks and make a higher good for one another. (D)
Washington 's programme naturally takes an economic cast” (Du Bois). Du Bois believed that Washington’s theory was a gospel of Work and Money that ultimately overshadowed the higher aims of life” Later he makes another statement so powerful that should have made all African Americans want to stand up and fight for a better social status and rights for both the South and North. He goes on stating “The growing spirit of kindliness and reconciliation between the North and South after the frightful differences of a generation ago ought to be a source of deep congratulation to all, and especially to those whose mistreatment caused the war; but if that reconciliation is to be marked by the industrial slavery and civic death of those same black men, with permanent legislation into a position of inferiority, then those black men, if they are really men, are called upon by every consideration of patriotism and loyalty to oppose such a course by all civilized methods, even though such opposition involves disagreement with Mr. Booker T. Washington.” (Du
3. Divine, Breen, Fredrickson, Williams, eds., America Past and Present Volume II: since 1865 sixth edition (New York: Longman 2002).
Bibliography:.. 1)http://galenet.gale.com/a/acp/netacgi/nph-brs?d=booker+washington&pgl =FT&1&u-/a/acp//db/dma/&r=3&r=1&u-/a/acp/db/dma 2)Drinker,FredrickE.,Booker T. Washington:The Master Mind of a Child of Slavery, Greemwppd,1970. 3)http://docsouth.unc.edu/washington/about.html 4)Jr. Spencer, Samuel R. Booker T. Washington, And the Negro's Place in American Life, Little, Brown and Company. Boston.
In a speech given in Atlanta, Georgia, in 1895, I declared: "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." This speech was often called the Atlanta Compromise because I accepted inequality and segregation for blacks in exchange for economic advancement. The speech was widely quoted in newspapers and helped make me a prominent national figure and black spokesman.
The readings Booker T. Washington, The “Atlanta Compromise” and “Of Mr. Booker T. Washington and Others” were both very interesting to me. The “Atlanta Compromise” was the actual speech Booker T. Washington gave to a majority white crowd asking for support for vocational/technical training and education. His focus on the speech was for the Black community to use their skills to earn a living and focus more on that than race relations. He was encouraging the black community to gain financial security and be open to getting the necessary tools to be their own providers.
Of the many truly inspirational speeches given by African Americans, Booker T. Washington’s The Atlanta Exposition Address is one of the few that intends to achieve compromise. In his speech, Washington is trying to persuade an audience composed significantly of white men to support African Americans by granting them jobs and presenting them with opportunities. His goal is to convince his white audience that African Americans will be supplied with jobs lower than those of white men, allowing white men always to be on top. Booker T. Washington’s The Atlanta Exposition Address adopts a tone of acquiescence and compromise to persuade a predominantly white audience to accept his terms.