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Booker T. Washington is one of the most initial African American leaders in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Washington is a representative of the generation before of African American leaders that were born into slavery, he spoke on behalf of blacks that lived in the South, and lost their voting rights due to brutal voting regulations made by south legislatures. Washington worked hard to attain various groups: influential whites, blacks, educational and religious communities nationwide. The essence of his work is what impacts it had on black community, and the struggles amidst the African-American elite. Booker T. Washington is thought by some to be a man that is not sure who his racial allegiances are with, because he was …show more content…
a man that white approval meant everything. However, Washington accomplished so much more than what he set himself out to accomplish, and most of which was sincerely beneficial to the African-American community.
Booker T. Washington achieves so much during his life, and is impacted by his early childhood, which led on to his many foundations, and went further by making a difference in his speeches.
Washington was born April 5, 1865, as well as born into slavery at a family plantation in Virginia called James Burrough’s. As of today, there is still not much information about his father beyond the fact that he was a white man. Washington was very young when he went to work at a plantation mill, where he carried grains and if not done exactly right he was beaten. After the Civil War, “he went to work at the salt furnace with his stepfather instead of attending school” (Bio). He was exposed to education by looking inside the school house while working at the plantation, and saw children his age sitting at desk learning. He wanted to be just
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like those children, but it was illegal because he was a slave. Washington’s mother noticed his enthusiasm in education, so she bought him a book that influenced him to teach himself to read and write. He found time early in the morning to educate himself because during the day he was working. When he was eleven years old, Washington became a houseboy for the wife of coal mine owner Lewis Ruffner. Mrs. Ruffner saw more potential in Washington such as; “his maturity, intelligence, and integrity” (Bio). She accepted his desire for seeking an education and allowed him to attend school for an hour a day during the winter months. At the age of 17, Washington was accepted into Hampton Institute in Virginia. He paid his way through college working as a janitor. While attending school, “he was drilled in the goals of cleanliness, thrift, and hard work that became central to his life and educational philosophy” (Washington 447). After graduating from Hampton, he became a teacher at his old grade school in Virginia while attending Wayland Seminary. Washington’s early childhood opportunities influenced him to continue education for African-Americans. Booker T. Washington wanted African-Americans to have the freedom for educational experience like he got to have. In 1881, Washington became the founding father of Tuskegee University in Alabama. As the father of the university, he “designed, developed, and guided it into becoming the powerhouse for African-American education and political influence in the United States” (Costly). Hampton Institute was used as a model to intensify agriculture and industrial training. Washington wanted to express to the African-Americans that they must focus on their education, learn useful commerce, and run their own business. He believed that hard work would prove to the whites that blacks were worthy to the American economy. He accomplished so much with the Tuskegee University that “Washington’s philosophy and the “Tuskegee machine” won him widespread support among northern white philanthropists as well as acclaim among blacks” (History). He kept on going, and initiated several more forms of work. He established the National Negro Business League “to further the economic development of the African American businesses to achieve social equality in the American society” (National Negro Business League). Although this league expanded several African-American business networks and cultivated an energetic business community for blacks, and had a very explicit and circuitous relation with white businesses and corporations. At annual white conventions, sometimes the National Negro Business League would get recognized. Washington himself kept a connection with Andrew Carnegie and Julius Rosenwald, members of the white corporate elite. This league was established as public, non-private foundation to distribute as the “research and development arm of organization” (National Negro Business League). As well as establishing a collegiate division, the National Student Business League. This organization still exists today and continues to advertise economic enterprise and financial literacy for blacks. The National Negro Health Week was brought about due to the poor health status of the African-American population in the United States. This organization wanted to improve the health status of the African-American population by education, providing better healthcare, and increasing black professionals in public health. Without a doubt, Booker T. Washington has been influenced by so much, but his childhood and foundations do not stop him. Booker T. Washington continues to speak for the African American by delivering speeches across the United States. Washington’s Atlanta Address, was delivered in Atlanta, Georgia, and made citizens of the black and white race work together toward social peace, and was said to be revolutionary movement. He struck the basic idea of racial accommodations: “Cast down your bucket where you are” (Washington 450). He wanted to move the African-American population. He announced in his speech to all the whites that are attentive, “we can be as separate as the fingers, yet one as the hand in all things essential to mutual progress” (Washington 451). He is explaining to the citizens of both races that they can separate, but together they are equal. After his speech, some blacks were ecstatic by his triumph, but others were less enthused. They felt as if he had been “too willing to sacrifice black dignity for the short-term benefits of economic opportunity and interracial harmony” (Schroeder). Washington got invited to make a speech at the Chicago Peace Jubilee, celebrating the end of the Spanish-American War. His audience was the army and navy, and his words were more forceful than any other occasion. He took the advantage of the patriotic mood and discussed the times when black soldiers fought courageously for their nation. He went on to express the thoughts of “racial prejudice, a cancer gnawing at the heart of the Republic, that shall one day prove as dangerous as an attack from an army without or within" (Schroeder). Later into Washington’s career he was criticized by the leaders of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, is a civil rights organization founded in 1909 to fight prejudice, lynching, and Jim Crow segregation, and to work for the betterment of "people of color" (Chegg). The growing of black and white resistance to Washington’s obedience in disfranchisement and Jim Crow led to the foundation of the Niagara Movement and the NAACP. He also secretly labored against Jim Crow Laws and racial violence. Washington and W.E.B. Du Bois have always been supporters and friends of one another, until they grew apart geographically and politically. After their falling out, the NAACP and Du Bois started referring to the Atlanta Address speech to the “Atlanta Compromise” indicating their disapproval for the interest in whites. Du Bois labeled Washington as the “The Great Accomodator.” He felt the African-Americans needed to concentrate on becoming economically self-reliant through professional training. He also believed that patience, tolerance, and an open-mind pertaining to the whites is the only way to defeat racism in the long run. All differences aside, Washington and Du Bois have accomplished so much for the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Booker T.
Washington is known as one of the greatest African-American men. He achieved so much from his early childhood, onto becoming a founding father and discovering forms for the blacks, and his great speeches on racial segregation. Washington was born into slavery not by choice, and became so interested in education. People around him noticed his enthusiasm for learning, so they helped him by allowing him to teach himself and attend school. Washington attended Hampton Institute at age seventeen, and went on to further his education. He was invited to be the principle at Tuskegee University, and later became the founding father. He designed and developed the university for African-Americans to allow them to have educational experience. Booker T. Washington expressed to the blacks that education is important, and they needed to focus on their learning. As well as founding the university, he founded several different organizations for the African-Americans. Washington spoke out across the United states about racial segregation, but one of his most known speech is the Atlanta Exposition Address. People of black and white races were flabbergasted by the inspiration Washington brought with this speech. Booker T. Washington and W.E. B. Du Bois were great friends until politics got in their way. They have their disagreements against black and white
interest.
Booker T. Washington was considered one of the shrewdest African American leaders of all time. As one commentator stated, Washington was modest but "too dignified to be humble". Nevertheless, Washington had a great influence on various African American writings and his influence can still be seen today.
Booker T. Washington was an African American leader who established an African-American college in 1181. Then in 1895 delivered the Atlanta Compromise Speech to an audience of mainly Southerners, but some Northerners were present. In his speech he made a few points. He said, “No race can prosper till it learns that there is as much dignity in tilling a field as in writing a poem.” Washington believed that the African American race needed to learn first that manual labor was just as important as the work of intellects. He thought that until they learned this they were not worthy of becoming intellects themselves. The color line is thus important in teaching them this lesson. He also said, “It is important and right that all privileges of the law be ours, but it is vastly more important that we be prepared for the exercise of these privileges.” His opinion was that one day blacks would deserve to have equal rights with the whites, but right now in 1895 the blacks needed to be...
“It should come as no surprise that Washington’s historical conflict culminated as a struggle between him and DuBois” (Gibson III 66). To say the least, both men were very active in the upbringing of African-Americans, but their differences in displaying out the solution was what brought them apart. Washington wanted the education system to enforce industrial teachings that started at lower economic power, while DuBois had more abstract ideas of equality and voting for African-Americans. Washington was conservative in the matter of African-American inclusion into society, hoping that given enough time and progress, people would learn to accept them, rather than fight for social power like what DuBois stood for. Despite Washington’s program that appealed to White-Americans, he was involved in politics and spoke about the disfranchisement of African-Americans.
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. Booker T. Washington was born into slavery on a plantation in Franklin County, Virginia. Like many slaves at that time, historians are not sure of the exact place or date of his birth (Washington, Up From Slavery 7). Washington had absolutely no schooling while he was a slave; he received all his education after he was set free.... ...
...to be equally educated. His speeches not only attracted the black people but also, northern and southern white people. Booker worked hard for all that he achieved during his life time. People all over were followers of Booker T. Washington. One example of how much these followers appreciated Washington is through raising money for a trip to Europe. Not just anyone went to Europe in those days. The trip showed how much the people appreciated Booker’s efforts for civil rights and education of blacks. They sent
Booker T. Washington was born on the fifth of April in 1856, in Hale’s Ford, Virginia. Washington’s generation was the last to be born into slavery. He was an African-American educator, author, orator, and advisor to presidents of the United States. This gentlemen attended Hampton University and Virginia Union University. During that time Washington became famous nationally with a speech he gave in 1895 in Atlanta. His speech consisted of how African- Americans would be able to make progress in the South. Washington believed that progress could be made through entrepreneurship and education, he also believed that Jim Crow segregation and that black’s not being able to vote should not be challenge at that point and time. Overall Booker T. Washington supported segregation during this point in time because, he knew that soon enough blacks would be treated better.
As word of Carver's work at Tuskegee spread across the world, he received many invitations to work or teach at better-equipped, higher-paying institutions but decided to remain at Tuskegee, where he could be of greatest service to his fellow African Americans in the South. Carver epitomized Booker T. Washington's philosophy of black solidarity and self-reliance. Born a slave, Carver worked hard among his own people, lived modestly, and avoided confronting racial issues. For these reasons Carver, like Booker T. Washington, became an icon for white Americans.
In 1903 black leader and intellectual W.E.B. Du Bois wrote an essay in his collection The Souls of Black Folk with the title “Of Mr. Booker T. Washington and Others.” Both Washington and Du Bois were leaders of the black community in the 19th and 20th century, even though they both wanted to see the same outcome for black Americans, they disagreed on strategies to help achieve black social and economic progress. History shows that W.E.B Du Bois was correct in racial equality would only be achieved through politics and higher education of the African American youth.
Booker T. Washington was born on April 5, 1856. Like many blacks around this time, he was born into slavery. He was born on a small farm in the Virginia back country. His master was James Burroughs. Mr. Burroughs had a wife name Elizabeth and 13 children. Booker's mother's name was Jane and she had two other children besides Booker. He spent his first nine years of his life in the plantation kitchen. There his mother prepared the master's family and the slaves food. He mainly wore hand me downs from his brother John, and got his first pair of shoes at eight.
This book was about Booker T Washington who was a slave on a plantation in Virginia until he was nine years old. His autobiography offers readers a look into his life as a young child. Simple pleasures, such as eating with a fork, sleeping in a bed, and wearing comfortable clothing, were unavailable to Washington and his family. His brief glimpses into a schoolhouse were all it took to make him long for a chance to study and learn. Readers will enjoy the straightforward and strong voice Washington uses to tell his story. The book document his childhood as a slave and his efforts to get an education, and he directly credits his education with his later success as a man of action in his community and the nation. Washington details his transition from student to teacher, and outlines his own development as an educator and founder of the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama. He tells the story of Tuskegee's growth, from classes held in a shantytown to a campus with many new buildings. In the final chapters of, it Washington describes his career as a public speaker and civil rights activist. Washington includes the address he gave at the Atlanta Cotton States and International Exposition in 1895, which made him a national figure. He concludes his autobiography with an account of several recognitions he has received for his work, including an honorary degree from Harvard, and two significant visits to Tuskegee, one by President McKinley and another by General Samuel C. Armstrong. During his lifetime, Booker T. Washington was a national leader for the betterment of African Americans in the post-Reconstruction South. He advocated for economic and industrial improvement of Blacks while accommodating Whites on voting rights and social equality.
Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. Du Bois were very important African American leaders in the United States during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. They both felt strongly that African Americans should not be treated unequally in terms of education and civil rights. They had strong beliefs that education was important for the African American community and stressed that educating African Americans would lead them into obtaining government positions, possibly resulting in social change. Although Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. Du Bois had similar goals to achieve racial equality in the United States, they had strongly opposing approaches in improving the lives of the black population. Washington was a conservative activist who felt that the subordination to white leaders was crucial for African Americans in becoming successful and gaining political power. On the other hand, Du Bois took a radical approach and voiced his opinion through public literature and protest, making it clear that racial discrimination and segregation were intolerable. The opposing ideas of these African American leaders are illustrated in Du Bois’ short story, “Of the Coming of John”, where Du Bois implies his opposition to Washington’s ideas. He shows that the subordination of educated black individuals does not result in gaining respect or equality from the white community. In fact, he suggests that subordination would lead the black community to be further oppressed by whites. However contrasting their views might have been, Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. Du Bois were significant influential black leaders of their time, who changed the role of the black community in America.
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.
E. B. Du Bois indicated that the dominant influence that Booker T. Washington had on Blacks came at a time when there was less attention on the memories of war and more focus towards the idea of commercialism. Du Bois stated that Washington’s plan of industrial education was not original, that he simply added great enthusiasm as a way to gain an interest of the people. He recognized Washington’s achievements in the South as being the founder of Tuskegee Institute and the most notable achievement in favor of African Americans, his “Atlanta Compromise” speech. As a result, radicals accepted this as an act of surrender to Whites, and conservatives received this as a mutual understanding. Washington then gained attention in the North by grasping the concept that now dominated that area, which was maximizing profits and material
Booker T. Washington was a young black male born into the shackles of Southern slavery. With the Union victory in the Civil War and the Emancipation Proclamation of 1863, Washington’s family and blacks in the United States found hope in a new opportunity, freedom. Washington saw this freedom as an opportunity to pursue a practical education. Through perseverance and good fortunes, Washington was able to attain that education at Hampton National Institute. At Hampton, his experiences and beliefs in industrial education contributed to his successful foundation at the Tuskegee Institute. The institute went on to become the beacon of light for African American education in the South. Booker T. Washington was an influential voice in the African American community following the Civil War. In his autobiography, Up from Slavery, Washington outlines his personal accounts of his life, achievements, and struggles. In the autobiography, Washington fails to address the struggle of blacks during Reconstruction to escape the southern stigma of African Americans only being useful for labor. However, Washington argues that blacks should attain an industrial education that enables them to find employment through meeting the economic needs of the South, obtaining moral character and intelligence, and embracing practical labor. His arguments are supported through his personal accounts as a student at Hampton Institute and as an administrator at the Tuskegee Institute. Washington’s autobiography is a great source of insight into the black education debate following Reconstruction.