...A TEACHER’S GUIDE TO THE SIGNET CLASSIC EDITION OF BOOKER T. WASHINGTON’S UP FROM SLAVERY By VIRGINIA L. SHEPHARD, Ph.D., Florida State University S E R I E S E D I T O R S : W. GEIGER ELLIS, ED.D., ARTHEA J. S. REED, PH.D., UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA, EMERITUS and UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA, RETIRED A Teacher’s Guide to the Signet Classic Edition of Booker T. Washington’s Up from Slavery 2 INTRODUCTION Booker T. Washington’s commanding presence and oratory deeply moved his contemporaries. His writings continue to influence readers today. Although Washington claimed his autobiography was “a simple, straightforward story, with no attempt at embellishment,” readers for nearly a century have found it richly rewarding. Today, Up From Slavery appeals to a wide audience from early adolescence through adulthood. More important, however, is the inspiration his story of hard work and positive goals gives to all readers. His life is an example providing hope to all. The complexity and contradictions of his life make his autobiography intellectually intriguing for advanced readers. To some he was known as the Sage of Tuskegee or the Black Moses. One of his prominent biographers, Louis R. Harlan, called him the “Wizard of the Tuskegee Machine.” Others acknowledged him to be a complicated person and public figure. Students of American social and political history have come to see that Washington lived a double life. Publicly he appeased the white establishment...
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...Up From Slavery Throughout my life I have heard that a person’s success or failure in life is based on how they were raised. When one looks at American slavery, it seems as if the life of a slave would never turn out to be great due to the horrors of being held captive by the system of slavery. But in spite of how terrible a person’s upbringing may have been, I believe that anyone can be successful in life by faith, hard work, and perseverance. Up From Slavery by Booker T. Washington is a great example of how anyone can succeed in life. When I think of the title of Mr. Washington’s autobiography, I think about a slave who decided to forget the past, and press onward to a higher place in life. Consider this quote by Booker T. Washington: “When persons ask me in these days how, in the midst of what sometimes seem hopelessly discouraging conditions, I can have such faith in the future of my race in this country, I remind them of the wilderness through which and out of which, a good Providence has already led us” (Booker T. Washington, 578). I find this quote by Booker T. Washington to be profound considering the circumstances he was in at the time. Mr. Washington had all odds stacked against him as a youth that could have hindered his progress and growth in life. He described the beginnings of his life as being miserable, with disfavored surroundings. He was born a slave; he didn’t know his father; his mother hardly had time to provide any kind of training for him and...
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...eBooker T. Washington Cause and effect essay Booker T. Washington was born in Franklin County Virginia in 1856. Born and raised by an African American mother whose name was Jane but, ignored by a white father whom he never met (Gates). Booker T. Washington was born directly into slavery, however, during the civil war; his family was freed from slavery but not from racism (WV Culture.org). Harlan states, at the age of nine, he carried on the role of an adult and worked the salt furnaces and coal mines in West Virginia. “Determined to educate himself, he traveled hundreds of miles under great hardship until he arrived penniless, exhausted, and filthy at the Institute of Hampton” (Wormser). WV Culture.org also states, after Booker T. Washington graduated in 1875 at the age of nineteen, he returned to Malden to teach school for both black children and adults. During his time of teaching, Harlan claims, that he became one of the most powerful speakers and leading black educators of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Mr. Washington was considered a leader in the black community because of his experience as a child with being born into slavery 2634531, secondly, he dedicated his self early to become educated, and final, he strategized a method that would serve both whites and blacks to come to a mediator for through his speeches without force but more so with persuasion. Mr. Booker T. Washington was an intelligent man who knew how to put his education to good use to gain improvement...
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...Gerald Washington ENG496 /19/2014 Anegla Mullennix Personal Connections Essay part two The two themes that I chose was “Up from Slavery” by Booker T. Washington and The Souls of Blacks Folks” by W. E. B. DU Bois. In my essay I will tell how these two pieces talk to me and how these two pieces have an effect on the things that was going on during this era. In this essay I will analyze these two pieces and show their relation to the historical and societal context of the era in which they were written. In the first piece “Up from Slavery” by Booker T. Washington was the account of his life. This autobiography takes us through the traces of Washington life to find out where he came from and where he was born to an African American cook and having a white father. How this autobiography of Booker T Washington have effect on me is I could remember when I was a kid how my mother would tell me about her mother my grandmother the work that she had to do when they lived in Mississippi. How she did not finish school because she had to take care of her brothers and sisters and also work on the land. This story showed me how strong Washington was just like my mother and her mother was just living in Mississippi was hard enough. I can relate because this shows me Gerald Washington who I am the many things ancestors did for me to get to where I am at today. This piece in relation to the historical and societal context of the era is because it shows the readers a look into Washington life...
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...November 2014 Du Bois’ and Washington: The Rivalry Both W.E.B Dubois and Booker T. Washington were great African American leaders and writers during the beginning of the 20th century. Booker T. Washington’s “Up from Slavery” provides a great depiction of his experience with slavery and he also expresses his views on education and ways to enhance the citizenship of blacks in society. W.E.B Dubois’ Souls of Black Folk exemplifies the contradictions of the South during that time and he also criticizes Booker T. Washington’s views on racial uplifting and education concept. Now the question stands as follows: Was W.E.B Dubois’ criticism towards Washington unfair or accurate? Well, Dubois’ criticisms towards Washington was both accurate and unfair, but mostly accurate. Up From Slavery depicts Booker T. Washington as both an accommodationist and a realist whom tries to strategize ways for blacks to make it out the struggle even though race relations were at its lowest point at the time. The autobiography also describes in detail his gradual and steady rise from a slave child during the Civil War, to the trials and tribulations he had to conquer to attain an education at the new Hampton University, to his work establishing vocational schools such as the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama, and to helping black people and other disadvantaged minorities learn useful, marketable skills and work to pull themselves, as a race, up out of the gutter. Washington was certainly a major figure...
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...Booker T. Washington Booker T. Washington was born on April 5th, 1856 in Hale's ford, Virginia. He was a African educator Author and Dominant leader. He was born into slavery. One day all the slaves were called to the house of their owner, James Burroughs. James read to them that they are now free. Booker's step-father, who was already in West Virginia, sent a wagon to bring the family to their new home. The trip took about a week and a half. Right after the move the family adopted a young orphan. All together there were four children living in the house, Booker, James, John, and Amanda.Book and his new brother made their way to Hampton Institute, and established to educate freedom. There is mother died that summer. Booker worked his way through studies as an assistant janitor and then later attended Wayland Seminary to complete preparation as an instructor. He sent his brother John and adopted brother James to school also. In 1888 the Tuskegee Negro Normal Institute was opened. The school only received $2,000 a year, that was only enough to pay the staff. Booker borrowed money from treasurer of Hampton Agricultural Institute to buy and abandoned plantation and built his own school on the out skirts of Tuskegee. The land eventually totaled 2,000 acres. From 1890 to 1915, Booker was a dominant figure in the African-American community. He was generally viewed as a credible proponent of education for freedom in the post-reconstruction, Jim Crow South. His "Atlanta Exposition"...
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...Booker T. Washington was born into slavery in Virginia, and after the Civil War worked in a coal mine and peregrination to school at night. Education was consequential to him, but he withal apperceive that blacks in the South had very little power: little maxima, few rights, and despite the 15th Amendment, were unable to vote. His suggestion, which he made most eminently in Atlanta and became known as the Atlanta Compromise, was that blacks get jobs in blue collar craft work and farming and edifying, which were relatively lower paying jobs. He pushed for the engenderment of agricultural and technical schools, such as Tuskegee Institute in Alabama, which he founded. But by working strenuously and earning veneration, and accepting their inferior licit status for the time being, blacks would ultimately gain the reverence of whites, who would grant them more rights and sanction them to move up the economic ladder. This made Washington very popular with whites at that time, and he was even invited to dine at the White House with Teddy Roosevelt. However, in the next decades, in many ways, Washington was visually perceived as an obstruction to the civil rights kinetics, with his accentuation on slow economic gain, not pushing for rights and accommodation to the whites. While Washington was very authentic and understood the situation for blacks in the South at that time, later people visually perceived him as too inclined to compromise and keep his people down. Educator Booker T. Washington...
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...[pic] Booker T. Washington was one of the most influential African Americans in history. Raised the son of a slave mother, Washington was self- motivated and committed to his own education from a young age. The tumultuous time in America’s history during which he lived afforded him new freedoms that came from Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation of 1863 and the eventual success of the North in the Civil War.[1] He took the first opportunity to attend a formal school, Hampton Institute, which led to professorship and the founding of one of the most prestigious African American educational institutions of the nineteenth century, Tuskegee Institute in Alabama.[2] When the Civil War ended in 1865, many newly freed black Americans sought education at all levels. But there were few trade schools or public schools that they were allowed to enroll in.[3] Among the first black colleges to meet the need was Tuskegee University, established in 1881.[4] Booker T. Washington was born a slave on a plantation five years before the Civil War began, near Hales Ford, Virginia, on James Burroughs’s plantation in 1856. The slaves on the Burroughs’ farm learned that they were free in spring of 1865. Booker had survived chattel slavery and the Civil War.[5] He moved with his mother and siblings to Charleston, West Virginia to join his step-father, a Union Army veteran.[6] Washington was called only Booker during his early youth and added the name Washington when he entered...
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...History Essay Contrasting the Proposals of Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. DuBois United States History 1828 - 1914 Instructor Stewart King Clackamas Community College February 7, 2012 Accommodation vs. Integration In March of 1895, Booker T. Washington delivered his now famous Atlanta Compromise Speech. In brief, Washington proposed that blacks accept segregation and focus on getting jobs rather than demanding equality. He also proposed that blacks concentrate on learning trades and how to work with their hands – not necessarily in becoming book smart. Perhaps even more central to his message, Washington argued that if blacks focused on equality they would never make it anywhere in society. In short, Washington’s policy was one of accommodation and not rocking the boat. (Washington) Washington was very clear about what he felt black intentions should be, stating that blacks should only be seeking opportunity – not for the right to integrate with white society. He wanted white society to see the good in all black people, and not as a threat to their way of life. Eight years later, W.E.B. offered a critique of Washington’s proposal. While DuBois respected Washington as a black leader, he felt that his policy of accommodation was holding back the black race. Contrary to Washington, DuBois felt that "the right to vote," "civic equality," and "the education of youth according to ability" were essential for African American progress. (DuBois) ...
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...Jeffrey Cordell ENG 3020 18 April 2014 Introduction Booker T. Washington’s early life was one of great struggle and destitution. Born a slave, Washington was raised by his mother, in a log cabin. Washington’s life was filled with hard work, which eventually gave him great success in his life. Utilizing his skills taught to him at his past jobs, he was given the opportunity to attend school when not present at his jobs as a salt packer, coal miner and house servant. After attending the American Missionary Association and Wayland Seminary, he was hired as the first principal of what later became the Tuskegee Institute (Norton, 2012). Washington was immensely involved in the success of the Tuskegee Institute, even aiding in the construction of the building (Norton 2012). Washington used his authoritative position to aid in pushing his Christian virtues and simple, disciplined living among the student body. Under Washington’s command the institute quickly thrived (Norton, 2012). Booker T. Washington’s popularity increased following his speech known as the “Atlanta Compromise”. Numerous supporters of Washington, included whites and blacks across the nation (Norton, 2012). While one would not think an African American boy would grow up to become a man of great influence, that is precisely what happened in the story of Booker T. Washington’s life. In “Up from Slavery”, Booker T. Washington chronicles his progression from a childhood slave to an ambitious free man in order...
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...chapters of Booker T. Washington’s Up From Slavery, I was very moved by his depiction of his life in Virginia. His writing stirred up emotions within me. I was surprised at the sympathy he and other slaves had for their masters. It was also endearing when he told the story of a time when a slave was getting lashed and the young white children begged for his mercy. We are all human beings and belong to the same race, and even then the human spirit was alive among them. The detail of his writing I found to be very engaging. I can picture the cabin he so eloquently described as his families living quarters on the plantation. I found it surprising that they did not hold grudges or have ill feelings toward the white people. Because as I was reading I felt ashamed of how people could actually think they own a person. It is a concept that it is hard for me to accept as part of American history. Ambition and bravery are two words that come to mind while reading about Booker T. Washington. His drive to get an education is so moving. It is funny to me that people are people and some things do not change. For instance, when he first began school all the children wore hats or caps. He felt out of place, so his mother made him a hat out of two pieces of cloth. The children made fun of his hat, as like today with bullying in our schools. Children want to be accepted and fit in whether it be the 1800’s or the 21st century. One of my favorite quotes from the book is,...
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...following their so called “release” from slavery. In the north an African-American could make a living, but the south was not ready to change their ways yet. Jim Crow laws made it impossible for African-American’s to feel accepted. In the south after the U.S. Army left, whites reasserted control and two leaders stepped forward, each with their own ideas on how to attain equality. Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. DuBois, both were highly educated men. Booker T. Washington was perhaps more famous, having had dinner with President Theodore Roosevelt. Washington had dealt with suppression his entire life, having been born a slave in Virginia. With an insatiable thirst for more from life, he attended a night school where he learned. Using what he learned he went on to become administrator at a trade school. The Tuskegee Institute was a school in Alabama with an African-American student body and taught trades useful in the work force to young African-American’s. The Tuskegee Institute rang throughout with Washington’s idea on how to push for civil rights, being that working alongside segregation blacks could train themselves and learn equal rights in time with social stature. However, not all black leaders agreed with him. W.E.B. DuBois was a powerful leader with powerful ideas. He strongly encouraged all blacks to demand immediate equal rights and the right to vote. W.E.B. DuBois believed the right to vote should not half to be earned. Having grown up in Massachusettes, DuBois never...
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...Criticism of Ladder For Booker T. Washington, by Martin Puryear This is an essay to criticize a piece by master woodworker Martin Puryear titled Ladder For Booker T. Washington, created in 1996 from ash and maple wood, displayed at The Modern in the City of Fort Worth, Texas. Made from smooth, light wood the ladder appears to extend great lengths, but when viewed from a different angle the ladder is much shorter. The purpose of a ladder is to reach greater heights with ease and safety, but the ladder appears bent and crooked in different areas making for a difficult climb. The lighting in the room also stood out, making the ladder going upwards towards a large fluorescent fixture. The most obvious element of design Martin Puryear uses is shape to create a one-point perspective illusion, making the ladder appear infinite. Another interesting choice of design was the use of smooth, rounded texture of the wood emphasizing a difficult climb. Lastly the artwork uses the value from actual light to make the ladder recede into a bright light. The main principles of design I see are the use of movement and balance. First he uses curving lines and repetition to show movement. The way Puryear repeats the curves of the steps make your eyes move up. Secondly he uses asymmetrical balance making one side of the ladder different than the other, which is different from a normal symmetrical ladder. Booker T. Washington was an African-American teacher, author, advisor to presidents, and...
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...Contributions to Black Nationalism in the United States Critically discuss the contributions of both Booker T. Washington and W.E.B DuBois to the idea of Black nationalism in the United States. What were the major obstacles they faced in their articulation of the black Nationalist ideology? Booker T. Washington “was an American political leader, educator and author” who proved to be one of the most dominate figures in African American history in the United States (Booker, par. 1). William Edward Burghardt Du Bois “was a noted scholar, editor, and African American activist…[who] sought to eliminate discrimination and racism” (.. During the late 19th and early 20th century Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. DuBois were two great men who significantly influenced the idea of Black Nationalism in the United States. Though they both wanted to see an America where the Negro was treated with proper respect and equality, their views on how to obtain these noble goals contrasted one another. The ideology of DuBois and Washington were so completely different that people became subjected to following the doctrine of one or the other. With the knowledge that only one could be the “spokesman” for the race the two began a bitter battle to control the Black Nationalism ideology. Amid the competition against one another, both men still had to face other obstacles such as racism in order to further the goals of blacks of the period. Even though the two men had differing opinions on the...
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...contrast the ideas and positions of Booker T. Washington, Ida B. Wells-Barnett and W.E.B. DuBois. Critically evaluate the strength and weaknesses of each.” Black History 140B Professor Katungi 3-12-03 Booker Taliaferro Washington was born a slave on a plantation in Franklin Country, Virginia in 1856. One of our nations most powerful black educators; he illustrated his belief in the dignity of work. He was very skilled in politics and influential for both black and white communities. “There was no period of my life that was devoted to play.” He expressed his concept of hard work was the cornerstone of his social philosophy. Booker T. became a principle and guiding force behind Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institution in Hampton, Alabama during 1881. He felt that industrial education was a way out from the horrible sharecropping and debt. His plan also wanted to achieve self-employment, land ownership and small businesses. “Yet one has the hand in all things essential to mutual progress”, being a personal quote from Booker T. at the Atlanta Compromise address in 1895. His major role was to influence the area of race relations and black leadership. He attacked racism and secretly founder of many anti-segregationist activities. Booker T. wanted to help black Americans rise up from the economic slavery, that had held them down long after they were legally free citizens. As being a dominant figure in black public affairs from 1895 until his death, he spoke heavily...
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