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 for the African American community. He believed that hard work would eventually lead to more rights and opportunities towards equality for them; which it did. He was very successful because he gave both sides (Whites and Blacks) words that they both could relate to which was himself being enslaved and experienced with his people but, as well as being educated and having the proper dialect to speak intellectually with and to the Whites. Since he was educated when Mr. Washington spoke at his speeches, they were not only able to understand him, they were intrigued and persuaded as well.

Mr. Washington was born in the mid 1800’s when the civil war was taken place. He was born and raised into slavery. The civil war began in 1861 when he was five years old (Freeman). He and his family remained slaves until the civil war ended in 1865; he was nine years old when he was freed from slavery, but not from segregation. Mr. Washington was considered a leader in the black community because of his experience as a child with being born into slavery. Biography.com states, “At an early age, Booker went to work carrying sacks of grain to the plantation’s mill. Toting 100-pound sacks was hard work for a small boy, and he was beaten on occasion for not performing his duties satisfactorily”.
Booker T. Washington and his family lived in a small log cabin approximately 12x16 feet. His mother Jane was the cook for their master; so she did all the cooking in the small cabin with no windows. There, in the cabin there was only a dirt floor which they slept on top of rags. Because, Mr. Washington was very young, he didn’t experience personally the severe and physical beatings; had he been older and a slave. However, he carried the burden of the life of a slave and still worked harsh labor for just a small boy. And although he didn’t experience harsh beatings himself personally, he witnessed them. There were times where Washington and his family wouldn’t eat for days; so his mother had no choice but to take it from their master and cook it at night so that they could survive. Every night, his mother would pray for freedom. Washington’s life was dealt to him very harsh from near birth, and everything that he went through in his early life span was the reason why he became the strong and powerful leader that he became later on as he progressed into a man. He was experienced and could relate to not only former slaves but also, those who had loved ones that were once enslaved before as well.

Booker T. Washington knew as a young boy that wanted to have an education. Biography says, he would look inside the school churches where the white children would be seen sitting at their desk, reading their books; longing to do as they were. He wanted to learn how to read and write as they were, however, in those days before the civil war had taken place, it was considered illegal to teach people of color how to read and write (biography). After the civil war ended in 1865, he and his family were freed of slavery. After being freed, they were in search of a new life as all the former slaves were (Harlan). Harlan also states, they traveled long distances barefooted, in search of shelter. Being poor, Washington and his stepfather started working the salt mine to make ends meet. Washington’s mother Jane knew how much he craved to become educated so she gave him a book. From that book he learned the alphabet, and how to read and write basic words. Because he was still working, he would wake up every day early so he could have more time to read before going to work. When he turned 10 years old; he started working for a lay by the name of Viola Ruffner and she knew his passion for education and seen a sense of intelligence in him so she allowed him to attend school every day for one hour in the winter (Biography). Gates claims, in 1872, Booker T. Washington walked 500 miles to Hampton Normal Agricultural Institute in Virginia. Along the way he had to find jobs here and there to help maintain him. Once he arrived at the Institution, he convinced the administrators there to allow him to attend their school and they agreed. While attending there, he took a job as a janitor to pay his tuition. Soon The General and school founder Mr. Samuel Armstrong discovered how hard working Washington was and offered him a scholarship. He then made a way for his life through education. He pushed and strived through the storm because he knew once he had education, he could then become the great speaker for his people and he could defend his self through education. He knew that knowledge could set injustice free one day. 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.

Work cited
Gates JR., Henry L., and Nellie Y. Mckay, eds. The Norton Anthology of African American Literature. 2nd ed. NY: W.W. Norton & Company, 2004. 570-602. Print.
"Booker T. Washington." http://www.wvculture.org. West Virginia Archives and History, 2012. Web. 3 Nov. 2012. <http://www.wvculture.org/history/booker.html>.

Harlan, Louis R. "Booker T. Washington, 1856-1915." http://docsouth.unc.edu. Ed. Charles R. Wilson and William Ferris. N.p., 3 Nov. 2012. Web. 3 Nov. 2012. <http://docsouth.unc.edu/fpn/washington/bio.html>.

Wormser, Richard. "Jim Crow Stories (Booker T. Washington)." www.pbs.org. PBS, 2002. Web. 3 Nov. 2012. <http://www.pbs.org/wnet/jimcrow/stories_people_booker.html>.
"Time Line of The Civil War, 1861." www.memory.loc.gov. Ed. Joanne Freeman. Encyclopedia of American History by Richard B. M, n.d. Web. 9 Nov. 2012. <http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/cwphtml/tl1861.html>.
" Booker T. Washington." 2012. Biography.com 09 Nov 2012, 01:28http://www.biography.com/people/booker-t-washington-9524663
Washington, Booker T. "An Autobiography. The Story of My Life and Work: Electronic Edition. Booker T. Washington, 1856-1915." www.docsouth.unc.edu. Ed. Chris Hill and Natalia Smith. National Endowment for the Humanities, 2004. Web. 9 Nov. 2012. http://docsouth.unc.edu/neh/washstory/washin.html