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Lee Shang Hwah 1005H78736 Up From Slavery Introduction For long, education is an important aspect of civilization, considering the fact that it ensures the continuity of knowledge and wisdom. Also, through education, the fortunes of a community could be steered into a better direction. However, this is a gradual process, which might sometimes even take a few generations to accomplish its goals. In this research paper, I will discuss an individual, by the name of Booker T. Washington, who has dedicated most of his life in leading the African-American race to pursue a better life in the post-Civil War era through education, based on his autobiography, Up From Slavery, with respect to accuracies comparing to actual history and also its relevance to the study of history. Synopsis Born in a slave plantation in Franklin County, Virginia around 1858-59, Booker T. Washington would spend his childhood years there. 1 He worked as a slave throughout this time until the Emancipation Proclamation occurred, thus he could not recall that he had any pastimes during this time.2 With the Civil War came to a close, his stepfather came to bring them to Malden in West Virginia.3 There he worked as a salt-miner and it was at this time he began to develop a desire to learn how to read, and his desire intensified when a young colored boy who had learned how to read came.4 Washington managed to attend school only after he agreed with his stepfather that he would spend part of his day working. 5 However, it was during his work time that he heard of the

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Booker T. Washington, Up From Slavery (Cirencester: The Echo Library, 2005), 9. Booker T. Washington, Up From Slavery, 10. 3 Booker T. Washington, Up From Slavery, 17-18. 4 Booker T. Washington, Up From Slavery, 18-19. 5 Booker T. Washington, Up From Slavery, 20.

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Hampton Institute in Virginia, an institution for colored people, and it would be a wish for him that he would one day attend that institution.6 Eventually he got his wish after he completed his task of sweeping the recitation room, given by the head teacher.7 For four years he was there, and when he graduated on 1875, he was offered to teach in the school in Malden.
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It would only be on the year of 1879 he returned to Hampton,

invited by General Armstrong. There he, as per Gen. Armstrongs suggestion, took charge of the night school, which would eventually become an important feature of the institution.9 In May 1881, Washington was made head of the Tuskegee Institution in Alabama. 10 After undergoing some trouble to start running the school, it began with the admission of 30 students, with the number increasing.11 His future wife, Olivia A. Davidson showed that the people needed to learn things beyond book-learning, something which Washington agreed.12 Throughout his years as the Head of Tuskegee Institution, Washington frequently encountered shortage of funds to run the school.13 Yet all these were resolved either by loans or kind donations from the rich.
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In terms of expanding the schools facilities, he made the students worked to

build them in spite of opposition. 15 Eventually Washingtons efforts in running Tuskegee will capture the attention of the society, and in September 18, 1895, he went on to speak on behalf of his people in the Atlanta Exposition, and in other places later on16 He would be remembered as an educator of his community, working endlessly on behalf of his people.17

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Booker T. Washington, Up From Slavery, 24. Booker T. Washington, Up From Slavery, 27. 8 Booker T. Washington, Up From Slavery, 36. 9 Booker T. Washington, Up From Slavery, 47-48. 10 Booker T. Washington, Up From Slavery, 48. 11 Booker T. Washington, Up From Slavery, 53-55. 12 Booker T. Washington, Up From Slavery, 55. 13 Booker T. Washington, Up From Slavery, 56, 62, 75. 14 Booker T. Washington, Up From Slavery, 56, 63, 78-79, 81-82. 15 Booker T. Washington, Up From Slavery, 64. 16 Booker T. Washington, Up From Slavery, 86, 103, 105. 17 Booker T. Washington, Up From Slavery, 130.

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Historical Accuracy Being written as an autobiography, narrating Washingtons life from his own point of view, based on events that have actually happened around him, historical accuracy in this case will not be an issue. However, I would like to do some comparisons from a few aspects. Firstly, we knew that Washington was raised as a slave during his childhood years.18 He described his life in the cabin before he was set free, where he mentioned the diet of slaves were usually corn bread and pork.19 This matched the description given by Frederick Douglass, another former slave in his autobiography, where he mentioned his monthly allowance of food given by his master.20 Also, Washington mentioned the difficulties faced by the Southern people as the Civil War draws to a close, with former masters reduced to poverty.21 This was backed by findings from John Samuel Ezell, who described the loss of cattle, destruction of farmland and loss of property in the South as part of the economic calamity due to the Civil War. 22 The second aspect in which I wish to discuss is the development of Tuskegee Institute in Alabama. Washington was invited to be the head of the school in May 1881.
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Upon arrival he

found that much has to be done in order to get the school running. In his book, he mentioned the $2,000 allocation for the school which was only enough to pay for the salaries of the teachers.24 He was also constantly plagued by the lack of money and resources needed to develop the institution.25 This corresponded with the article in Tuskegees official website where it was mentioned that the institution was founded without land, buildings and teachers other than the $2,000 allocated by the state legislation of Alabama.26

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Booker T. Washington, Up From Slavery, 9. Booker T. Washington, Up From Slavery, 12. 20 Frederick Douglass, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave, Chapter II. http://sunsite.berkeley.edu/Literature/Douglass/Autobiography/02.html (accessed Nov 14, 2010) 21 Booker T. Washington, Up From Slavery, 13. 22 John Samuel Ezell, The South since 1865. (New York: Macmillan, 1963), 27-28. 23 Booker T. Washington, Up From Slavery, 48. 24 Booker T. Washington, Up From Slavery, 49. 25 Booker T. Washington, Up From Slavery, 56, 64, 75. 26 Tuskegee University. History of Tuskegee University. http://www.tuskegee.edu/ (accessed Nov 14, 2010)

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In order to resolve these predicaments, not only Washington went to ask for donations, he also actually made his students to work to obtain the necessary building materials such as bricks in order to build a new building for their usage, as part of or all their payment for their expenses.27 In this case, this was an accurate description of the institutions development and also reflects Washingtons pursuit of self-reliance. 28 The third and the last aspect I will discuss in this section is regarding the Atlanta Exposition, which happened in the year of 1895. 29 On that day itself, Washington went on and spoke in front of a great number of audiences, which included the Governor of the State of Georgia, Governor Bullock.30 He spoke of the lives of his people and his speech spanned about five minutes. 31 Entitled Atlanta Compromise, it addressed the relations between the whites and the colored people and was regarded as one of the most important speeches throughout American history.32Also, they had a separate corner reserved for them to exhibit the fruits of their efforts.33 With these three aspects discussed, one could see that events mentioned in Up From Slavery were accurately describing the history during those times. Historical Relevance In terms of the books relevance to the study of history, I find it (after reading through the whole book) that the core part of the story was set on the post-Reconstruction era, which is to say, after its ending on the year of 1877 (with some historians putting the end of this era only in the mid 1890s).34 This time frame will mean that it shed some light on the progress of the AfricanAmericans as a whole throughout the postwar era, based on Washingtons point of view.

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Booker T. Washington, Up From Slavery, 64-66. Wikipedia, Tuskegee University http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tuskegee_Institute (accessed Nov 14, 2010) 29 Booker T. Washington, Up From Slavery, 86. 30 Booker T. Washington, Up From Slavery, 90. 31 Booker T. Washington, Up From Slavery, 90-93. 32 Derrick P. Alridge. Atlanta Compromise Speech. The New Georgia Encyclopedia, University of Georgia, 2004. http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/nge/Article.jsp?id=h-2554 (accessed Nov 14, 2010) 33 Booker T. Washington, Up From Slavery, 87. 34 Orville Vernon Burton, The Age of Lincoln, (2007), 312.

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However, this book did little to conduct a study on the racial violence that occurred during this time, as it was only mentioned in passing.35 The reason which I find this autobiography a relevant source of historical information on the lives and progress of the blacks in the postwar era is because this book shared a great deal of information on it. Examples include, but not limited to, the excitement within the colored people amidst their freedom, the gradual change of their lifestyle, the founding of Tuskegee Institute in Alabama on the year of 1881, and ultimately, the Atlanta Exposition which they had a separate exhibit dedicated for them.36 All these shed a good deal of information which is all backed up by evidence in the previous section. Yet, this book did little good in explaining the racial tensions and violence that was occurring during this period of time, notably the notorious Ku Klux Klan which resolved in the usage of extremely violent tactics to terrorize blacks.37 This group of people will eventually become the driving catalyst of Democrats ascendancy in the Southern states and ultimately doomed the Reconstruction.38 With the ascendancy of these Democrats, the Jim Crow laws which would eventually see the reversal of African-American gains since the end of the Civil War will be gradually put into place over the next two decades.39 A lack of description regarding such developments in the book thus proved its irrelevancy in studying the racial problems at that time, which was concurrent with Washingtons efforts in helping his people to gain a foothold within the American society. With a thorough explanation on Washingtons efforts and yet overlooking the racial problems his people faced at that time, these two thus summarize the relevancy and irrelevancy of the book with respect to history.
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Booker T. Washington, Up From Slavery, 37. Booker T. Washington, Up From Slavery, 38-39, 48, 53, 87. 37 Anti-Defamation League, Ku Klux Klan Extremism in America. http://www.adl.org/learn/ext_us/kkk/ (accessed Nov 15, 2010) 38 W.E.B Du Bois, Black Reconstruction in America: 1860-1880 (New York: Oxford University Press, 1935; reprint, The Free Press, 1998), 680-681 39 Spartacus Educational, Jim Crow Laws, http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USAjimcrow.htm (accessed Nov 15, 2010)

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Conclusion From this piece of assignment, I have discovered many things that previously have eluded my notice. Among them were the conditions of the lives of African-Americans in the post-Civil War era, as prior to this I always had the impression which they did not gain anything out of it other than their freedom. Based on Booker T. Washingtons description, I was surprised to know that African-Americans were also once appointed to governmental positions during the Reconstruction era.40 Also, it excites me when I was enlightened by the fact there was institute built solely in dedication for the African-American people immediately after the Civil War, namely Hampton Institute and Tuskegee Institute. The description of both institutions, especially the latter, greatly opened my eyes about their education system and I felt ashamed that I had a wrong idea about the era before this. The Greek historian Herodotus once said this, Very few things happen at the right time, and the rest do not happen at all. Booker T. Washington was a man who was constantly under circumstances where he had almost nothing good happening at the right time to his advantage. Yet with his determination, he managed to come up with a solution and corrected every disadvantage that was hurled at him and the culmination of this effort would be the present-day Tuskegee University. From his efforts, I gained a further understanding on this quote and I believe that it will benefit me in the long run, whether in the quest of historical studies, or in pursuit of my dreams.

Bibliography Washington, Booker T. Up From Slavery. Cirencester: The Echo Library, 2005. Douglass, Frederick. Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave.
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Booker T. Washington, Up From Slavery, 40.

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http://sunsite.berkeley.edu/Literature/Douglass/Autobiography/02.html (Accessed Nov 14, 2010) Ezell, John Samuel. The South Since 1865. New York: Macmillan, 1963. Tuskegee University. History of Tuskegee University. http://www.tuskegee.edu (Accessed Nov 14, 2010) Wikipedia, Tuskegee University. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tuskegee_Institute (Accessed Nov 14, 2010) Albridge, Derrick P. Atlanta Compromise Speech. The New Georgia Encyclopedia, University of Georgia, 2004 http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/nge/Article.jsp?id=h-2554 (Accessed Nov 14, 2010) Burton, Orville Vernon. The Age of Lincoln, 2007. Anti-Defamation League, Ku Klux Klan Extremism in America. http://www.adl.org/learn/ext_us/kkk (Accessed Nov 15, 2010) Du Bois, W.E.B. Black Reconstruction in America: 1860-1880. New York, Oxford University Press, 1935; reprint, The Free Press, 1998. Spartacus Educational, Jim Crow Laws. http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USAjimcrow.htm (Accessed Nov 15, 2010)