Up From Slavery Summary

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Washington, Booker T. Up From Slavery. Courier Corporation, 2012. Print.
Booker Washington wrote the autobiography “Up From Slavery,” which tracked his life from childhood, in slavery, to adulthood, as an educator. In the first segment of the book, he recounted being born on a plantation in Franklin County, Virginia, with a vague recollection of the actual birthplace, although he noted that it was near Hale’s Ford, a crossroads post office. He was not aware of the exact year, placing his birth in either 1858 or 1859, as he simply did not know the month or the date. Washington pointed to the horrid living conditions, hard labor in the corn plantation, and even the lack of educational opportunities for children in the farms. Further in the book, he recounted his family’s emancipation after the Civil War, his intense
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Dubois and Booker T. Washington had a shared objective, which was the advancement of the African Americans. Even so, they had differing opinions on the best way to do it, and the opinions still intrigue scholars in the present day. According to the article, Washington believed that vocational training would win the respect of the white people in the country, through a demonstration that the black community was committed to hard work. To the contrary, Dubois advocated confronting the segregationist. He advocated for an educational system that would focus on the arts and sciences, similar to that afforded to the white students. He believed that this would develop the black academic elite that would pave the way for the advancement of the African Americans. The article observed the relationship between these two black intellectual giants by showing their differing positions and the mutual respect they shared despite their differences. Washington died, in 1915, at the age of 59 due to a congestive heart failure. The article best covered his death and most importantly, the imbalance it caused in the debate regarding the best approach to civil

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