*Missing Lead*
Since most slave owners did not want a powerful slave, it was illegal for slaves during the mid-1800s to get an education. The passage “Up From Slavery” and the play “I would Rather Die” both develop the theme of the importance of education and explain how former slaves Booker T. Washington and Frederick Douglas felt about it. The passage “Up From Slavery” by Lauren Tarshis is about Booker T. Washington and the struggles that he faced because he was a slave. Booker had always wanted an education. He was so determined that he worked as hard as he could to go to the Hampton Institute, which costed seventy dollars per year and allowed former slaves like Booker to attend. Booker felt that he needed to go