Up from Slavery: An Authoritative Text, Contexts and Composition History, Criticism

Overview

Up from Slavery chronicles the life and times of Booker T. Washington. In this captivating autobiography, Washington recounts his personal voyage from the shackles of slavery to the pinnacle of prominence. The Tuskegee Institute, later to become today's Tuskegee University, plays a large role in the book, so much so that the latter half of Up from Slavery is as much about Tuskegee as it is about Washington. When criticized for limiting the educational horizons of blacks by emphasizing agricultural and vocational subjects at his school, Washington declares that these are the true bases of black economic development. Although condemned by many contemporary black intellectuals as an accommodationist, if not apologist, for the racism of early twentieth-century America, Washington largely redeems himself. In the autobiography he enunciates his pride in being black and makes clear that the forces that shaped his life came not from his unknown white father, but from his humble black mother. Up from Slavery is the story of one man's rise to the leadership of his people in the face of a hostile larger society.

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Author Information

Bio of Booker T. Washington

Booker Taliaferro Washington, 1856 - 1915 Booker T. Washington was born a slave in Hales Ford, Virginia, near Roanoke. After the U.S. government freed all slaves in 1865, his family moved to Malden, West Virginia. There, Washington worked in coal mines and salt furnaces. He went on to attend the Hampton, Virginia Normal and Agricultural Institute from 1872-1875 before joining the staff in 1879. In 1881 he was selected to head the Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute, a new teacher-training school for blacks, which he transformed into a thriving institution, later named Tuskegee University. His controversial conviction that blacks could best gain equality in the U.S. by improving their economic situation through education rather than by demanding equal rights was termed the Atlanta Compromise, because Washington accepted inequality and segregation for blacks in exchange for economic advancement. Washington advised two Presidents, Theodore Roosevelt and William Howard Taft, on racial problems and policies, as well as influencing the appointment of several blacks to federal offices. Washington became a shrewd political leader and advised not only Presidents, but also members of Congress and governors. He urged wealthy people to contribute to various black organizations. He also owned or financially supported many black newspapers. In 1900, Washington founded the National Negro Business League to help black business firms. Washington fought silently for equal rights, but was eventually usurped by those who ideas were more radical and demanded more action. Washington was replaced by W. E. B. Du Bois as the foremost black leader of the time, after having spent long years listening to Du Bois deride him for his placation of the white man and the plight of the negro. He died in 1915.

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Additional Info

Imprint

Modern Library

Filesize

429.34 KB

Number of Pages

256

eBook ISBN

9780679640165