Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. DuBois
Booker T. Washington was a civil rights leader at the end of the 19th century and early 20th century. He was the first principal of the Tuskegee Institute in 1881 in Tuskegee, Alabama. The school focused its curriculum in teacher education and technical trades common in the South. In 1895 he was invited to speak at the Cotton States and International Exposition in Atlanta in 1895.
To those of my race who depend on bettering their condition in a foreign land or who underestimate the importance of cultivating friendly relations with the Southern white man...I would say: “Cast down your bucket where you are”— cast it down in making friends...in every manly way of the people of all races by whom we are surrounded. Cast it down in agriculture, mechanics, in commerce, in domestic service, and in the professions… Our greatest danger is that in the great leap from slavery to freedom we may overlook the fact that the masses of us are to live by the productions of our hands...No race can prosper till it learns that there is as much dignity in tilling a field as in writing a poem...Nor should we permit our grievances to overshadow our opportunities. To those of the white race…were I permitted I would repeat what I say to my own race,“Cast down your bucket where you are.” Cast it down among the eight millions of Negroes whose habits you know, whose fidelity and love you have tested...Cast down your bucket among these people who have, without strikes and labour wars, tilled your fields, cleared your forests, builded your railroads and cities, and brought forth treasures from the bowels of the earth...
Booker T. Washington. “Atlanta Compromise Speech,” 1895.
Question 1
What advice is Washington giving black citizens in the South?
Question 2
What advice is Washington giving white citizens in the South?
Question 3
How did the views of Booker T. Washington differ from those of W.E.B. Du Bois regarding the best way for African Americans to achieve progress?
Question 4
How did the views of Booker T. Washington differ from those of W.E.B. Du Bois regarding the best way for African Americans to achieve progress?
Washington believed in immediate civil rights, while Du Bois advocated for gradual economic progress through vocational training.
Washington focused on vocational education and economic self-reliance, while Du Bois called for immediate civil rights and higher education for African Americans.
Both Washington and Du Bois believed in gradual economic progress through vocational education.
Both Washington and Du Bois emphasized political activism over economic self-reliance.
Question 5
Which of the following represents a similarity between Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. Du Bois in their efforts to advance African Americans?
Both advocated for higher education as the primary path to racial progress.
Both sought ways to improve the social and economic conditions of African Americans.
Both believed in immediate political activism to achieve civil rights.
Both rejected vocational education as a means of progress for African Americans
Question 6
To what extent were Progressive Era reformers like Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. Du Bois successful in achieving racial equality?
They completely eradicated segregation and racial discrimination in the United States by the end of the Progressive Era.
Their efforts led to the immediate passage of federal laws guaranteeing full racial equality and civil rights.
While they raised national awareness and laid the groundwork for future civil rights movements, racial equality remained largely unrealized during their lifetimes.
They achieved racial equality in the South but faced significant opposition in the North.
Question 7
How did Ida B. Wells address the issue of lynching in the United States?
She advocated for lynching as a form of justice in the South.
She conducted investigative journalism and published reports exposing the brutality and false accusations behind lynchings.
Wells believed that lynching was a rare and isolated occurrence and did not need national attention.
She focused primarily on women’s suffrage and avoided discussing racial violence.
Question 8
To what extent were the anti-lynching efforts led by Ida B. Wells and the NAACP successful during the Progressive Era?
Their efforts led to the immediate passage of federal anti-lynching legislation, effectively ending lynching in the United States.
While they raised significant awareness and mobilized public opinion, federal anti-lynching laws were not passed during the Progressive Era.
Anti-lynching campaigns led by Wells and the NAACP had little impact on public opinion and did not influence the national conversation.
The anti-lynching movement completely eradicated racial violence by the end of the Progressive Era.
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