FIRST GLANCE

FULL TITLE UP FROM SLAVERY

AUTHOR BOOKER T. WASHINGTON
TYPE OF WORK AUTOBIOGRAPHY/NON FICTION
GENRE BILDUNGSROMAN
LANGUAGE ENGLISH
TIME AND PLACE WRITTEN 1901,TUSKEGEE, ALABAMA
DATE OF FIRST PUBLICATION 1901
PUBLISHER HAMILTON W. MABIE OF THE OUTLOOK
MAGAZINE
NARRATOR & PROTAGONIST BOOKER T. WASHINGTON
POINT OF VIEW & TONE FIRST PERSON, OPTIMISTIC, OBJECTIVE,
RETROSPECTIVE
SETTING (TIME) 1856-1901
SETTING (PLACE) US: VIRGINA, ALABAMA, WASHINGTON, D.C
EUROPE: BELGIUM, HOLLAND, FRANCE, ENGLAND
MAJOR CONFLICT THE SEARCH FOR MEANINGFUL WORK
AND THE SOCIAL ADVANCEMENT OF
AFRICANS-AMERICANS
RISING ACTION WASHINGTON’S ATTAINMENT OF
EDUCATION
CLIMAX THE SUCCESS OF THE TUSKEGEE
INSTITUTE
FALLING ACTION WASHINTON’S TOUR OF EUROPE
THEMES DIGNITY THROUGH LABOR; SELFLESSNESS,
DESIRE TO BE USEFUL TO ONE’S COMMUNITY;
IMPRACTICALITY OF POLITICAL AGITATION
SYMBOLS HOMESPUN CAP; TOOTHBRUSH,
HENRY O. TANNER, NEGRO MOSES, FLAG,
COAL MINE
UP FROM
SLAVERY
  IS THE 1901 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF AMERICAN
EDUCATOR BOOKER T. WASHINGTON (1856–
1915). THE BOOK DESCRIBES HIS EXPERIENCE
OF WORKING TO RISE UP FROM BEING
ENSLAVED AS A CHILD DURING THE CIVIL
WAR, THE OBSTACLES HE OVERCAME TO
GET AN EDUCATION AT THE NEW HAMPTON
INSTITUTE, AND HIS WORK ESTABLISHING
VOCATIONAL SCHOOLS LIKE THE TUSKEGEE
INSTITUTE IN ALABAMA TO HELP BLACK
PEOPLE AND OTHER PERSECUTED PEOPLE OF
COLOR LEARN USEFUL, MARKETABLE SKILLS AND WORK TO PULL THEMSELVES, AS A
RACE, UP BY THE BOOTSTRAPS. HE REFLECTS ON THE GENEROSITY OF TEACHERS AND
PHILANTHROPISTS WHO HELPED EDUCATE BLACK AND NATIVE AMERICANS. HE
DESCRIBES HIS EFFORTS TO INSTILL MANNERS, BREEDING, HEALTH AND DIGNITY INTO
STUDENTS. HIS EDUCATIONAL PHILOSOPHY STRESSES COMBINING ACADEMIC SUBJECTS
WITH LEARNING A TRADE (REMINISCENT OF JOHN RUSKIN). WASHINGTON EXPLAINED
THAT THE INTEGRATION OF PRACTICAL SUBJECTS IS PARTLY DESIGNED TO "REASSURE
THE WHITE COMMUNITY OF THE USEFULNESS OF EDUCATING BLACK PEOPLE".

THIS BOOK WAS FIRST PUBLISHED AS A SERIAL IN 1900 THROUGH THE OUTLOOK, A

CHRISTIAN NEWSPAPER OF NEW YORK. IT WAS SERIALIZED SO THAT WASHINGTON
COULD RECEIVE FEEDBACK FROM HIS AUDIENCE DURING THE WRITING AND COULD
ADAPT HIS WORK TO HIS DIVERSE AUDIENCE.WASHINGTON WAS A CONTROVERSIAL
FIGURE DURING HIS LIFETIME, AND W. E. B. DU BOIS, AMONG OTHERS, CRITICIZED SOME
OF HIS VIEWS. THE BOOK WAS A BEST-SELLER, AND REMAINED THE MOST POPULAR
AFRICAN AMERICAN AUTOBIOGRAPHY UNTIL THAT OF MALCOLM X.IN 1998, THE MODERN
LIBRARY LISTED THE BOOK AT NO. 3 ON ITS LIST OF THE 100 BEST NONFICTION BOOKS OF
THE 20TH CENTURY, AND IN 1999 IT WAS ALSO LISTED BY THE
CONSERVATIVE INTERCOLLEGIATE REVIEW AS ONE OF THE "50 BEST BOOKS OF THE
TWENTIETH CENTURY ".

PLOT
Up from Slavery chronicles more than forty years of Washington's life: from
slave to schoolmaster to the face of southern race relations. In this text,
Washington climbs the social ladder through hard, manual labor, a decent
education, and relationships with great people. Throughout the text, he stresses
the importance of education for the black population as a reasonable tactic to
ease race relations in the South (particularly in the context

1|Page
of Reconstruction).The book is in essence Washington's traditional, non-
confrontational message supported by the example of his life.

PLOT SUMMARY
EARLY YEARS
Walter H. Page provides a glowing preface, recalling the first time he visited Tuskegee Institute. Page
praises Washington's "strong character" and proclaims that Washington has performed a "great national
service."Washington describes the circumstances of his unhappy childhood as a slave in Virginia. At the end of the
Civil War (1865), his family moved to West Virginia, where his stepfather worked in a salt mine. Only a boy,
young Washington was employed there soon after their arrival. Eager for knowledge, he had an intense desire to
learn to read. With his mother's encouragement, he attended a small local school at night so he could work during
the day. His longing for more education was fueled when he unintentionally overheard two employees discuss the
Hampton Institute in Virginia, a recently founded school focused on the education of African American students.
Washington decided immediately he would have to attend this school.

In 1872, at age 16, Washington managed to travel to Hampton Institute from his home in Malden, West Virginia, a
trek of 500 miles. He had saved some money but not nearly enough even to get him there. However, he did arrive,
and by means of industry and persistence, he enrolled at Hampton, discovering daily a wondrous new world. In
particular, he benefited from the interest and support of the school's principal, General Samuel C. Armstrong, who
saw great promise in the young man. In 1875, despite his poverty, Washington completed his studies successfully.

AFTER HAMPTON
During the next six years, Washington underwent a "leavening period." He took various jobs to earn money,
including a return to Malden, West Virginia, where he taught at the local school. He also weathered the death of his
beloved mother and was able to help his brothers, John and James, attend Hampton Institute, as he did. He accepted
special assignments from Hampton to work in particular educational programs, such as the initiative to educate
Native Americans. Washington was exposed to the complex social and political realities of Reconstruction, as well
as to a broadening of his own social experience—notably in his participation at Hampton in an educational program
for Native Americans, devised by General Armstrong.

TUSKEGEE
The year 1881 marked a pivotal point in Washington's life and career. General Armstrong, requested by two men
from Alabama to identify a new administrator for a black college at Tuskegee, recommended Washington for the
post. Only 25 at the time, Washington accepted this job assignment and moved from Virginia to Alabama to begin
the task of running the school, which essentially was nonexistent in terms of students and infrastructure when he
arrived.The next 15 years brought Washington a broad range of challenges. He experienced profound doubts and
unanticipated successes. He managed, on the whole, to build a nationally influential educational center from scratch
and to raise the money to do it.

In the course of Washington's efforts on behalf of the school, he became a highly effective fundraiser and charismatic
public speaker. He also managed to put into practice a distinctive educational philosophy, in which students built
their own buildings and even constructed their own furniture. In addition, the school focused on agriculture, so it
was self-sufficient in much of its food supply. Gradually, under his leadership, Tuskegee became
nationally known.

FAME
By the mid-1890s Booker T. Washington had earned national fame as a visionary educator, a talented and
charismatic speaker, an advocate for the raising of people of color from poverty and illiteracy, and a strong
proponent of racial harmony. In 1895 he received an invitation to address the Atlanta Exposition, a showcase for
industry and the arts to be held in Atlanta, Georgia. The address Washington delivered there became the iconic
2|Page
expression of his core beliefs about education, personal responsibility, and the future of African Americans. The
speech, however, became controversial, as some critics charged Washington had extended too many concessions and
had been too submissive to whites. For his critics, Washington's address thus came to be known in some quarters as
the "Atlanta Compromise."
Notwithstanding such criticism, Washington was widely lauded as a benefactor to his people and to the United States
as a whole. Favorable news coverage, honorary degrees, and plaudits from celebrities flowed his way. He traveled to
Europe for the first time in 1899 on a trip financed by his admirers, received numerous invitations to speak, and
further advanced the development of his beloved Tuskegee Institute, where he remained president.

THEMES
EDUCATION
First and foremost, UP FROM SLAVERY is a book about the power of education to transform lives.
From an early age, Washington views school as a paradise, a way to escape ignorance and to become
equipped to help others. He sees industrial education as key, as it gives students the skills to make a
living and to be of value in their communities. For this reason he chooses to work in education rather
than politics, believing he "would be helping in a more substantial way by assisting in the laying of the
foundation of the race through a generous education of the hand, head, and heart". As his youthful
struggle to learn to read foreshadows, and as his entire adult career illustrates, Booker T.
Washington firmly believed in the enduring value of education. His fervent words about Hampton
Institute in the opening paragraphs of Chapter 3 testify to the intensity of this conviction.
For Washington, education offered not only an opportunity for economic and social progress but also a
surefire method to improve character. Authentic education entailed hard work, and work produced
self-respect and dignity. In fact, one of Washington's three fundamental goals for a Tuskegee education
was to instill in students the principle that "labor is dignified and beautiful."Another distinction that
readers of the autobiography should bear in mind is the difference Washington perceives between
theoretical textbook education and practical education drawn from real life. Washington was an
educational pragmatist who believed skills, crafts, and industrial practice were essential assets to be
cultivated and mastered.

“ This experience of a whole race beginning to go to school for the first time, presents on of the most interesting studies that
has ever occurred in connection with the development of any race. Few people who were not right in the midst of the scenes can
form any exact idea of the intense desire which the people of my race showed for an education.”

“ GIVE THEM AN IDEA FOR EVERY WORD ” -General Samuel C. Strong, Chapter XII

SELF-RELIANCE
For Booker T. Washington, unselfishness and sacrifice go hand in hand with self-help and self-
improvement. The author's skepticism about the Reconstruction period seems motivated, at least in
part, by his reluctance to accept African Americans' reliance on assistance from the federal
government. For Washington, self-reliance and commitment to hard work and training are essential
.
Again, Washington expresses the conviction that African American progress depends on the
mastery of the "crafts and skills that are useful for the common good of blacks and whites alike.
The "great law" that sooner or later rewards merit will ensure that efforts for self-improvement will
not be expended in vain. Washington is a strong advocate of self-reliance and believes that
individual merit will bring success regardless of one's race. Even as a child, he expresses

3|Page
admiration for these traits, praising his mother for making him a cap for school rather than going
into debt to purchase one.
“ In this address i said that the whole future of the negro rested largely upon the question as to whether or not he should make
himself, through his skill, intelligence, and character, of such undeniable value to the community in which he lived that the
community could not dispense with his presence. I said that any individual who learned to do something better than anybody
else - learned to do a common thing in an uncommon manner - had solved his problem, regardless of the colour of his skin, and
that in proportion as the negro learned to produce what other people wanted and must have, in the same proportion would he be
respected ”

“The individual who can do something that the world wants done will, in the end, make
his way regardless of his race”
-BOOKER T. WASHINGTON, UP FROM SLAVERY

UNSELFISHNESS AND HELPING OTHERS

One of Booker T. Washington's most powerful and enduring impressions during his early months
at Hampton Institute was the unselfish dedication of his teachers. "No one seemed to think of
himself," he writes in the closing paragraph of Chapter 3, and he gives Chapter 4 the title "Helping
Others." Doing something "to make the world better," he writes, is a goal he has cherished from
early childhood.
he discusses the efforts of black students at Hampton to make Native American students feel
welcome, wondering "if there was a white institution in this country whose students would have
welcomed the incoming of more than a hundred companions of another race in the cordial way that
these black students welcomed the red ones." Washington believes people "lift themselves up in
proportion as they help to lift others."One of Washington's most often-repeated messages is that
those who are happiest are those who dedicate themselves to helping others. He commends his
fellow students at Hampton for educating themselves in order to lift up the people in their
communities rather than for their own advancement.He shares numerous examples of generosity,
from a former slave donating six eggs to wealthy philanthropists giving thousands of dollars, and
implies that those who do good are rewarded for their deeds.
“IN MEETING MEN, IN MANY PLACES, I HAVE FOUND THAT THE HAPPIEST PEOPLE ARE THOSE
WHO DO THE MOST FOR OTHERS;THE MOST MISERABLE ARE THOSE WHO DO THE LEAST”
“THE EDUCATION THAT I RECEIVED AT HAMPTON OUT OF THE TEXT-BOOKS WAS BUT A SMALL
PART OF WHAT I LEARNED THERE...BEFORE THE END OF THE YEAR, I THINK I BEGAN LEARNING
THAT THOSE WHO ARE HAPPIEST ARE THOSE WHO DO THE MOST FOR OTHERS. THIS LESSON I
HAVE TRIED TO CARRY WITH ME EVER SINCE ”
-T.WASHINGTON,CHAPTER IX

THE DIGNITY OF LABOR

Washington believes strongly IN dignity in labor. He notes that one of the worst things about
slavery was that it "cause[d] labour, as a rule, to be looked upon as a badge of degradation, of
inferiority" , while the most important thing he learned at Hampton was that "it was not a disgrace
to labour" . As early as Chapter 1, Washington presents the apparently paradoxical claim that
African Americans, on one level at least, profited more from slavery than their owners, the white
slaveholders. The reason for his claim, explains Washington, is that slaves mastered handicrafts,
whereas whites dismissed labor as degrading and as a badge of inferiority.bTo the contrary,
Washington believed hard work was indispensable for building character, for education, and for
fashioning a substantial contribution to society as a whole. Washington reiterates this belief at
many points in UP FROM SLAVERY. He celebrates the fact that the lady principal at Hampton
joins him to wash windows and prepare beds, and he is adamant that Tuskegee students do manual

4|Page
labor as part of their education. In this way they can learn to be self-reliant and earn the respect of
others who value their work.

“THE WHOLE MACHINERY OF SLAVERY WAS SO CONSTRUCTED AS TO CAUSE

LABOUR, AS A RULE, TO BE LOOKED UPON AS A BADGE OF DEGRADATION, OF
INFERIORITY, HENCE LABOUR WAS SOMETHING THAT BOTH RACES ON THE
SLAVE PLANTATION SOUGHT TO ESCAPE ” -CHAPTER I, UP FROM SLAVERY

“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, and fail to keep in mind that we shall prosper in proportion as we learn to dignify and glorify
common labour and put brains and skill into the common occupations of life…No race can prosper till it learns that there is as
much dignity in tilling a field as in writing a poem.It is at the bottom of life we must begin, and not at the top.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”

-CHAPTER XIV, UP FROM SLAVERY

“There is a physical and mental and spiritual enjoyment that comes from a consciousness of being
the absolute master of one’s work, in all its details, that is very satisfactory and inspiring”
-CHAPTER XV, UP FROM SLAVERY

RACIAL HARMONY
Washington believes the way to solve the race problem is to encourage fellowship between the
races. When he mentions Ku Klux Klan bears no animosity towards his former enslavers, instead
assuring them that both races were victims of the institution of slavery. One of Booker T.
Washington's most deeply held beliefs was that economic and social progress of African
Americans must unfold in the context of racial harmony. On a personal level, he repeatedly
emphasizes he holds no grudge against white people, especially Southern whites who were former
slaveholders. He dismisses segregation and discrimination as injurious to those who practice them,
rather than to those targeted by them. Washington cites Frederick Douglass as a role model, who
always maintained no discriminatory treatment could degrade his soul. Discrimination degrades
only those who practice it.  In the Atlanta Exposition address, probably the most important speech
of his career, he stressed harmony and cooperation between the races.
“I believe that in time, through the operation of intelligence and friendly race relations, all
cheating at the ballot-box in the South will cease. It will become apparent that the white man who
begins by cheating a Negro out of his ballot soon learns to cheat a white man out of his, and that the
man who does this ends his career of dishonesty by the theft of property or some equally serious
crime ” -Pg 84, UP FROM SLAVERY

“IN ALL THINGS THAT ARE PURELY SOCIAL WE CAN BE AS SEPARATE AS THE FINGERS,
YET ONE AS THE HAND IN ALL THINGS ESSENTIAL TO MUTUAL PROGRESS”

“Great men cultivate love, and that only little men cherish a spirit of hatred. I learned
that assistance given to the weak makes the one who gives it strong; and that
oppression of the unfortunate makes one weak”

“ I HAVE LONG CEASED TO CHERISH ANY SPIRIT OF BITTERNESS AGAINST THE SOUTHERN
WHITE PEOPLE ON ACCOUNT OF THE ENSLAVEMENT OF MY RACE ”

-BOOKER T. WASHINGTON,CHAPTER 1

5|Page
 “I would permit no man, no matter what his color might be, to narrow and degrade my
soul by making me hate him” -CHAPTER II, UP FROM SLAVERY

“No Man Whose Vision Is Bounded By Color Can Come Into Contact With What Is Highest
And Best In The World” -CHAPTER XIV, UP FROM SLAVERY
PERSEVERANCE
Washington's life story is an excellent example of the power of perseverance. Faced with numerous
barriers, he never gave up trying to get an education as a boy, even going so far as to alter the time
displayed on the clock in the salt mines to make it to school on time. He did not give up his dream
of getting to Hampton even when he had to sleep under the sidewalk, nor of promoting industrial
education when Tuskegee had no money for land, buildings, or materials.
He kept trying to make bricks after three failed attempts, and he refused to become discouraged
when students complained of the lack of even basic amenities at the school. The great success
achieved by both Washington and the Tuskegee Institute is a testament to what can happen when
one perseveres even when faced with seemingly insurmountable challenges.
“  I HAVE LEARNED THAT SUCCESS IS TO BE MEASURED NOT SO MUCH BY THE POSITION THAT ONE
HAS REACHED IN LIFE AS BY THE OBSTACLES WHICH HE HAS OVERCOME WHILE TRYING TO
SUCCEED”

-BOOKER T. WASHINGTON, CHAPTER II

“I HAVE PASSED SEVERAL EXAMINATIONS SINCE THEN, BUT I HAVE ALWAYS FELT
THAT THIS WAS THE BEST ONE I EVER PASSED” -BOOKER T. WASHINGTON, CHAPTER III

“THE SOUL THAT IS WITHIN ME NO MAN CAN DEGRADE”

-BOOKER T. WASHINGTON, CHAPTER VI

“Mistakes I knew would be made, but these mistakes would teach us valuable lessons for the future”
-BOOKER T. WASHINGTON, CHAPTER X

“ BECAUSE I HAD NO ANCESTRY MYSELF I WOULD LEAVE A RECORD OF ANCESTRY WHICH MY

CHILDREN WOULD BE PROUD, AND WHICH MIGHT ENCOURAGE THEM TO STILL HIGHER EFFORT”

-BOOKER T. WASHINGTON, CHAPTER II

“believe that any man’s life will be filled with constant, unexpected encouragements of this kind if he makes up his mind to do

his level best each day of his life—that is, tries to make each day reach as nearly as possible the high-water mark of pure,
unselfish, useful living” -BOOKER T. WASHINGTON, CHAPTER XVII

"Say What We Will, There Is Something In Human Nature Which We Cannot Blot Out,
Which Makes One Man, In The End, Recognize And Reward Merit In Another, Regardless
Of Colour Or Race.That great human law that in the end recognizes and rewards merit is
everlasting and universal”-BOOKER T. WASHINGTON, CHAPTER XVIII

RAGS TO RICHES
Washington is adamant that blacks should progress from the foundation up. In his famous Atlanta
Exposition address he states: "No race can prosper till it learns that there is as much dignity in
6|Page
tilling a field as in writing a poem. It is at the bottom of life we must begin, and not at the top". His
own life began with "rags", as did the life of the Tuskegee Institute; it is an apt metaphor that he
has his students dig the actual foundations for the buildings at Tuskegee. He often juxtaposes
images from either his early life or the early life of the school with those from later on,
highlighting the dramatic progress that was made. In this way he highlights his belief that
individual merit and hard work can allow others of his race to achieve success, despite the barriers
of social and political discrimination that stand in the way.
“Had we started in a fine, attractive, convenient room, I fear we would have ‘lost our heads’ and become ‘stuck up.’ It
means a great deal, I think, to start off on a foundation which one has made for one’s self”

“Luxuries had always seemed to me to be something meant for white people, not for my race. I had always regarded
Europe, and London, and Paris, much as I regard heaven”
-BOOKER T. WASHINGTON, CHAPTER XVI

IMPRACTICALITY OF POLITICAL AGITATION

Throughout Up From Slavery, Washington defends his ideas about racial advancement and uplift
by subtly undermining the proposals of his critics. Though Washington does not explicitly state his
objection to the strategies of specific thinkers like W.E.B. Dubois or even his predecessor,
Frederick Douglass, he nevertheless highlights the wastefulness of political agitation for equal
rights at every chance he gets. To do this, Washington shows that political agitation results in
worse relations and outcomes than those that existed before. For example, when he goes home to
Malden after his second year at the Hampton Institute, Washington finds that both the salt-furnace
and the coal-mine are not in operation due to worker’s strikes. In Chapter IV, Washington
describes how strikers usually spent all their savings during the strikes and returned to work in
debt, but at the same wages. He raises the impracticality of political agitation again after his
controversial Atlanta Exposition speech. After the success of his speech, he hypothetically asks if a
black man would have been invited to give a speech had people agitated to put a black person on
the program. He answers in the negative, saying that such opportunities can only arise through
merit.
“EVERY PERSECUTED INDIVIDUAL AND RACE SHOULD GET MUCH CONSOLATION OUT OF THE GREAT
HUMAN LAW, WHICH IS UNIVERSAL AND ETERNAL, THAT MERIT, NO MATTER UNDER WHAT SKIN FOUND, IS,
IN THE LONG RUN, RECOGNIZED AND REWARDED”

“Now, whenever I hear any one advocating measures that are meant to curtail the development of another, I pity the individual
who would do this. I know that the one who makes this mistake does so because of his own lack of opportunity for the highest
kind of growth”

“The central government gave them freedom, and the whole Nation had been enriched for more than two centuries by the
labour of the Negro. Even as a youth, and later in manhood, I had the feeling that it was cruelly wrong of the central
government…to fail to make some provision for the general education of our people in addition to what the states might do,
so that the people would be the better prepared for the duties of citizenship”
-BOOKER T. WASHINGTON, CHAPTER V

“I AM GLAD TO ADD, HOWEVER, THAT AT THE PRESENT TIME, THE DISPOSITION TO VOTE AGAINST
THE WHITE MAN MERELY BECAUSE HE IS WHITE IS LARGELY DISAPPEARING, AND THE RACE IS
LEARNING TO VOTE FROM PRINCIPLE, FOR WHAT THE VOTER CONSIDERS TO BE FOR THE BEST
INTERESTS OF BOTH RACES” -BOOKER T. WASHINGTON, CHAPTER XVII

CLEANLINESS AND DICIPLINE

“We wanted to teach the students how to bathe, how to care for their teeth and clothing. We wanted to teach them what to eat, and how
to eat it properly and how to care for their rooms. Aside from this, we wanted to give them such a practical knowledge of someone
7|Page
 industry together with the spirit of industry, thrift, and economy, that they would be sure of knowing how to make a living after they
had left us. We wanted to teach them to study actual things instead of mere books alone”

“In all my teaching I have watched carefully the influence of the tooth-brush, and I
am convinced that there are few single agencies of civilization that are more far-
reaching”
-BOOKER T. WASHINGTON, UP FROM SLAVERY

8|Page