"Up from Slavery," a biography by Booker T. Washington, was first published in 1995. Booker T. Washington, a Negro who was once a slave on a plantation, is very famous for his views and speeches on racial conflict. The book starts out with him as a young boy, and goes into detail about his childhood experiences as a slave. However, when he was still a boy, the war ended and all the slaves were released. Booker began working with his step-father in the salt-mines, but what he really wanted to do was obtain an education. Eventually, his parents allowed him to attend a night-school each evening after all his work was done, and he was even permitted to go to day-school for a little while. Booker began to save up his money so he could go to the …show more content…
They tried to get the highest positions they could in the church, government, etc. Booker did not think this was right. He knew the blacks were not as experienced as the white people, and they could not do the jobs as well. He believed the blacks should work their way to the top through hard work and diligence. He thought that if they continued to persevere, they could eventually become important in the government, etc., but they should not be placed at the top with no practice or experience. On page 91 of the book, Booker says, "Nothing ever comes to one, that is worth having, except as a result of hard work. " Booker set a good example for the country by putting what he said into practice, and teaching his students to start at the beginning and work their way up. Not only did he teach them from books, but he also taught them how to build, clean, and cook. Booker looked at the trials in his life as a blessing; He saw that they strengthened and humbled him. "In later years, I confess that I do not envy the white boy as I once did. 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. Looked at from this standpoint, I almost reach the conclusion that often the Negro boy's birth and connection with an unpopular race is an advantage, so far as real life is concerned. With few