Booker T. Washington was a man of action. A great orator, he could galvanize people to his cause. He believed in fighting, and hopefully, winning. For reforming the South, he saw a long-range plan for educating African Americans for responsible citizenship and complete integration into the American way of life. He established a school for the education of African Americans. He began in 1900 for the cause of helping African Americans gain franchise in a time when local governments were working to disfranchise them, and held deeply the cause of political justice. The educated African American felt political injustice, in a time when lynchings were still happening. He sought to align himself with values which did not argue with the current times,