The story of the Negro : the rise of the race from slavery / Booker T. Washington.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Washington, Booker T., 1856-1915.

Contributor:

University of Pennsylvania. Press.

Series:

UPCC book collections on Project MUSE.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Slavery--United States--History.

Slavery.

United States.

History.

African Americans--History.

African Americans.

Genre:

Electronic books.

History.

Dictionaries.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (vi, 332, 437 pages)

Manufacture:

Baltimore, Md. : Project MUSE, 2012.

Other Title:

Penn Press e-books.

Place of Publication:

Philadelphia : University of Pennsylvania Press, 2005.

System Details:

Mode of access: World Wide Web.

text file

Summary:

The Story of the Negro is a history of Americans of African descent before and after slavery. Originally produced in two volumes, and published here for the first time in one paperback volume, the first part covers Africa and the history of slavery in the United States while the second part carries the history from the Civil War to the first part of the twentieth century. Booker T. Washington was born into slavery, worked menial jobs in order to acquire an education, and became the most important voice of African American interests beginning in the latter part of the nineteenth century. The Story of the Negro is valuable because it is full of significant information taken from hundreds of obscure sources that would be nearly impossible to assemble today. For instance, Washington discusses the rise of African American comedy with names, places, and dates; elsewhere he traces the growth and spread of African American home ownership and independent businesses in the United States; and his discussion of slavery is informed by his own life. Washington wanted African Americans to understand and embrace their heritage, not be ashamed of it. He explains, as an example, the role of music in the lives of the slaves and then notes how, nearly a generation later, many African Americans were "embarrassed" by this music and did not want to learn traditional songs. Washington is able to reflect on the first fifty years of his life embracing a range of experiences from share-cropping to dinner at the White House. It is just this autobiographical element that makes the volume compelling.

Washington, with his indefatigable optimism, worked his entire life to achieve equality for African Americans through practical means. Founder of the first business association (the National Negro Business League), leader of the Tuskegee Institute, where George Washington Carver conducted research, and supporter of numerous social programs designed to improve the welfare of African Americans, Washington was considered during his lifetime the spokesperson for African Americans by white society, particularly those in positions of power. This led to criticism from within the African American community, most notably from W. E. B. Du Bois, who considered Washington too accommodating to the white majority, but it took Washington's farsightedness to recognize that addressing the immediate concerns of education, employment, and self-reflection was necessary to achieve the ultimate goal of racial equality.

Contents:

Part I The Negro in Africa

Chapter I First Notions of Africa 3

Chapter II The American Negro and the Native African 18

Chapter III The African at Home 36

Chapter IV The West Coast Background of the American Negro 57

Part II The Negro as a Slave

Chapter V The First and Last Slave Ship 85

Chapter VI The First Slaves 107

Chapter VII The Indian and the Negro 125

Chapter VIII The Negro's Life in Slavery 144

Chapter IX Slave Insurrections and the Negro "Peril" 171

Chapter X The Free Negro in Slavery Days 192

Chapter XI Fugitive Slaves 215

Chapter XII Negro Settlements in Ohio and the Northwest Territory 233

Chapter XIII The Negro Preacher and the Negro Church 251

Chapter XIV The Negro Abolitionists 279

Chapter XV The Negro Soldier's Fight for Freedom 310

Part III The Negro as a Freeman

Chapter I The Early Days of Freedom 3

Chapter II The Rise of the Negro Land-owner 30

Chapter III The Negro Labourer and the Mechanic in Slavery and Freedom 57

Chapter IV Negro Crime and Racial Self-help 85

Chapter V The Negro Teacher and the Negro School 114

Chapter VI The Negro Secret Societies 148

Chapter VII The Negro Doctor and the Negro Professional Man 171

Chapter VIII The Negro Disfranchisement and the Negro in Business 190

Chapter IX The Negro Bank and the Moral Uplift 211

Chapter X Negro Communities and Negro Homes 234

Chapter XI Negro Poetry, Music and Art 259

Chapter XII Negro Women and Their Work 297

Chapter XIII The Social and Mission Work of the Negro Church 332

Chapter XIV Law and Order and the Negro 356

Chapter XV The Negro's Place in American Life 383.

Notes:

OldControl:muse9780812204803.

Includes index.

Originally published in 2v. : New York : Doubleday, Page, & Co., 1909.

"Multi-User"

Description based on print version record.

Made available online by Project Muse.

ISBN:

9780812204803

0812204808

OCLC:

794700624

Access Restriction:

Restricted for use by site license.