Unit 5 Document Analysis

1. How did Washington characterize the political ambitions of African-Americans during the preceding Reconstruction period? How did he describe the thirty years since the Civil War in general? How does this compare with what you have learned in class?

Washington characterized their political ambitions as a ship at sea, the people on board needing water or else they will die. And they see a friendly ship come by and the beg for water, and the ship says, “Cast down your bucket where you are.” They do this four times until the people on the lost ship actually send down a bucket and get water. The way he described the thirty years after the Civil War as a point of time where African-Americans and Whites alike must get used to freedom. They must get used to not being or having a slave to do all the work.

2. How, according to Washington, should African-Americans approach Southern whites?

Washington believed that African-Americans and the Southerners should be friends. That they didn’t have to hate each other and that they could live together without racism. He had a very optimistic view of the future for whites and blacks. He also believed that the basis of this friendship between the two different cultures and and races was recognition. That it would help everyone understand each other better.

3. What did Washington mean when he urged Southern blacks to "cast [their] buckets where they were”? Be specific.

The quote is symbolic for the fact that African-Americans need to try anything they can possibly do. If they want to get into agriculture then they should. If they want to get into poetry or art then they should. Or if they want to get into domestic affairs then they should. Basically, the quote means to just dip your bucket into the waters that will help you survive.

4. How did Washington describe race relations in the South? Compare this to what you have learned in your course so far.

Washington understood that the relationships between African-Americans and Southern White people was terrible. He knew that the relationships would probably always be terrible if he didn’t try to do something about it. So he described the relations between the two races as something that needs to be changed and if the relationships could change then everyone can be friends with their neighbors whether they are black, white, or any other color.

5. Compare what Washington says to what you saw in the oral histories. How promising was the New South really?

Honestly, the New South did not seem promising in the slightest. It seemed to be in a kind of constant depression. Prices were too high for everything they needed, taxes took any other money they might’ve had, and their crops didn’t get sold enough to support their families. Washington obviously held high hopes for a New South where blacks and whites lived together in harmony, but how could they when everyone was struggling to support themselves? Though the South is better now than it was then, the New South was not a promising place for a while after the Civil War.

#history #Fall2015