Reconstruction Dbq

Washington believes that reconstruction is doomed for failure since the beginning of the period because the people looked to the government on how to act, people being not educated so they wouldn’t be ready for the duties of citizen ship, and the ignorance of the African Americans and their dependence on the government for everything. It was also because of how early it was after the age of slavery but Washington still attempted many different ways to help promote the reconstruction in hopes that one day that African Americans would be considered equals and not just the lower tier of the spectrum. There were too many factors that would hinder the reconstruction as a whole so that it would never be successful.
Due to being born a slave, Washington

He truly wanted for the better good of all of the African Americans in the South because of the knowledge of his past life and how horrible it was. He spoke about it through his Atlanta Compromise which talked about the communities in the South who were switching the focus from the political activities to economic activities, namely land ownership, education, and self-sufficiency. (B T Washington 41) While it’s too early for reconstruction to be perfect, it’s a good start to attempt to make segregation a thing of the past. He urged blacks to stay in the south which is the opposite of what Ida B. Wells suggested. She suggest that if blacks were to face segregation, then they should move to the North to boycott any segregated processes, jobs, and just places in general for being a segregated zone. Washington attempted to have blacks stay in the South and become a mandatory part of the economy. This would mean that if blacks were suddenly gone, the economy would collapse. He believed by staying long enough, they would eventually earn their constitutional rights. He believed that African Americans should eventually be

He mentioned that the masses should earn themselves the respect that they deserve if they deserve it. However, he gave money to individuals and organizations that were fighting against discrimination at the time. Washington helped to advance the rights of African Americans with 4000 dollars of his own money which is a fortune back then compared to today’s money. He helped pay against the legislations laws that were intended to degrade African Americans and show inferiority. An example of this would be in the disenfranchisement legislations in Georgia, Louisiana, and Alabama. Washington failed those cases however. He funded lawyers that were fighting against racial exclusion from the juries in Alabama and Texas. He also paid ex-senator Henry W. Blake of New Hampshire to fight against the amendment to the Hepburn railway that supported segregation in interstate travel through the railroads. Washington helped WEB Du Bois’ case against the Southern Railway before the Interstate Commerce for its refusal to sell him a sleeping berth because of his race which is a directly illegal due to the 15th amendment. His biggest success would be the hard-fought and infamous case involving Alonzo Baily. They were a poor farmer that was forced to return to their landowner’s farm after leaving while owing 20 dollars. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that it was