Up from Slavery, a glorious autobiography, highlights both difficult and prosperous times in the life of Booker T. Washington. This black man started his life as a slave, and ended up as one of the most influential people in the post civil war era. Born on a plantation in 1856, Mr. Washington faced a lifetime of challenges. This biography highlights Mr. Washington’s character as he achieved an education and founded a college for black students in America, in a time when discrimination was still very strong in this country. The reader should learn many respectable traits as he reads about Mr. Washington’s life.

     One of the most impressive and dominant traits shown in Mr. Washington’s book is a very strong work ethic. For example, when Mr. Washington first heard of a college for black people, he was amazed that such a thing existed. At the age of sixteen, Mr. Washington worked extremely hard to get enough money to travel to this far-off college that seemed too good to be true. Once he finally had what he thought was a fair amount of money, he set off on his trip. Regrettably, Mr. Washington ran out of money about half way there. Being resourceful, he found a job unloading a ship that was docked in the city he was currently in. He worked so hard and thoroughly that he was hired at the dock to help unload all the ships. Mr. Washington worked on these docks for several days. Eventually, he continued his journey and arrived at his long awaited destination, Hampton Institute, in Virginia. He walked in for an interview and was told to wait in a room. After waiting several hours, the instructor told Mr. Washington to clean a meeting room. He did his best to make the room literally spotless. He moved all the furniture and swept the floor multiple times as well as dusting everything four times. The job was so well done that he was accepted into Hampton. However, Mr. Washington did not feel that work was just for uneducated men. Years later, after he had graduated from Hampton, Mr. Washington was asked to lead a school in a town called Tuskegee in Alabama. At this college, Mr. Washington tried to not only teach his students “book knowledge,” but also to teach real-life application. For example, the students would be taught the proper ways of farming or how to calculate the amount of seed needed for a field, and then they would be brought out onto a section of the college’s hundred acres and put these skill’s to work. This was a marvelous plan; however, most of the students were under the impression that once one was “educated” he would never need to do manual labor again. As a result of this belief, very few of the students were willing to do the work asked of them. To solve this problem, Mr. Washington simply went out into the fields and started working. When the students saw that such a highly educated man was working in the fields, they figured that they should be working as well. In short, this book is full of many examples to show how a good work ethic can truly affect ones life and the lives of those around them.

     Another trait that young people can learn from Mr. Washington’s book is honor. Encarta Dictionary defines honor as a “strong moral character or strength, and adherence to ethical principles.” By this definition, honor is shown many times by Mr. Washington and those around him. For example, when Mr. Washington was at Hampton Institute, there was a man named General Samuel C. Armstrong. General Armstrong was the founder of Hampton Institute and was paralyzed from the waist down. He had earned the respect of every student on campus. At one point the dormitories were getting over-crowded and General Armstrong requested that some of the boys should move outside into tents in order to make room for new students. Even though the temperatures were dropping to below zero, some students, including Mr. Washington, volunteered. These students did this because General Armstrong had earned there respect, and they knew that if he had been in their shoes he would have done the same. Once again an example of honor is seen, when Mr. Washington was traveling throughout the South raising money for Tuskegee. So many people had heard of all the great things that Mr. Washington had done that he had not only gained the respect of a few individual people, but he had earned a reputation of respect.   Most people gave their money generously to him without a second thought. Yet another example of honor came during Mr. Washington’s trip to Europe, where he also saw great discrimination. There was a black painter whose paintings were so well done that when people saw these paintings they honored the skill. They did not stop to think who painted it or anything about the artist, they simply liked the painting. These examples show how once someone has earned respect, people look past disabilities, skin color, and really all differences. They ignore these things and give honor to the character.
     Honesty is another valuable trait found in Up from Slavery. There were many occasions where Mr. Washington showed much honesty. For instance, when he was just seventeen, he received a job at a local restaurant during his spring break. While working; Mr. Washington found a ten dollar bill underneath a table. He could have kept it for himself; however, he did not. He told his boss about his find hoping that he would let him keep it. Mr. Washington’s boss simply said that it was his restaurant and as the owner he was entitled to keep the ten dollars. Through his honesty Mr. Washington shows that even though sometimes it is hard to be honest that it is still something God requires, and that honesty should be applied to all parts of life. Many other examples of honesty are portrayed throughout this book. For example, when Mr. Washington was traveling through the country raising money for Tuskegee, he would just state the truth. He would not elaborate on details or exaggerate his examples in order to receive larger donations. Many people do not see exaggerating as lying; however, Mr. Washington taught the reader once again another great moral just through his example.

     Time after time Mr. Washington faced daunting challenges, without his determination Tuskegee Institute would have never opened its doors. Upon arriving in Tuskegee, Mr. Washington found that not only was this school not started, but there was not even a building or the slightest of materials. In a situation like this, the average person would have given up. However, Mr. Washington was nothing near average. After locating a small church, from which to start the school, he then started raising funds. Mr. Washington traveled around the South raising money. A hundred acre plot was soon found for sale in Tuskegee. This seemed to have been sent by God and was soon purchased with the money Mr. Washington had raised. One of the most dominant examples happened soon after the start of Mr. Washington’s school. Mr. Washington took on the task of making bricks for the school to use for their buildings. Brick making is an extremely dirty and difficult task. Before the bricks could be made, the group at Tuskegee had to dig multiple holes before they found one that was fit for producing brick clay. In the process, two people were so disgusted by standing knee deep in mud that they left the school. Once clay suitable for making bricks was found, they made twenty-five thousand bricks and attempted to burn them in a kiln. This attempt failed, and the process was repeated, which produced a second failure. On the third try all seemed to be going as planned, and everyone thought that finally success was not far-off; however, in the night the kiln collapsed destroying all the bricks. The school had run out of money for the project as well as hope from the students. One thing that Mr. Washington did not run out of though was determination. He was so determined to succeed that he sold his watch for fifteen dollars and tried one last time. On the fourth try they were successful and started making and selling bricks. These bricks were soon known to be top class bricks and could be sold along side of all other bricks. Mr. Washington’s watch had already been bought before he could buy it back, but he claimed he had no regrets.

     As a result of Mr. Washington’s character, he made an impact on the world as well as on the lives of many young people in the generations after him. In Up from Slavery, the morals learned: a strong work ethic, honor, honesty, and determination, teach me that when I face challenges I should not just quit or make excuses. Unlike the two men who quit when faced with making bricks, I should persist and turn the failures into something good, like the old saying goes, “When life gives you sour cream, make beef stroganoff.”