of the past, will be largely determined by the quality of womanliness characterizing the age which environs him. The colleges for women, though only in their formative stage, offer exceptional advantages for the culturo and development of womanly women, who, when they are united to manly men in wedded oneness, shall be the complement of their husbands, the joy of their children, the inspiration of society, the crown of their age, and the honored coadjutors of everything which makes for the glory of human progress. ADDRESS OF BOOKER T. WASHINGTON.1 [Principal of the Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute, Tuskegee, Ala.] MR. PRESIDENT AND GENTLEMEN OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS AND CITIZENS: One-third of the population of the South is of the negro race. No enterprise seeking the material, civil, or moral welfare of this section can disregard this element of our population and reach the highest success. I but convey to you, Mr. President and Directors, the sentiment of the masses of my race when I say that in no way have the value and manhood of the American negro been more fittingly and generously recognized than by the managers of this magnificent Exposition at every stage of its progress. It is a recognition that will do more to cement the friendship of the two races than any occurrence since the dawn of our freedom. Not only this, but the opportunity here afforded will awaken among us a new era of industrial progress. Ignorant and inexperienced, it is not strange that in the first years of our new life we began at the top instead of at the bottom, that a seat in Congress and the State legislature was more sought than real estate or industrial skill, that the political convention or stump speaking had more attractions than starting a dairy farm or truck garden. A ship lost at sea for many days suddenly sighted a friendly vessel. From the mast of the unfortunate vessel was seen the signal: "Water, water; we die of thirst!" The answer from the friendly vessel at once came back: "Cast down your bucket where you are." A second time the signal, "Water, water; send us water!" ran up from the distressed vessel, and was answered: "Cast down your bucket where you are." And a third and fourth signal for water was answered: "Cast down your bucket where you are." The captain of the distressed vessel, at last heeding the injunction, cast down his bucket, and it came up full of fresh, sparkling water from the mouth of the Amazon River. To those of my race who depend on bettering their condition in a foreign land, or who underestimate the importance of cultivating friendly relations with the Southern white man, who is their next-door neighbor, I would say, "Cast down your bucket where you are"-cast it down in making friends in every manly way of the people of all races by whom we are surrounded. Cast it down in agriculture, mechanics, in commerce, in domestic service, and in the professions. And in this connection it is well to bear in mind that whatever other sins the South may be called to bear, when it comes to business, pure and simple, it is in the South that the negro is given a man's chance in the commercial world, and in nothing is this Exposition more eloquent than in emphasizing this chance. Our greatest danger is that in the great leap from slavery to freedom we may overlook the fact that the masses of us are to live by the productions of our hands, and fail to keep in mind that we shall prosper in proportion as we learn to dignify and glorify common labor and put brains and skill into the common occupations of life; shall prosper in proportion as we learn to draw the line between the superficial and the substantial, the ornamental gewgaws of life and the useful. No race can prosper till it learns that there is as much dignity in tilling a field as in writing a poem. It is at the bottom of life we must begin and not at the top. Nor should we permit our grievances to overshadow our opportunities. To those of the white race who look to the incoming of those of foreign birth and strange tongue and habits for the prosperity of the South, were I permitted, I would repeat what I say to my own race-"Cast down your bucket where you are." Cast it down among the 8,000,000 negroes whose habits you know, whose fidelity and love you have tested in days when to have proved treacherous meant the ruin of your firesides. Cast down your bucket among these people who have, without strikes and labor wars, tilled your fields, cleared your forests, builded your railroads and cities, and brought forth treasures from the bowels of the earth and helped make possible this magnificent representation of the progress of the South. Casting down your bucket among my people, helping and encouraging them as you are doing on these grounds, and to education of head, hand, and heart, you will find that they will buy your surplus land, make blossom the waste places in your fields, and run Delivered at the opening of the Atlanta Cotton States and International Exposition, September 18, 1895. your factories. While doing this, you can be sure in the future, as in the past, that you and your families will be surrounded by the most patient, faithful, law-abiding, and unresentful people that the world has seen. As we have proved our loyalty to you in the past, in nursing your children, watching by the sick bed of your inothers and fathers, and often following them with tear-dimmed eyes to their graves, 80 in the future in our humble way we shall stand by you with a devotion that no for eigner can approach, ready to lay down our lives, if need be, in defense of yours, interlacing our industrial, commercial, civil, and religious life with yours in a way that shall make the interests of both races one. In all things that are purely social we can be as separate as the fingers, yet one as the hand in all things essential to mutual progress. There is no defense or security for any of us except in the highest intelligence and development of all. If any where there are efforts tending to curtail the fullest growth of the negro, let these efforts be turned into stimulating, encouraging, and making him the most useful and intelligent citizen. Effort or means so invested will pay a thousand per cent interest. These efforts will be twice blessed-"blessing him that gives and him that takes." There is no escape through law of man or God from the inevitable: The laws of changeless justice bind, And close as sin and suffering joined, Nearly sixteen millions of hands will aid you in pulling the load upward, or they will pull against you the load downward. We shall constitute one-third and more of the ignorance and crime of the South, or one-third of its intelligence and progress; we shall contribute one-third to the business and industrial prosperity of the South, or we shall prove a veritable body of death, stagnating, depressing, retarding every effort to advance the body politic. Gentlemen of the Exposition, as we present to you our humble effort at an exhibition of our progress, you must not expect overmuch. Starting thirty years ago with ownership here and there in a few quilts, and pumpkins, and chickens (gathered from miscellaneous sources), remember the path that has led from these to the inventions and production of agricultural implements, buggies, steam engines, newspapers, books, statuary, carving, paintings, the management of drug stores and banks, has not been trodden without contact with thorns and thistles. While we take pride in what we exhibit as a result of our independent efforts, we do not for a moment for get that our part in this exhibition would fall far short of your expectations but for the constant help that has come to our educational life, not only from the Southern States, but especially from Northern philanthropists, who have made their gifts a constant stream of blessing and encouragement. The wisest among my race understand that the agitation of questions of social equality is the extremest folly, and that progress in the enjoyment of all the privi leges that will come to us must be the result of severe and constant struggle rather than of artificial foreing. No race that has anything to contribute to the markets of the world is long in any degree ostracized. It is important and right that all privileges of the law be ours, but it is vastly more important that we be prepared for the exercise of these privileges. The opportunity to earn a dollar in a factory just now is worth infinitely more than the opportunity to spend a dollar in an opera house. In conclusion, may I repeat that nothing in thirty years has given us more hope and encouragement and drawn us so near to you of the white race as this opportunity offered by the Exposition? And here bending, as it were, over the altar that represents the results of the struggles of your race and mine, both starting practically empty handed three decades ago, I pledge that in your effort to work out the great and intricate problem which God has laid at the doors of the South, you shall have at all times the patient, sympathetic help of my race; only let this be constantly in mind, that while from representations in these buildings of the product of field, of forest, of mine, of factory, letters, and art much good will come, yet far above and beyond material benefits will be that higher good that, let us pray God, will come in a blotting out of sectional differences and racial animosities and suspi cions, in a determination to administer absolute justice, in a willing obedience among all classes to the mandates of the law. This, this coupled with our material prosperity, will bring into our beloved South a new heaven and a new earth. CHAPTER XLIV. ENGLISH METHODS OF TEACHING AMERICAN HISTORY. It is of interest for us to know how the history of the American Revolution is taught among other English-speaking peoples, especially in Great Britain. Extracts are presented herewith from twenty-four books of English history used in the schools of the lower grades, usually from the second to the seventh standard. These histories were collected by Mr. Samuel Plimsoll, late M. P. for Derby, and well known for his philanthropic efforts in behalf of sailors. He was instrumental in securing the passage of laws (1871, 1873, 1875, and 1876) regulating the loading of vessels, and in recognition of these services, the point beyond which certain boats can not be legally loaded is known in all British ports as "Plimsoll's line." Mr. Plimsoll has recently entered upon a serious effort to promote good feeling between the United States and England, and in pursuance of this purpose has begun an inquiry into the method and spirit of history teaching in the elementary schools of the two countries. The English school histories here considered were collected without any discrimination as to those that were favorable or unfavorable, and no effort to sift them has been made in this compilation. The frequent repetition in almost the same words will be found to be due to the fact that extracts are sometimes made from the successive volumes of the same series. [From Our Kings and Queens: A reading book in history. Book IV. London. Thomas Nelson & Sons. 1893. 169. pp. 239. The Royal England Readers Scries.] A quarrel now began between our colonies in America and the Government at home. An attempt was made to force the Americans to pay taxes on tea and other articles carried into the country. This they refused to do. When several ships, containing taxed tea sent from England, arrived in Boston Harbor, some of the people, dressed as red Indians, went on board and threw it into the water. The Government sent out soldiers to force the Americans to pay taxes, and war began which went on for hearly eight years. The Americans raised an army to defend themselves. Their leader was George Washington. Then they declared themselves independent of Great Britain, and formed a union of thirteen States under the name of the United States of America. In 1783 the war ended and a treaty was made, in which Great Britain had to agree that the United States should be a separate country. Since then the colonists, or Americans, have governed themselves. They have no king or queen at their head. Instead of a monarch they choose one of their chief men, who is called the President, to be at the head of the Government. The first President was George Washington. [From the United Kingdom. James I to date. Book VI. London. Thomas Nelson & Sons. 1892. 16. pp. 263. The Royal England Readers Series.] The seven years' war left North America in British hands. Now began a quarrel with our American colonies which caused most of them to separate from the mother country. The Government at home claimed the right of taxing them without their permission. The late war had cost a great deal of money, and as much of it had been spent on behalf of the colonies, Grenville thought that they ought to help to pay it. A stamp act was passed, by means of which he hoped to raise what he wanted in America. The Americans answered that they were willing to give money of their own free will, but that they would not be forced to pay taxes which they had no share in levying, as they had no members in the British Parliament. Grenville resigned and the stamp act was repealed. Pitt, who was now Earl of Chatham, had warned the Government against the stamp act, and told them what would Lappen. He was strongly against taxing the colonists at all; but the ministers, who had not yet learned wisdom, placed new taxes on tea, lead, glass, and other things which were sent to America. This soon made matters much worse. Chatham left the ministry, and two years after the Duke of Grafton gave way to Lord North. It was not because the tax was large that the Americans were unwilling to pay it, for it was very small, but because they considered that the home Government had no right to tax them at all. The King was more to blame than any of his ministers. He would not give way in what he thought was his right as Sovereign of the coloChatham said to the Lords that it was folly to force taxes in the face of a continent in arms. Burke bade the Commons take care lest they broke that tie of kindred blood which, light as air, though strong as iron, bound the colonies to the mother land. nies. * * It was now ten years since the passing and withdrawing of the stamp act. Everything had been tried to bring about a settlement, but the foolishness of the King made all efforts vain. War began and went on for nearly eight years. The King found that he could get Lord North to do much as he wished, and so he kept him in power during the whole American war. The first fighting took place at Lexington. near Boston, between a few British soldiers and some American riflemen. The colo nists, who were used to shooting deer in the forests, soon proved their skill, and they now shot down men with deadly aim. The British lost more than twice as many men as the Americans. The Americans next besieged the British under General Gage in Boston, and a battle took place on Bunker Hill near the town, where the Americans had thrown up carthworks. They were forced to retreat, but they did not lose heart. They now saw that they could hold their own when they met the best British troops on equal terms. The famous George Washington now took command of the American Army. He had done good service for the British in their struggle with the French in the seven years' war. Now he had but one thought, one desire, and that was to secure the freedom of his country. "First in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen" was said of him. He was in favor of union with Great Britain till he saw that it was no longer possible. * * For the third campaign help in men and money was sent by France to the Ameri cans. A victory at the Brandywine River and the capture of Philadelphia, raised hopes in Britain that the Americans would be forced to yield. A great disaster changed these hopes into fears. General Burgoyne, who was marching from Canada to join Howe at New York, was surrounded at Saratoga, on the Hudson River, and forced to surrender. This was the turning point of the war in favor of the Ameri cans. Howe was now succeeded by Sir Henry Clinton, who abandoned the city of Philadelphia, in which the British army had passed the winter. It was during this year that Chatham, while speaking in spite of age and illness against a proposal to grant independence to the colonies, fell in a fit on the floor of the House of Lords, and was carried to bed, from which he never rose. During the fifth campaign event of importance took place. In this year [1780] Sir Henry Clinton took Charleston. Arnold, who commanded a fort on the Hudson River, deserted, and became a general in the British service. Major André, who had arranged the affair, being taken by the Americans, was hanged as a spy by the orders of Washington, although many tried to turn the American leader from his stern purpose. During the seventh campaign Lord Cornwallis was shut up in Yorktown, and forced to surrender with по 7,000 men. This was the decisive blow; for although the war went on for another campaign, the American colonies were now really severed from the British Empire. By the treaty of Versailles the thirteen United States of America were declared to be free. They became a republic, and chose George Washington as their first President. [From The Hanoverian Period. Book VII. T. Nelson & Sons. London. 1895. 120. pp. 288. The Royal English History Readers Series.] The stamp act, passed in 1765, caused a quarrel with our American colonies, which ended in their separation from the mother country. The Government at home claimed the right of taxing them without their permission. The late war had cost a large sum of money, and as much of it had been spent on behalf of the colonies, Grenville thought that they ought to help to pay the bill. A stamp act was therefore passed, by means of which he hoped to raise the amount he wanted from America. This act required that all legal documents, such as deeds, wills, notes, and receipts, should be written on paper bearing Government stamps, for which a payment was required. The Americans answered that they were willing to give money of their own free will, but that they would not be forced to pay taxes which they had no share in levying, as they sent no members to the British Parliament. Grenville resigned, and his successor, the Marquis of Rockingham, repealed the stamp act. New taxes were imposed on the American colonists in 1767. Pitt, who was now Earl of Chatham, had warned the Government against the stamp act, and told them what would happen. He was strongly against taxing the colonists at all; but the ministers, led by the Duke of Grafton, prime minister, and Charles Townshend, chancellor of the exchequer, had not yet learned wisdom. They therefore imposed new taxes on tea, lead, glass, and other things which were sent to America. Chatham left the ministry, and two years later the Duke of Grafton gave way to Lord North. It was not because the taxes were large that the Americans refused to pay them, for they were very small, but because the colonists considered that the home Government had no right to tax them at all. The King was more to blame than any of his ministers. He would not give way in what he thought was his right as Sovereign of the colonies. The "Boston Tea Party," as it is called, brought matters to a crisis. In December, 1773, ships arrived in Boston harbor with cargoes of taxed tea, upon which a number of men dressed like Indians went on board and emptied 312 chests of tea into the water. As a punishment, the Government ordered the port of Boston to be closed. The object of this was to ruin the Boston merchants by preventing the landing of goods there. In the following year twelve men, chosen from each of twelve States (to which a thirteenth was afterwards added), met in congress at Philadelphia, and sent an address to the King, asking him to withdraw the taxes; but the King refused. Chatham (Pitt) said to the lords that it was folly to force taxes in the face of a continent in arms. Edmund Burke bade the Commons take care lest they broke that tie of kindred blood which, light as air, though strong as iron, bound the colonies to the motherland. The American war of Independence was now fought out to the bitter end. It was ten years since the passing and withdrawing of the stamp act. Everything had been tried to bring about a settlement, but the foolishness of the King had made all efforts vain. War began, and went on for nearly eight years. The King found that he could get Lord North to do much as he wished, and so he kept him in power during the whole American war. The first campaign began in 1775 at Lexington, near Boston, between a few British soldiers and some American riflemen. The colonists, who were used to shooting deer in the forests, soon proved their skill, and they now shot down men with deadly aim. The British lost more than twice as many men as the Americans. The Americans next besieged the British under General Gage in Boston, and a battle took place on Bunker Hill, near the town, where the Americans had thrown up earthworks. They were forced to retreat, but they did not lose heart. They now saw that they could hold their own when they met the best British troops on equal terms. George Washington was made commander |