Life of African Americans in the period after the civil war was
stimulatingly difficult. Among the host of challenges were the Black codes
which made their life no better than it was before the civil war. The Congress
promised to emancipate African Americans from slavery, but it appeared as if
blacks were still deprived of their basic rights. They still did not achieve the
status equal to that of the whites. During this time of political unrest two
prominent African American spokespersons, Booker T. Washington and
W.E.B Du bois arose and put forward their views about how this racial
conflict could be ended and the blacks and whites could be united. They both
strived real hard to help blacks achieve recognition of the civil and political
promised by the fourteenth and fifteenth amendments to the Constitution.
They even wanted blacks to rise out of poverty. Although their final goals
were the same, the route that they took to it differed drastically. Du Bois
could be categorized as a person who was more liberal while Booker T.
Washington chose to take the more conservative path. Knowing the
differences between Washington's and W.E.B Du Bois's ideas as an African
American living in the postwar south, I would follow Du Bois as his views
were more satisfying and would prove to be a more effective way to pursue
the goals of achieving recognition of the civil and political rights promised by
the fourteenth and fifteenth amendments and also to life the blacks out
Booker T. Washington and W.E.B Du Bois were people with conflicting
personalities. Washington's approach was more moderate as he seemed to
be averse to rapid change. He believed in order for blacks to gain complete
respect from the whites, they would have to live a life quite similar to the
one they led in the period before the civil war. They would have to perform
the same menial tasks. He believed that in ...