Question

Atlanta Compromise
“As we have proved our loyalty to you in the past, in nursing your children, watching by the sick-bed of your mothers and fathers, and often following them with tear-dimmed eyes to their graves, so in the future, in our humble way, we shall stand by you with a devotion that no foreigner 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…. 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 privileges that will come to us must be the result of severe and constant struggle rather than of artificial forcing.”
- from "The Atlanta Compromise Speech," Booker T. Washington, September 18, 1895
Question 1
Which of these BEST describes the point of Washington's speech in this excerpt?
Responses
A African Americans must demand immediate social equality.African Americans must demand immediate social equality.
B African Americans must be patient and let change come gradually.African Americans must be patient and let change come gradually.
C African Americans can only prosper once "separate but equal" policies end.African Americans can only prosper once "separate but equal" policies end.

D African Americans need greater government-funded job training to improve their economic situations.African Americans need greater government-funded job training to improve their economic situations.
Question 2
Which of these took place CLOSEST to the Washington's speech?
Responses
A the passage of the Voting Rights Actthe passage of the Voting Rights Act

B the end of the period of Reconstructionthe end of the period of Reconstruction
C the decision in the case of Plessy v. Fergusonthe decision in the case of Plessy v. Ferguson
D the decision in the case of Brown v. Board of Education

Answer 1

Question 1 — B. African Americans must be patient and let change come gradually.
- Washington advocates accommodation, economic progress, and avoiding agitation for immediate social equality.

Question 2 — C. the decision in the case of Plessy v. Ferguson.
- Plessy (1896) occurred just after Washington’s 1895 speech and is the closest event chronologically.