UP FROM SLAVERY

Up From Slavery is an autobiography, was written by Booker T. Washington. He was born a slave on a plantation, owned by James Burroughs, in Franklin Country, Virginia, the time was spring 1856. The Burroughses were not especially cruel, but his life began in miserable surroundings. He lived in a typical log cabin with his mother, Jane, his brother, John, who is several year older than he is, his half sister, Amanda. As for his father, he didn't even know his name. His life's early years, which were spent in the little cabin, were not very different from those of thousands of other slaves. Nor did them have any playtime. Most of his time was spent cleaning the yards, carrying water to the men in the fields, or once a week bringing corn to the mill, for grinding. He had no schooling. Several times he carried the books of one of his young mistresses as far as the school house door. He felt that getting into a schoolhouse and studying in this way must be like getting into Heaven.
Slaves had only a first name or a first name combined with their owner's last name. His mother's husband, Washington Ferguson, who was Amanda's father and the stepfather of John and him, and had belonged to a different owner than his mother. He had seen him there perhaps once a year, around Christmas time.
In my opinion, this book would like to tell about slave's suffering. Most slaves were black people. I am interested in African American people's histories because they have different ways to develop their life. I admire a lot of genius African Americans, for example I heard about Blue music was created by African Americans who were slaves.