Booker T. Washington, like Ayn Rand, would not “sacrifice a greater value to a lesser one.” (Atlas Shrugged p. 44) He would not ask of his people one measure of hardship that he had not already endured and continued to endure for their sake. His highest moral cause was that of life, of setting the captive free to live according to his nature. The cause of Christ, the cause of the Reformation (foremost the work ethic taught him by Mrs. Ruffner), and the cause of his namesake; the irrefutable truths that built the country that proclaimed “all men were created equal,” and in which Washington recognized the Providence of God.
There are special reasons why we should have a part in the Jamestown Exposition. It was near this spot, nearly three hundred years ago, that the first representatives of our race were brought into America. It is especially fitting, therefore, that since here we entered slavery that on the same spot we should show results both in slavery and in freedom. When our first representatives landed here, we were only 20 in number, now there are nearly ten millions; when our first representatives landed here we had no uniform language, now we speak the English tongue. For the most part, we were pagan, now, we profess Christianity. (Washington Papers Vol. 9 321-322)