Up from Slavery, Chapter 2 summary

Chapter 2 of 17 · 17 min to read the chapter

In Chapter 2, Booker Taliaferro Washington describes his family's move to Malden after freedom and his struggle to obtain schooling while working in salt furnaces and a coal mine. His mother's support helps him pursue reading, while his experiences prompt reflections on names, racial barriers, family history, and achievement through overcoming obstacles.

What happens

Freed people change names and leave plantations, while Booker's family travels to join his stepfather in Malden.
Booker works at a salt furnace, recognizes the number 18, and begins learning the alphabet with a book his mother obtains.
The Black community hires a teacher, but Booker's stepfather initially keeps him working, so he arranges night lessons.
Booker gains limited daytime schooling, advances the furnace clock to arrive punctually, receives a homemade cap, and adopts Washington as his surname.
Daytime schooling ends, night lessons continue, and Booker describes his mother's adoption of James B. Washington and his own dangerous coal-mine work.
Booker considers unequal racial opportunities and argues that achievement should be measured against obstacles rather than social position.