Niagara Movement

Question

The Niagara Movement was formed by W.E.B. Du Bois and William Monroe Trotter in 1905, and it evolved into the NAACP in 1909. Why did the Niagara Movement choose to publish a manifesto and why was that a deliberate rhetorical strategy? Next, discuss how “The Niagara Movement’s Declaration of Principles” attempts to revise many of the principles that Booker T. Washington outlined in his influential “Atlanta Exposition Address” 10 years earlier. Which of the Niagara Movement’s principles go beyond the concerns raised in Washington’s 1895 speech? Which, if any, are still aspirational goals today? Why?

 

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Answer 1

Why did the Niagara Movement choose to publish a manifesto and why was that a deliberate rhetorical strategy?

To answer, you first have to understand what a manifesto is. By definition, a manifesto is "a public declaration of policy and aims, especially one issued before an election by a political party or candidate." (Oxford Languages). With this definition, we can see that this rhetorical device was used to support the Niagara Movement as more than a thought, but an actual movement undergirded by well thought out aims and policies. It allowed the Niagara Movement to be seen as an official source for policies in the support of the upward movement of African Americans.

Discuss how “The Niagara Movement’s Declaration of Principles” attempts to revise many of the principles that Booker T. Washington outlined in his influential “Atlanta Exposition Address” 10 years earlier.

Du Bois and Washington have a well documented opposition of thought about the future state of African Americans. Washington thought that African Americans should not fight for integration, but rather focus their progress through agriculture and the gradual acceptance from White Americans. "The Niagara Movement's Declaration of Principles" is the antithesis of Washington's stance; whereby they believed that education and agitation against discrimination were key points in creating upward mobility for African Americans.

Which of the Niagara Movement’s principles go beyond the concerns raised in Washington’s 1895 speech?

Protest, the 10th principle, goes above and beyond the concerns raised in Washington's 1895 speech. Washington did not believe in protesting, but rather a more passive approach to progress. Du Bois believed that there could be no progress without protest; protest against the socio - economic of a post - enslaved people and protest against the stereotype of the docile nature of Black people.

Which, if any, are still aspirational goals today? Why?

is subjectivity in this question dependent on how the writer views the current state of African Americans. One could argue that all of these principles have transmuted into current problems. Of course, there is no longer segregation public transportation, as seen in the Movement's concern with Jim Crow cars, so that idea is antiquated. But we do see segregation in regards to contemporary access to healthcare and education.