How reliable is Washington's account?

This first chapter introduces a number of themes, such as responsibility, the power of hard work, and the importance of education. Recalling that at no point in his childhood did he have the time to play, Washington begins to lay the groundwork for one of the book's primary messages - that industrial labor and education are the best means to advancement. Emphasizing the relative poverty of his young life enhances the power of his rags-to-riches story, in which education and rigorous manual labor eventually lead to great success.

It is likely that Washington was influenced by Frederick Douglass's autobiography, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, as there are many similarities between the opening paragraphs of both texts. Douglass, an abolitionist leader, was arguably the most famous African-American at the time. Washington may have drawn from Douglass's work as a way to emulate a role model or, perhaps, to draw parallels between himself and the famous leader for readers familiar with both of their books.

This chapter also introduces Washington's accommodationist tone, used to make crucial overtures to his white audience. While he condemns the institution of slavery, he also makes it clear that none of his race hold any animus towards their former masters and even goes so far as to suggest that blacks benefited nearly as much from slavery as whites. He shares specific examples of slaves or former slaves taking care of their former masters and making good on debts far beyond the ordinary, implying that integrating the former slave into American society will surely yield a stronger union. Conspicuously absent are any scenes which might indicate potential trouble between the races, such as a whipping scene he included in an earlier autobiography distributed primarily among less literate readers.

It is likely that Washington uses this rhetorical technique to assuage feelings of guilt among whites who might support his cause. Some critics have even argued that Washington's memoir is more fiction than autobiography, with his primary purpose to inspire white support and philanthropy. Keenly aware of the realities of race relations in a time of upheaval and social change, Washington may also be appealing to the better nature of his audience in the hopes that writing something can in some way make it true.