[1]
[Footnote 1: Douglass, _The Life and Times_, p. 250.]
Vocational education, Douglass thought, would disprove the so-called
mental inferiority of the Negroes. He believed that the blacks should
show by action that they were equal to the whites rather than depend
on the defense of friends who based their arguments not on facts but
on certain admitted principles. Believing in the mechanical genius of
the Negroes he hoped that in the establishment of this institution
they would have an opportunity for development. In it he saw a benefit
not only to the free colored people of the North, but also to the
slaves. The strongest argument used by the slaveholder in defense of
his precious institution was the low condition of the free people of
color of the North. Remove this excuse by elevating them and you
will hasten the liberation of the slaves. The best refutation of
the proslavery argument is the "presentation of an industrious,
enterprising, thrifty, and intelligent free black population."[1] An
element of this kind, he believed, would rise under the fostering care
of vocational teachers.
[Footnote 1: Douglass, _The Life and Times of_, p.
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