Washington describes this term as meaning, learning the necessities to become a valuable member of society as well and being able to apply this knowledge to industrial business.
As the book continues, Booker T. Washington writes that in order to understand the stress he applies to industrial education, the reader must "review the condition of affairs at the present time in the Southern States."
Their strength, knowledge, and perseverance has been tested by the white people that have run their lives for the longest time.
In The Future of an American Negro, Booker writes that the university is, "placing men and women of intelligence, religion, modesty, conscience, and skill in every community in the South."
He reminds the reader that North has fewer employment option for black people which perpetuates the stress on the morals of an African-American.