Washington was born a slave on a plantation in Franklin County, Virginia where his mother was a cook. His childhood on the plantation was miserable and hard; he never had time to be a child as work on the plantation was a lifestyle that was imposed on him as a slave. Washington never knew his father, nor did he play a fatherly role in his life. He never had anything against his unknown father because he didn't want just a biological father but a mental one; he was blessed to meet Armstrong who was his role model and a mental father later in his life while he was in school. He was a very strong and brave child who didn't judge the political situation at the time; he never had a self pity on himself but on the contrary saw the slaves as a “victim…show more content… He also embraced the ideology of the study of the fundamental nature of work, reality, and utilitarian education stressed by Armstrong. Armstrong was Washington’s role model. Washington's journey to Hampton was a big lesson to everyone. It showed that despite your color or race, persistence and perseverance are a key to success. Samuel Chapman Armstrong taught Washington marketable skills in Hampton. Armstrong founded Hampton Normal and Agricultural Institute where he learned classroom education; a practical knowledge, thrift, industrial, marketable and self supporting education. He was the most influential person in Washington's life. Armstrong was a father figure and an inspiration to Washington. Washington appreciated his life in Hampton; the opportunity he had there took him into a different world. He saw how Armstrong was so devoted to the students in Hampton and was proud of his achievement; he said Armstrong was a Christlike body of a man (96). He also learned from Miss Mackie who came from one of the oldest and cultured families in Hampton. She helped clean the school window panes and she was a woman with a good education and social standing and did the services in Hampton at no cost. People that worked in Hampton were great people who derived joy in teaching and impacting the lives of the