W.E.B. Du Bois was one of the most influential civil rights leaders of American History. Du Bois was one of the founding fathers of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. He fought for women's rights, including their right to vote. He was a founder of the world peace council and a diligent fighter against the cold war. He has impacted virtually every civil rights fighter and helped to put an end to the belief in social Darwinism. His scientific discoveries and predictions on the race issue are astounding. In this essay I will give a brief biography, talk about the times that he lived in, and discuss the significance of his irreplaceable work.

William Edward Burghardt Du Bois was born on February 23, 1868 to Alfred and Mary Du Bois in Great Barrington, Massachusetts (a predominantly black community). Du Bois finished high school early and went to Fisk University where he received his baccalaureate degree, then continued with his studies at the University of Berlin and ultimately at Harvard where he received his doctoral degree and became the first African-American to do so. Du Bois worked as a professor at Wilberforce University, t

Du Bois was not the only African-American leader of his time. Booker T. Washington played a historic role in the fight for civil equality. Washington favored commercial success and played down confrontational questions. He believed that the African-American community needed to prosper economically before questioning issues such as segregation and Black codes. Du Bois disagreed completely with Washington's views. Du Bois said that Washington "accepted the alleged inferiority of the Negro race (pg. 223, Painter)." Du Bois focused more on protest and organized movements. However, he was without a doubt, one of the leading intellectuals of his time. According to Du Bois, "The problem of the twentieth century is the problem of the color-line,--the relation of the darker to the lighter races of men in Asia and Africa, in America and the islands of the sea (pg. 168, Painter)." This statement clearly reflects Americas expansionist beliefs that occurred during the Spanish-American war that led to the invasions in the Philippines, Cuba, and Puerto Rico. During World War I, Du Bois was still working for the NAACP. Du Bois was assigned to cover the treatment of black troops in France. In France he found a series of American documents that stated that the US government deliberately mistreated black troops and had asked the French to adopt the same principles. As a result he organized a Pan-African Congress in Paris to deal with the issues at hand. Upon hearing this, the US government refused to allow numerous representatives to travel to Paris. Du Bois helped to show the seriousness of

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