<Tr> <Td> </Td> <Td> 1895 Atlanta Exposition Speech The opening of Booker T. Washington's speech to the Cotton States and International Exposition </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td_colspan="2"> Problems playing this file? See media help . </Td> </Tr> <P> The Cotton States and International Exposition Speech was an address on the topic of race relations given by Booker T. Washington on September 18, 1895 . The speech laid the foundation for the Atlanta compromise, an agreement between African - American leaders and Southern white leaders in which Southern blacks would work meekly and submit to white political rule, while Southern whites guaranteed that blacks would receive basic education and due process of law . </P> <P> The speech, presented before a predominantly white audience at the Cotton States and International Exposition (the site of today's Piedmont Park) in Atlanta, Georgia, has been recognized as one of the most important and influential speeches in American history . The speech was preceded by the reading of a dedicatory ode written by Frank Lebby Stanton . </P>

What was the purpose of the atlanta exposition address
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