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Meaning Of The July Fourth For The Negro By Frederick Douglass

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A Relentless Fight for Freedom for all: A Response to the Meaning of the July Fourth for the Negro In his July 5th, 1852 speech, “The Meaning of the July Fourth for the Negro”, Frederick Douglass addresses the issue of American Slavery, a provocative stumbling block in American history. In the opening segment, Douglass gracefully conveys to his audience, a great sense of admiration of respect for the Founding Fathers of the United States, the original signers responsible for the Declaration of Independence. This powerful document was initially constructed in part to be regarded and abided by as the statement of freedom and liberty to all citizens in America. Although Douglass appears to have faith in in the Declaration of Independence and …show more content…

Douglass points to the vast unwillingness from the group of whites that refuses to fully perceive and accept African-Americans as deserving and equal citizens of the nation. Based on his personal experiences as a slave, Douglass is abundantly aware that the battle to abolish slavery is not an easy task. For the first twenty years of his life, he witnessed firsthand the abject cruelty of that institution in our country. Tactfully, Douglass seizes this opportunity to publicly highlight the unmerited and coarse differences in the treatment between the whites as opposed to the blacks living in the United States during this time period. He makes a “powerful testaments to the hypocrisy, bigotry and inhumanity of slavery” (Bunch 1). In doing so, Douglas relentlessly moves to promote equality …show more content…

Douglass expresses to his spectators, while they dwell in the luxurious ability to partake in this joyous celebration of freedom for a nation, not everyone in that nation is sharing in the celebration. In The Meaning of July Fourth for the Negro, he writes “The blessings in which you, this day, rejoice, are not enjoyed in common. The rich inheritance of justice, liberty, prosperity and independence bequeathed by your fathers, is shared by you and not by me. This Fourth of July is yours, not mine. You may rejoice, I must mourn” (Douglass 1). One of the strategies Douglass uses to convince his audience slavery should be abolished is by “calling out American hypocrisy in his Fourth of July oration” (Mercieca 1). He shames them with no remorse. He speaks on the opposite treatments that enable whites to live in a state of freedom and liberty, while the blacks are living in a state of bondage. As the audience listens, he reminds them, there are men, women and children still held hostages to the chains of

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