Rhetorical Analysis Of July Fourth Of A Negro

Essay # 2 Frederick Douglass’ July Fourth of a Negro
Equality is a moral value that people considered the best trait to have, but what does it mean to other people? The honorary Frederick Douglass, an orator and abolitionist spoke about what the Fourth of July means for the black people in America. He addresses what the founding fathers did for the country and America’s attitudes towards slavery. July Fourth of A Negro was one of Douglass’ most famous speeches. The speech was given on July 5th, 1852 in Rochester, New York. The premise of the speech was his refusal to celebrate the 4th of July until all slaves were freed because freedom is defined when everyone is free, not just some people. As a result, it forms questions from the legendary

He considers that both democracy and freedom is both a joke and a contradiction. In his perspective, freedom and democracy isn’t given nor granted to everyone even if it’s promoted. Douglass concludes back on a positive note. He believes that anti-slavery views will eventually win over the people for slavery because many countries were over slavery in the middle 19th century. He argues that the brutalities of slavery can’t be hidden anymore.
After reading this speech, Frederick Douglass defines the United States as “hypocritical”. This is evident because Douglass asks a rhetorical question that states "Are the great principles of political freedom and of natural justice, embodied in that Declaration of Independence extended to us blacks? Douglass thinks that America is hypocritical because the African Americans were not free when the nation was based on freedom. In a way, Frederick Douglass challenges the “all men are created equal” quote from Jefferson because he realizes that there were no equal rights to blacks even before, during and after

With equality, this includes freedom, democracy and equal rights to all people no matter what race, gender or class they fall on. Unfortunately, the rise of slavery made it apparent that the “all men are created equal” didn’t mean anything among African Americans based on their unequal treatments. Like we discussed in class, slavery created tension between the North and South especially when the Second Middle Passage took in effect. The Second Middle passage was a horrifying event and the slaves were treated like cargo on the ships for months on their way to America. It was important because millions of African Americans were forced to leave their families, transported on ships to get beaten, face physical and mental abuse and sold alive or dead. In a way, this lead to dehumanization among black people because of the harsh treatments during the slave