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Rhetorical Analysis Of What To The Fourth Of July

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America has continued to grow as a nation in many ways: economically, technologically, idealistically, etc.; however, there is an area that still needs improvement. Othering is a term that describes exactly what America needs to improve on. Othering is when a majority group view or treat minorities as inferior and alienates them from higher social classes. America was built on the backbone of othering, yet we are guilty of it ourselves. Although we have grown much, discrimination has had its roots in our history and continues to remain as we age. One of the most prominent examples of othering in American history is slavery. Slavery legally stood in America for 245 years is one of the most extreme forms of othering that America participated in. Slavery suggested that people of different ethnicity did not deserve rights and were only good to serve the white man. Frederick Douglass is one of the most famous advocates against slavery and often spoke as a leader for the …show more content…

In his speech, “What to a Slave is the Fourth of July?,” Douglass creates a strong piece through structure, rhetoric, carefully crafted arguments. In the first section of his speech, Douglass

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Imagine you were a slave in the 1850’s, and were asked to celebrate the Fourth of July, despite the fact that you still didn’t have your own freedom. Would you do it? Frederick Douglass stands up to this question, when he gives his, “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July”, speech in 1852. Douglass is not only speaking to a crowd of abolitionists, but also a crowd filled with anti abolitionists. Douglass is speaking, to share his bold argument on this topic, and support anti slavery.

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