Summary Of What To The Slave Is The Fourth Of July

The fourth of July and slaves really don’t mix. Frederick douglass was born as a slave and he does a speech on the fourth of july and they are thinking that he is going to give a whora speech but he dont do that it 's the complete opposite of what they thought. In frederick douglass, Hypocrisy of American Slavery he attacks the hypocrisy of a nation celebrating freedom and independence with speeches, parades and platitudes, while, within its borders, nearly four million humans were being kept as slaves. Overall douglass has explained his speech through emotional,ethical,logical appeal and through rhetorical questions.

Frederick Douglass was born a slave in 1817, but soon became one of the biggest names in all of history. By 1838, Frederick Douglass was able to escape slavery and go up North. The citizens of Rochester, New York, where Douglass settled in, asked him to give a speech to celebrate the Fourth of July. He agreed, however, instead of his speech being about celebrating freedom, he spoke about all the hypocrisy being held in the United States. The states represented freedom, and independence, yet there were millions of people being forced into a life of hard labor and no pay, slaves.

Many people take things for granted. Maybe because they have it all and dont need to worry about anything. However there are some people who have it all but still care for those who don 't. In 1852, Frederick Douglas spoke to the citizens of Rochester, New York, about slavery in his speech, “Hypocrisy of American Slavery”. In his speech, he explains to the white citizens who are celebrating freedom during the fourth of july are wrong to celebrate because half the population is enslaved. Through his use of logical appeal, ethical appeal and antithesis, he illustrates that those who are celebrating freedom must take action for the slavery of half the American population.

An idea that was not well liked in the United States. It was considered radical. In “What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?” Frederick Douglass tried not only to convince people of the wrongfulness of slavery but also to change people's minds about the abilities and intelligence of African Americans. Most white Americans believed that African Americans were inferior, even went as far to think of them as less human.

Frederick Douglass’s speech “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July”, discusses the irony of celebrating the freedom that slaves cannot enjoy. He delivered the speech in 1853, about a decade before the Emancipation Proclamation, to an anti-slavery society. He criticizes America and its privileged citizens for its selective freedom, where only a few people inherit the riches of the past, and how American slaves are not granted the same independence as their white counterparts. Celebration of this day, to Douglass, is “America [being] false to the past, false to the present, and… false to the future” (74). Seeing how people are content with the achievements of the past and allowing them to define the future while ignoring the injustice of his time, Douglass felt the need to cast off this attitude and express exactly how he views slavery.

Many people when they hear the words “Fourth of July” they think about fireworks, cookouts, and sparklers! During the 1850’s it is a day that reminded many of the horrors and injustices in the world. On July 4, 1852 Frederick Douglass, a former American slave and an abolitionist leader, spoke in Rochester, New York about the affectation of celebrating independence. In his speech, “The Hypocrisy of American Slavery” he claims celebrating independence when there are slaves widespread is unethical. To convince the reader of his claim he uses rhetorical questions, word choice and anthesis in hopes to shed light and spark action on the wrongful situation.

Black abolitionists wanted whites to see blacks as equal and fellow human beings, they also made the people who thought white supremacy was a good thing look like complete idiots when they countered them in intellectual arguments. The greatest speech about American freedom and American slavery was presented by Frederick Douglass in 1852, in Rochester, New York. He conveyed that to a slave, the celebration of the Fourth of July proves how hypocritical we are as a nation. We declare our commitment to liberty and yet everyday we perform “practices more shocking and bloody” than any other nation.

Frederick Douglass on July 4th ,1852 gave a speech titled “ What To The American Slave Is Your Fourth of July?” Douglass gave this speech in Rochester,Ny in front of a crowd of white Americans. Throughout his speech he questions the audience a lot. He wants them to see and understand the viewpoint of a black slave. Douglass does not consider the fourth of July a day to celebrate instead he says “This fourth of July is yours, not mine” “You may rejoice, I must mourn.”

Louisiana in the 1800s was riddled with slavery, and it was necessary to push an image into popularity in order to hide the immorality of the slave owner’s actions. This is explored in Desiree’s Baby by Kate Chopin. In her story, she writes about Armand’s emotions toward Désirée, “Moreover he no longer loved her, because of the unconscious injury she had brought upon his home and his name” (Chopin, 3). As a social elite, the need to hold his status and keep his family in favor of others had Armand ostracizing his love for Désirée. As was expected of the time, plantation owner’s had to broadcast certain opinions about people of color.

Another principle that went along with this, was the long held belief that black slaves were inherently inferior to whites. Slaves had to be dehumanized for the slaveowners to rationalize what they were doing, and therefore, as is commonly known, slave brutality was severe. The thought of emancipation, that slaves would no longer be suppressed in the South lead to fear for uprising, vengeance, etc. on the then former slave owners. These uprisings had happened before and the southern slave owners were terrified of what would happen if they weren't being suppressed.

They were now free from slavery, but were homeless. Some brutally lost their lives because black voices were prohibited in the south. Regardless of the ruthless and dehumanizing conditions of the south, many blacks opposed to moving to the north. E.W. Cooke wrote a letter to The Montgomery Advertiser, he oppose to blacks moving to the north. Cooke protest that blacks were not ready for the north, he felt they were incapable to be on the level of northerners because they were better educated than people in the south.

Frederick Douglass’ Goals Throughout the history of the United States the civil war has divided the country and brought racism. The nation was badly wounded emotionally and socially after the civil war. Before the civil war had begun, many people had owned slaves and many wanted to abolish slavery. Frederick Douglass helped with the abolishment of slavery by creating a speech on July 5, 1852 named, from What to the Slave is the Fourth of July.

Analysis of “Letter from A Birmingham Jail.” “Actually, time itself is neutral; it can be used either destructively or constructively” (MLK 5). On April 12th, 1963 eight Alabama Clergymen made a public statement regarding Martin Luther King, Jr.’s protests in Birmingham. They referred to the protests as unwise, untimely, and as an act to precipitate violence. They ask for the Negro community to withdraw support from the protests, stating that they are counterproductive to creating peace in Birmingham.

A Dream Postponed Frederick Douglass was an African American public speaker from Maryland who escaped from slavery. He was born a slave, however, despite his limited abilities to receive an education, he managed to learn to read and write. When he turned 21, he escaped slavery and fled to Massachusetts. In 1852, Douglass gave a speech called, “What to a Slave is the Fourth of July?” as he was gathered around by hundreds of abolitionists in Rochester, New York.