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Analysis Of What To The Slave Is The Fourth Of July

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Analysis Of What To The Slave Is The Fourth Of July
“What to the Slave, is the Fourth of July” is a powerful testament of American hypocrisy. To read—let alone be present while the speech was delivered—would bring an overwhelming surge of shame and embarrassment of my actions (i.e. partaking in the active slave trade or lack of abolitionist support). Though many verses from this work are undeniably gut wrenching to the audience, the most thought provoking and life altering was when Douglass stated plainly, “the sunlight that brought life and healing to you, has brought stripes and death to me. This Fourth of July is yours, not mine.”

Though I believe there would be a vast range of reactions, differing from Southern to Northern opinion, I had to take a step back and wonder why Douglass still
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