Preview

Analysis Of What To The Slave Is The Fourth Of July

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
185 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
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
Continue Reading
View Writing Issues

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Douglass 'Fortunate Reversals' Speech Analysis
    • 622 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Douglass 'Fortunate Reversals' Speech Analysis

    In his speech, which was later published as The Meaning of July Fourth for the Negro Frederick Douglass explores the injustices that plagued the African-American community during the time period in which he lived. Douglass questioned, “Are the great principles of political freedom and of natural justice, embodied in that Declaration of Independence, extended to us?” These principles, “that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness” were not granted to the African-American population. In regards to the Fourth of July, Douglass stated that the white Americans “shouts of liberty and equality, hollow mockery”. Therefore, through…

    • 622 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    What To The Slave Is The Fourth Of July Analysis
    • 489 Words
    • 2 Pages

    What To The Slave Is The Fourth Of July Analysis

    In the speech “ What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?” given by Frederick Douglass, he announces his goals for the future men and women of the United States. Douglass is a well known, powerful public speaker who was born into slavery then later escaped at the age of twenty one. On the day of his speech, he addresses an audience at the Rochester Ladies’ Anti-Slavery Society during a time where people of the United States visioned the total abolition of slavery as a profound cause. He speaks against slavery as well as pushes for equality of all people.…

    • 489 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    Similarities Between Emerson And Frederick Douglass
    • 2073 Words
    • 9 Pages

    Similarities Between Emerson And Frederick Douglass

    in slavery” (Douglass 1792). Douglass flings, deflects and resists each point listening only to his…

    • 2073 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Frederick Douglass Speech Rhetorical Analysis
    • 1242 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Frederick Douglass Speech Rhetorical Analysis

    In Douglass’ speech, his tone mainly appeals to emotions. He engages the listeners emotionally by stating his opinion over the topic of slavery. Douglass states, “My subject, then, fellow-citizens, is AMERICAN SLAVERY. I shall see this day and its popular characteristics from the slave’s point of view,” (52-54). This quote from his speech goes to show that he is standing up as a person who has actually experienced times of slavery. There is a great deal of credibility in Douglass’ writing because he refers to actual encounters that the African-American’s had dealt with in the way they were being treated. “I say it with a sad sense of the disparity between us. I am not included within the pale of this glorious anniversary! Your high independence only reveals the immeasurable distance between us,” (19-22). Douglass is implying that he, along with the rest of the former slaves, do not feel that they are included in the celebration of the Fourth of July. He and the former slaves feel this way because even though they are said to have freedom, the people in the country…

    • 1242 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass; an American Slave
    • 1035 Words
    • 5 Pages

    The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass; an American Slave

    Slavery is an evil institution that, once established, robs not only the humanity of the enslaved, but also the morality of the slaveholder. It deprives the slave’s natural desire for knowledge, and hypocritically denies a man of his God given right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, stated in the Declaration of Independence for the very country that enslaves him. Douglass uses specific examples, in the case of Hugh and Sophia Auld, Thomas Auld, Colonel Lloyd and Edward Covey, the slaveholders’ reliance on religion, and the harm caused to the slaves themselves, to show that although slavery is in itself a blatant disregard for human life, it also has drastic effects on the degradation of the slaveholder’s own morality.…

    • 1035 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Phillis Wheatley Analysis
    • 596 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Phillis Wheatley Analysis

    In his speech, he speaks to his listeners what the 4th of July means to blacks population. He praises and condemns the attitude of American society toward slavery. He questions the audience why should they celebrate a holiday that is base on liberty and equality if everyone does not have that. He said, “ the sunlight that brought life and healing to you, has brought stripes and death to me”(Baym, 1003). He then argues, if the founder fathers of this nation believe that all man are entitled to liberty, and if “slaves are living in families as husbands, wives, and children, and confessing and worshiping the Christian’s God” (p. 1004)” well slaves are man. He asked a lot of these insightful questions in his speech to open his listeners’ eyes to the truth. He pleaded to those who have the same view of equality “any man, whose judgment is not blinded by prejudice, or who is not at heart a slaveholder, would you argue more, and rebuke less” (p. 1003). He concludes his speech on an optimistic note that those who are on his side to continue pushing for change. The American slavery cannot be hidden…

    • 596 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Frederick Douglass Figurative Language Analysis
    • 831 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Frederick Douglass Figurative Language Analysis

    | “I was broken in body, soul, and spirit. My natural elasticity was crushed, my intellect languished, the disposition to read departed, the cheerful spark that lingered about my eye died; the dark night of slavery close in upon me…” (Douglass 63).“A representative could not be prouder of his election to a seat in the American Congress than a slave on one of the out-farms would be of his election to do errands at the Great House Farm” (Douglass 25).…

    • 831 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Fourth Of July Analysis
    • 558 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Fourth Of July Analysis

    Douglass’s Fourth of July speech is starts out by paying tribute to what the founding fathers did for this country and what Independence Day means to the African American population. His speech then develops into his criticism of the American peoples view on slavery. He brings up the American Revolution to emphasize the fight for freedom. He asks rhetorical questions about slavery and freedom to make the audience think about what he is speaking to…

    • 558 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    My Package And My Freedom By Frederick Douglass
    • 738 Words
    • 3 Pages

    My Package And My Freedom By Frederick Douglass

    George Lyons 2017SU United States History Frederick Douglass’ book entitled My Bondage and My Freedom is a continuation of his earlier works. He starts the book by acknowledging his grandparents, Betsy and Issac Baily, with whom he grew up with in Tuckahoe near Eastern Shore Maryland, a town known for “nothing that I know of more than for the worn out, sandy, desert like appearance of its soil”. His mother, who “was the only one of all the slaves and colored people in Tuckahoe” who was not illiterate, died when he was eight or nine years old. He remembers not feeling much sorrow or sadness after her death. “I received the tidings of her death with no strong emotions of sorrow for her, and with very little regret for myself on account of…

    • 738 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    What Role Is The Educated Slave Race By Frederick Douglass
    • 1249 Words
    • 5 Pages

    What Role Is The Educated Slave Race By Frederick Douglass

    According to Douglass, the “rich inheritance of justice, liberty, prosperity, and independence” expressed in America’s Declaration of Independence and Fourth of July were not “extended” neither to enslaved black Americans nor the “Negro race”. White Americans freely celebrated the Fourth of July while millions of enslaved and free black Americans suffered from “the wrongfulness of slavery”. Douglass’ American slavery tirade on the Fourth of July embodies the urgency and need for abolition. Turner speaks on the same issue over fourteen year later, a testament to American “cowardice” and “pusillanimity”. The American system, eager to “make war upon” black Americans, punished white representatives who worked towards securing rights for black Americans without hesitation. This issue was not only for black men; in fact, as stated by Turrell, both black and white American men ignored the contributions of “Colored women” for “[regenerating] and [uplifting]” black Americans across the country. America’s “political freedom” and calls for “natural justice” were extended neither to black men nor…

    • 1249 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The American Revolution: Slave For Freedom, Equality, And Independence
    • 267 Words
    • 2 Pages

    The American Revolution: Slave For Freedom, Equality, And Independence

    The American Revolution produced a new outlook. Unfortunately, groups excluded from immediate equality were Native Americans, slaves and women. Women were loyal in their service to the Patriots but they didn't gain any type of legal or political rights. However, freedom, equality, and independence were very inspirational to women and these ideas would help them in the future to become independent.…

    • 267 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    The Declaration Of Sentiments And Resolutions
    • 774 Words
    • 4 Pages

    The Declaration Of Sentiments And Resolutions

    Frederick states that the Fourth of July to a slave," reveals to him, more than all other days in the year, the gross injustice and cruelty to which he is the constant victim". "To him, your celebration is a sham; your boasted liberty an unholy license; your national greatness, swelling vanity; your sound of rejoicing are empty and heartless..." Frederick reveals the injustice that many slaves go through such as, "rob them of their liberty, to work them without wages, to keep them ignorant of their relations to their fellow men, to beat them with sticks, to flay their flesh with the last, to load their limbs with irons, to hunt them with dogs, to sell them at auction, to sunder their families, to knock out their teeth, to burn their flesh, to starve them into obedience and submission to their masters”. (Douglass…

    • 774 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    What To A Slave Is A Forth Of July
    • 1081 Words
    • 3 Pages

    What To A Slave Is A Forth Of July

    But what is it to the slaves, or other races, upon this celebration every year? A sorrow day where the whites cheers? What is the word “we” means on the Declaration of Independence? What does the phrase “all men are created equal” means on the Declaration of Independence? How can we define “men” I ask? It’s a life live by a human being. Is slave, or African American, a life? Yes, I say. Are they human being living under the same sky as the whites? Yes, I repeated. Are they subjects to the whites like how once American was subject to the British? Some may say yes, while the other half might say no. Well, I on one hand, strongly disagree. The color and the race we label each other, but under the same umbrella, we are what is classified as a family, as the meaning of “men.”…

    • 1081 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Slavery Frederick Douglass Analysis
    • 115 Words
    • 1 Page

    Slavery Frederick Douglass Analysis

    This narrative begins with the childhood of Frederick Douglass and ends with his adventures as an abolitionist. He gives insight into his personal recollections of his first awareness of what it meant to be a slave, from his own experiences and his experience as a witness to the brutality of one human being upon another human being. He allows readers through his words to have a front row seat to the world of slavery and the main objective of slavery supporters to dehumanize and oppress another race and culture. The goal of his prose is to raise awareness of the cruelty of man upon the backs of blacks, which subsequently he hoped would end…

    • 115 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    Frederick Douglass
    • 1678 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Frederick Douglass

    It was well known among American slaveholders that an educated slave was a threat to the institution of slavery. There was no better example of this than the autobiography Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave. The influence of Douglass’ work is immeasurable as it offers greater understanding of the mindset of a slave of any time period. The insight provided is valuable to historians of slavery who have little to no documentation from a slave’s perspective in their own era of study. While he could not know the impact his narrative would have on future generations, his objective was to enlighten white northern readers about the reality of the institution of slavery. In this respect he succeeded, selling 4,500 copies in the first four months of publication and 30,000 before the start of the war. By combining his experience as a slave with his understanding of the northern society dynamics, Frederick Douglass was able to target the deeply held cultural values of his readers. These values were shaped by two influences: the standards and expectations of women and the authority of religion. Douglass understood the importance of these values and constructed his narrative to make obvious the contradiction between the role of women and religion in its ideal and the reality of slavery. By emphasizing the distortion of these values, Douglass manipulated Americans, forcing them to reevaluate the institution of slavery.…

    • 1678 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More

Related Topics