Frederick Douglass was conceived a slave in Maryland until the point when 1838 when he got away. Frederick Douglass needed to escape re-enslavement and received monetary guide for the English Quakers and enabled him to purchase his freedom from his previous ace and later get away to Canada to keep running from conceivable re-enslavement. Frederick Douglass' speech is the manner by which the hiphopcrisy and calling America the place that is known for the free. Frederick Douglass has many claims in his discourse. One of the many claims is that celebrating Fourth of July is one of the many hypocrisies all the time as stated "This Fourth of July is yours, not mine.
In the text, Frederick Douglass who once a slave wanted to acknowledge the unfulfilled promise of equality and independence through the holiday “Independence day.” In his address he talks about how people celebrate independence day even though everyone is not free. Frederick douglass wants to persuade the rochester ladies anti slavery group to stop celeberating indepence day becasue it is a hypcritical holiday becuase there are still people in America that are not fully free in their independence. Douglass creates a serious tone in order to establish the seriousness that Independence day is a day that should not be celebrated due to the fact that it is not what it says it is. Frederick Douglass appeals to the audience by the use
In 1776, on July 4th, the 13 English colonies officially declared their freedom from England. However, as the years progressed, slavery became incorporated into everyday American life. In 1852, former slave Frederick Douglass gave a speech to celebrate America’s independence; however, instead of praising the country, he censured Americans for saying they were a “country of the free”. In the speech, Hypocrisy of American Slavery, Frederick Douglass declares that Americans should not be celebrating their freedom when there are slaves living in the country. To convince his audience that Americans are wrong celebrating freedom on the 4th of July when slavery exists in their country, he uses emotional appeal, ethical appeal, and rhetorical questions.
Final Exam: Part 2 Frederick Douglass’ speech explained the irony of the celebration of the Fourth of July. While white Americans are celebrating their freedom and independence, slavery is still prominent. Therefore, contradict the celebration of freedom. Frederick states that he had nothing positive to say about the 4th because he and many other (former) slaves do not have the same rights as everyone else in the nation. For instance, they aren’t taught to read, aren’t free, and they do not get paid for their labor.
He questions his audience of the significance of Independence Day to slaves, and he answers it in an extremely contrasting way: “your national greatness, swelling vanity; your sounds of rejoicing are empty and heartless; … your shouts of liberty and equality, hollow mockery,” that the celebration is “a thin veil to cover up crimes which would disgrace a nation of savages.” Douglass dismisses the national pride, characterizing it as a mere expression of people’s ignorance. The antithesis, with “greatness” being “vanity,” “sounds of rejoicing are empty and heartless,” and “shouts of liberty and equality” being “hollow mockery,” provokes shock and anger from the audience, who have just been part of it and are now degraded as “savages.” However, Douglass was not trying to be inflammatory but provocative, witnessing the pathetic enthusiasm in the anniversary, that people feel exuberant about themselves while ignoring the saddening
“I shall see this day and its popular characteristics from the slave’s point of view” (Douglass). Everyone is human, so they should all have the same human rights, but slaves were stripped from them all. Fourth of July was set upon to celebrate the freedom won after the war, yet there were still millions of people who were not free. Frederick Douglass does not believe that he, along with other African Americans, should celebrate Fourth of July because they were not included in the freedom that was won. Douglass simply reminded everyone that just because the Declaration of Independence was signed, there were still slaves in the world.
An abolitionist, a former slave, and Republican Statesman Frederick Douglass had given a moving speech “What to the Slave is The Fourth Of July” to an audience of white New York Abolitionists in the year 1852. In addition, Douglass’s purpose of the speech is to emphasize the meaning of the Fourth of July to slaves and how the white men have a sense of freedom while the slave has to deal with the reality of what the day means to them. In the speech, Douglass had created a harsh tone to discuss the importance of anti-slavery. Douglass begins his speech by explaining the idea of what a slave may think of the Fourth of July because he had been a slave and by expressing the way he feels about the holiday that represents freedom for the people in the United States. He calls upon the audience by asking them a question using an interrogative sentence “[...] allow me to ask, why am I called upon to speak here today?”
He regards Independence Day as “your boasted liberty” (par. 12) because the holiday does not embrace dark-skinned people. While the Declaration of Independence does not precisely exclude a black person within its writings, society does. There is no liberty for all, only hypocrisy and false promises that favors the dominant group of white men. Expanding on the distinct relationship and status between the two ethnic groups, Douglass writes, “your celebration is a sham” (par. 12). Douglass does not soften his sentiments, his sentiments that are shared among the enslaved.
“The Hypocrisy of American Slavery: Slavery at its best” Frederick Douglass an activist for anti racism and also an abolitionist’s speech “The Hypocrisy of Slavery” was given on the occasion of celebrating the independence day. Here, in this speech he actually brought out some questions like why we should celebrate Independence Day while almost four million people were kept chained as a slave. He actually mocked the fact of the people of America’s double standards which is that they are singing out the song of liberty, on the other hand holding the chain of slavery. Frederick Douglass, a former American-African slave who managed to escape from his slavery and later on became an abolitionist gave this speech on Fourth of July,
Douglass expresses to his spectators, while they dwell in the luxurious ability to partake in this joyous celebration of freedom for a nation, not everyone in that nation is sharing in the celebration. In The Meaning of July Fourth for the Negro, he writes “The blessings in which you, this day, rejoice, are not enjoyed in common. The rich inheritance of justice, liberty, prosperity and independence bequeathed by your fathers, is shared by you and not by me. This Fourth of July is yours, not mine. You may rejoice, I must mourn” (Douglass 1).
Frederick Douglass begins his address in questioning what his people have to do with national independence. While the Fourth of July is celebrated as the freedom of a nation by most Americans, this was not the case for the American slave. Rather than a celebration, this holiday served as a reminder of
Douglass establishes his credibility and authority on the issue of slavery and inequality in the United States by drawing on his own experience and expertise. He begins the speech by introducing himself as a former slave and expressing his sadness and disappointment at the Fourth of July festivities which celebrate the nation’s independence while ignoring the ongoing oppression of African Americans. He says, “I am not included within the pale of this glorious anniversary! Your high independence only reveals the immeasurable distance between us.” By acknowledging his own identity as a former slave, Douglass gives himself immediate credibility on the issue of slavery and inequality.
In 1776, on July 4th, the 13 English colonies officially declared their freedom from England. However, as the years progressed, slavery became incorporated into everyday American life. In 1852, Frederick Douglass, a former slave, was called upon to deliver a speech to celebrate America’s independence; however, he censured Americans for saying they were a “country of the free”. In the speech, Hypocrisy of American Slavery, Frederick Douglass declares that Americans should not be celebrating their freedom when there are slaves living in the country. He uses emotional appeal, ethical appeal, and rhetorical questions to convince his audience that Americans are wrong celebrating freedom on the 4th of July when slavery exists in their country.
1.Before reading this speech, I never thought of the fact that blacks felt like “outcasts” during the 4th of July. 2.Douglass really made it a point that “the fourth of July is yours, not mine” (1). He is speaking about only whites celebrated Independence while blacks still do not have independence. 3.In this speech, Douglass mocked the United States for being a “hypocrite” when it came to independence in terms of America’s religious beliefs at the time.
His argument was that the celebration of America’s independence was hypocritical because of the discrimination African Americans and other minorities faced while living in this supposedly “free” country. One of the primary dreams Frederick Douglass hoped was for every American, regardless of race, gender, or religion, can feel equal to one
