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Rhetorical Analysis Of What To The Slave Is The Fourth Of July

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Frederick Douglass, a former slave and current abolitionist, prepared a speech for the Ladies Anti-Slavery Society of Rochester and delivered it on July 5, 1865, amid a period of violence and inequality for slaves and African Americans after the Civil War. The Fugitive Slave Act was just passed in Congress making the assistance of slaves in their freedom illegal. Although the members of the Ladies Anti-Slavery Society of Rochester had a strong stance against the practice of slavery, they were hesitant to take any more action lest they get caught in legal trouble. In the speech entitled “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?”, editor for a weekly abolitionist paper in New York, Douglass conveys ethos in his background, provides metaphors …show more content…

This allows for the audience to gain insight into his perspective and choices made later on in the speech. He reinforces his stance and ideas made throughout the text by establishing credibility and a sense of trustworthiness. Although he understands that he is of the general minority, he is proud of this fact and uses it to his advantage, making him qualified to discuss such controversial topics seeing as he is of the group that will be impacted. This reputation amongst the group influences the Ladies to consider the long-term effects of the new federal regulations on the lives of slaves, both former and current, as described in Douglass’s background. Furthermore, it moves them to attempt to push back against such laws in order to give all slaves the opportunities he had in both freedom and an …show more content…

He depicts America as young and similar to a great stream with refreshing and nurturing capabilities as well as anger and violence. He then adds that America is surprisingly like other nations, although it has a biased and unjust past. This demonstrates Douglass’s feelings about the time period and the shift from a typical representation of the holiday, to an unique and critical one. He attempts to appeal to their logic via the employment of logos. By providing a clear narration of America and its true history, the audience can distinguish fact from fiction, gaining a new, valuable perspective on the holiday and overall abolitionist movement. These particular facts contribute to his overall push for continued, assertive action against the government. He finds it essential that the Ladies Anti-Slavery Society of Rochester be able to visualize such revelations on the reality of American society. Realizing this provides them the means to take more radical steps towards greater civil equality and rights for African Americans, despite the laws prohibiting equivalent efforts. This shift brings the author closer to his end result of using passionate language to convey his

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