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

In his speech “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July,” Frederick Douglass effectively advocates for the emancipation of slaves to a mostly Northern white population at an Anti-slavery meeting in Rochester, New York. Frederick Douglass, once a slave now a free man, was one of very few slaves who was literate. Douglass became known throughout the North and South for his speaking ability and the influence his speeches had on his audiences. Throughout the three different sections of this particular speech, Douglass uses a variety of rhetorical devices and strategies to accurately and adequately convey his anti-slavery message.
The first and shortest section of Douglass’s speech covers only the introduction. A humble, respectful, and sometimes

For example, Douglass repeats the word “your” when referring to America’s independence, founding fathers, and freedom, to distinguish between what these events, people, and ideas mean to the slave community rather than what they mean to his audience: White northerners. Douglass’s frequently personifies America throughout this section as well. In the third paragraph, Douglass compares the life span of America to that of a human, claiming that America “still linger[s] in the period of childhood”. This entire section of Douglass’s speech is, in fact, an extended metaphor. While Douglass recounts the story of America and how it came to be, he also relates the struggle for America’s independence and her founding fathers to the emancipation of slaves and abolitionists respectively, creating a sense of conviction and perhaps shame in the audience as they realize the irony and hypocrisy of the situation. Thus, his use of repetition and figurative language effectively display the discrepancies in the ideology of early America and the policies of slavery continuing into the

He counters the aforementioned policies of America through an impressive and almost excessive use of rhetorical questions. For example, in response to America’s founding principle of freedom and equality for all Douglass asks if those same “great principles [are]… extended to” himself and the rest of the slave community. The questioning continues in the next paragraph, yet this time displaying a more accusatory and sarcastic purpose, causing the audience to feel uncomfortable and undignified the more questions he asks. Further along in the passage, Douglass makes effective use of juxtaposition in paragraph eighteen, providing contrast between the rights and privileges experienced by white people and the rights and privileges experienced by slaves. Accordingly Douglass summarizes the injustice of the white people’s enjoyment of their “rich inheritance” stating that “the blessings in which” the audience “rejoices, are not shared in common by” Douglass and the rest of the enslaved peoples. However, Douglass’s persuasive techniques are not limited to emotional imagery and figurative language. In paragraph 21, Douglass develops logos using syllogistic reasoning and factual evidence. The logic of this paragraph implies that since only humans follow the law, and slaves follow laws, slaves must be acknowledged as humans. Through this effective use of logic, the audience can easily conceive the