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What To Slaves Is The Fourth Of July Rhetorical Analysis

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Fredrick Douglas was once a phenomenal speaker even though he always expressed how nervous he was when he got up to the podium. He shows his great talent for public speaking in his famous “What to slaves is the Fourth of July” speech. Although Fredrick Douglas delivered the speech to a sympathetic crowd full of abolitionist, slave owners, and even representatives of the government, he still achieved an effective condemnation of the american government implicated by clear use of rhetorical questions and pathos. By definition, condemnation is the expression of very strong disapproval. And that is exactly how Fredrick Douglas sounds in this speech. One sentence reads “I have been able to throw my thoughts hastily and imperfectly together”. This …show more content…

A question that is not meant to be answered but meant to make you think and wonder. Frederick Douglas uses this sometimes to express his confusing with the topic or to make the reader think about the topic and go into more detail. He always displays the use of pathos in this speech. He says” I do not remember ever to have appeared as a speaker before any assembly more shrinking, nor with greater distrust of my abilities.”. He says this to show the crowd that he is more nervous than he appears to be and that the topics of the occasion make him more nervous than ever before. He also goes on talking about all the cruelty that he and slaves all around the country have to endure and uses a considerable amount of imagery so they get the full picture. “What to slaves is the Fourth of July?” is a exceptionally powerful speech given to a select crowd but heard all around the country. It has a powerful message which Fredrick Douglas expressed through the use of many rhetorical strategies including: rhetorical questions and the use of pathos to appeal to the audience. He showed his opinion and outrage of the american government on the top of slavery and why they should celebrate when in all actuality they are not free. He used effective reasons and ways which makes this speech one of the

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He declares, “to forget them [the slaves], to pass lightly over their wrongs and to chime in with the popular theme would be treason most scandalous and shocking, and would make me a reproach before God and the world,” (para. 5). He discusses that slavery is unjust, and says that celebrating freedom with slavery would be treason. This helps the audience realize that celebrating freedom in their country is not a peccadillo, and they naturally will try to right the wrong because of their moral instincts by stopping their celebration. He also says, “to him your celebration is a sham; your boasted liberty an unholy license; your national greatness, swelling vanity; your sounds of rejoicing are empty and heartless; your shouts of liberty and equality, hollow mock; your prayers and hymns, your sermons and thanksgivings, with all your religious parade and solemnity, are to him mere bombast, fraud, deception, impiety, and hypocrisy - a thin veil to cover up crimes which would disgrace a nation of savages,” (para. 15). In this quote, Douglass says that celebrating liberty is covering up a crime: slavery.

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In Frederick Douglass’s The Meaning of Fourth of July for the Negro, he exposes the hypocrisy and iniquity that is infused into considerably one of the most prolific American moments in history known as The Fourth of July. Douglass, who was a former slave that eventually reached freedom, was invited to speak about what Fourth of July meant for the black population within America. Although Douglass provided much gratitude to the Founding Fathers for their courage and ability to oppose oppressive systems, he criticizes the American country for its involvement within slavery. Slavery served as the foundation that constructed America, allowing for it fuel the economy and develop into a cultural and political norm within society.

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