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What To The Slave Is The Fourth Of July Analysis

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What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July? Throughout his sermon, What to the Slave is the Fourth of July, Fredrick Douglass devotedly argued that to the slave and even the liberated African American, the Fourth of July was nothing more than a holiday of a mockery of the crudest kind. Through his use of several rhetorical devices and strategies, Douglass conveyed his perspective on the concerning matter as if he were the voice of the still enslaved, both physically and logically. Prevalently, he presented an effectively argued point using ethos, logos, and pathos through credible appeals, convincing facts and statistics, and by successfully employing emotional appeals. Although the Fourth of July represents the adoption of the Declaration of Independence, Frederick Douglass proclaimed that …show more content…

Douglass stated, “What am I to argue that it is wrong to make men brutes, to 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 lash, 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?” He successfully expresses his pain and anger in this quote by providing images of his and his people’s suffering. He tapped into the emotions of his audience, such as mothers, workers, and those who have felt physically pain by exposing them to the amplified struggles he and others had to face. Nonetheless, he continually reminded the audience, both explicitly and subliminally, that his group of people are too human, and that the only difference they share is the color of their skin. He is pleading his cases and hoping that it gets across to his audience in hope they will do the right

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Former slave, Frederick Douglass, in his speech, “What to the Slave is the 4th of July” demonizes slavery. Douglass’s purpose is to convince the audience that slavery is bad. Since Douglass was a former slave, his listeners would put the idea to mind more. He adopts a humble tone, at first, in order to establish confidence in his listeners. Douglass develops ethos in his speech by introducing to his listeners that he was a former slave, and that he is just a normal person.

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Frederick Douglass, a former slave, was one of the greatest public speakers for the abolitionist cause. He was called upon to speak on July 5, 1852, at the Rochester, New York Ladies’ Anti-Slavery Society, and gave his famous speech, “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July”. Douglass explains how Independence Day is supposed to be a joyous holiday for Americans, however it is more like mockery to African-Americans because, regardless of being freed slaves, they still do not have the freedoms they deserve. Douglass uses different rhetorical strategies to convey his message and emotions to his audience, including biblical allusions. Douglass ends his speech by demonstrating a sense of hope just after painting a very dark picture of reality

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A quote from Frederick Douglass’s speech, “This Fourth July is yours, not. You may rejoice, I must mourn”. Douglass points out that Fourth of July reminds the blacks of what they do not have, the whites get to celebrate but the black have nothing to celebrate. The fourth of July has no meaning to the slaves. Douglass passionately argues how unfair it was for people to celebrate their freedom when some are held captive and how the celebration of independence while allowing slavery is shameful.

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Mr.Douglass’ speech in 1852 reveals that slaves should not celebrate Fourth of July because they did not have their freedom. Slaves did not know the meaning of Fourth of July. In Douglass’ speech he state, “I answer: a day that reveals to him, more than all other days in the year, the gross injustice and cruelty” means that slaves was

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Mr. Douglass was trying to express how a slave feels about the Fourth of July. Frederick Douglass thinks that the Fourth of July is a “sham.” He thinks it is an example of the injustice against black people and the hypocrisy of white people. He says “with all your religious parade and solemnity, are, to Him, mere bombast, fraud, deception, impiety, and hypocrisy.” Mr. Douglass believes that America’s denunciation of tyrants is hypocritical and

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Both King and Douglass were advocating for the same thing: their constitutional sanction of freedom. Both men, in their respective letters touch upon parallel thoughts and beliefs that revolve around the much bigger topic of racial inequality and discrimination. Both men were discriminated against and they talk about their experiences and plight in their very distinctive yet special styles. Born in the year 1817, in an era of open and unashamed slave trade, Frederick Douglass’s story begins as a serf to Mrs. Hugh in the city of Maryland.

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When most people hear the words “Fourth of July” they think about fireworks, cookouts, and sparklers. During the 1850’s, the Fourth of July served as a reminder of the many horrors and injustices in the world. On July 4, 1852, Frederick Douglass-- a former American slave, abolitionist leader and adroit speaker-- spoke in Rochester, New York about the affectation of celebrating independence. In his speech, “The Hypocrisy of American Slavery”, he claims celebrating independence is unethical when slavery is widespread. To convince the reader of his claim, he uses rhetorical questions, emotional appeal, and antithesis in hopes of shedding light and sparking action on the wrongful situation.

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Fredric Douglass wrote, “What to the Slave is Fourth of July” in 1852. In this speech to the American public, Douglass states how great of a country American “was” and how great the forefathers “were”. In contrast to those statements he professes his reasoning for freeing slaves. However, Mary Rowlandson wrote, “A True History of the Captivity and Restoration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson” in 1682. This captive narrative takes place during the King Philips war, and depicts how the native Americans treated their prisoners of war.

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Douglass was invited to give a celebratory speech to commemorate the birth of the United States, however, what he said instead was much more thought-provoking. Frederick Douglass was an escaped slave who grew to become a prominent figure and activist for the abolitionist movement. In his address, Frederick Douglass seeks to illustrate the ironic and faulty thought that he should be celebrating the Fourth of July with the anti-slavery society by dramatizing the parallels and hypocrisy of the current race relations in

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In "My Bondage and My Freedom," Frederick Douglass conveys a powerful and overarching message of the inherent injustice and dehumanization of slavery. He argues against slavery, emphasizing the catastrophic impact it has on both enslaved individuals and society. For example, in his 1852 speech, "What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?" Douglass denounces the hypocrisy of celebrating freedom and independence while millions of African Americans remain enslaved. He challenges his audience to reflect on the stark contrast between the ideals of the American nation and the harsh realities faced by enslaved individuals.

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Frederick Douglass gave the speech “What to the Slave is the 4th of July?” In 1852 at the Ladies anti-slavery society. He portrays the duality of the meaning of the 4th of July and calls out the hypocrisy of America. In his speech “What to the Slave is the 4th of July?”

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What to the Slave is the Fourth of July Introduction The 4th of July is an important day in American history it represents freedom and is usually associated with fireworks, parades, alcohol, and concerts. Those activities more or less represent today’s culture. When Fredrick Douglass made his speech he talked about American values such as liberty, citizenship, and freedom. The irony of this speech was that at the time white Americans in the south were still participating in slave trading.

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Group Essay on Frederick Douglass “That this little book may do something toward throwing light on the American slave system”, and that Frederick Douglass does in his eponymous autobiography. Douglass throws light by dispelling the myths of the slave system, which received support from all parts of society. To dispel these myths Douglass begins to construct an argument composed around a series of rhetorical appeals and devices. Douglass illustrates that slavery is dehumanizing, corrupting, and promotes Christian hypocrisy. Using telling details, Douglass describes the dehumanizing effects of the slave system which condones the treatment of human beings as property.

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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.

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636 Words | 3 Pages

Freedom is the primary ideal upon which America was founded. It is the tenet most cherished by the original colonists; it is a pillar upon which they built the new government. However, freedom was denied to a large part of America's citizens for a long time. Frederick Douglas was one of the greatest activists for African-American freedom of the 19th century; he used literary works and speeches, instead of violence, to achieve his goals. In his piece "What, to the Slave, is the Fourth of July?"

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