Essay What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July

Vivid imagery in his speech have affected listeners because he describes how African Americans like him were inferior, how they were treated and how they were consider less than humans. For example, “Fellow-citizens, above your national, tumultuous joy, I hear

"Fellow - citizens, pardon me, allow me to ask, why am I called upon to speak here today? What have I, or those I represent, to do with your national independence?" (Douglass) Here he appeals to ethos. Douglass was once a slave who was able to escape. As a former slave, he did not experience the Fourth of July the same way free people did.

Douglas's What to a slave is the 4th of July shows how the American interpretation of slavery is hypocritical. Douglas is able to express these successful expresses this fact by using all rhetorical choices, ethos, pathos and logos. Using all three to further strengthen his view on how slaves have little thought for the 4th of July. Giving us, a perspective of what life was really like for the typical slave in America at the time.

“A person held in servitude as the chattel of another” (Slave, n.d.). This is the definition of a “slave”. The most well-known cases of slavery occurred during the settlement of America, for well over 300 years, slavery was allowed and for the most part considered the “norm” within our country. There were many eradicators who made an attempt to end slavery, as we know at some point; they were successful at doing so. One very influential person was, Fredrick Douglas, he along with many others, were extraordinary influences in the anti-slavery movement. Douglas was known for being a social reformer, author, journalist, women’s and human rights activist, a publisher and an abolitionist all in one. He helped to shape and strengthen our nation and try to make it one with equality as possible. Dedicating his life to fighting for justice for all Americans, specifically African-Americans and minority groups. Frederick Douglass rose from slavery, this fact itself inspired him to do so much more than just write about what it was to be a slave. He turn into one of the leading African-American voices. Douglass would eventually become the best-known abolitionist in the country and the most famous black American of his time. As an alternative to only arguing against slavery, Douglass took a different approach, he asked some hard questions about what freedom really is. The speech by Fredrick Douglas, entitled “The Meaning of July Fourth for the Negro” represents just that. It express his discontent for the way the slaves were been treated while using sarcasm to prove his point that the slaves are entitles to their freedom, liberty and all American democracy.

Frederick Douglass’ speech, “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July” encompasses a powerful meaning for the mistreated African Americans in America. It showed the other side of America’s opinion, and how they viewed the Fourth of July. The Fourth of July was supposed to be a day about Americans gaining their freedom, but not everybody gained their freedom on this day. Although Douglass gave his famous speech to a sympathetic audience, he presented a strong condemnation of America through his use of a pathos appeal and by the style of his diction.

The speech “What to a Slave is the Fourth of July?” was spoken, by Frederick Douglas, to the supporters and abolitionists at the Rochester Ladies Anti-Slavery Society of Fourth of July. In his speech Frederick Douglas speaks heavily on the subject of abolitioning slavery. Frederick Douglas provides comparisons and analogies, appeals to the audience 's logic, and appeals to the audience’s emotion in order to convince the audience to more vigorously fight for the abolition of slavery.

Through his crafty use of rhetoric, Douglass delivered a scathing attack on the hypocrisy of America in his self-referential speech, “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July.” The speech articulated his passionate pursuit for liberty and equal rights. Douglass’s speech passionately argued that in the eyes of the slave and even the “free” black

Abraham Lincoln has said, “Those who deny freedom to others deserve it not for themselves.” Frederick Douglass was an escaped slave who firsthand experienced the atrocities of slavery. Within an excerpt from “What, to the Slave, Is the Fourth of July?,” Frederick Douglass employs syntax, juxtaposition, and imagery in order to demonstrate the irony around the celebration of freedom on the Fourth of July. Douglass illustrates his purpose by displaying this irony because during the celebration of freedom by the white men, there are still a myriad of slaves who have yet to receive emancipation.

He begins by appealing to the feelings of the american audience: pride. Douglass talks about the forefathers and their accomplishments. Douglass goes on to use pathos again when he states, “ The freedom gained is yours; and you, therefore, may properly celebrate this anniversary. The 4th of July is the first great fact in your nation’s history- the very ringbolt in the chain of your yet underdeveloped destiny.” When Douglass says “The freedom gained is yours,” he is trying to convey that freedom is not for the blacks of America at this time. Whites are the only people allowed to freely exercise their freedom. Blacks are not free, for there is still slavery. The fact that a black man like Douglass is speaking at an event for the independence of America is a literal

Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass’s use of pathos in their speeches work to make their argument stronger because they both want to see a change in America that would give a wide spread of equality and freedom for all. What can be more important than protecting your own people and trying to support them in a helpful, positive way? In Abraham's Lincoln 2nd Inaugural Address pathos was used in a smart way by commenting on a godly issued observation due to the fact that many individuals used to be more religious in that time period. In Lincoln's words, “Both read the same Bible, and pray the same God;...” Lincoln also writes, “as God gives us to see the right; let us strive on to finish the work we are in: to bind the nation's wounds;...”, here he includes God to make his writing stronger and

The conditions they faced on plantations led them to run away or buy their freedom, although many attempts ended in failure and most did not try to run away at all. One of these slaves who escaped was Frederick Douglass. As a slave, he was educated by his master’s wife, and as a free man, Douglass advocated for the abolition of slavery and believed in the equality of all people. Douglass was a talented orator, and one of his most famous speeches he delivered was “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?” Douglass was invited to a Fourth of July celebration in 1852 as a guest speaker where he delivered the speech about how slaves and free African Americans feel when there is a celebration about freedom going on and they are not free. Douglass shows the black identity of the time when he states what the Fourth of July is to a slave and says, “a day that reveals to him…the gross injustice and cruelty to which he is a constant victim…” This shows how hypocritical it is that the US was celebrating a holiday about freedom when their society and history is tainted by the horrors of slavery. At the time, 89 percent of the

Fedrick Douglass, former slave and leader of the 19th Century Abolitionist Movement, in his speech “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July,” he asks his fellow-citizens what the Fourth of July is to a former slave, during Independence Day, at Rochester in 1852. In his speech, Douglass asks what does he and the people he represents have to do with the new found national independence. He speaks about the injustice his people go through because of the sole reason that Independence Day doesn’t apply to them and how there is no point in arguing this point. In “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July,” Fedrick Douglass effectively uses two rhetorical appeals, pathos, and logos, to inform the public that the Fourth of July was not his but of the

Natalie Rodriguez English IV 4th Period Bedolla October 31, 2015 Rhetorical Analysis: What to the Slave is the Fourth of July? In the non-fictional speech “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?” (1852) the speaker, Frederick Douglas, characterizes what current slaves and even freed African-Americans feel towards the Fourth of July. Douglas proposes his points by first showing himself as a credible source to the audience, then giving logic and reason to his arguments, and finally leaving off with an emotional appeal to the audience. Douglas presents these devices to show the other point of view to the Fourth of July in order to let the audience be aware of what is truly going on while they blindly celebrate the holiday.

The real subject of this speech is American slavery. Frederick Douglass condemns America for being untrue to its founding principles that were created by our Founding Fathers. To the slave, Fredrick Douglass tells the audience, "...your 4th of July is a

In The Meaning of the 4th of July for the Negro, written by Fredrick Douglass on July 5, 1852, Douglass discusses his personal thoughts of the irony of the Declaration of Independence document. Arguing that this day just brings a horrific reminder of the hypocrisy of American law towards the inequality and injustice treatment of slaves. Douglass also highlights the nations unfairness and hollow celebrations such as Thanksgiving, the nations anthems,