Discuss The Rhetorical Purpose Of Frederick Douglass Speech

Frederick Douglass was a freed slave in the 1800’s who was famous for his ability to read and write, uncommon of a black man at the time. On July 4th, 1852, he gave a speech to citizens of the United States. In this speech, he called out the “hypocrisy of the nation”(Douglass), questioning the nation's treatment of slaves on a supposed day of independence. Frederick Douglass effectively uses rhetorical strategies to construct his argument and expose the hypocrisy of the nation.

Frederick Douglass is a man who was a slave and became an abolitionist. There was a group called Ladies Anti-Slavery Society, who asked Frederick to talk on his point of view onto the Fourth of July, which represented independence day. In his speech, he would side with his own people because he couldn’t differ between if he had independence or equality. “I am not included within pale of glorious anniversary! Your independence only reveals the immeasurable distance between us” (Douglass 290). From his statement, he is talking in a way for a more stronger yet convincing method for persuasion. He gave a realistic image of how it was unfair for the life of African Americans. “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. . .” (Douglass 292). With years passing by African Americans begin to achieve political rights, freedom, and some equality. It was a great struggle to achieve as far as today, but Frederick Douglass’ goal was able to be accomplished through time.

In chapter seven of the Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, Douglass is finally aware of his approximate age, and is burdened with the thought of being a “slave for life.” At the age of 12, it is not very encouraging to be given the description of a “slave for life.” Douglass uses his newfound reading and writing skills to cleverly comprehend the book The Columbian Orator, and the speeches from the Catholic emancipation it contains, in his favor. The book Douglass discovers does a good job of supporting his invalidation of slavery as well as providing him with knowledge and reasonable arguments.

In “ Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, American Slave” the author, Frederick Douglass, uses personal anecdotes and comparisons to wild animals to show that slavery is a grave matter by not only dehumanizing slaves, but the slave masters too. Through rhetorical devices, he stresses his own feelings and harsh experiences being treated as an animal might, how others were treated through slavery from his own eyes, and his feelings about the cruel master’s capabilities, resembling mostly wild beasts.

Slavery is a horrible condition. In the Narrative Of The Life Of Frederick Douglass Frederick Douglass tells his story of growing up as a slave and then becoming a freeman. Douglass speaks of the horrors of slavery and the beauty of freedom. Douglass uses figures of speech, diction, and repetition to convey his feelings of excitement, insecurity and loneliness on escaping from slavery and arriving in New York in 1838.

In a similar vain to his open letter to Thomas Auld, Douglass furthered his attempts to make aware of the cruelties of slavery with his speech, “The Meaning of July Fourth for the Negro”. The speech starts as a patriotic applause to the great efforts America went through to gain independence. The definition of “an American” and the overall ideology of what America stood for is what is established in the beginning and ending of Douglass’s speech. He emphasizes the importance of freedom, democracy, and equal rights and how those qualities have become synonymous with America, therefore becoming the values of America. He alludes to the signers of the Constitution and how “they went so far in their excitement as to pronounce the measures of government

July 5th 1952 Frederick douglass got an invitation to make speech about what the fourth of July meant to the negroes. Douglass wrote a letter which especially focuses on the great injustice the Fourth of July symbolizes for enslaved blacks while White Caucasians trouted about the rights and liberties all people have. Frederick Douglass utilizes rhetorical devices like parallel structure, repetition and cacophonous languages in order to explain how the state of disrespect, brutality inhuman ways African American man and women faced.

How would you react if you were being enslaved due to the color of your skin? I expect that you would want to do everything you could to change the way the world was thinking. In the Narrative of the life of Frederick Douglass written by himself, Douglass is approached with numbers of different challenges. He has to adjust to the way he is forced to live, educate himself, and reach his goal of making an escape. Overall, he wanted to expose the evils that followed slavery. Douglass appeals to ethos, logos, and pathos in an attempt to end slavery.

Throughout American history, mankind has made arguments about race, whether its about who had it worse or who paved the way for equality. This situation comes into play when it comes to the story of escaped slave, Frederick Douglas. Frederick was a wide known and well traveled abolitionist. Many people in the north became abolitionists, as well as some white southerners along with the slaves and freed POC. Many have credited slavery being abolished to the white abolitionists rather than the strong POC and slaves that helped fight for abolition. Frederick Douglas was different from the white abolitionists in a way that, if a reader were to look at a white abolitionist’s reason for abolishing slavery it would all be because they found it cruel,

Originally published in 1845, the autobiography, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave written by himself, displays Douglass’ humility, compassion, intelligence, and fortitude when the author expresses his views on slavery and inequality. He, an abolitionist, with the use of his narrative, strives to persuade his audience which consists of Northern Christians to learn more about slavery and its damaging effects so they can not only be convinced into feeling guilt, pity and sympathy, but also to act on their emotions and new revelations. Similar to his intentions, Sojourner Truth, an African-American abolitionist and women's rights activist, utilizes her Speech “Ain’t

“What, to the American slave, is your fourth of July?”1 This was the infamous question that Frederick Douglass inquired to those enslaved, while he was giving one of his most famous orations on American slavery and freedom in Rochester, New York, in 1852. Douglass was an advocate for equal justice and freedoms and it was shown through this speech. His believed that our nation was giving false ideals to its citizens. On one hand, our country was an advocate for liberty to all, and on the the other hand, they were involved in horrible practices, namely slavery, that other countries refused to participate in. Douglass strongly believe that the United States was not adhering to its own principles of The Declaration

In Massachusetts in 1852, Frederick Douglass spoke at a celebration for the Declaration of Independence. His speech moved yet angered the audience, which seemed as if it ensued as the overall goal of the speech. Douglass makes this goal possible by using multiple rhetorical strategies. In addition to that, he uses rhetorical strategies to argue against slavery. Frederick Douglass used tone, figurative language and pathos to argue against slavery.

The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, is going to be one of my all-time favorite literatures to read. It show us the horror of slavery and most importantly it shows the people of his time, a vivid and very moving account of the gruesome nature of antebellum slavery while highlighting the courage of one man struggle affect it had and the weight of injustice carries. I knew who Mr. Douglass was, and I had a very limited view of his life. But his narrative speaks so much volume. You can see from the very start of his narrative, Mr. Douglass uses an authoritative tone of voice while also giving us a logical analysis of every account of slavery he had from his earliest memories from childhood until the time he finally escape from slavery, or that of the one of others slaves he choose to tell. It is literately impossible for anyone of any race to read and fully comprehend Mr. Douglass interpretation of slavery without having an emotional out pull because of the sickening horror of slavery he brilliantly

Frederick Douglass had a powerful speech addressed to the white women of the Ladies Anti-Slavery Society. This speech was honored by the celebration of the 4th of July, but this african american was not honored by the meaning of the 4th of July. In Douglass’s speech he stated,” What, to the American slave is your Fourth of July?”. It is contorted to request a black man to talk about independence on the Fourth of July, when African americans had no independence around this time. Frederick douglass wanted everyone listening to feel how an average black slave felt everyday. His goal was to make people motivate for a

On July 5, 1852, Frederick Douglass gave his remarks at the Ladies’ Anti-Slavery Society in Rochester, New York in honor of the Fourth of July. Douglass uses his platform to highlight the irony of inviting a once enslaved man to speak on a day that celebrates freedom, liberty, and justice. To challenge Americans celebration of the Fourth of July, Douglass exposes the hypocrisy of America’s values: they preach and celebrate freedom, yet condone the enslavement of individuals on the basis of skin color. In his speech, Douglass praises the character of the Founding Fathers, then harshly criticizes the character of the American citizens to highlight American hypocrisy. As an ingenious orator, how does Douglass use the two strikingly different passages to build a cohesive argument that convinces his audience to accept his agenda?