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

Both equality and liberty are important qualities for a nation to rise to prosperity and peace in any country. In Alexis De Tocqueville’s Democracy in America and Fredrick Douglass’s Fourth of July speech, the importance of voicing one’s concern is central to improving society. Alexis De Tocqueville shows that the quality of condition is more important than liberty in our American Democracy. While on the other hand, Douglass notes that our known 4th of July is a time to consider those who are inferior, and that liberty is just as important as equality in American society.

In his speech, What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?, Frederick Douglass passionately argues that to the slave, and even to the freed African American, the Fourth of July is no more than a mockery of the grossest kind. Douglas uses many rhetorical strategies to convey his powerful emotions on the subject, and the end result is a very effectively argued point. Douglass begins by asking a series of rhetorical questions, not without the use of sarcasm. He refers to "that" Declaration of Independence, instead of "the" Declaration of Independence, to stress the separation between his people and those who are not oppressed. In the next paragraph, he continues to ask rhetorical questions. The purpose of all these questions is to give

Douglass spends so much time talking about these points because he was a former slave and the fact that he was invited to make a speech about freedom and liberty for the 4th of July was not proper. Therefore, Douglass uses irony to emphasize these points; for example, “Would you have argue that man is entitled to liberty? That he is the rightful owner of his own body? You have already declared it” (Douglass 380)

Instead of creating a tone that centers on the lives of slaves around him, Douglass grabs the reader’s attention by shifting the tone to more personal accounts.

This is hypocritical in that the white men make these values and traditions a staple of their lives, yet when it comes to slaves, they seem to go away. He also believes that, though he will use “the severest language”(Douglass) he can, he firmly believes that “not one word shall escape me that any man whose… not blinded by prejudice, or… a slave-holder, shall not confess to be right and just”(Douglass). So he sincerely believes that the average human being also knows that the treatment of slaves is unjust and unethical, but they choose not to act on these thoughts. His view, coming from the eyes and thoughts of slaves across America, show how hypocritical the nation actually is in both one sided values and not acting upon their knowledge that what is going on is wrong.

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.

“What to the Slave is the Fourth of July” is a very moving piece about what the Fourth of July means to slaves. The speech was given by Fredrick Douglas in Rochester, New York, on July 5, 1852. His use of ethos, pathos and logos made this an extremely effective speech.

Today most people think of the Fourth of July as a holiday to celebrate freedom. However, in

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, former slave Frederick Douglass gave a speech to celebrate America’s independence; however, instead of praising the country, 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. To convince his audience that Americans are wrong celebrating freedom on the 4th of July when slavery exists in their country, he uses emotional appeal, ethical appeal, and rhetorical questions.

On Monday July 5th, 1852, Frederick Douglass captivated his audience at Corinthian Hall in Rochester, New York with one of the most powerful antislavery orations ever delivered, “What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?”1 As an African American and former slave himself, Douglass was a crucial component to the Civil Rights movement and the abolishment of slavery. His concern for equal rights sprouted as early as twelve years old, often listening to debates among free blacks in Baltimore, as well as becoming a member of the East Baltimore Mental Improvement Society. While enslaved, he taught himself to read and write with the patriotic essays and speeches in Caleb Bingham’s The Columbian Orator, which emphasized the power of a speaker’s

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 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

Nelson Mandela said, “When a man is denied the right to live the life he believes in, he has no choice but to become an outlaw.” One such man, Frederick Douglas, wrote “From What to the Slave is the Fourth of July? An Address Delivered in Rochester, New York, on 5 July 1852.” He argues that even though blacks and whites went to fight in the war to be free, that promise was not kept to the blacks. Douglass persuades a northern, white audience, to oppose slavery and favor abolition. Douglass wants to remind abolitionist and White Americans that July 4 was not a celebration for slaves and former slaves. Independence Day only made slaves remember that they were made promises for freedom that were not kept.

He spoke in front of an audience of an anti-slavery society on July 5, 1852. In the speech, What to the Slave is the Fourth of July, Douglass states, “The rich inheritance of justice, liberty, prosperity, and independence, bequeathed by your fathers, is shared by you, not by me. The sunlight that brought light and healing to you has brought stripes and death for me” (paragraph 3). The fourth of July is nothing to celebrate for a former slave. It is a day of remembrance of how poorly they were treated because of their skin color. “Committed to freedom, Douglass dedicated his life to achieving justice for all Americans, in particular African Americans, women, and minority groups. He envisioned America as an inclusive nation strengthened by diversity and free of discrimination” (Mintz). The goal that Douglass envisioned was equality among all races. Frederick Douglass’s goal was not

Frederick Douglass was another abolitionist who also spoke out vigorously about slavery. He himself was an emancipated slave who fought for the abolishment of slavery. He fought to demonstrate that it was crude, unnatural, ungodly, immoral, and unjust. During a July 4th Celebration he made it known that he despised the treatment of the slaves. He explained that this hypocrisy was aimed at the black population and so in his speech on the Fourth of July celebration he proclaimed to the anti-slavery individuals that “This Fourth of July is yours not mine” and “You may rejoice, I must mourn”. Frederick Douglass quoted from the Declaration of Independence, “All men are created equal; and are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights; and that, among these are, life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness”. He wondered if the rights that are stated in the Declaration of Independence, apply to everyone in America, because he believed they should. He asked the question what the Fourth of July was to an American slave, and responded, to the American slaves that one day, is full of hyprocrisy. He wondered how people could celebrate liberty and equality where there was slavery in America. In support of his idea of how sorrow slavery was Douglas used imagery. He stated, “I see clouds of dust raised on the highways of the South; I see the bleeding footsteps; I