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The Hypocrisy Of American Slavery Summary

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From slave to social reformer, abolitionist, preacher, and writer. Frederick douglass broke the barriers for black people in the United States. He defied the law preventing slaves from learning to read and write by learning how to do that very thing, starting at the age of 12. Because of this, he began to rebuke the idea of slavery the more he gained knowledge about the world. He wrote books on his views and even taught slaves still in bondage how to read as well as to write. Now, to refer back to earlier in this essay, his speech “The Hypocrisy of American Slavery” discussed the hypocritical nature of Independence day, seeing as though there was still people in captivity. Slaves were forced to celebrate a holiday that expresses freedom, …show more content…

It emergers by him asking the question in the very first paragraph, “ Are the great principles of political freedom and natural justice, embodied in the Declaration of Independence, extended to us.” What he’s trying to say is are the rights and ideas expressed in the preamble of the DOI, which is a huge part of indepence day, really for all people? It says in the very first paragraph of the preamble, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal….” If this is a direct quote for the preamble for the DOI, and the DOI is the main part of Independence day, the message behind that (which he is rhetorically trying to convey) is why is there still people in slavery? Secondly, his message is reshaped in the fifth paragraph of his speech when he says, “To pass over lightly over their wrongs and to chime in with the popular theme would be treason most scandalous and shocking…” What he’s trying to say, is that to ignore the slave owners wrongdoings and to celebrate a holiday such as this one, makes you worse than the slave owners. Thirdly, his message is clarified, or refined, in the fifthteened paragraph, when he says, “What to an american is your Fourth of July? I answer, a day that reveals to him more than all other days of the year, the gross injustice and cruelty to which he is the constant victim.” When he is trying to convey was that …show more content…

For years the enslaved black people of America was forced to sit through a day, year after year, that expresses freedom and independence. Just as today, the people of this great nation are being told to never forget about that tragic day when flight 9/11 flew into the twin towers in Manhattan, New York. On the other hand, we the people, of all races, are slowly being told to forget about slavery for what it really was. To help celebrate the start of the Civil War (April 12, 1861), the Pew Research Center surveyed americans to gather their views on the causes and effects of this war. But to their surprise, 48 percent of americans believe that the Civil War was due to the conservation of states rights. Also, 60% of those who participated in this survey that was thirty years or younger, agreed with the assessment. Not only is this unacceptable but this is greatly offensive to all black people, who had ancestors that were slaves. But, if we look at the 9/11 tragedy, during this time period the funding for advertisement for joining the military grew exponentially. The enlisted advertising resources for the army in 1998 was around $100,000. But by the end of 2003, it grew to be around $160,000. People will say that this catastrophic

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