What To The Slave Is The Fourth Of July, By Frederick Douglass

The Fourth of July is a holiday that typically involves joyous events such as barbeques, family gatherings, and quality picnics. Additionally, it is a time that can draw those who have drifted apart closer once again. However, in the 19th century as the racial and social divide deepened, the effectiveness of this national holiday came into question. Although the Fourth of July was supposed to pull the nation closer, it actually inclined some to question their place in America. This was supposed to be a unification holiday that made the country stronger. Instead, the national holiday carved a deep divide between the various groups that made up the population at that time. Furthermore, in the 19th century the Fourth of July established division between groups, cultivated questions about America’s progress as a whole, and ingrained national confusion about the purpose of this holiday.

Board of Education” case. This case took place in 1954, in Topeka, Kansas. Linda Brown was a third grader, who had to walk a mile every day in order to get to her segregated school. She lived 7 blocks away from an all white school. Her father decided to put the schoolboard on trial. Linda’s parents were very well respected in their community. This shows this no matter what your character was in that time, court trials will go against you because of your skin color. The case became a class action suit, involving 5 states; therefore, reaching the supreme court. It was a major landmark in the reversing of the longtime of legal segregation. Chief Justice Earl Warren wrote on May 17th, 1954 that segregation “generates a feeling of inferiority as to their status in the community that may affect their hearts and minds in a way unlikely to be undone” (People & Events). The statement “separate educational facilities are inherently unequal” was a push for black rights movements. In the Tom Robinson case, even though he was found guilty, the jury had to think a little bit longer about his verdict. It was a step in the right direction, as the “Brown V Board of Education” trial was. Both trials focused around legal and internal racism. Brown V Board of education was more of a civil justice issue, while Tom Robinson’s case was based on false accusation. This situation is similar to Tom’s because both Linda and Tom were

Frederick Douglass was a gifted speaker. He wanted to convince a crowd of hundreds that were gathered together to celebrate Independence Day not only about the hypocrisy of slavery, but also to essentially “sting the conscience of America (Braswell).” When Douglass was asked to speak on Independence Day, there were still more than 3.5 million African Americans enslaved (Braswell). Throughout his life, Douglass advocated equal justice and rights for African Americans. That brings us to the first theme, which is inequality. In our past readings, this has been a prevalent theme. For example, in A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court, we saw slavery with the peasants and the inequality within the aristocracy. In Benito Cereno, we were able to see slavery with African Americans. In this reading, however, we get to see first hand someone calling out the American people and voicing that slavery should be eliminated. In our past readings we have seen many forms of “heroes.” My question for the

These problems that were being seen at young ages were not likely to go away with time because their learning had already been delayed. Furthermore, the supreme court saw segregation at schools as unconstitutional, “Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, case in which on May 17, 1954, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled unanimously (9–0) that racial segregation in public schools violated the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution, which prohibits the states from denying equal protection of the laws to any person within their jurisdictions,”(Duignan). The education of the student was not the only thing being denied but also the chance to have protection in their own home. The supreme court agreed it was unconstitutional because idea of “Separate but equal,” set up by the Plessy vs. Ferguson court case was not at all being

Throughout American history, schools have been segregated by race due to a common idea in society that although schools are separate they are still equal. Regardless of this belief, schools across the country were far from equal. Certain states made it illegal for black people to get an education resulting in most of them being illiterate. Plessy Vs. Ferguson created the idea of separate but equal in 1896, but doctrine was overturned in 1954 by the controversial Brown Vs. Board decision, resulting in the beginning of a new change that would be made in American schools. This decision is a symbolic moment in the history of American education because the shift in schools. The decision is still fundamental today due to the fact that segregation has now become about issues such as gender, sexual orientation, religion, and not just race. It is vital to understand this concept of segregation in schools so teachers can learn how to avoid segregation resulting in an inclusive class.

On July 5th, 1952, Frederick Douglass addressed the ladies of the Rochester Anti-Slavery Sewing society in his famous speech, titled “What to the slave is the fourth of July?” 1 In this address, Douglass points out the hypocrisies between the principles of the American Constitution and the way in which American society functioned at the time. Prior to this speech, his early experiences, friendships, and observations of different aspects of society pushed him to advocate for the participation of blacks in American democracy and freedom, and later in opposition to the many voices within the abolitionist movement that argued for the opposite. While Douglass saw the blatant contradictions between the words of the Revolution and the way in which marginalized groups were treated by most of the ruling white-male population, he was by no means against the principles outlined within the Declaration of Independence or the United States as a nation. Douglass’s thought was very much an olive branch between the ruling white class and the enslaved and disenfranchised black population. His self-made story, inspiring influences, and determination to promote American freedom amongst the many evil aspects in the country he lived in made him one of the most important intellectual figures in the road to abolishing slavery.

More specifically, because schools were segregated black students did not receive the same equal education as white students did. In fact, that reasoning is what led to the Brown vs. Board of education case. The Brown vs. Board of Education case took place in the mid-1950s. It was a case established by the supreme court that focused primarily on school desegregation. In 1954, due to the amount of evidence, the supreme court had no choice but to admit to the fact that racial segregation indeed violated the fourteenth amendment. “The court's decision declared, “separate educational facilities are inherently unequal.” “Separate but equal” was made unconstitutional” (Reading #13, Page 2). This quote substantially touches on the fact that whites finally began to realize how serious, and vital unequal education was for blacks. The Brown vs. Board of Education was truly a significant case because it overturned the principle of “separate but equal,” in which was established by the plessy vs. Ferguson

The Brown v Board of Education case was a landmark case. This case stated that separate schools for black and white students was unequal. This is the start of integrating African American students into white schools. Advances for African Americans in the South were almost always met with massive resistance from the white population (Schultz, 2013). African Americans and any white sympathizers were beaten, picketed and even killed (Schultz, 2013). White Citizens’ Councils were created to defend segregation, and The Ku Klux Klan was revived. There were even those schools in the South that closed rather than integrate African Americans into the schools.

Speech Speeches live on for various reasons. Some reasons are because of what they say and how often they say it or both in terms of language usage. In the speech Ain’t I a Woman by Sojourner Truth. The speech uses several rhetorical strategies to assist with the deliverance of the speech. Truth also used repetition, rhetorical questions and biblical situations.

Sojourner Truth's use of, "ain't I a woman", bears a striking resemblance to another famous speech which makes great use of this rhetoric device (Truth 775). Without a doubt, the seemingly humble Truth compares favorably to William Shakespeare's line through the voice of Marc Antony, "Brutus is an honourable (sic) man" (Shakespeare n.p.). Like Shakespeare, Truth desires to point out the hypocrisy of White women wanting to further their station in American society without pulling Black people up with them without drawing the ire of the organization for which she is presenting. Her repeated phrase, like Shakespeare's, is something the crowd cannot deny or find fault with, yet it forces the audience to agree with her points. In this way, she can actually say that the women organizing for women's rights must also be willing to expand Black rights because they've already expressed that they support equal rights between White men and other marginalized demographics. The subtly and poignancy of her appeal is masterful and gently guides her audience to her conclusion without fear of alienating

As I read “What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July” by Frederick Douglass, it really catches my attention. It makes me wonder as to why this speech is such an intriguing topic. I realized that his word choice and rhetorical strategies help develop his speech. Frederick Douglass uses strategies such as: figurative language, mood, tone, repetition, and imagery.

In 1954 Brown v Board was the start of it all. Schools segregation was widely accepted throughout the nation. Blacks went to schools with low funding’s and very low standards of education. The

What comes to mind when you think of the Fourth of July? Most people think of positive words such as freedom and independence (maybe even fireworks and cookouts). Unfortunately, if a slave in the 1850s was asked this same question, this person would most likely not think of such pleasant words. Slaves did not think of this day as a celebration and instead were saddened by the fact they did not have the freedom that the white people in America did. One of these people is Frederick Douglass, who was born a slave and remained a slave for twenty years before escaping from the oppression he faced. When he arrived in the North, which was where a slave could be free, he became a great writer and speaker, and he told many about the cruelty of slavery. One of his famous speeches, called “The Meaning of July Fourth for the Negro,” was given on July 5, 1852, in Rochester, New York, at an event in the Corinthian Hall. The purpose of the event was to celebrate America’s signing of the Declaration of Independence, 76 years before. However, this was not the purpose of Douglass’s speech. He instead used this opportunity to tell the perspective of slaves on this day. Frederick Douglass hopes to inspire his audience to see how and why the celebration of a country that allows such an immoral practice to occur is inappropriate, and why he will instead be mourning on this holiday. In establishing this idea, Douglass incorporates rhetorical devices that hit all three points of the rhetorical

Throughout American history, segregation was a problem for African- Americans for several years, but eventually, enough was enough. Linda Brown, daughter of Oliver Brown, realized she had dealt with unreasonable forbiddance and that she was not able to attend school with people of all color. Brown v. Board of Education made people come to a conclusion that nobody should be segregated. With Jim Crow laws, Plessy v. Ferguson, and countless other things that separated blacks from whites, they were unable to do the same way as people of any other color; Linda Brown’s case was taken to court and the law was passed that segregation would no longer be lawful, but it took a long period of time before the law was acknowledged and abided in the South and ended things majorly.

Education was one of things that every parent wanted for their children regardless of whatever situation they were in. Public schools were segregated. In 1954 there was a lawsuit that ended legal segregation in public schools known as Brown V. Board of Education. In the fall of 1950, the NAACP sued on behalf of third-grader Linda Brown of Topeka, Kansas (Gates, 2013, p.323). Brown’s parents lived near a white school and wanted their daughter to attend that school because it was closer to their home than any other school that was around them. Thurgood Marshall was one of the lawyers for the NAACP during the time and argued that segregation condemns children, thinking that they lower than the whites that the Court had supposedly threw out in the Plessy case. The Court also heard from other families that were going through the same situation as Brown. May 17th, 1954, the Court ruled in favor of the black students. This decision allowed blacks to attend any public school that they