J.T. Wahee
African American History
Dr. Richmond
Paper 2
3/21/18
During the “Antebellum Period” of America, the type of life a free African American had was determined whether they lived in the North or South. Their ability to express themselves, however, was determined by whether they lived in the North or the South. Free Southern blacks continued to live under the shadow of slavery, unable to travel or assemble as freely as those in the North. It was also more difficult for them to organize and sustain churches, schools, or fraternal orders such as the Masons. But in the antebellum America, African Americans North or South, free or slave, would build a “nation within a nation”. Although their lives were circumscribed by numerous discriminatory …show more content…
252). Less than a decade later, he was as seasoned speaker as Garnet and was better known and more influential (Douglass 1852, pg. 252). Although Frederick Douglass had opposed Garnet’s way of thinking, they both wanted the same thing. Frederick Douglass’s begins his speech by addressing his “fellow citizens”. Throughout this speech, as well as his life, Douglass advocated equal justice and rights, as well as citizenship, for blacks. He begins his speech by modestly recognizing that he has come a long way since his escape from slavery. He tells the audience that they have gathered to celebrate the Fourth of July, but he reminds them that the nation is young, and, like a young child, it is still impressionable and capable of positive change. He touches on the history of the American Revolutionaries' fight for freedom against their legal bondage under British rule. He tells the audience that he supports the actions of these revolutionaries. Douglass thereby sets up an argument for the freeing of slaves (Douglass 1852, pg. 253). He says in the end of his speech, “What to the American slave is your Fourth of July? I answer, a day that reveals to him, more than all other days in the year, the gross injustice and cruelty to which he is the constant victim. To him, your celebration is a sham, your boasted liberty, an unholy license, your national greatness, swelling vanity; your sounds of rejoicing are empty and heartless (Douglass 1852, pg. 253).” Here he tells his fellow Americans that enslaved African Americans don’t have a Fourth of July (Independence Day), because they are still enslaved and have no
African American History
Dr. Richmond
Paper 2
3/21/18
During the “Antebellum Period” of America, the type of life a free African American had was determined whether they lived in the North or South. Their ability to express themselves, however, was determined by whether they lived in the North or the South. Free Southern blacks continued to live under the shadow of slavery, unable to travel or assemble as freely as those in the North. It was also more difficult for them to organize and sustain churches, schools, or fraternal orders such as the Masons. But in the antebellum America, African Americans North or South, free or slave, would build a “nation within a nation”. Although their lives were circumscribed by numerous discriminatory …show more content…
252). Less than a decade later, he was as seasoned speaker as Garnet and was better known and more influential (Douglass 1852, pg. 252). Although Frederick Douglass had opposed Garnet’s way of thinking, they both wanted the same thing. Frederick Douglass’s begins his speech by addressing his “fellow citizens”. Throughout this speech, as well as his life, Douglass advocated equal justice and rights, as well as citizenship, for blacks. He begins his speech by modestly recognizing that he has come a long way since his escape from slavery. He tells the audience that they have gathered to celebrate the Fourth of July, but he reminds them that the nation is young, and, like a young child, it is still impressionable and capable of positive change. He touches on the history of the American Revolutionaries' fight for freedom against their legal bondage under British rule. He tells the audience that he supports the actions of these revolutionaries. Douglass thereby sets up an argument for the freeing of slaves (Douglass 1852, pg. 253). He says in the end of his speech, “What to the American slave is your Fourth of July? I answer, a day that reveals to him, more than all other days in the year, the gross injustice and cruelty to which he is the constant victim. To him, your celebration is a sham, your boasted liberty, an unholy license, your national greatness, swelling vanity; your sounds of rejoicing are empty and heartless (Douglass 1852, pg. 253).” Here he tells his fellow Americans that enslaved African Americans don’t have a Fourth of July (Independence Day), because they are still enslaved and have no