Frederick Douglass Assassination Speech

“I Denounce the So-Called Emancipation as a Stupendous Fraud” was a speech given by Frederick Douglass on April 16, 1888, in Washington, D.C. He was there for the celebration of the twenty-sixth anniversary of emancipation in the District of Columbia. Frederick Douglass was born a slave but escaped when he was twenty years old. He later became one of the most famous intellectuals and a well-known anti-slavery activist. He would give advice to presidents and give influential speeches on important causes throughout his life. I believe that he wrote the speech because he felt compelled to inform every one of the awful conditions in which black people, in the southern states, were being treated, oppressed, and stripped from their rights.
He had …show more content…
The emancipation proclamation passed by Abraham Lincoln may have declared all slaves in the rebellious states free but were far from being free. In his speech, Douglass states in a sarcastic-like voice that he “would tell you that the rights of the Negro are respected, … I would tell you that he is honestly paid for his labor; that he is secure in his liberty; that he is tried by a jury of his peers when accused of crime; that he is no longer subject to lynch law; that he has freedom of speech…” The quote shows that African Americans were not treated with respect as any other human being should be treated as. It shows that the south still had the “old southern mentality” that see black people as slaves and insignificant. Douglass also points out that the “plantation Negro” as he says, “is the victim of a cunningly devised swindle, one which paralyzes his energies, suppresses his ambition, and blasts all his hopes; and though he is nominally free he is actually a slave.” This statement verifies that black people were not treated equally. Legally they were free but they were being treated no differently by …show more content…
There were a few accounts during his speech that I thought were important. One of those, was when he said, “This talent makes the old master class of the South not only the masters of the Negro, but the masters of Congress and, if not checked, will make them the masters of the nation.” When he speaks of the talent he is referring to the love of power the white race has that has been reinforced by slavery. I think he is trying to say that if it is not checked, the country could be run by people who support slavery. Therefore, if that happens, they would go in with bad intentions towards African Americans or another minority group and make sure they do not get treated the same. I already used this quote but the last part I think is important, “and though he is nominally free he is actually a slave.” When I read this, I was staggered because of how much truth there was to it. African Americans were legally considered free but were not, really. They did not have the rights every other white person had and were treated as if they were criminals. Another quote from Douglass’s speech that is eye-opening is when he says “When the colored citizens of the South point to the fourteenth and fifteenth amendments of the Constitution for the protection of their civil and political rights, the Supreme Court of the United States turns them out of court and tells them they must look for justice at the hands of the states,