Freedom means many different things to countless different people. To Frederick Douglass freedom was nothing but a dream for the first twenty-one years of his life. He eventually became ‘free’, but it was a very contrasting type of freedom he had, compared to that of what we today would define it as. During this similar time period a woman suffragist, Elizabeth Cady Stanton had her own unique definition of freedom as well. She lacked the rights of men, and fought to change this. Both of these writers spoke for their beliefs and people in order to bring about change, and give freedom a better name. The contributors both brought compelling-strong worded arguments to the public, bringing allusions to the past, and caused quite a bit of controversy
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Frederick Douglass expressed his disgust with the way America saw freedom, but in turn stripped that very thing they hold so dear from the slaves they forced into labor. He was very forward about his opinions, giving explicit details to his emotions and past. The intensity in his speech focused to make his audience uncomfortable, and to think about what is really going on. A good example of this is “The sunlight that brought life and healing to you, has brought stripes and death to me. This Fourth of July is yours, not mine.You may rejoice, I must mourn.” (286) Stanton was more stern, showing less emotion. Her reasoning behind this, was to appear different from the stereotypes women usually hold. She did not wish to seem girly, and easily emotional similar to what stereotypes of women make out to be. But in an effort to fight the societal normalities she hurt the tone of her message. Back to Douglass, he alludes to slaves, and several times expresses his feelings towards a considerate amount of …show more content…
Lasting an hour or more, it was clear he had quite a bit to get off his shoulders. A rhetorical question is a hypothetical question, not intended to get an actual answer. This can be seen in “ What to the Slave is the 4th of July.” where Douglass asked many questions in a rhetorical manner. The point being, he may or may not know the answers, but it’s unimportant as long as the reader or listener is thinking about what the answer is. He asked these questions not intending for a true response but to drive home his idea, and make the audience think. Douglass asks in the first Paragraph, “Are the great principles of political freedom and of natural justice, embodied in that Declaration of Independence, extended to us?” (285). Frederick already knows the answer to this, and it’s simply a no. But it brings up one of the most important documents to an American, and alludes to how it states every man is created equal, but here he is still not represented as an equal to white people. It really makes the audience
Frederick Douglass expressed his disgust with the way America saw freedom, but in turn stripped that very thing they hold so dear from the slaves they forced into labor. He was very forward about his opinions, giving explicit details to his emotions and past. The intensity in his speech focused to make his audience uncomfortable, and to think about what is really going on. A good example of this is “The sunlight that brought life and healing to you, has brought stripes and death to me. This Fourth of July is yours, not mine.You may rejoice, I must mourn.” (286) Stanton was more stern, showing less emotion. Her reasoning behind this, was to appear different from the stereotypes women usually hold. She did not wish to seem girly, and easily emotional similar to what stereotypes of women make out to be. But in an effort to fight the societal normalities she hurt the tone of her message. Back to Douglass, he alludes to slaves, and several times expresses his feelings towards a considerate amount of …show more content…
Lasting an hour or more, it was clear he had quite a bit to get off his shoulders. A rhetorical question is a hypothetical question, not intended to get an actual answer. This can be seen in “ What to the Slave is the 4th of July.” where Douglass asked many questions in a rhetorical manner. The point being, he may or may not know the answers, but it’s unimportant as long as the reader or listener is thinking about what the answer is. He asked these questions not intending for a true response but to drive home his idea, and make the audience think. Douglass asks in the first Paragraph, “Are the great principles of political freedom and of natural justice, embodied in that Declaration of Independence, extended to us?” (285). Frederick already knows the answer to this, and it’s simply a no. But it brings up one of the most important documents to an American, and alludes to how it states every man is created equal, but here he is still not represented as an equal to white people. It really makes the audience