What Does The Fourth Of July Mean To A Slave Summary

Improved Essays
In the speech What Does the Fourth of July Mean to a Slave, Frederick Douglass address the hypocrisy of slavery in the United States by the use of examples, where the law or constitution contradicts with real action. First, Douglass mentions that while America proclaim it is a country that grants everyone the natural right to freedom, slaves were exempted from freedom, prosperity, justice, and independence, and these are all passed down only to the whites. Second, Douglass also mentions how the country America contradicts with the constitution and the Bible, how liberty is not equally granted, and how there is no humanity. In addition, Douglass points out that though everyone on Earth knows that slavery is not right and is against God, no one …show more content…
Though both serve as a source of labor, slave labor is treated as a property owned by the owner, where the owner has all authority over the slave, and could hit, whip or sell the slave according to their wish. Free labor on the other hand cannot be enslaved and are not properties. They are treated equally as a human who provides labor. Free labor in Seward’s opinion meant those who have freedom and are granted equal opportunity to work regardless of the social class, and later be independent. Because the free labor system grants equal chance to everyone who asks, it is able to make good use of this labor to produce the maximum possible, thus, benefiting the State. According to Seward, slavery was dangerous to democracy, because under slavery, the owner has all the power, and that leads to a small group of high class people holding all the powers. In addition, this situation causes adds to the issue of imbalance of power between the different social classes. Moreover, it contradicts with the definition of democracy, where all the citizens should hold an equal amount of power. To support his argument, Seward also mentions that when slavery is not present, everyone gets equal power to vote, and that demonstrates the idea of democracy and will lead the State to become a republic or a

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    In Frederick Douglass’s speech entitled What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?, he uses many different types of rhetorical strategies to get his points across to the crowd. Douglass, being an intelligent man, knew that using certain forms of rhetorical strategies would really help him encourage the crowd to think in the same manner as him. Douglass uses the many different forms of rhetorical strategies to successfully convey his point to the crowd, and by doing so it helped him make his point known from the beginning of the speech. One form of rhetorical strategies that Douglass uses well is pathos. Pathos, which is an appeal to emotion, is used frequently throughout the speech to help Douglass engross the crowd, and to get them to think…

    • 409 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    Frederick Douglass performed an effective speech titled, “What to the American Slave is your 4th of July?” Douglass is a former slave himself, and he was asked to come to speak in Rochester, NY during Independence Day. He asks those he is speaking to “Why am I called upon to speak here today? What have I or those I represent to do with your national independence?” The situation they put him in makes him turn hostile, using sassy remarks and rhetorical questions to make them question themselves.…

    • 172 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Douglass’s Rhetorical Triangle of Slavery America was created by people seeking freedom from tyranny and injustice, yet slavery represents the complete opposite of America’s founding principles. The Bill of Rights, with all of its rights and freedoms, did not apply to slaves. Not only were they deprived of the right to free speech and property ownership, but they were also denied the rights to life, individual liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Rather, slaves were treated as property and not at all equal to man.…

    • 582 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    Douglass’s uses the uses of liberty and rights with this statement, “To him, your celebration is a sham; your boasted liberty, an unholy license; your national greatness,…

    • 193 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    More specifically, he claims that “your father’s have lived, died, and have done their work, and have done. You live and must die, and you must do your work” (5). Douglass stresses that slavery shamefully contradicts the values America was constructed upon, particularly the principles of liberty and justice embodied in the Declaration of Independence and the US Constitution. He thereby places the question of what it means to be an American patriot in a unique light, arguing that it entails a commitment to the principle “that all men are created equal” (14). By highlighting the tensions between traditional principles and the contemporary reality, Douglass suggests that the critique of slavery in America is a form of patriotism rather than dissent.…

    • 1145 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Fredrick Douglas: “The Hypocrisy of American Slavery” Former slave and advocate, Fredrick Douglas, in his famous speech, “The Hypocrisy of American Slavery communicates his thoughts and opinions on the celebrations of the 4th of July in the year of 1852. Douglas’ purpose is to convey to American slave owners that despite the 4th of July symbolizing freedom, many African Americans miss the chance to celebrate as they are trapped in the bounds of slavery. The theme of freedom and equality adequately appeals to the to the audience’s emotions through Douglas use of imagery and rhetorical questions. Douglas’s speech communicates an overall message of freedom and equality. His speech strongly addresses freedom as he communicates to American…

    • 701 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Douglas Vs Cady Stanton

    • 719 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Just like Stanton, Douglass refers to the constitutional rights stating “now, take the constitution according to its plain reading, and I defy the presentation of a single pro-slavery clause in it”(Douglass 5). Douglass describes how “there are seventy-two crimes in the state of Virginia which, if committed by a black man(no matter how ignorant he be), subject him to the punishment of death; while only two of the same crimes will subject a white man to the like punishment”(Douglass 3). This is similar to how Stanton provided examples on women being deprived of their rights. While Stanton’s address describes the rights women deserve in all aspects of life, Douglass mainly focuses on a slave’s view of the Fourth of July. He describes it as “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”(Douglass 4).…

    • 719 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Frederick Douglass, who spent twenty one years of his life as a slave, devised the speech, What to the Slave is the Fourth of July. In his speech, he acknowledges many of his viewpoints of what he thinks about the Fourth of July, along with what the slaves think as a whole about the Fourth of July. At the beginning of the speech he welcomes the audience and asks many rhetorical questions. Douglass’s first paragraph is innocent enough. However, he plunges into his second paragraph with harsh words and questions that demand an answer.…

    • 665 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    “Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay the tithe of mint and anise and cumin, and you have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgement, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone.” (KJ21, Matthew 23:23) In his speech, “What to a Slave is the Fourth of July,” Frederick Douglass reminds his audience that there is much work to be done in abolishing the slave trade and much of that work revolves around treating all people with the same amount of respect. Douglass begins by regaling the Ladies Anti-Slavery Society with the world famous stories of how the underdogs, the forefathers, rose against oppression in unimaginable circumstances to successfully annex the thirteen colonies…

    • 1458 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Frederick Douglass’s use of his personal meanings of slavery and freedom in his writing were exercised to hasten the abolition of slavery in American society in the 19th century. Frederick Douglass defined slavery as a permeating system of oppression and abuse that is forced upon people of color, in such a way that they cannot fully understand the atrocity or determine ways to overcome it. Douglass made a very strong argument that a slave’s lack of knowledge is the reason for the…

    • 1045 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The fourth of July is nothing to slaves if they didn’t receive their freedom. Douglass says that America needs to wake up and acknowledge that slavery is wrong. The hypocrisy of the nation has to be exposed and they need to be punished. Douglass was enraged with furiousness and metaphorically states that like a fire and thunder and earthquake, that the conscience of the nation must be awoken and there needs to be a change.…

    • 1117 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Frederick Douglass, a runaway slave and black abolitionist, delivered his speech, “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?” to emphasize the hypocrisy of Independence Day in America. Douglass’s purpose was to gain support from the group of people who have yet to choose one side or the other by pointing out the hypocrisy in the idea of freedom when only a fraction of Americans were truly free. He adopts a frustrated tone in order to convey to America, especially abolitionists, the mistreatments that slaves receive in the South and the lack of change. First, Douglass opens his speech by using rhetorical questions meant to make his listeners think about what the Fourth of July means to not only them but slaves as well.…

    • 1048 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    “What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?” On July 4, 1852, Frederick Douglas delivered his “What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?” speech. At the time this speech was delivered, Douglas was merely an escaped slave who had been taught to read and write by his slave owner’s wife. He used his gift of literacy to fight for the God-given rights of both African-Americans and women. In “What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July,” Douglas cunningly uses bold diction and formatting in order to emphasize to his mostly white audience points of conviction concerning slaves.…

    • 673 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    Frederick Douglass gave his famous speech on "The Hypocrisy of American Slavery" in 1852, with the purpose of convincing his audience that slaves should be equal to white men, not as second class citizen. He supported his claim by quoting both the Declaration of Independence and the Bible. In paragraph 2 of his speech, Frederick Douglass stated that law treated different races unequally. In his speech, Frederick Douglass said that he is not included in the "rich inheritance of justice" or the Fourth of July; because to him, it is a day that shows "the terrible injustice and cruelty of which he is the constant victim." As stated in paragraph 15 of Frederick Douglass's speech, the celebration of Fourth of July is meaningless as long as there…

    • 184 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    He urges the audience to fulfill what the country advocated by their founding fathers. He further condones the nation for their cruel hypocrisy. He states that “Your Fourth of July is a sham; your boasted liberty, an unholy license… Your shouts of liberty and equality, hollow mockery.” Douglass also uses his personal experience of enslavement to retort to the people who oppose the idea of abolition. He reasons by asking how could people allow to impose to others such a horrid condition that no one would impose on themselves?…

    • 700 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays