Fourth Of July Analysis

The Meaning of Fourth of July for the Negro by Fredrick Douglass is one of Douglass’s most famous speeches. In his speech, Douglass speaks about what Fourth of July is like for an African American, and argues points that are still relevant today on why African Americans are equal to the white man.
Douglass’s Fourth of July speech is starts out by paying tribute to what the founding fathers did for this country and what Independence Day means to the African American population. His speech then develops into his criticism of the American peoples view on slavery. He brings up the American Revolution to emphasize the fight for freedom. He asks rhetorical questions about slavery and freedom to make the audience think about what he is speaking to
Douglass then criticizes the churches for not preaching against slavery since slavery “inhuman and therefore cannot be divine.” At the time this speech was made, it was more than likely convincing to some but to more it was not. To the people who did not know much about slavery, this more than likely convinced them that slavery is a sin and should be ended. To people who knew about the treatment of slaves and did not care or people that grew up with slavery, this did not convince them because they already have the idea in their heads that slavery is okay and not sinful. Today, the arguments Douglass made would be convincing to a plethora of people. The people of today are far more open-minded and have more information than the people during Douglass’ time. There are movements going on today, i.e., Black Lives Matter, over circumstances similar to this. Douglass concludes his speech with a poem by William Lloyd Harrison. He concludes his speech with the poem to emphasis that the slaves will inevitably gain their freedom and the importance of the abolitionist’s fight against slavery Douglass’s speech about American slavery is still relevant today in certain aspects. His arguments were well thought-out and relevant to his audience, and helped