Douglass, Frederick a man that taught himself to read and write, in his speech in 1852 “What to The American Slave is Your 4th of July” has given us a clear picture of the reality of inhuman cruelty that is slavery. That Douglass was triggered by it when the white man had the audacity to ask Douglas the opportunity to speak in stage about the united state’s independence, or how douglass see it, Their independence day. Douglass begins building his speech with personal facts and a clear horrific image of his people going through a inhuman life. His purpose that to confront the his audience that celebrating a day of everyone's independence and how it doesn't go by the black african americans and how yet slavery not been bring to a final point…
In 12 Years a Slave, audiences across the nation witnessed Steve McQueen’s depiction of the hardships of the African American Solomon Northup. Steve McQueen’s inspiration was Solomon Northup’s 19th century memoir, 12 Years a Slave. This novel told the heart wrenching story of an educated and free African American who was kidnapped and sold into slavery in the south in 1841. Throughout the film, Steve McQueen successfully portrays the tribulations of Solomon Northup through the unrelenting imagery and description of the story that gives the film an ability that makes the audience feel like they are experiencing the story with Solomon Northup. This film is a work of art that successfully gave audiences across the world a deep understanding of the life of a slave.…
In “What to a slave is the 4th of July?”given by Frederick Douglass an “Declaration of Sentiments of the Seneca Falls Women’s Right Convention” by Elizabeth Cady Stanton both talk about the equality problems in America. Douglas speaks on behalf of women and their rights. Throughout American history many people have struggled with who should be granted freedom. Those who were denied freedom, never stopped fighting for what they believed in.…
What to the Slave is the Fourth of July is a strong declaration of what July fourth and freedom means to Frederick Douglass. The people who asked him to speak speculated that he would speak of the wonderful freedom the fourth of July bring to him, but things took a turn in the opposite directs. Douglass conveys his opinions through his diction, rhetorical devices, and figurative language.…
A great example of this idea is and can be shown from Dr. King’s “I Have a Dream” speech. A fragment of his speech that stands out states, “ In the process of gaining our rightful place, we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred. We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plain of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protests to degenerate into physical violence” (lines 56 - 60) For that reason this statement is an excellent example of how African Americans had to struggle and attempt to acquire freedom and be respected as black men and women of the United States of America. In addition, this statement also proves that people must fight, not with fists but with words and behave in a civilized fashion. An additional sample of the struggle for freedom also comes from Dr. King’s speech, especially when he tells us that, “I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.” This quote supports the idea of struggling for Freedom by stating on how the “sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners” be able to enjoy the magnificence of…
Frederick Douglass, who grew up as slave but would later become one of the most influential African-Americans in U.S. history, describes this precisely in “Learning To Read.” Douglass describes how he learned to read partially by the help of his masters mistress who taught him the alphabet and partially by the help of white kids on the street who helped him form those letters into words and sentences. Around age twelve he got ahold of a book called “The Colombian Orator.” Douglass describes how in one story, a slave was able to change his masters mind about slavery, and was consequentially set free. In the same book he read a speech by Irish activist Richard Sheridan from which he got “a bold denunciation of slavery, and a powerful vindication of human rights.”(Douglass, 48) This speech opened douglass’s eyes to the injustice of slavery. He said “The more I read, the more I was led to abhor and detest my enslavers. I could regard them in no other light that a band of successful robbers, who had left their homes, and gone to Africa, and stolen us from our homes, and in a strange land reduced us to slavery.”(Douglass, 49) By reading this speech, Douglass realized the injustice that is slavery and that he was not the only one that knew this. Douglass later said “As I read and contemplated the subject, behold! That very discontentment which Master Hugh had predicted would follow my learning to read had already come, to torment and sting my soul to unutterable anguish.”(Douglass,49) Douglass was no longer satisfied with a life of bondage nor was he okay with others being left in…
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…
Frederick Douglass was an American slave who wrote a novel in 1845 that exposed the terrible living conditions of slaves. John F. Kennedy, an American president gave a speech at Amherst University discussing the privilege that comes with power. During his speech, Kennedy stated, “Therefore, I am proud to come to this college, whose graduates have recognized this obligation and to say to those who are now here that the need is endless, and I am confident you will respond.”, he challenges the future generations, who are obligated to educate others because they are educated, to change the segregation in America. Before 1865, slaves were not encouraged to speak up for themselves, they were silenced and left in the shadows. People of color were…
Since the majority of blacks were former slaves or children of former slaves they were still viewed as lesser than normal citizens. The mistreatment of black people in America is still prevalent today and is associated with policing in some communities in the United States. For example “The group was founded in 2013 following the acquittal of George Zimmerman, who had been charged with murdering black teen Trayvon Martin. Over the next few years, the Black Lives Matter movement swelled in popularity, particularly after several incidents of police brutality involving African Americans began permeating national news. In 2015, Black Lives Matter activists protested for racial equality at various events held by 2016 presidential election candidates.” Neither Fredrick Douglas nor I may change our skin tone and we both live this reality. The effect of this hardship was that I gained an understanding that some people in America just will not like me for the color of my skin.…
American Slavery Young America was founded on some major principles. Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness was the structural philosophy during the war front of the American Revolution. Oddly enough, the life values young America was fighting for was not represented for everyone in America’s beginning of time. The early colonies economy solely depended on trade and mercantilism. Each section of the colonies produced their own type of merchandise that was only produced in that location of the colonies.…
According to Douglass, the “rich inheritance of justice, liberty, prosperity, and independence” expressed in America’s Declaration of Independence and Fourth of July were not “extended” neither to enslaved black Americans nor the “Negro race”. White Americans freely celebrated the Fourth of July while millions of enslaved and free black Americans suffered from “the wrongfulness of slavery”. Douglass’ American slavery tirade on the Fourth of July embodies the urgency and need for abolition. Turner speaks on the same issue over fourteen year later, a testament to American “cowardice” and “pusillanimity”. The American system, eager to “make war upon” black Americans, punished white representatives who worked towards securing rights for black Americans without hesitation. This issue was not only for black men; in fact, as stated by Turrell, both black and white American men ignored the contributions of “Colored women” for “[regenerating] and [uplifting]” black Americans across the country. America’s “political freedom” and calls for “natural justice” were extended neither to black men nor…
Frederick Douglass was a slave who was brought up in Maryland and even though the treatment for the slaves were less harsh as compared to the Deep South, but that does not mean that what Douglass has suffered were less in punishment and torture than the slaves in the Deep South. Douglass was raised in a slave plantation. The multiple slave holders that Douglass has experienced have a goal, which was to break their slaves. This means to basically emotionally and physically torture their slaves, so that they have no hope to be free from servitude and do not even think to rebel and question their masters. Where white men can enjoy their freedom and their manhood due to their superiority, however, Douglass demonstrates that black slaves…
This paper presents the life experience of two African-Americans as slaves during the nineteenth century. Henry Bibb was the author of his own narrative, which he published in 1849 with the assistance of Lucius Matlack. The second source was the narrative of W. L. Bost, a slave from North Carolina. He was interviewed as many other enslaved African-Americans by the members of the Federal Writer’s Project around the 1930s. The purpose of these narratives was to describe to the public what it meant to be slave at that period of time. Both authors recalled the difficult and cruel conditions they faced during their journey as slaves. First, they were sold as merchandises on the market. Bost depicted that both men and women were chained and inappropriately…
"Freedom hath been hunter round the globe" 3 during the times of slavery a set of rules were set by slave owners for blacks but if the law is king why would they be allowed to make laws for a specific race and have this be justified and followed. "Freedom hath been hunted around the globe" talks about how the Blacks have been stripped of freedom as they didn't come to America for the joy of new land but were stolen from their own and made into slaves. "all men are created equal" But the men who were forced into slavery were not. Nice enough, there were people who saw wrong from this, showing that there were still some that upheld the principles that were set after the revolution. " THe case of oppressed blacks commands out attention...…
Our identity is created by the influences of our past and the actions of others, rather than what we are born with.…