Fredrick Douglass The Meaning Of July Fourth To The Negro

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“The Meaning of July Fourth to the Negro” Analysis Frederick Douglass depicts the hypocrisy, horrors of slavery, and the immense inequalities between white Americans and African Americans in his speech. Specifically, he portrays the difference in the importance of the Fourth of July between the two races. The meaning of the holiday differs greatly between the two groups. In particular, he targets the hypocrisy of not just a group people, but the character of a nation.
The Fourth of July was celebrated by many white Americans in this time period to acknowledge the freedom of our nation. Frederick Douglass questions this practice because Americans celebrate freedom, but not all Americans are free. He even states that this holiday is not a holiday for …show more content…

Frederick Douglass reiterates this truth by giving numerous examples of the inequalities between the two. African Americans experienced very different treatment compared to white Americans. He explains that even in the legal system of the United States, African Americans were treated more harshly than white Americans. He states that even some Southerners acknowledge that if a white man and black man committed a similar crime, the black man would be susceptible to a harsher punishment. “There are seventy-two crimes in the State of Virginia which, if committed by a black man, subject him to the punishment of death; while only two of the same crimes will subject a white man to the like punishment,” (Douglass 1852). Some argue that African Americans should not experience the same rights as white Americans due to their lack of education. However, how can they be penalized for not being educated, when they do not have the opportunity to educate themselves. Overall, black Americans and white Americans were held to entirely different standards. The differences in these standards set a clear and unfair line between the two

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