The word Democracy has been defined a number of different ways by many people all over the country. This word has also meant different things over the years as things began to change throughout the United States. People in the past had different views on Democracy because life back then was much different than it is today. People realize that they really have a voice and a chance to fight and vote for what they believe in. The television show, “The Voice”, sees democracy as only the people who own an electronic device has the right to vote because there is not another way for people to get their vote in. On the other hand, Frederick Douglass sees democracy is only available to white men within the United States of America. Although democracy is usually defined as “a form of government in which people choose leaders by voting”, it’s sufficient to say that both “The Voice” and Frederick Douglass defined democracy a little bit differently, but still equally believe that the people are the ones who have the chance to make a difference and vote for what they think is right.
Frederick Douglass writes a letter to his old master and ends this letter with words that show that he is a citizen of the United States of America, “I am your fellow-man, but not your slave”. He is telling his old master that he is no longer his piece of property, but that he is his equal instead. The last line in this letter basically sums up the whole letter and what he has been fighting for his whole life. This line shows that he is starting to make a change not only in his life but a change for the lives of other African Americans and that they all deserve a chance to have a voice. Douglass spent almost his entire life not being able to have the same r...
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...s his voice to be heard and fights for what he believes is right and doesn’t give up until he achieves his goal. Although democracy is usually defined as “a form of government in which people choose leaders by voting”, it’s sufficient to say that both “The Voice” and Frederick Douglass defined democracy a little bit differently.
Works Cited
"A Short Definition of Democracy." Democracy Building. N.p., 2004. Web. 10 Dec. 2013. .
"Democracy." Merriam-Webster. Merriam-Webster, n.d. Web. 10 Dec. 2013. .
Douglass, Frederick. Autobiographies: Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave ; My Bondage and My Freedom ; Life and times of Frederick Douglass. New York: Literary Classics of the United States, 1994. Print.
"The Voice.
In a preface of Douglass' autobiography, William Lloyd Garrison writes, "I am confident that it is essentially true in all its statements; that nothing has been set down in malice, nothing exaggerated, nothing drawn from the imagination; that it comes short of the reality, rather than overstates a single fact in regard to SLAVERY AS IT IS."(Garrison, 34). The significance of this statement validates and promises that Douglass' words are nothing but the truth. This made the narrative more marketable to the white audience and people were listening. Douglass realized that he did not need assurance from white people to be respected. That's why he addressed his master for all the wrong things done to him. Slaves are looked as not human. Douglass completes his journey from slave to man when he creates his own identity. He speaks out, fighting as an abolitionist and finally becoming an author. Douglass tells his story not simply as a search for fr...
In his speech he tries to make white people consider the behavior of black people. Specially their feelings towards a national occasion such as Independence Day. At the time of Douglass’s speech America were actually two different nations, white and black. Two separated nations one had great benefits after the independence and another still fight for basic human rights. What does the independence means for people who still suffer after it? This question is the most important. In the Declaration of Independence. He is implying that these rights are not being extended to African Americans. When this country was created it was meant to be a plac...
When first introduced to Douglass and his story, we find him to be a young slave boy filled with information about those around him. Not only does he speak from the view point of an observer, but he speaks of many typical stereotypes in the slave life. At this point in his life, Frederick is inexperienced and knows nothing of the pleasures of things such as reading, writing, or even the rights everyone should be entitled to. Douglass knowing hardly anything of his family, their whereabouts, or his background, seems to be equivalent to the many other slaves at the time. As a child Frederick Douglass sees the injustices around him and observes them, yet as the story continues we begin to see a change.
Abraham Lincoln, the president that finally abolished slavery in the United States of America, ran for president against Stephen Douglass. Stephen Douglass desired to keep the disgusting institution of slavery legal, while Lincoln desired to abolish slavery permanently. The position of Douglass and his reasons for preserving the institution of slavery became clear in a speech he gave in 1858. According to civilwarcauses.org, Douglass presented the importance of democracy, and allowing communities to decide weather slavery should or should not be legal. (Speech of Stephen…, 2016) This of course sounds crazy to people in the modern day, but for at least a second time, occurring in the United States and in Greece, democracy upheld the institution of
Abraham Lincoln was a president who not only witnessed slavery first hand, but also witnessed a once cohesive and democratic nation go to war with itself over slavery. Due to this, it makes sense that his definition of democracy would largely be based on slavery. He has seen slavery and the effects, and, for this reason, would put neither himself nor anyone else to be in a position subservient to others. Furthermore, he proposes the idea that anyone who would place themselves above others in this manner differs from democracy, to the magnitude at which they place themselves above those they believe beneath them.
In “Democracy” by E.B. White, White describes what Democracy is, and he uses metaphors throughout his response to show both the positive and negative characteristics of Democracy. White supports Democracy, because overall, Democracy emboldens equality among all in the sense that one person should not have a biased advantage over the other. Equality stimulates privacy, which then gives people a sense of significance. In addition, White stresses the idea that Democracy is very heavy on citizens: not only do the government officials have influence in the system, but citizens have a say in the system as well. This allows pompous people to not have too much egotism in themselves because Democracy opposes that. Despite the fact that White has pride in Democracy due to many positive aspects, White also metaphorically points out a few
Foner, Eric. "Frederick Douglass on the Desire for Freedom." Voices of Freedom: A Documentary History. New York: W.W. Norton, 2005. 197-200. Print.
Works Cited Douglass, Frederick. A. A. Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave.
A democracy is a system of government controlled by the people, not by one certain group or individual. In the Declaration of Independence it states that “all men are created equal,” an idea which leads to the concept that all citizens should have the same rights, responsibilities, and influence in the governing of their country. In writing the Declaration of Independence Thomas Jefferson was trying to break his ties with the harsh and non-democratic rule of the British and begin a new, equal society and government for America.
Print. The. Douglass, Frederick. A. A. Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave. New York: Dover Publications, Inc., 1995. Print.
Douglas, Frederick. Narrative of the life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave (The Harper Single Volume American Literature 3rd edition) 1845:p.1017-1081
His main argument in the speech is that it 's unjust and hypocritical for a country to celebrate its freedom while it still has slaves. Now that in itself is a morally viable argument, and it has never been more relevant than today in our racially hate fueled world where every situation is turned into a hate crime. However, back in those days majority of slaves were sold into slavery by their own people. Most slaves were sold by rival tribes as prisoners of war, or trouble makers of the tribe, thus giving us the “bottom of the barrel” of the groups. Another counter to Douglass was that even though slaves were people, they were still considered property. A hard working farmer could have used his last penny in order to purchase that slave because he was unable to tend his farm and provide for his family. One common misconception was that all slaves were beaten and treated lower than swine, while to the contrary some were treated well being given a bed and meals every day in exchange for their hard work. While Douglass may have had a bad time under the ownership of Auld, most northern states did not treat their slaves in this manner. This is one of the main reasons Douglass learned how to read, yet no credit is given to his former owner. Most slaves developed a relationship with their owners, in which their owners taught them useful skills such as reading, writing, simple math and farming skills. Another argument brought into Douglass’ speech was that most churches were segregated, and in turn perpetuated the racism that helped keep slavery alive in well. He proposed that a God that wouldn’t allow such evil and disservice in this world would contradict everything the bible proposes and teaches. He praises the writers of the constitution, considering them his equal and thanking the signers of the Declaration of Independence, calling
Douglass, Frederick, and David W. Blight. Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave: With Related Documents. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2003. Print.
'Democracy,' she said. 'Does anybody have a definition?' ... 'Equal rights for all, special privileges for none' (Lee 248).
A memorable expression said by President Abraham Lincoln reads, “Democracy is government of the people, by the people, and for the people”. Democracy, is a derived from the Greek term "demos" which means people. It is a successful, system of government that vests power to the public or majority. Adopted by the United States in 1776, a democratic government has six basic characteristics: (i) established/elected sovereignty (where power and civic responsibility are exercised either directly by the public or their freely agreed elected representative(s)), (ii) majority rule(vs minority), (iii) (protects one’s own and reside with) human rights, (iv) regular free and fair elections to citizens (upon a certain age), (v) responsibility of