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1. In some ways, the first part of the speech is a traditional patriotic speech. Identify these elements. Douglass congratulates the Americans on the anniversary. He says that it brings good memories of when the country was delivered from British rule and that America is growing older. He states that it is no necessarily bad that the country is young because it can change easily. If it were older, “the patriot’s heart might be sadder, and the reformer’s brow heavier (Douglass). He also speaks well of the Founding Fathers for declaring their independence from Britain, especially since they put national interest above personal interest, which Douglass greatly applauds. 2. Douglass uses religious language in discussing Independence. Why do you think he does so? He says that the declaring of a new nation was a “great deliverance,” comparing it to the group led by Moses out of Egypt. He does this to further support why he likes the original ideals of the Americans, since they follow great examples from religions most audience members follow and can get behind. By planting early images of religion, he can later create a religious appeal to the audience. 3. What is his opinion of the American Founders? What characteristics does he praise about them? What is their …show more content…
He also appeals to their rational self by anticipating that critics may say that they need to be convinced that blacks are human. Douglass counters that blacks are already recognized as people by the
When you look at today’s government, it is viewed that everyone will be treated equally and decisions will be made in the best interest of the people. But when thinking about the government of the past, one must ask if these same views were expressed by the people of that time? Did everyone fill that they were apart of a just system? According to Frederick Douglass and Henry David Thoreau the answer to that question is no. The government was unjust because so many followed the wrong doings of the law rather than doing what was right, subjected African Americans to harsher punishments
In Rochester, New York on July 5, 1852 Frederick Douglass, a former slave, spoke at the Ladies’ Anti-Slavery Society on the irony of rejoicing and celebrating the freedom and independence of America, a country in which so much of the population was not free, but rather enslaved (Faigley 351). His speech was a fiery call to arms for the abolitionists at the meeting to not only concern themselves with the issue, but also to take action; not only to listen but to become engaged. His work was a powerful example of the anger, frustration, and raw emotion felt by the millions of slaves in the Americas, and how it could be put to work, exposing the hypocrisy of many white
In order to increase patriotism, Henry calls attention to the idea that “[America is] not weak if we make a proper use of those means which the God of nature [has placed] in our power.” After mentioning Britain’s view of colonial America, Henry provides the audience with the hope that the American people can defeat the British if they take action. Henry encourages the audience to be confident by stating that even God, the almighty one, is on their side. Henry establishes his credibility and trustworthiness by aligning God’s views with his own. To further encourage the delegates, he says “the battle… is not to the strong alone; it is to the vigilant, the active, the brave.” By omitting conjunctions, Henry presents the advantages the Americans possess over the British. While the British are just “strong”, the Americans are “vigilant”, “active”, and “brave”, traits which are more beneficial. Henry believes that the “three millions of people” will join together to defeat the British and fight for liberty. The omission of the conjunctions allows the delegates to understand how Henry trusts the “vigilant”, “active”, and “brave” will all
Frederick Douglass uses effective evidence and language in order to support his argument in the speech “The Meaning of July Fourth for the Negro.”
middle of paper ... ... This moment is especially powerful because it allows Douglass to extend the scope of his influence. He makes an attempt to show that all people are the same, there are no exceptions. There will also come times when things will change as long as there are people who can recognize and tolerate otherness without harming others.
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
Obama begins his speech by addressing the audience and expressing how thankful he is. Throughout his speech, he uses multiple allusions by referencing people, places, and events. He quickly mentions, “For us, they fought and died, in places like Concord and Gettysburg; Normandy and Khe Sanh” (12). This reference shows that Obama is aware of America’s history. Obama also makes a reference to the Declaration of Independence saying, “...all are equal, all are free, and all deserve a chance to pursue their full measure of happiness” (paragraph 9).“This is effective to the audience because it shows that he has paid attention and knows what the nation, and the citizens in it, have been through.
... just the scholars but every citizen in America the importance of preserving their own culture with originality in everyone’s ideologies. He has attempted to provide elements through which the new form of literature can grow and it has evidently helped literature in America be more research based and not scholars memorizing from previous texts written by other authors. The American scholar was thus a historic speech that encouraged scholars since to write with freedom encouraging arguments to discover truth for any matter to be discussed.
This piece of the evidence goes to show that Barack Obama made his speech very credible by including something that everyone in the audience have knowledge to. He used the declaration of independence to explain American’s Pride. He used something every American can or could relate or have access to as a way to show credibility on the knowledge of what America stands for. It is our duty to take pride of the paths that we create in the United States of
Many people look at milestones in history and assume that life proceeding becomes perfect, until the next tragic event occurs. For example after the Civil War life did not turn into a completely joyous utopia. After the war a lot of prejudice reared its ugly head. In fact, there was a law set to prohibit Chinese men from becoming citizens. In response Fredrick Douglass wrote “ The Composite Nation” in 1869. This was his response to the events occurring and how he felt the nation should be.
In a Speech to the Virginia Convention, Henry appeals to ethos in the beginning by telling the President of the Virginia Convention, “No man thinks more highly than I do of the patriotism, as well as abilities, of the very worthy gentleman who ...
...e proper descriptions of Douglass’s experiences. These words also justify that he is brilliant and not no fool. His influential words in the narrative support the message of him being smarter than what some people may believe.
While writing about the dehumanizing nature of slavery, Douglass eloquently and efficiently re-humanize African Americans. This is most evident throughout the work as a whole, yet specific parts can be used as examples of his artistic control of the English language. From the beginning of the novel, Douglass’ vocabulary is noteworthy with his use of words such as “intimation […] odiousness […] ordained.” This more advanced vocabulary is scattered throughout the narrative, and is a testament to Douglass’ education level. In conjunction with his vocabulary, Douglass often employed a complex syntax which shows his ability to manipulate the English language. This can be seen in Douglass’ self-description of preferring to be “true to [himself], even at the hazard of incurring ridicule of others, rather than to be false, and incur [his] own abhorrence.” This is significant because it proves that Douglass can not only simply read and write, but he has actually obtained a mastery of reading and writing. This is a highly humanizing trait because it equates him in education level to that of the stereotypical white man, and how could one deny that the white man is human because of his greater education? It is primarily the difference in education that separates the free from the slaves, and Douglass is able to bridge this gap as a pioneer of the
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
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...