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Frederick douglass self made man speech
Frederick Douglass Speech 4th of July 8th grade essay
Frederick douglass speech rethorical
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During America celebration of its 76th birthday, a man by the name of Frederic Douglass delivered a magnificent speech in Rochester, New York, July 5th, 1852. Douglass request to deliver the speech on the United States most important celebration of them appeared to him as mockery of his former persona and unjust treatment of black slaves in the United States. His speech, “The Fourth of July Oration,” was a true masterpiece result of skillful, eloquent and intelligent man. He began his oration by acknowledging America’s independence from the mother land’s ruling, England. Douglass alluded that despite being a seventy-six year-old nation, the United States was still at the eves of its career. Being a young country compare to those that were at the time to be by the thousands rather than tenths, created a grant opportunity for change that may be easier to successfully obtain under as a young nation rather than an older one condemned with opposition on its reforms. Douglass on his speech venerated the monumental accomplishment of the forefathers’ of their nation, of fearlessly fighting for their freedom and speaking for what they believed was right later becoming a revolution which ended the life and hopes of many as well as he felt as if the country and government was going against what they have constructed and in relation to how vague and misinterpreted slavery was being represented in the Bible. After he concluded venerating their independent country, he questioned why America citizens were celebrating independence. It was a time of commemoration for white folks but a time for desolation and woe for the black slaves of their nation at the time.
I agree with Frederick Douglass, as he felt as if the country and government was going...
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...ible. The whole idea of its existence not only violates the teachings of God but questions the religious system of the Church’s organization. The misinterpretation of the Bible and teachings of a pro-slavery America were all things Christianity, the main religion in the United States at the time, taught its followers during Sabbath and preaching of the gospel teachings of God. Douglass viewed Slavery as a non-spiritual, the unholy exercise which went against this inhumane implementation. He made these points prove “that what is inhumane, cannot be divine” (FD, 267). Douglass in through the use of eloquent words, smooth transitions and appropriate mood and tone made it clear, how vague and misinterpreted slavery was being resented in the Bible. This view that slavery is not divine and that God did not created, creates an enigma as to how this idea came to existence.
In the speech, “what to the slave is the Fourth of July?” which Fredrick Douglass gave he emphasized how the fourth of July is not a celebration to the slaves but an insult and ridicule. Douglass uses logos and pathos to make the audience understand his point of view and how this so called “independence day’’ is for whites only because the black people in America are still slaves , which in turn means they can’t celebrate this day. Using these rhetoric’s he conveys his point on how this day is adds insult to injury.
After suffering the overwhelming ferociousness and inhumanity of being a slave for over two decades, a black man by the name of Fredrick Douglass fled from enslavement and began to make a concerted effort to advance himself as a human being. Combating many obstacles and resisting numerous temptations, Douglass worked assiduously to develop into a knowledgeable gentleman rather than the involuntary alternative of being an unenlightened slave. In doing so, Douglass successfully emerged as one of the Civil War era’s most prominent antislavery orators. From his first major public speech at the age of 23, Douglass became widely renowned as a premier spokesperson for Black slaves and the movement for the abolition of slavery. In one of Douglass’ most distinguished speeches, “The Meaning of July 4th for the Negro,” he uses the intermittent occasion of speaking on behalf of African Americans to a multitude of White Americans to outline arguments against slavery.
Frederick Douglass’s speech was given to so many of his own people. The fact that Douglass speaks so harshly to them proves that he has passion for what he talks about through-out. “What to the slave is the Fourth of July”, compares and contrasts the different meanings the Fourth of July shared between Whites and African Americans. Douglass says “What, to the American slave, is your 4th of July? I answer: a day that reveals to him, more than all other days in the year, the gross injustice and cruelty to which he is the constant victim”. Frederick Douglass was not striving for the attention, he just wanted to get across that the Fourth of July is not a day of celebration to African Americans and the respect he shared with them, having once being a slave himself.
On July 5th 1852, Frederick Douglass, one of history’s outstanding public speakers, carried out a very compelling speech at Corinthian Hall in Rochester, New York. Within that moment of time where the freedom of Americans was being praised and celebrated, he gathered the nation to clear up the tension among slavery and the establishment of the country’s goals. Frederick Douglass’s speech mentions the development of the young nation, the Revolution, and his own life experience. While speaking, his main subject was seen to be American slavery. The “Fourth of July Oration” was a commendable model of Frederick Douglass’s affection and engagement towards the freedom of individuals. Frederick Douglass’s speech left an impact on his audience and continues to change the minds of those who read his speech today. I agree with plenty of dominant thoughts and cases he acknowledged in the “Fourth of July Oration.”
Douglass’ explains his view of religion as “When I think that these precious souls are to-day shut up in the prison-house of slavery, my feelings overcome me, and I am almost ready to ask, “Does a righteous God govern the universe? And for what does he hold the thunders in his right hand, if not to smite the oppressor, and deliver the spoiled out of the hand of the spoiler? (p.48).” He wonders how a righteous God can rule the universe, and yet still allow cruel things like slavery to exist. One of the ways Douglass shows himself to be a Christian, is by quoting the Bible, “Dark and terrible as is this picture, I hold it to be s...
... William Lloyd Garrison the main idea of which is to set free the enslaved ones and establish legal state based on true democracy and equality of people. 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 this Other.
From before the country’s conception to the war that divided it and the fallout that abolished it, slavery has been heavily engrained in the American society. From poor white yeoman farmers, to Northern abolitionist, to Southern gentry, and apathetic northerners slavery transformed the way people viewed both their life and liberty. To truly understand the impact that slavery has had on American society one has to look no further than those who have experienced them firsthand. Frederick Douglass, an escaped slave and advocate for the abolitionist, is on such person. Douglass was a living contradiction to American society during his time. He was an African-American man, self-taught, knowledgeable, well-spoken, and a robust writer. Douglass displayed a level of skill that few of his people at the time could acquire. With his autobiography, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass: An American Slave Written by Himself, Douglass captivated the people of his time with his firsthand accounts into the horror and brutality that is the institution of slavery.
He points out that the Fourth of July came to be seen by abolitionists as a day suited to point out the nation's failure to live up to its promise of liberty for all. Douglass raises the issue of slaves' humanity by addressing the line between humans and animals. Frederick Douglass' point in "The Meaning of Fourth of July for the Negro" is that America was being incredibly hypocritical in their celebration of the Fourth of July. The whole point of that holiday is to celebrate that all people in the country are free from Great Britain. while they are sitting there celebrating their own freedom, slaves are being held captive in that same country that seems to value freedom so greatly.
In his speech, Frederick Douglass made it clear that he believed that the continued toleration and support of slavery from both a religious and legal standpoint was utterly absurd when considering the ideals and principles advocated by America’s forefathers. He began by praising the American framers of the Constitution, an...
... “Prior to [Captain Auld’s] conversion, he relied upon his own depravity to shield and sustain him in his savage barbarity; but after his conversion, he found religious sanction and support for the slaveholding cruelty” (Douglass 883). This means that slaveholders use Christianity as a tool to show that they are good at heart and are doing God’s work, but they use it as a divine right to brutally beat slaves. This is what Frederick wants other abolitionists to recognize, especially the abolitionist women.
This excellent biography fluently tells the life story of Douglass; one of the 19th centuries's most famous writers and speakers on abolitionist and human rights causes. It traces his life from his birth as a slave in Maryland, through his self-education, escape to freedom, and subsequent lionization as a renowned orator in England and the United States. Fascinating, too, are accounts of the era's politics, such as the racist views held by some abolitionist leaders and the ways in which many policies made in post-Civil War times have worked to the detriment of today's civil rights movement. The chapter on Frederick Douglass and John Brown is, in itself, interesting enough to commend this powerful biography. The seldom-seen photographs, the careful chapter notes, documentation, and acknowledgements will encourage anybody to keep on learning about Frederick Douglass.
Douglass continues to describe the severity of the manipulation of Christianity. Slave owners use generations of slavery and mental control to convert slaves to the belief God sanctions and supports slavery. They teach that, “ man may properly be a slave; that the relation of master and slave is ordained by God” (Douglass 13). In order to justify their own wrongdoings, slaveowners convert the slaves themselves to Christianity, either by force or gentle coercion over generations. The slaves are therefore under the impression that slavery is a necessary evil. With no other source of information other than their slave owners, and no other supernatural explanation for the horrors they face other than the ones provided by Christianity, generations of slaves cannot escape from under the canopy of Christianity. Christianity molded so deeply to the ideals of slavery that it becomes a postmark of America and a shield of steel for American slave owners. Douglass exposes the blatant misuse of the religion. By using Christianity as a vessel of exploitation, they forever modify the connotations of Christianity to that of tyrannical rule and
“Land of the Free and Home of the Brave.” Citizens of the United States of America grow up hearing these words echo in their ears. They see it in advertising, campaign speeches, the news, and any patriotic material. But this statement, this theme that those patriots cling to has not always been true for everyone. Frederick Douglass elaborated on this underlying contradiction and moral failure of the United States. Specifically, his speech, What, to the slave, is the Fourth of July?, demonstrates the concepts of the True and the Good as established in the Platonic framework as he pursues both concepts by proving their opposites to be true for the United States.
Slave-owners forced a perverse form of Christianity, one that condoned slavery, upon slaves. According to this false Christianity the enslavement of “black Africans is justified because they are the descendants of Ham, one of Noah's sons; in one Biblical story, Noah cursed Ham's descendants to be slaves” (Tolson 272). Slavery was further validated by the numerous examples of it within the bible. It was reasoned that these examples were confirmation that God condoned slavery. Douglass’s master...
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