David Dillon Professor Pamela Roseman U S History 2111 November 11, 2015 Take a Stand on Slavery – Abolitionists The movement to eliminate slavery in the United States during the antebellum years was difficult and did not go unchallenged as there were many people who were pro-slavery while others were anti-slavery. Before the Civil War there was debate over the issue of slavery. Slaves were considered property, and were property because they were black. Many people in the South were strong advocates of slavery, while people in the North were opposed to it. In the South, slavery was a social and powerful economic institution. During this period in the south Pro-Slavery activists did not empathize with the system and conditions the …show more content…
Frederick Douglass was another abolitionist who also spoke out vigorously about slavery. He himself was an emancipated slave who fought for the abolishment of slavery. He fought to demonstrate that it was crude, unnatural, ungodly, immoral, and unjust. During a July 4th Celebration he made it known that he despised the treatment of the slaves. He explained that this hypocrisy was aimed at the black population and so in his speech on the Fourth of July celebration he proclaimed to the anti-slavery individuals that “This Fourth of July is yours not mine” and “You may rejoice, I must mourn”. Frederick Douglass quoted from the Declaration of Independence, “All men are created equal; and are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights; and that, among these are, life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness”. He wondered if the rights that are stated in the Declaration of Independence, apply to everyone in America, because he believed they should. He asked the question what the Fourth of July was to an American slave, and responded, to the American slaves that one day, is full of hyprocrisy. He wondered how people could celebrate liberty and equality where there was slavery in America. In support of his idea of how sorrow slavery was Douglas used imagery. He stated, “I see clouds of dust raised on the highways of the South; I see the bleeding footsteps; I
Ophelia Settle Egypt, informally known as Ophie, was an African American woman ahead of her time. She attained the educational status of less than one percent of the American population, was liberal and accepting of others despite the criticism around her, fought to end racism, worked independently of her husband, and believed in limiting family growth. All of Egypt’s beliefs and lifetime achievements represent a new type of woman: a woman who refuses to assimilate to her gender stereotype of weak, inferior, and domestic. Egypt dedicated her life to social work through various activities. She worked as a sociologist, researcher, teacher, director of organizations, and social worker at different times in her life. Egypt’s book, The Unwritten History of Slavery (1968), and the Planned Parenthood Clinic in Southeast Washington D.C. named after her represent Egypt’s legacy and how one person is capable of social change.
Standing in stark contrast and opposition to Calhoun, slavery and the entire social structure of the ante-bellum South was Frederick Douglass. A renowned statesman, Douglass was also an orator, a writer, and a social reformer – some even call him the father of the Civil Rights movement. After escaping slavery in Maryland, he became a leader in the abolitionist movement in the New England states. A firm believer in equal rights for all peoples – including women, Native Americans, immigrants and blacks - Douglas spent his life of freedom as an example of how wrong the slaveholder's pro-slavery arguments were. Perhaps it is for this passion for freedom of all peoples that Douglass was asked to give a speech for the 4th of July in 1852. At an
Frederick Douglass was an abolitionist, a human rights activist, and a former slave with a lot to say. July 4, 1852, a man was asked to speak at a Declaration signing commemoration event. This man, an African- American former slave steps up on stage and delivers a speech of the century, informing the white crowd of the slave's perspective on the 'celebration of freedom'. In the speech, Douglass claims that the Fourth of July is a day of mourning for current and former slaves instead of the celebration the White Americans partake in. Throughout the speech, he uses logos, ethos, and pathos to emphasize the hard perspective of a day that reminds the slave of their lack of freedom.
Frederick Douglass’s speech The Meaning of July Fourth for the Negro and John C. Calhoun’s Speech on the Reception of Abolition Petitions have some similarities and differences in the argument about slavery and its destiny with America. They both talk about slavery but in different ways. Douglass argues against slavery addressing that the signers of the Declaration of Independance put the interests of a country above their own and urges his listeners to continue the work of these great men who brought freedom to this land. While Calhoun argues for slavery responding to anti slavery petitions sent to the Senate by abolitionist groups, and unlike most southern politicians, Calhoun thought white southerners needed to stop apologizing for
Frederick Douglass’ speech, “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July” encompasses a powerful meaning for the mistreated African Americans in America. It showed the other side of America’s opinion, and how they viewed the Fourth of July. The Fourth of July was supposed to be a day about Americans gaining their freedom, but not everybody gained their freedom on this day. Although Douglass gave his famous speech to a sympathetic audience, he presented a strong condemnation of America through his use of a pathos appeal and by the style of his diction.
During the time prior to the twentieth century our world accepted slavery as a normal part of life. Aphra Behn and Phillis Wheatley, both female authors born about 100 years apart, had their own views of slavery and wrote poems and stories about the subject. These women were physically different, Aphra was a Caucasian, and Phillis was an African American, and their lives were rather different as well. Aphra was a spy and playwright, who lived the middle class life and Phillis, was a slave who was taken from her homeland, brought to America, sold into slavery, then later freed. I believe that both writers’ views were difficult to figure out, especially by just reading their works.
Frederick Douglass, a former slave, is a well known figure for self teaching himself the English language and addressing the nation of its holiday for freedom. He had a goal, which was to explain what the 4th of July meant to a black slave. How he convinced his crowd was through some powerful language and rhetorical questions. Though he was talking to a sympathetic crowd, he really wanted to prove how different his opinion is of this “great” holiday compared to a white American.
Fredrick Douglass was a former African American slave who became an abolitionist and fought for human rights. Douglas said “this Fourth of July is yours, not mine” because he does not believe, neither he nor any slaves have anything to celebrate. While white Americans may be celebrating a day of independence, and freedom, the rest of society is still subjected to slavery, “high independence only reveals the immeasurable distance between us”. The newly found rights that are being attained by those who are truly free, are still being kept from
Slavery has always been a controversial and debatable issue in the United States. No one attacked the African-American slavery of the southern states with greater vehemence than a group of young, radical abolitionists. Frustrated at the betrayal of the revolutionary promise that all forms of bondage would disappear in the new land and marshalling all the religious revivals that swept the country, abolitionists demanded no less than the immediate emancipation of all slaves. Bursting upon the American political system in the early 1830s, abolitionists not only opposed any reparation of slaveholders, but they also demanded full political rights for all African-Americans, North and South.
In a similar vain to his open letter to Thomas Auld, Douglass furthered his attempts to make aware of the cruelties of slavery with his speech, “The Meaning of July Fourth for the Negro”. The speech starts as a patriotic applause to the great efforts America went through to gain independence. The definition of “an American” and the overall ideology of what America stood for is what is established in the beginning and ending of Douglass’s speech. He emphasizes the importance of freedom, democracy, and equal rights and how those qualities have become synonymous with America, therefore becoming the values of America. He alludes to the signers of the Constitution and how “they went so far in their excitement as to pronounce the measures of government
In the passage “What to the Slave is the Fourth Of July” Frederick Douglass uses many rhetorical devices to convey the abolitionists the ideals of freedom and to act upon the unlawful acts of slavery. Douglass tone in this passage is forthright, he is straightforward and direct to the abolitionists. For example he takes actions granted by the abolitionist to point out the unrightful hypocrisy of the nation that is celebrating their freedom while slavery is input. Furthermore, Douglass’s diction is very powerful by the way he projects and use high level vocabulary in his speeches. He projects this type of diction as stated “Fellow citizens above your national tumultuous joy, I hear the mournful wail of millions, whose chains,heavy and grievances
In 1852, civil rights activist Fredrick Douglass was asked to give a speech in celebration of the fourth of July. He delivered a powerful speech, his words may not have been what the audience was expecting. Douglass highlighted many points as to why a slave wouldn’t want to celebrate this holiday. He even pondered he had been asked in jest to deliver this type of speech. He did not feel that he had any reason to celebrate nor would the people in this country that have been continuously oppressed by this nation which claimed to be free for all men. Douglass thought of this celebration as a sham. He believed that this nation had become free for the white man but not for him or the ethnic groups in America.
When we think of the word slavery, extremely negative connotations to mind. We think of how millions of African people were rounded up like sheep, stuffed into boats with horrible conditions, and brought to this country where they were treated as lesser people. They were forced to work without pay, in one of the most unforgiving occupations, farming. All this because of where they were from and the color of their skin. Despite this, many people actually defended slavery using the bible. Passages such as St. Paul’s Letter to the Colossians approves slaves where he writes, “Slaves, obey your human master in everything, not only when being watched, as currying favor, but in simplicity of heart, fearing the Lord.” However, due to the inhumanity of slavery, during Vatican II the Church reversed its ideas on slavery. This massive change took place more than 80 years after the end of reconstruction. This long period of time raises many questions regarding the Church 's ability to make that big of a change, and why the Church waited so long make those changes. These types of questions can be answered by going back into the bible, and into the Church’s history through a process called Biblical criticism.
An American Slave, he specifically describes the cruel life and dangerous situations of slavery and his escape to freedom in the North. Douglas goes on about the cruelty of religious slaveholders. Throughout the narrative, Douglass owners vindicate the beatings, the blood, and even the killings of slavery through religious excuses which, oddly, question some people’s religious views in the 19th Century. Stylistically, Douglass was a master of irony, as demonstrated by his famous Fourth of July speech in 1852: “This Fourth of July is yours, not mine. You may rejoice, I must mourn,” he declared. (3) For the ways that race have created the deepest contradictions in American history, Douglass’s speeches are the best sources of awareness. Douglass makes a point in his narrative that the Christianity of the slave masters was different from the
Frederick Douglass argued that the Declaration of Independence was a hypocrisy. For the reason, that it does not apply to all, especially not to Blacks. The foundation of America was based upon the freedoms and rights of ALL people. Yet it seems it only benefit a certain group of the population which was white. Douglass states “This Fourth July is yours, not mine. You may rejoice, I must moun”. He emphasizes on the fact that only whites have gained their independence. Blacks such as himself have yet to experience that. Douglas wants people to understand that his people are still being enslaved by society. So, when the country celebrates of its knew found freedom understand that it doesn’t apply to everyone.