What to the Slave is The Fourth of July? (Essay Sample)

Assignment 2
Student Full Name
Institutional Affiliation
Course Full Title
Instructor Full Name
Due date
Assignment 2 Discussion: What to the Slave is The Fourth of July?
Introduction
Martin Luther King's I have a dream speech is easily remembered as the most eloquent exposition of the clamor for political equality solemnly promised by the American constitution. King had a rare oratorical flair that set him apart as a proponent of genuine freedom and equality for all in the United States. However, he was not without precedent. Just over a century before his riveting address, Frederick Douglass had made a passionate appeal for the recognition of the inherent worth and equal rights of African-Americans in a speech dubbed What to the Slave is The Fourth Of July? Frederick Douglass is arguably the most notable abolitionist of the 19th century. He was a decorated writer, orator, social reformer and statesman who morphed into a vocal national leader after escaping slavery. This paper succinctly focuses on his 1852 address What to the Slave is The Fourth Of July? which represented a significant oratorical achievement in the anti-slavery campaign.
BACKGROUND
Before the address in 1852, Douglas was already a notable voice in the camp advocating for the abolition of slavery, having been a former slave. Abolitionism arose with the intent to end slavery in the US. Initially, the campaigns had religious underpinnings, although they later morphed into heated and controversial political issues that elicited violent confrontations and divisiveness among the Americans. At a time when the abolition debate had gathered momentum in the US and about eight years before the emancipation proclamation, Douglass spent nearly six months in a year giving lectures across the country. What to the Slave is the Fourth of July? Speech was without question the crowning achievement of this effort. He had been invited to Rochester, New York on the 4th of July to give a speech on the Declaration of Independence. Instead, he chose to deliver it on July 5th, a day after the commemoration of the Declaration of Independence, as a sign that the Fourth of July did not really belong to the Negro.
EVIDENCE
The main point of What to the Slave is The Fourth Of July? is to criticize the hypocrisy deeply rooted in the American society, as the Declaration of Independence celebrated on the 4th of July was not commensurate to the racial segregation and inequality that traversed the country. While the speech is a scathing rebuke of the American society for denying the Negro his constitutional rights, Douglass starts with an acknowledgement of the founding fathers. He notes that “The signers of the Declaration of Independence were brave men. They were great men.” This demonstrates Douglass's acute sense of history as the principles the founders fought for were truly revolutionary for the time. He then proceeds to wonder why “the American people have selectively enjoyed the great principles of political freedom and natural justice” promised by the declaration of independence. He makes the case before his audience that the American society has made a mockery out of “the rich inheritance of justice, liberty, prosperity and independence, bequeathed by your fathers.” Thus, while the white community is keen to rejoice the 5th of July, for the Negro, it is a day to mourn. Hence, he proclaims that “this Fourth July is yours, not mine”. This is perhaps the most powerful example Douglas uses to underscore his thesis.
At the core of the speech, is the unraveling of the contradictions in commemorating the Declaration of Independence. Douglass starts by bringing these inconsistencies home to his immediate audience. He asks, “Fellow-citizens, pardon me, allow me to ask, why am I called upon to speak here today? What have I, or those I represent, to do with your national independence?” The statement immediately cuts through the hypocrisy of inviting a Negro whose comrades are enslaved to an occasion meant to commemorate the institution of the very rights they are denied.
DISCUSSION
In his speech, Douglas addressed the entire American fraternity. However, he had a special focus on the political elites that propagated the idealism of slavery and white supremacy in America. In so doing, Douglas also sensitized the Negros on their sense of identity and their belonging to the American society.
Douglass focuses his speech on what is presumably his key agenda; the rebuke of those who revel in the hypocrisy of freedom for all. The speech combines stern rebuke of American society and the sense of pain caused by affording only one race in America the full benefits of independence. Thus, when he points out that “America's revolting barbarity and shameless hypocrisy has no equal,” he quickly adds that “it is with a sad sense of the disparity between us. I am not included within the pale of glorious anniversary! Your high independence only reveals the immeasurable distance between us.” It is this appeal to multiple emotions that make the speech even more forceful.
In the short term, the speech turned out to be quite prophetic. It did not only turn out to be a conviction to his audience, but also marked as a significant milestone to the clamor for the end of slavery. In the 1852 address, he notes that, “It is not light that is needed, but fire; it is not the gentle shower, but thunder. We need the storm, the whirlwind, and the earthquake.” This appeal to a more radical intervention to ensure that America lives up to the promises o