Mahreen Munawar

ENG 1121

September 7, 2020

Word count: 772

Fredrick Douglass, a social reformer and a national leader for the abolitionist movement, argues in his speech “What To The Slave Is The Fourth Of July?”, that while Americans who are pale and white-skinned enjoy their freedom on this day, he mourns for his people for they lost their freedom because Americans gained yours. He argues that this celebration is not mutual because the Declaration of Independence wasn’t extended to him and his people. He states that freedom and joy are not shared because the freedom that gave white people the chance and prosperity and justice stripped his people of theirs.

Quote 1: “Fellow-citizens, pardon me, allow me to ask, why am I called upon to speak here to-day? What have I, or those I represent, to do with your national independence? Are the great principles of political freedom and of natural justice, embodied in that Declaration of Independence, extended to us?” (Douglass, 7)

Paraphrase: Why am I invited to give this freedom speech? When I don’t belong to the group of people for which this is meant to be. Does your freedom and justice for equality include me and my people?

Respond: This quote specifically stood out to me because Fredrick Douglass is questioning as to why he was invited to be the face of the freedom that he and his people never got. As glad as he was for America to have gained its freedom, his people still had a long way to go just like the forefathers of America did at one point. He questions the hypocrisy of this nation because they invited him to be the brand of the country that was enslaving his people and treating them with cruelty like never seen before.

Quote 2: “Do you mean, citizens, to mock me, by asking me to speak to-day? If so, there is a parallel to your conduct. And let me warn you that it is dangerous to copy the example of a nation whose crimes, towering up to heaven.” (Douglass, 8)

Paraphrase: Was it a joke for you to stand up here and ask me to give an independence day speech? There is the opposite of this behavior, so let me alert you that it can be deadly if I walked in the footsteps of a nation whose crimes are so cruel and inhumane.

Respond: To me, this is one of the most powerful quotes in his speech. After describing in detail how great it was that the forefathers freed this country he took his speech to a completely different direction in a way that was heavily impactful and still is today. He understood that he was being mocked by being asked to give an independence day speech and him including that in his speech was a bold move. Fredrick Douglass responded to the mockery with a warning by saying that if it ever came down to his people copying the actions of the founding fathers of the United States, their sins will be so immense that they’ll reach up to the sky.

Identifying Writing Strategies

Quote 3: “The eye of the reformer is met with angry flashes, portending disastrous times; but his heart may well beat lighter at the thought that America is young, and that she is still in the impressible stage of her existence. May he not hope that high lessons of wisdom, of justice and of truth, will yet give direction to her destiny?”

Writing strategy: Personification.

Explain why this was useful: Personification is effective in this paragraph because it states that America is young and naive. It gives a sense of hope to black people that maybe America will realize what it has done and try to do better because it is young and hopeful. Maybe the people will realize the cruelties they have performed and try their best to take America in a better direction which is filled with equality and justice.

Quote 4: “I see the bleeding footsteps; I hear the doleful wail of fettered humanity, on the way to the slave markets, where the victims are to be sold like horses, sheep, and swine, knocked off to the highest bidder” (Douglass, 12)

Writing strategy: Simile

Explain why this was useful: The use of simile is very effective in the sentence because it compares black slaves to animals and how they were being treated in an inhumane manner. Fast forward to today, this quote is still relevant because now we have set rules and regulations to treat animals with kindness but it’s still the same, if not worse for black people.