What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?

Douglass spends time saying that the many of the obvious points of life like man is entitled to liberty and slaves are human need not be described in further detail because all people know of these rights, or do they? He says that they don't need to be mentioned because all should know that we are all God's people, put here for a reason, and should be treated and respected as equal people. He has to go into detail with these points because despite the fact that many people know of these rights, they do not put them into practice. If all humans know of these rights and respect them then why was there slaves? Douglass is trying to instill in the readers' minds that we are all God's people and we should all be treated with the dignity and respect we are guaranteed in the Declaration of Independence. There is a big difference between knowing what is right and doing what is right. Many people have the right morals but when it comes time to put them into practice, they tend to follow the crowd and do the thing they know is wrong.

The Fourth if July: Morgan Mingo

Douglas doesn't argue the pints of slavery because it is a known truth that slavery is wrong and should not occur. Douglas's aim in the speech is not to argue whether slavery is right or wrong, it is to get other Americans to to realize the damage the have done and to show them that their actions are not acceptable. He does this by recalling the christian faith this nation was brought up on, and to recall the history of our nation and how the colonist fought the English to be free. He is trying to get the people to realize that slaver is wrong, but the people who let it be and continue to go on are just as responsible as slave owners.

Fourth of July

Everyone knows these things are true, and instead of arguing why everyone should be equal, he argues how they are not equal. He spends so much time talking about them to emphasize how these things were not true at the time. Then after that, he tells stories of slave trade that are so vivid that the statements that are agreed upon by all now seem silly. It even sort of makes the reader ashamed that they agreed with these statements when it is so obvious that at the time they were false.

Douglass Argument--"What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?"

1. Douglass spends considerable time telling his audience what points do not need to be argued: that a slave is a human, that man is entitled to liberty, and so on. If in fact these points are agreed on by all, why do you think Douglass spends so much time talking about them?

Post a 1-2 paragraph response by the beginning of class time on Friday, and also comment on one peer's posting.

--ejfleitz