The Speech of Frederick Douglass - Tandem to Leslie Harris Works - Essay Example

Introduction Fredrick Douglass is recognized as a fiery orator who had most of his speeches published in several abolitionist newspapers. Among the famous speeches that he made was “The Meaning of July Fourth for the Negro.” The presentation of the speech was at Rochester, New York, on the July 5, 1852. The author is reported to have moved to Rochester in the year 1847 after becoming a publisher for The North Star, which was abolition weekly. His speech was attended by 500 people who paid twelve and half cents. The author had been invited to make a speech regarding the meaning of the Fourth of July to the black population in America. The author is a male black American citizen. The first section of the speech praised what the founding fathers had done to the country. However, the second section of the speech was in tandem to the issues raised in chapter 6 and 7 in Leslie Harris’ In the Shadow of Slavery and the A People and Nation which focuses on slavery and a criticism of the stance of the American people regarding slavery. This essay will be focused on the speech of Frederick Douglass in comparison to Leslie Harri’s In the Shadow of Slavery and the A People and Nation. In their writings, the two black abolitionists bare almost similar arguments directed towards the perception and the overall negative consequences of slavery. Leslie Harris’ In the Shadow of Slavery Leslie Harris teaches history at Emory University and an author who writes based on her class experience and gathers enough evidence from newspapers, organizational records and other forms of literature. Leslie Harris gave detailed information about race and class in New York City. In the Shadow of Slavery has revealed more than two century slavery in the city. She has touched on the real issues that affected African Americans who lived their lives in the shadow of slavery where most of them were enslaved. The black color was seen as an inferior color and the dark moments of the blacks could not be erased even after slavery ended. The author focusses on the actions of blacks in the New York City and devotes more than half of the book to the New York City’s slavery. She asserts that blacks played a major role in the development of the city and further gives details on how class and community arose between blacks and whites. She thoroughly tackles the era of slavery, development of antislavery sentiment and movements and finally the era of abolitionism. Harris details the developing struggle against slavery, notes the importance of black labor and notes the white ambivalence about black freedom. Analysis of the “The Meaning of July Fourth for the Negro” The speech begins through address to Mr. President, Fellow Citizens, and Friends. In this, he addresses the president of Anti-Slavery Society and not the United States president. It is significant to note that Douglass sees himself as equal citizen just like the spectators who were in attendance. Through his life as well as the speech, he had been involved in advocating for equal rights and justice, as well as citizenship for the back Americans. The issues of gender, race, citizenship, and socio-economic class have not affected the speech made since slavery was indeed a reality at that particular time.1 Moreover, he argues that in the year 1852, individuals consider abolitionism a subversive and dangerous political stance. In this perspective, he implies that the future generations will definitely consider his stand on anti-slavery as just, patriotic, and reasonable. The intended audience of the speech was both black-Americans and the whites."2 Frederick Douglass is in tandem to Leslie Harri’s In the Shadow of Slavery and the A People and Nation.3 A People and Nation talks about the American people and that’s why n his speech he praised and stated his respect for those who signed Declaration of Independence, the individual who had put interest of the country above their individual interest. He concedes, yet, the major concern of the speech is not in anyway giving thanks and praises to the men, since the deeds of such men are well known. However, he urges his listeners to continue with the work of great revolutionaries who brought democracy and freedom to the American land. Douglass goes ahead to ask a rhetorical question to the listeners, "Are the great principles of political freedom and of natural justice, embodied in that Declaration of Independence, extended to us [blacks]?"4 He then comes up with his thesis indicating that, “This Fourth July [sic] is yours, not mine," this was meat to show that asking a black American to celebrate the perceived freedom of the white man from tyranny and oppression is sacrilegious irony and inhuman mockery. Nonetheless, the subject of the speech is based on American slavery. The speaker accused America for increasingly being untrue to the founding principles in its pats and present. He urges the audience to ensure that they are able to fulfill the values the founding fathers advocated for. This becomes clear when he reiterates that to the slave, “your 4th of July is a sham; your boasted liberty, an unholy license [for enslaving blacks] . . . your shouts of liberty and equality, hollow mockery."5 He spends the next section of the speech in pre-empting the arguments that opponents are likely to come up with. Furthermore, just like in Leslie Harri’s In the Shadow of Slavery that talks about slavery in New York, he wondered why some people considered slavery to be divine and reiterated that something that is indeed inhuman can never be divine.6 Indeed, he considered such arguments as blasphemy since it provides cruelty a place within God’s nature. The unspoken assumption made in the speech is that several white Americans despised the black Americans and often seen unworthy of human being treatment. Moreover, the white Americans were never remorseful of the treatment accorded to the backs. There is no bias that can be detected in the speech at that particular time. However, things have since then changed and slavery is no longer as rampant at it was then. Moreover, even majority of the white Americans are currently against slavery. Moreover, Douglass condemned the profits that were made from the slavery and compared the treatment of the slaves to that of animals. Indeed, the source enriches the historical understanding of that period when slavery was widely practiced in the United States with few individuals able to advocate for anti-slavery. Conclusion The speech of Frederick Douglass is in tandem to Leslie Harri’s In the Shadow of Slavery and the A People and Nation. The speech is from the school of thought that the anti-slavery sentiments that were being propagated had to eventually triumph over that of the pro-slavery crusaders. Indeed, just like the shadow of slavery, the speech stated categorically that the issue of American slavery could no longer be swept under the carpet. Bibliography Douglass, Frederick. Selected Addresses of Frederick Douglass: An African American Heritage. Start Publishing LCC, 2012. Douglass, Frederick. The Meaning of July Fourth for the Negro, Speech on July 5, 1852. Rochester, New York, 1852. Harris, M. Leslie. In the Shadow of Slavery: African Americans in New York City, 1626-1863. University of Chicago Press, 2003. Norton et al. A People and a Nation: A History of the United States. Cengage Learning, 2011 Read More