https://padlet.com/25167bh/pt37uped5ipzo23q en-us 2024-01-24 03:01:58 UTC 2024-01-24 03:27:26 UTC hello@padlet.com 25167bh https://padlet.com/25167bh/pt37uped5ipzo23q/wish/2859550104 Throughout the speech, Frederick Douglass makes extensive use of a variety of rhetorical questions:

— “What to the slave is the 4th of July?”

— “Must I undertake to prove that the slave is a man?”

— “What point in the anti-slavery creed would you have me argue? On what branch of the subject do the people of this country need light?"

— “What is this but the acknowledgment that the slave is a moral, intellectual, and responsible being?”

Each of these serves to re-iterate his credo that slaves should be on equal footing with free men in society.]]> 2024-01-24 03:06:51 UTC https://padlet.com/25167bh/pt37uped5ipzo23q/wish/2859550104 25167bh https://padlet.com/25167bh/pt37uped5ipzo23q/wish/2859554276 Douglas utilizes an emotional appeal in this speech. He uses it to transcend partisan political divisions (“ I am neither a Republican nor a Democrat. I know nothing of either of their creeds. I am only a black man who loves freedom; and if there is anything in the language of any of these papers that speaks aught against that love of freedom, I beg you to point it out, and I will either prove its truth, logically, or else apologize for it, cheerfully." 

He also uses this rhetorical strategy to urge both slaves and free blacks to join the fight for emancipation, as shown in the quote, “Africa must rise and put on her yet unwoven garment. 'Ethiopia shall stretch out her hand unto God.’” 


]]> 2024-01-24 03:10:54 UTC https://padlet.com/25167bh/pt37uped5ipzo23q/wish/2859554276 25167bh https://padlet.com/25167bh/pt37uped5ipzo23q/wish/2859554782 2024-01-24 03:11:27 UTC https://padlet.com/25167bh/pt37uped5ipzo23q/wish/2859554782 25167bh https://padlet.com/25167bh/pt37uped5ipzo23q/wish/2859558941 Lastly, Douglass uses allusion to make known his point to an audience of patriotic readers celebrating American independence. He remarks, “While drawing encouragement from 'the Declaration of Independence,' the great principles it contains, and the genius of American Institutions, my spirit is also cheered by the obvious tendencies of the age." This means that although the Declaration of Independence is a truly revolutionary and inspirational document, he acknowledges the evident social climate of the time, when slavery was beginning to take hold in the newly formed nation and would later grow with more technological advancement. By making it the foundation for his rhetoric, he is effectively able to establish his own speech as a sort of new Declaration of Independence — one that will advance the cause for abolition.]]> 2024-01-24 03:15:20 UTC https://padlet.com/25167bh/pt37uped5ipzo23q/wish/2859558941 25167bh https://padlet.com/25167bh/pt37uped5ipzo23q/wish/2859569618 Speaker: Frederick Douglass, a well-known abolitionist statesman, essayist, and orator. His powerful rhetoric was a driving force in the black effort in the Union army during the Civil War.

Occasion: The 4th of July, 1852.


Audience: A gathering of fellow abolitionists committed to emancipation. Douglass aimed to elicit strong emotions in the minds of his listeners. It can be inferred that they would have some familiarity with the Declaration of Independence as Douglass references it.

Purpose: To convince abolitionists that the celebration of the 4th of July was hypocritical because African-Americans still lived in bondage. It was to make slavery more than merely a political issue, but an ethical and moral one.

Subject: The contradiction between the celebration of freedom and independence on the Fourth of July and the continued existence of slavery in the United States.

Tone: Douglass speaks in an ironic tone to convey his message to his audience. By highlighting the irony of celebrating freedom while practicing oppression, Douglass sought to awaken his audience to the contradictions within their own patriotic celebrations. 

]]> 2024-01-24 03:27:26 UTC https://padlet.com/25167bh/pt37uped5ipzo23q/wish/2859569618