Wednesday, September 28, 2011
Frederick Douglass
Near the beginning of Douglass's 1852 speech "What, To the Slave, Is the Fourth of July," he tells his audience that "I am glad, fellow-citizens, that your nation is so young." What are some of his reasons for being "glad"? How does he use this idea of being "glad" throughout the remainder of the speech? As he says at the conclusion, he "leaves off where [he] began, with hope," a reminder of his earlier pronouncement of "gladness."
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Douglass says he is "glad...that your nation is so young" because The United States still had a long struggle ahead to endow its slaves and their descendants with the same rights championed by the founding fathers at the nation's founding. While not excusable, America's blatant hypocrisy towards its black population is understandable in light of the nation's relatively young age. Douglass is glad that America is not a mature nation, because its allowance of slavery would be even more deplorable. Douglass's feelings of gladness soon take on a new meaning when juxtaposed with some of the horrors of slavery presently at work in the the U.S. (like the fugitive slave law and internal slave trade). His hope stems from his feeling that America cannot continue to progress as a nation without amending the institution of slavery.
ReplyDelete^ Bryce Carson
ReplyDeleteDouglass says that America is still "in the impressible stage of her existence." America is a young country, and Douglass is glad that the country can still change and grow better, and has not become fixed in her ways.
ReplyDeleteDouglass ends his speech by talking about hope. He has hope for this country, hope that Americans will begin to see the truth and change their ways. He talks about the Declaration of Independence, which says that "all men are created equal." He also mentions the year of Jubilee, which is a time (in Biblical times) when all of the slaves were set free. Douglass knows that the time is coming when all people will truly believe the words in the Declaration of Independence. Douglass believes that slavery must come to an end, that a Year of Jubilee is coming for his people. Because of this belief he can speak of hope and of being glad, even though at the time he gave this speech, all of the horrible things he mentioned (internal slave trade, fugitive slave law) were still happening.
Douglass lauds the potential of America, while also lamenting that the ideals have not been actualized. On its founding, it had declared that ‘all men were equal’ but had not joined the words with action. This is why the fourth of July is melancholy for the slave; it is a reminder of the failed ideal of the revolution, but still contains a glint of hope in that the seed of liberty is contained within, though the seed had yet to be watered. Thus the fourth symbolizes the promise and the failed expectation of liberty. Out of this contrast, Douglass finds hope in that the nation is in its third generation thus still retains some of the idealism of their grandfathers. He is also is glad that the nation is young enough to change its actions to match its ideals.
ReplyDeleteThe reason that Douglas is glad is because he knows that a young nation is much more likely to change for the better than an established nation. He knows that since our nation was so young that the people were not as set in their ways as the people of older countries such as England. It is very hard for an old country to change their ways or to react quickly to anything as we are seeing today in the numerous debates that rage on in our country. If our country was still young then our position would be much more malleable, and the people would be more willing to change their ways. Douglas could still have hope that the nation would change because there was only a very small precedent set that could be easily overturned. He is hopeful because he believes change was still possible in our country.
ReplyDeleteDouglass is glad that America is still young because he realizes that this youth allows the potential for great change and progress. Older countries tend to have more firmly established societies and ideals. Therefore, the abolition of slavery might be a more difficult prospect for a country not as young as America. And although our own road to African American freedom was extremely difficult and drawn out, Douglass at least realized that if any country had the potential to change in a positive way, it would be a young country like America. He ends his speech talking about his hope for the future. Amidst all of the atrocities happening at the time (internal slave trade, fugitive slave law, etc.), Douglass knew that the best hope was hope itself. And with a long and bright future ahead of it, Frederick Douglass certainly believed that America would accomplish a great many things in the end.
ReplyDeleteDouglass is glad that America is a young country cause he knows that they have room to mature and change their avaricious mentality. Douglass knows that countries that have a long history, such as England, are much more unlikely to make any drastic changes. Douglass has faith that Americans will remember the values that the founding fathers had when they founded this nation. Douglass' freedom also attributes to the hope he has for the the future because he sees that not all of America shares the same opinion.
ReplyDeleteFredrick Douglass's reason for being glad that our nation is still young is that we still have time to change our ways and to stop slavery now before it gets worse. Douglass says "great streams are not easily turned from channels, worn deep in the course of ages"(231). Douglass uses this statement to say that America can still change the course they are on because they are a young nation.
ReplyDeleteThroughout the remainder of Douglass's speech he describes all of the reasons why America still allowing slavery is sorrowful. By stating all of the reasons why slavery is one of the worst crimes that can be committed Douglass shows how why he is still glad that our nation is still young. Because our nation is still young we have an opportunity to change the course we are on.
Douglass is happy the "nation is young" because the country has the potential to turn into a more accepting nation. Which was true. The nation during this time was still developing and had many levels to gain before minorities, women, and now gay and lesbian movements to finally take hold. This progresses have taken many years to complete and yet we still are balancing between the rights of immigrants and citizens. Everything is not perfect but, we are still working on getting rights of all in the right direction.
ReplyDeleteDouglass is glad that the country is young becasue countries have momentum. The longer a country is around, the harder it is to make drastic changes. Douglass is glad the country is still evolving and figuring out its place in the world, and is likely to abolish slavery. He is glad cause slavery is becoming less popular in the run up to the civil war. He was glad to see so many people listening to his speech and agreeing with him. He has hope that the coming generations of blacks will be treated better in the country
ReplyDeleteDouglass may be glad because the United States is very young for a developing nation. Douglass buys his way to freedom in 1839 and this may also have a large impact on his “gladness.” He may be glad that it took a relatively short time to abolish the unjust treatment of African Americans. Douglass sees the United States as a young nation bustling with opportunity and change. He argues that America has an advantage; it still has room to grow and change its hypocrisy, hypocrisy between its founding documents and it's current societal habits. Douglass is glad to see the United States of America as a changing and aspiring nation and uses this idea and feeling throughout his speech.
ReplyDeleteAlthough Douglas is addressing the horrific topic of slavery and what was going on in that nation at that time, he is displaying the hope that the nation will be able to change. A young nation is far more likely to change then a country whose is setin there track of beliefs and laws. By beginning it with this train of thought Douglas encourages his listeners to pay attention, and by ending it he keeps things on a positive note that they will be more inclined as to act upon.
ReplyDeleteWith the country being so young at the time, Douglass offers hope that there is time for the nation to grow and prosper and change its social habits. The nation was still against freedom and acceptance towards minorities (slavery. By wanting to further Douglass' hope through the years to come, possibly in time the nation would become a more positive and equal community.
ReplyDelete