the legitamacy of frederick douglass's dissent
Frederick Douglass is a person that spoke his mind in a humble way, of which ignorant people would have trouble understanding because they perceive him as stupid because of his skin color. He used his opportunity of giving an Independence Day speech to express the true meaning of what the holiday means to the African American. He spoke in an elegant manner, a language that one would never discern as lame. Frederick Douglass legitimizes his dissent of slavery based upon three reasons: 1) the experiences the forefathers of the nation faced, 2) the Declaration of Independence, and 3) the interpretation of Religion. By supporting these three points in an emotional fashion, he picks apart and critiques of what not only the holiday means to the African Americans, but how the way this society functions means to the African Americans as well.Douglass's dissent of the wrongdoing of slavery is legitimized by the examples the forefathers portrayed against England. The forefathers of the United States had conflicts with the English government, and fought for an idea of what they believed was correct - the idea of which the power of a nation came from the people. Douglass starts off his speech by congratulating the citizens for their "poli
tical freedom" (page 182), stressing the importance of recognizing the forefathers of this country, and reiterates their reasoning. He does this in a clever manner, and also has an objective for doing so. By mentioning, "There is consolation in the thought that American is young," he expresses his hope for all people to turn for the better (page 183). I assume that by discussing the experiences of the forefathers, Douglass expected the white majority in America to realize the decadence that slavery has caused within our society. Similar to the Declaration of Independence, religion is another basis for conflicts as well. Because of the support that the Church gives toward slavery, Douglass is totally against the institution of religion. Out of all of the reasons for dissent, I feel that he has the most animosity directed toward religion because of the fact that none of the establishments of religion were punished (page 198). Douglass goes against the ways of religion to a certain extent when he said, "...in utter denial of the authority of Him by whom they professed to be called to the ministry, deliberately taught us, against the example of the Hebrews, and against the remonstrance of the
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Approximate Word count = 807
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)
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