Frederick Douglass: What to a Slave is the 4th of July

Frederick Douglass: What to a Slave is the 4th of July?

​Frederick Douglass

​Born into slavery, Frederick Douglass (1818–1895) escaped to freedom in 1838 and went on to become a leading abolitionist and social reformer. Acclaimed for his brilliant oratory skills and incisive writing, Douglass was invited by leading citizens of Rochester, New York, to speak at an Independence Day celebration in 1852. With his characteristic eloquence and even-handed logic, Douglass answers the question posed in the title of his speech.

Mini Biography: Frederick Douglass​

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Su-4JBEIhXY​

​READ IN CLASSROOM AND DISCUSS:

Multiple Choice

Which of the following inferences is best supported by passage below?

But such is not the state of the case. I say it with a sad sense of the disparity between us. I am not included within the pale of glorious anniversary! Your high independence only reveals the immeasurable distance between us. The blessings in which you, this day, rejoice, are not enjoyed in common. The rich inheritance of justice, liberty, prosperity and independence, bequeathed by your fathers, is shared by you, not by me. The sunlight that brought light and healing to you, has brought stripes and death to me. This Fourth July is yours, not mine.

• Douglass is jealous of those who celebrate the Fourth of July.

• Douglass says his people have no reason to celebrate the Fourth of July.

• Douglass loves this country right or wrong.

• Douglass wishes he lived in another country.

Multiple Choice

What is most likely Douglass's reason for listing all of the jobs and professions held by Black people?

• He wants to show how exhausted Black people are from all their labor.

• He has been employed at one time or another in all of these capacities.

• He proves the argument that Black people are intelligent human beings.

• He wishes to show the difference between man and animals.

Multiple Choice

Which of these inferences is best supported by this speech?

• The Fourth of July should become a national day of mourning.

• All slaves should write a book about their experiences in slavery.

• All the prayerful demonstrations in America cannot cover up the hypocrisy of allowing slavery, a crime against humanity.

• America is still the best country in the world.

Multiple Choice

What is most closely a central idea of this speech?

• Douglass believes the Fourth of July offers nothing to slaves, and wants America to wake up to her conscience.

• Douglass is advocating for forgiveness of America for a past tarnished by slavery.

• Douglass wants to maintain the status quo by asking slaves not to celebrate the Fourth of July.

• Douglass wants America to pay money to the sons and daughters of the slaves.

Multiple Choice

Which piece of evidence BEST SUPPORTS the central idea of the speech?

• “For it is not light that is needed, but fire; it is not the gentle shower, but thunder.”

• “We need the storm, the whirlwind, and the earthquake.”

• “At a time like this, scorching irony, not convincing argument, is needed.”

• “The feeling of the nation must be quickened; the conscience of the nation must be roused; the propriety of the nation must be startled; the hyprocrisy of the nation must be exposed; and its crimes against God and man must be proclaimed and denounced.”