FIGHTFOR FREEDOM
Douglassspeech on slavery in 1852 has been discussed all over the world. Ifound the speech intriguing and full of logic, especially when hetalked about how unimportant the day was to his people who were theslaves. The day to him was not worth celebrating for the slaves andhe went ahead to make his reasons very clear claiming, ‘Thesunlight that brought life and healing to you, has brought stripesand death to me.’(Douglass, 2014, p. 1002).The theme of his speech which was American slavery, I believe is whathe had planned to use to push for abolitionism and it seemed to workquite well. The speech painted a grim picture in the minds of theaudience of the gruelling life the slaves had to go through and allthe injustices they faced. By talking about the revolutionaries whohelped free America from the British rule which was an unpopular callthen, the point was clearly hammered home through simple logic.
Angercan be a major hindrance in the advancement of one’s daily agendas.Fredrick was full of anger on this day but he managed to control hisfury and effectively deliver his speech to perfectly make hisargument. The inequalities and injustices faced by slaves wereclearly articulated. The speech clearly elaborates how black peoplewere killed for crimes that went unpunished if committed by the whitepeople. At the end of his speech, the Fourth of July is described asa day to cover up crimes that would disgrace America something thatwould go a long way in helping abolitionism succeed. He at one pointreferred to America as ‘a nation of savages.’ (Douglass,2014, p. 1004)
Aneffective argument to be made, one is required to be calm. I once gotinto an argument with my friends on the need to financially supportthe homeless shelters because of the important role they play in thesociety. I was, however, unable to put across my case since they madeinsensitive remarks about the homeless people and I could no longercontain my anger and disdain towards them. Therefore, I left before Icould effectively argue my case.
References
Douglass,F. (2014). What to the Slave is the Fourth of July? SocialStudies,MyBondage and My Freedom.(1st ed., pp. 1001-1005).
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