Biography
Frederick Douglass was born a slave in Maryland, and even
though it was illegal for slaves to become literate, at an
early age he managed to learn to read and write. In 1836,
after years of moving around among different brutal situations,
Douglass escaped. Once north, he joined Anna Murray, a free
black woman, and the couple married and adopted new names
to minimize the chances of being caught. Douglass soon became
an important orator in the abolitionist movement, and with
the publication of his first autobiography, Narrative
of the Life of Frederick Douglass (1845), he became the
international spokesperson for emancipation. Moving to Rochester,
New York, in 1847, Douglass began publishing the antislavery
paper The North Star, later called Frederick Douglass's
Weekly and Monthly. At the outbreak of the Civil War,
he actively recruited black soldiers to join the Union Army,
and when the Union won, he argued for the immediate passage
of the Fifteenth Amendment, which gave African American men
the right to vote. Douglass's other autobiographies are My
Bondage and My Freedom (1855) and The Life and Times
of Frederick Douglass (1881, 1892).
Explorations
The Meaning of July Fourth for the Negro (1852)
is a work of remarkable poise, timing, and restraint, given
the circumstances of Douglass's life before he came to the
rostrums of New England. The essential call in this speech
is for moral consistency -- consistency with the language
and the spirit of the documents celebrated on the Fourth
of July. Once he had achieved his freedom and found welcome
in abolitionist circles in the North, Douglass was called
upon frequently to speak for "the Negro," for a whole race,
as if he were that race's only articulate spokesperson or
officially designated leader. Understanding what weight and
consequence could hang on his words, he crafts this speech
carefully. And his voice gains momentum and individuality
as the oration progresses.
1. Read carefully the first three paragraphs of the speech.
Do Douglass's rhetorical strategies and language choices
here reflect the meaning in these paragraphs or conflict
with that meaning? What is the effect of the harmony or
disharmony which you sense here?
2. Notice the repeated use of "your" when Douglass is
referring to the founding and the history of the United
States. Is it significant? What effect do you think it
had upon Douglass's audience? How does that usage contrast
with the usual stance of national holiday speakers?
3. Before Douglass closes by reading Garrison's poem The
Triumph of Freedom, he talks about the United States
as a nation where the world's destiny is being worked
out. Do you hear a Calvinist legacy in Douglass's language?
Do you hear Romantic or Transcendentalist echoes?
Other sites to consult:
Detailed
Douglass biography and chronology. By Sandra
Thomas (University of Rochester).
Douglass
texts online. Seven texts available on the
Electronic Text Center site at the University of
Virginia (scroll down to Douglass).
Frederick
Douglass and the "Representative" African American
Male. Explore this thought-provoking assignment
in the Abolition section of Charles Hannon's Multimedia
Assignment Bank for the Norton Anthologies of African
American and American Literature.
The
Frederick Douglass Museum and Cultural Center.
The Center's site includes a biography, chronology,
numerous photos, and links to other Douglass resources.
The
African-American Mosaic: A Library of Congress Resource
Guide for the Study of Black History and Culture.
An excellent online exhibit at the Library of Congress
with numerous documents and images. Go to the Abolition
sections for information contextualizing Douglass's
efforts.
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