Frederick Douglass During The Reconstruction Era

When the United States was first established it was hard for everyone to get on their feet in a “new world”, but for some people it was harder than you would think. I do not know how we get away with slavery, but somehow we did and I hope we never have to go down that road again. One of the most famous people you hear talking about slavery is Frederick Douglass he is significant because he was once a slave who learned how to read and write and eventually stood up for what he believed in. Frederick Douglass ended up with his own views and he had a lot of different influences throughout his life to make these opinions and views. There are two sides to slavery and they have completely different views on governments and how to handle that situation. Frederick Douglass wrote a narrative Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave in this he sides with Jefferson in the Declaration of Independence, in this he makes his own views on the political ideals that are significant like natural law, and on the other side the slave holders would agree most with Machiavelli’s Prince in the aspect of how to run government.

Frederick Douglass is a man who was a slave and became an abolitionist. There was a group called Ladies Anti-Slavery Society, who asked Frederick to talk on his point of view onto the Fourth of July, which represented independence day. In his speech, he would side with his own people because he couldn’t differ between if he had independence or equality. “I am not included within pale of glorious anniversary! Your independence only reveals the immeasurable distance between us” (Douglass 290). From his statement, he is talking in a way for a more stronger yet convincing method for persuasion. He gave a realistic image of how it was unfair for the life of African Americans. “What, am I to argue that it is wrong to make men brutes, to rob them of their liberty, to work them without wages, to keep them ignorant of their relations to their fellow men. . .” (Douglass 292). With years passing by African Americans begin to achieve political rights, freedom, and some equality. It was a great struggle to achieve as far as today, but Frederick Douglass’ goal was able to be accomplished through time.

In “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?,” Douglass utilizes diction in order to advance the idea that slaves are human beings and deserve the same respect as a white man. In paragraph five, Douglass makes no effort to conceal his tone of mockery as he uses rhetorical questions to poke fun at those who do not believe that slaves are worthy of being deemed human beings. Douglass asks, “Would you have me argue that man is entitled to liberty? That he is the rightful owner of his own body?...Is it to be settled by the rules of logic and argumentation, as a matter beset with great difficulty, involving a doubtful application of the principle of justice, hard to be understood?” By asking questions in which the answer seems to be an obvious yes,

Douglass’s goal was to promote freedom for slaves in the Unites States, Douglass spent his life protecting African-American rights as well as other minorities and women. In his speech “ What to the slave is the Fourth of July,” he asserted,” Trust no future, however pleasant, let the dead past bury its dead; Act, act in the living present, heart within, and God overhead.” America has accomplished freedom for African-American people because of the influence that

“A person held in servitude as the chattel of another” (Slave, n.d.). This is the definition of a “slave”. The most well-known cases of slavery occurred during the settlement of America, for well over 300 years, slavery was allowed and for the most part considered the “norm” within our country. There were many eradicators who made an attempt to end slavery, as we know at some point; they were successful at doing so. One very influential person was, Fredrick Douglas, he along with many others, were extraordinary influences in the anti-slavery movement. Douglas was known for being a social reformer, author, journalist, women’s and human rights activist, a publisher and an abolitionist all in one. He helped to shape and strengthen our nation and try to make it one with equality as possible. Dedicating his life to fighting for justice for all Americans, specifically African-Americans and minority groups. Frederick Douglass rose from slavery, this fact itself inspired him to do so much more than just write about what it was to be a slave. He turn into one of the leading African-American voices. Douglass would eventually become the best-known abolitionist in the country and the most famous black American of his time. As an alternative to only arguing against slavery, Douglass took a different approach, he asked some hard questions about what freedom really is. The speech by Fredrick Douglas, entitled “The Meaning of July Fourth for the Negro” represents just that. It express his discontent for the way the slaves were been treated while using sarcasm to prove his point that the slaves are entitles to their freedom, liberty and all American democracy.

The reform movement that I feel best represents Frederick Douglass’s statement would be the Abolition movement. His statement goes with this movement because he had lead the abolitionist movement and his main goal was to free all slaves. Douglass firmly believed in equality among all people. He had once been a slave, and he knew how horribly mistreated they were. Slaves had been degraded by a majority of white people. It would have seemed as if all odds were against them. They had been denied justice for years, they had been oppressed, and they had been treated terribly, and made to feel like they were lower than the white man. The fact that Douglass himself was or African-American descent, most likely made the movement more difficult to accomplish.

Frederick Douglass once said, “No man can be truly free whose liberty is dependent upon the thought, feeling and action of others, and who has himself no means in his own hands for guarding, protecting, defending and maintaining that liberty.” Throughout the history of America his words have proven true seeing that those of African descent have been faced with a tremendous amount of prejudice. Whether that be in terms of the basic rights vital to African americans, or the freedom of expression that should be allotted to every human being. They were subjected to endless economic and social prejudice. While at the same time being refused the decencies all American citizen deserved. But most importantly, African Americans were denied the right to decide how their country was controlled and in turn their “liberty”. These atrocities prove that the reform introduced during the Reconstruction era did little to resolve the problems plaguing African Americans or improve their quality of life.

The Civil War is widely regarded as the bloodiest war in US history. Roughly 620,000 soldiers died fighting both for and against the abolition of slavery. During this era, many advocates for the abolition of slavery gave speeches in order to convince the nation of the evils of the institution of slavery. One of the most important of these advocates was a former slave named Frederick Douglass who became literate while a slave and gave many speeches to many different audiences. In Frederick Douglass’ speech to the Rochester Ladies’ Anti-Slavery Society on July 5, 1852, entitled ¨What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?¨, he presents his goals of abolishing slavery and enforcing equality between people of color and white people. Although legally it appears that his goals have been accomplished, the mindset and inequality of Douglass’ time still exists, and it is becoming more prevalent in the US.

Frederick Douglass was a civil war activist, he was a father and a husband. He grew up in slavery and once he escaped he knew he still had work to do. As Frederick was growing up and as he lived , the north and south were constantly arguing and slave owners were very harsh but people still kept going, it was mostly hard on the slaves but soon the whole country was suffering from different things. In this essay (or book as I like to call it) you will learn about Frederick Douglass 's life before, after, and during the Civil War.

Frederick Douglass was an abolitionist and a great man he stood up for others. He had a lot of people who liked him and a lot who did not like what he did. Frederick Douglass had to give speeches and he argued for what was right. Many people found his speeches empowering while others didn’t.

Frederick Douglass was born in Maryland on a plantation as a slave. Douglass got a little bit of freedom in 1838, he rode the upperground railroad to New York. Then he meet a freewoman named Anna Murray who helped him escape, they moved to Massachusetts they were living as well respected members of the black community. Later on in Douglass became an advocate of abolitionism he wrote a book autobiography to silence critics who thought he was too eloquent to have been a slave. Frederick Douglass was an African American social reformer and abolitionist. His efforts to learn write and read and the sense of empowerment conveyed by being literate, he moves from "mental darkness" to the light of knowledge. Too overcome the social obstacles

When asked about abolitionists, one person that comes to mind is Frederick Douglass. He was considered one of the most influential people of the movement, and he is certainly someone who stands out. But why? What makes Douglass so special is the fact that he escaped slavery but then put himself right back into a dangerous situation for the greater good. Running to the North was risky, but putting his name out after doing what he did was far worse. He was fighting against slavery in the 1940s, but at that time there weren't thousands of people to back him up since the Civil War hadn’t started yet. Not only that, but he was able to overcome slavery which gave hope to other slaves and abolitionists during the battle for freedom and human rights.

It is well known in today’s American society that slavery is horrific. However, throughout the 1800s, slavery was a common practice in the South. Slave owners sought great profit in the free labor of slaves and saw no harm in slavery. It is well known that slavery was substandard for the slaves, but slaves such as Frederick Douglass viewed it as also unfavorable for the slaveholders. Throughout Douglass’s book, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, Douglass tells of his experiences as a slave and provides numerous examples of how slavery is substandard for slaveholders.

In April 1861, the Un-united States of America went to war against each other leading to the death of 600,000 Americans. This tragic period is known as the American Civil War. Although slavery was an overarching issue in American politics, the cause of the Civil War was rooted in social, political and economic disagreements.

Douglass then states the case that he is not included in the blessings of American freedom. He also states that the justice, liberty, and independence received by our fathers are shared by the audience but not himself. He then says that the Fourth of July is theirs not his stating that while they rejoice he mourns. This then leads him to discuss the subject of American slavery. He then talks about slavery from a slave 's point of view. He says that America has never looked darker than on this 4th of July. Whether discussing about the past or present this nation showed a class of evil conduct. He himself who was once a slave states that American slavery is the great sin and shame of America. He argues how a slave should be considered a man like another and