Frederick Douglass Hypocrisy Essay

Discrimination and racism are subjects that American history is riddled with. Frederick’s speech, “The Hypocrisy of American Slavery” is based on the irony of the Fourth of July holiday because until 1865, slavery was present in most black Americans’ lives.The Toulmin model provides the audience with a stationary scale that helps analyze Frederick Douglas’s speech and his main declaration that American society is made up of hypocrites on the grounds that they celebrate their freedom day on July 4th, yet they kept slaves under captivity.

The most absolute issue that Douglas points out is that white Americans are hypocritical towards certain subjects; one of them being freedom. “This Fourth of July is yours, not mine. You may rejoice, I must

mourn.” is the example that implies only white Americans may enjoy the national holiday--the day in which the United States of America adopted the Declaration of Independence, granting freedom to it, and its people. In the quote, Douglas’s word choice to use “yours” is to represent the slave owners and the whites; he uses “mine” to not only represent him as a former slave, but also slaves who were currently being held captive. Another hint at this topic is when he adds, “To drag a man in fetters into the grand illuminated temple of liberty, and call upon him to join you in joyous anthems, were inhuman mockery and sacrilegious irony.” He proclaims that the mocking sermons given by whites are nothing but ridicule towards the black community. “Sacrilegious irony” is said to suggest that Douglas’s views on American society is correct; that they are liars.
Slavery is not the only subject at hand being addressed in the speech; religion also plays an important part in topic. Douglas states that, “... and above all, confessing and worshipping the Christian God, and looking hopefully for life and immortality beyond the grave -- we are called upon to prove that we are men?” which motions that the white Americans and black Americans have similar interests, such as worshipping the same holy God. With that said, it also rules out that God did not condone the poor treatment towards the blacks, or any other race, such as when Douglas writes, “slavery is not divine; that God did not establish it;” The religious view on the subject not only sheds light to the new truth, but it also demonstrates how alike both races are. Though, not every claim could have been addressed as greatly as Douglas did with this belief.
The presentation of the speech, not only the appearance of the man giving it, but also the background of how it came to be and how one would show it goes to show how well of a person that one is..

Douglas becomes aware of the fact when he says, “But I fancy I hear some of my audience say it is just in this circumstance that you and your brother Abolitionists fail to make a favorable impression on the public mind.” The presentation of the speech is questionable--how much information is given out, and what aspects Douglas shares with the crowd. Not only that, but the manner in how such it was shown impacts the reach of the address; “Would you argue more and denounce less, would you persuade more and rebuke less, your cause would be much more likely to succeed.” Had Douglas’s speech been more subtle or less demanding, his voice would’ve reached farther than the audiences’ ears. Though it is no question that slavery among blacks nothing new, it is important to get the topic across to audiences in order for them to see the truth that has been so abruptly offered to them; that Americans are

hypocrites.
Douglas states that all white American citizens are hypocritical. Though it may not be true, he does not seem to state so. The blame of slavery surely goes to America, but perhaps not all of American society would have agreed with the idea of keeping subraces captive to endure lifelong labor. The speaker accuses not just several people, but the entire nation; “There is not a nation of the earth guilty of practices more shocking and bloody than are the people of these United States at this very hour.” His word choice of “the people” clearly states that he held the whole society accountable for what his race, and other races, had gone through. Though he strongly believes in his point of view, and how correct it is to one who wished to know how horrible it felt to be captive, he is given no right to place the blame on the entirety of the people. Not only that, but he also assumes that all white Americans conduct the same behavior, such as when he states, “Do you mean, citizens, to mock me, by asking me to speak today?” He is given the power of speech by his white fellow citizens, and through this he only thinks of his master’s demeanor. Douglas’s risk of persuasion by blaming his offerer’s is costly, but not as impactive as his reasons as to why he believes so.
The irony in the holiday of July Fourth is that Americans preach of freedom, yet they kept slaves. The white’s do not think anything wrong with keeping the blacks as slaves, until Douglas explains it to them in a manner that which puts the audience in his experiences; “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, to beat them with sticks, to flay their flesh with the lash, to load their limbs with irons, to hunt them with dogs, to sell them at auction, to sunder their families, to knock out their teeth, to burn their flesh, to starve them into obedience and submission to their masters?” He explains it to the understanding of the slave owners, and of otherwise white Americans in general. He asks the rhetorical question by explaining what they did to him and his ancestors, questioning if they’d allow it to their own people. Douglas also states, “... slavery -- the great sin and shame of America!” when he exclaims his thoughts on slavery; The sentence serves to show the anger and resentment he shows for it, and the fact that he had to point out the flaws of the activity makes him more upset, seeing as how the white’s have failed to see his side of history throughout the many years of his and others suffering.
When Douglas writes, “What, then, remains to be argued? Is it that slavery is not divine... That which is inhuman cannot be divine,” he had already meant to say that slavery is blasphemous to society. His speech contributes to the rules of man that to which must be abided by; slavery, when explained thoroughly, is a terrible punishment to subject one to. And that which is unsaid, yet preached throughout American history, remains true; that is, “ to show that men have a natural right to freedom, speaking of it relatively and positively.” Freedom is a gift that many do not receive, and it is envied by many.
One’s mindset would be to think that most, if not all, freedom is righteous because it’s a fundamental way of thinking.

Douglas states that the freedom America proclaims is a sacrilege to the nation because independence is meant to provide people joy, not dread and or sorrow; the idea of freedom and independence would be a great one had it not been tainted with the sorrows of an entire race. The idea that freedom is ideal is widely accepted because if most of the entire population believes it, then is must be true. Why? Because for what other reason would an entire nation agree on a subject that is so widely spoken of? The element of [athos, too, takes its fair share of contribution towards this subject. Douglas announces his emotions throughout his speech in many instances; mourning; blame;

anger.
American freedom and black slavery is a period threaded among the United States history. Reviewing the repercussions of the era improves the vision that was once shared among the American society, revealing and fixing the flaws that American forefathers bore into the head of thousands. Douglas fought for a future in which slavery would no longer ring in the minds of blacks and whites alike, not only giving peace and freedom for blacks, but for all minorities spreaded among the United States.