Wednesday, September 28, 2011
Frederick Douglass
Near the beginning of Douglass's 1852 speech "What, To the Slave, Is the Fourth of July," he tells his audience that "I am glad, fellow-citizens, that your nation is so young." What are some of his reasons for being "glad"? How does he use this idea of being "glad" throughout the remainder of the speech? As he says at the conclusion, he "leaves off where [he] began, with hope," a reminder of his earlier pronouncement of "gladness."
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Douglas is glad that the nation is young because it still has time to grow, to change, to make the right decisions, and to learn. He is glad because the country atill has time to define itself, what it stands for, and what it believes in. He uses the idea of being glad throughout the remainder of his speech the same way he uses hope. He connects it at the end by saying he is "cheered by the obvious tendencies of the age". His gladness and hope are interconnected and used throughout his speech.
ReplyDeleteDouglas says that he is glad for a few reasons. One major reason is that young nations are more flexible and susceptible to change. An old nation is set in its ways and less likely to change no matter what the cause. This would mean that the country would be more likely to abolish slavery and allow time for the country to adapt to the new changes. He ends with hope. Hope for the future so that blacks can live as free men.
ReplyDeleteDouglas says that he is glad that the nation is so young because he knows that it takes a great deal of time and experience for a nation to develop into a respectable and accommodating nation. There is still room left for mistakes to be learned from and for history to be made. He uses the idea of being glad and incorporates it with the idea of hope, whether it concerns the future of the nation or the future for the people. He is glad that there is hope in a time of tyranny.
ReplyDeleteDouglas is glad that the nation is young because it still has time to adapt to its surroundings. This gives him hope that the nation will be able to overcome its obstacles. Douglas has hope that the nation will be able to become a truly great nation and overcome much diversity because it is so young.
ReplyDeleteDouglas is glad that the nation is young and that our ideology was still being formed. Douglass has much hope that America will continue to change for the better.
ReplyDeleteDouglas is glad that the nation is young because that means that the nation still is figuring out its identity and the ideals that is supports. He is saying that America still has time to figure out the right ideals that will make this country different from the others. Douglas has hope that America will make the right decision on "all men are created equal" from Jefferson to have true equality for every man in America.
ReplyDeleteDouglass is glad that the nation is so young because that means it has not settled and is still prone to change. He uses the idea of being glad in the remainder of his speech by saying that there is still hope for the abolition of slavery because the nation is young enough to change its perception of slaves and slavery.
ReplyDeleteYouth is generally associated with being very impressionable. Douglas is glad that the great nation was still in its youth because it was still susceptible to change. Change was still a possibility in a relatively timely manner because people were aware that policies in the USA were still being developed. The policies on treatment of African American people could be changed and improved. Douglas was "glad" and "hopeful" that people and politics in America could be changed because of the simple reason of youth.
ReplyDeleteDouglas is "glad" that the country was young because America has the time to change. This hope came from the principle of the founding fathers: that democracy accepts change. This speech give hope to not only himself, but everyone who is not fairly treated. Douglas knows that one day, all different kinds of people from different backgrounds can celebrate the 4th of July.
ReplyDeleteI think it's funny that Douglas used glad instead of another, more enthusiastic word throughout the speech, which suggests that he does have positive feelings towards the US, but with a little bitterness because of his past situations. And of course there is the main reason for his pleasure, as has been stated above, that since America is so young, it has time to fix some of the horrible mistakes of the time.
ReplyDeleteI think that he was being kind of sarcastic when using the word "Glad". With all the things that African Americans were going through in the 1800's its hard to believe that they were "glad" about anything. This Idea popped into my head after reading Brian's Post.
ReplyDeleteDouglas is "glad" because the nation is young, therefore leaving room to change its perception of slavery.Douglas used the idea of gladness for the remainder of the speech. He connected glad and hope, and used them together in his speech. He had hope that one day slavery would be abolished. That hope gave him the emotion of gladness. He was glad for what lied ahead in his future.
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