Douglas’s Position About the Differences in the African Americans Perceptions.

Tyler Vanlew

Mrs. Ferrare

DSA

25 january 2019

DSA Essay

To what degree is Douglas’s position about the differences in the African Americans perceptions and white Americans perceptions of the Fourth of july still valid today? Fredrick Douglas is a former slave and was asked to show his idea of the 4th of July. Douglass was an American social reformer, abolitionist, orator, writer, and statesman. After escaping from slavery in Maryland, he became a national leader of the abolitionist movement in Massachusetts and New York, gaining note for his oratory and incisive antislavery writings. The 4th of July is a national holiday that celebrates the adoption of the declaration of independence and signifies the freedom of america. The reason why Douglas was talking about was to share the view of a former slave and how he felt about it.

The white american view of the 4th of july is to celebrate our independence it has changed its meaning over the number of years ever since it was first made a holiday. The americans back in the 1700’s-1800’s used to celebrate it the way it should be celebrated to show our independence and prove that we are our own nation. Now americans celebrate the 4th of the july as just a day to drink beer and have fun no one really celebrates for the real reason the day was made a national holiday. The national holiday also is different for how white americans celebrate to how black americans feel about it. “The rich inheritance of justice, liberty, prosperity and independence, bequeathed by your fathers, is shared by you,not by me. The sunlight that brought life and healing to you, has brought stripes and death to me. This Fourth of july is yours not mine.” This statement is made by Douglass when he is talking in front of 100’s of white americans and he is explaining how it is different to how he a freed black man feels about the holiday to how they feel.

The black american view is different from how they viewed it as freed slaves to how they feel now. Black americans now celebrate the 4th of july the same way as every other american out there they open a beer and drink away and have fun. The way the freed slaves used to see it was just a way the white americans were freed from the british but the black americans were still slaves and dying everyday from the whites that owned them. “The sunlight that brought life and healing to you has brought stripes and death to me”. Frederick Douglass said this because when his fathers were trapped and dying the whites were becoming free from england.

To what degree is Douglas’s position about the differences in the African Americans perceptions and white Americans perceptions of the Fourth of july still valid today? The perceptions of the 4th of july that Frederick Douglass