Former slave turned abolitionist, Frederick Douglass,in his passionate speech

,The meaning of July Fourth for the Negro, on July Fifth ,reprimands America
for not adhering to its founding principles. Douglasss overall purpose is to
expose on the hypocrisy of the nation through the irony of their celebration and
to galvanize his audience to take action towards the eradication of slavery.He
adopts a critical tone in order to rally his audience, towards the abolitionist
movement.

Douglass starts out his line of reasoning by praising the actions of the founding
fathers of the nation .He repeatedly utilizes the word great to emphasize his
respect for their doings and acknowledges the good they did which indirectly
flatters the audience as well .By effectively appealing to the sense of patriotism in
the audience , he builds on his further argument connected with the immoral
justification of the founding yet unstable principles.He unifies the country as a
whole in order to commemorate a joyous day for the citizens with an unbiased
and rational point of view.This laudation upholds Douglasss equity causing the
audience to agree with his stance before he begins his damning critique and is
therefore beneficial for the establishement of his credibility.

As the speech progresses , even though Douglass shifts from a more reserved to
an accusatory tone which risks inciting the audience ,he introduces pathos to
evoke his audiences emotions . Referring to Paragraph Two , Douglass
juxtaposes several feelings which highlights the severe culture division and
inequality in the nation. Douglass represents the slaves point of view when he
specifies that the sunlight that brought prosperity and joy to the Americans
brought stripes and death to me.The flag is portrayed as a physical
manifestation of the torment and pain the enslaved suffer whereas the same flag
symbolizes unrestricted freedom for others. The audience is impacted as they
are forced to think from the perspective of a unemancipated person rather than
their usual free minds to decide whether they concur with Douglass or
not.Moreover, in Paragraph 4 ,he asserts his animosity towards slavery by
revealing the harsh circumstances of American Slavery in which fellow slaves
had to flay their flesh with the lash and had to load their limbs with irons.
Douglass applies his personal exeperiences of unethical acts to act as strong
logos for developing his argument.The series of infinitifs and parallel structure of
his loaded visual pathos serves to enhance the sentimental effect of his words on
the audience. This paragraph reflects that to some the Fourth of July was a day
that demonstrated the brutality and the inhuman actions done to the victims of
this torture. The underlying message Douglass tries to get across to the audience
is that the Fourth is not a day of glorification but rather a reminder of wrong-
doing. Furthermore, in Paragraph 5 ,he enforces his beliefs that the nations
liberty is not extended to all by revealing : your celebration is a sham,your
shouts of liberty and your prayers and the extreme allegiance to the flag is a
mere cover-up for all the sins that their nation has commited. The proficient
utilization of several anaphoras and the distinctand repetitive usage of second
person- you,me,us,them- signifies the varying definitions of freedom for
whites under the protection of the Declaration of Independence and overlooked
slaves who are chained to the bottom of the freedom abyss. The application of
rhetorical strategies aid him to maintain a mordant attitude and continue
describing the issues of the nation.Therefore,Douglass efficiently connects with
his audience and increases their awareness to the social prejudice present in
society and draws encouragement from them towards the abolitionist movement
by displaying their countrys true colors.

Douglass end by qualifying that anti-slavery sentiments will eventually triumph

over pro-slavery forces.There is a major tonal shift from accusive and critical to
optimistic and hopeful which signifies the end of his speech in Paragraph Seven
Notwithstanding the dark picture Douglass presented in the majority of the
paragraphs, he validates the fact that there is still hope for the nation to
recover. Douglass calls for a change ,for the obscenities of the past can not be
undone and the horror of the present must not go on. His strong self-belief that
the doom of slavery is near depicts his extreme dedication to the cause which
effects the audiences perspectives.
By stating that the arm of the lord is not shortened, Douglass captivates the
audiences religious aspect of life and this religious discourse aids him to connect
with the audiences inner consciences who internally know that they are guilty of
not taking any action.These allusions instill guilt in the audiences minds and
helps them to reevaluate their past decisions.He argues that the cruelties of
American slavery can no longer be shut from the surrounding world.The fact
that no nation is run without interference serves to showcase how
communication and technologies will be the stepping stones for the abolitionist
movement in the United States. Therefore , Douglass' straightforward and
unsuspected barrage of reprimanding remarks juxtaposed with his closing
statement of hope and reassurance conveys an overall passionate tone that
inspires his audience to evaluate themselves and to take action and make a
change in their country.