¶ … Frederick Douglass to the Americans, entitled, "What to the Slaves is the Fourth of July?" commemorates the celebration of the Independence Day of the American Nation. However, Douglass, in his address, emphasizes that this special day was not to be celebrated by black American slaves like him ("[t]his Fourth of July is yours, not mine")- instead, the Fourth of July was a reminder of the injustices and inequality of the black American slaves with that of the white American nation. In his address, Douglass provides the audience a detailed explanation of his argument, that is, the reason why the day of Independence of the United States cannot be a celebration for the black Americans. Douglass also provided the audience the chief thesis of his address: that the Fourth of July is, for the black American slave, is not a day of Independence, because the Declaration of Independence itself and the Constitution, the very symbol of liberty in America, was the very 'instrument' that kept the black Americans in bondage. His address has two main parts in arguing what sectors of the American nation contributed in promulgating American slavery. The first part concerns the discussion of the Fugitive Slave Law, a law that provides for the return of runaway slaves, and the involvement of the Catholic Church in further tolerating the practice of American slavery. The last part of this paper will provide a concluding summary of the main thesis of Douglass' address, which can be found in the first part of this introduction. When Douglass...
embodied in that Declaration of Independence, extended to us?" Douglass poses these statements to his audience because the American nations are the ones who tolerated American slavery, a contrast to what the principles of their Constitution holds. Douglass uses the Declaration of Independence in his speech because this event marks the freedom of American colonies to British rule, therefore, the Declaration of Independence embodies liberty from all kinds of rule, particularly, "tyranny," in Douglass' words. However, the black Americans are not included in this said event, says Douglass, because for the American slave, the Fourth of July is a "day that reveals to him (the American slave)... The gross injustice and cruelty to which he is constant victim." American slavery was perpetuated by two elements: first, the Fugitive Slave laws, and second, the involvement of the religious sector in perpetuating this cruelty to human beings, particularly, the black Americans.
Medieval Political Thought How did Augustine of Hippo's and Thomas Aquinas' views of the role of human free will in the process of salvation shape their different views of political theory? For Augustine, there could be two cities -- the City of Man, which would essentially be a society without grace or goodness -- and the City of God, which would be a society that conformed to the will of God, participated
Bible Influence Political Thought and Action in Our Culture? The Bible is a unique book that is different from others because it contains sacred text that has continued to influence societies from generation to generation. Generally, the impact of this sacred book is worldwide since it has affected every department of human activity. The influence of the Bible on society is derived from the fact that it contains various themes
Politics Modern Political Thought The transition from a feudal serf economy to a capitalist market economy was one of the fundamental shifts which have produced modernity as we know it. This essay aims to understand how the authors of The Prince and Leviathan, Niccolo Machiavelli and Thomas Hobbes would think about the transition and how these two great minds would relate to the issue of capitalism. Capitalism is a funny game that
In Lincoln's view, the experiment could only succeed through the preservation of the Union without secession; he resolved to restore the rebellious states to the Union and all else would fall to this goal. But the war was very hard and very long, and war by its nature lowers the status of peripheral principles and elevates the central principles in dispute." (Kleinfeld, 1997) Lincoln provided the means for emancipation from
S. Constitution as offering much protection but instead view it as being the responsibility of the states to provide protection for private property owners. In the event that the courts "...continue to abdicate their role as the protector of individuals rights, then big government and powerful corporations will continue to run roughshod over the property interest of small landowners." (Liles, 2006, p.372) Liles holds that the legislature being allowed a leeway
Machiavelli, Luther, And Muntzer Must a good politician be morally bad? In the context of the Reformation, this question revolves around how Christians would define what is "morally bad" had become suddenly and seriously complicated by competing definitions of what constitutes "morally good" behavior. The rhetoric very often yielded more heat than light: Luther's and Muntzer's apparently sincere eschatological belief that the Vatican was to be identified with the Whore of
Our semester plans gives you unlimited, unrestricted access to our entire library of resources —writing tools, guides, example essays, tutorials, class notes, and more.
Get Started Now