
Abolitionist and black rights movements went much deeper than pre-civil war era abolition, and in Pennsylvania specifically had serious roots in Quaker and religious societies that often battled in Pennsylvania over the legitimacy and rights regarding the abolitionist movement itself. Pennsylvania was known early on, even before its inception as a colony and state, as a territory founded primarily by the Quakers and in which some of the most inspired and forward thinking ideas and notions toward slavery came to be. The earliest Quakers used their religion as a moral compass for the issue of slavery and therefore began to build the earliest abolitionist network even before the Revolutionary war occurred in 1776. However, this sort of strong ties to abolition almost polarized the state into being home to very distinct and colorful views on the issues at hand. Pennsylvania then became a battleground of groups for the problems of slavery, emancipation, and the abolitionist movement. This battleground state of Pennsylvania historically reflected many of the nation’s overall sentiments on the issues of the time and even lead to the fight within Pennsylvania being almost predictive of the history to come regarding black rights and the southern reconstruction era. Quaker roots within Pennsylvania started early movements that spread to northern hubs for resistance to slavery thereby making close proximity to New England, New York, and New Jersey a key part to ending the slave trade itself through northern ports, but also carrying broader political influence and agenda. The Quaker movements opened up doors from an initial religious stand point that turned into a movement that heartily accepted the input and freedom movements proposed by African Americans and women as the push for freedoms grew. The rising tides in the favor of abolition and emancipation proved to spawn ever more famous minority leaders and speakers out of the Pennsylvania and New England area. Even Frederick Douglas’s speech for “What to a slave is the fourth of July?” was given in New York. The mid-Atlantic ties to abolition and cultural reform on the issue of black rights and freedoms led all the way up to and after the civil war for which the nation divided along the Mason-Dixon line. Pennsylvania being always a forefront in the matters at hand housed more underground railway operators and initiatives than the rest of all the northeastern states. These pushes and battles of Pennsylvania grew the state into one that housed modern cities and movements than most know. The work started in Pennsylvania was so keenly influential and pivotal in establishing the forefront of the American abolitionist movement that the modern-day influence of the free works can still be seen in cities like Philadelphia and Harrisburg. 

In relation to the original text by Frederick Douglas, this article presents a larger and broader background to the movements for which Douglas worked. In the article, one can see specifically Pennsylvania’s influence on the inception of the abolitionist movements, and most importantly how representative Pennsylvania was of the rest of the nation in its own fight for certain freedoms. Douglas talks about how Independence Day for him and other African Americans is a hypocritical day on which America was founded on freedoms and principles that directly conflict with the institution of slavery. In the article, we find that early abolitionist movements tied to religious Quaker movements even before the signing of the declaration of independence. This background and long trail to Douglas’s speech and after can somewhat be traced to, or at least influenced by, the movements of the Quakers and the early established rights groups in New England and around the Pennsylvania area. The history for which one learns in the article that the U.S. struggled deeply with the notion of slavery adds to the concept of what Douglas describes the nation as in his speech. In looking deeper into the history, itself of abolition one can learn a broader view of the struggle and words Douglas emphasizes. The article even outlines black and white relations in regards to the abolitionist movement that encompasses both sides fighting to try and sympathies against racial lines and appeal to the various natures of each culture. Frederick Douglas spoke about the protestant church of England fighting against slavery on a religious basis that it goes against their teachings, and while most Baptist or Christian based religious groups in the U.S. should have embodied this same attitude, most times religion was used to argue for slavery in backwards ways. The Quakers are proof of a domestic religious movement against slavery even before the inception of the U.S. itself which in a light gives a sense to the underlying broad reach of the freedom movements at hand during the time that Douglas wrote and gave his speech. 

A strong point to note in the second article analysis of the specific ways in which emancipation and abolition took place under abolitionists strategy of converting African Americans at the time into fully fledged independently capable citizens for which could participate in government and legislation. To this effect abolitionist groups worked in a more gradual manner rather than instant emancipation to prove functionality and necessity rather than simply convert anti-abolitionist ideology. This route did not prove as effective since the gradual turn from slaves to people capable of all the freedoms desired turned to be a nightmare in execution. The effects of this strategy however proved to create long lasting ripples and movements towards not just emancipation but integration and growth towards whole heartedly independent American citizens who were once slaves. This attitude and abolitionist strategy allowed for the continued debate for which Frederick Douglas in his time came to adopt a serious tone of not just segregation but integration. The initial idea was unheard of in pre-civil war slave driven America. People failed to believe that African Americans were even capable of handling such freedom and therefore had no need for it. Luckily the culmination of the civil war and several great activists and reform movements secured total freedom for African Americans even after emancipation for which reconstruction era politics lead to this tone of non-segregation, but integration was key to establishing the far more inclusive and freedom centric style of rights system our modern society has put forth for minorities. Frederick Douglas took personal responsibility for the revealing and battling of not just slavery, but overall hypocrisies and faults within societal attitudes of minorities who had subpar treatment, representation, and freedoms. 
