Have you ever not been able to do something in this country like vote, have a job or own property? Every individual gets these privileges, with some regulations of course, but we all get this right if you are a citizen of the United States of America. Thanks to the people that come before us such as Fredrick Douglass, Abraham Lincoln and Rosa Parks. Since the 18th century Fredrick Douglass has been through slavery and not being able to read, not being able to get a job or even go to certain places. In Fredrick Douglass speech “What to a Slave is the Fourth of July?” we see how that part of history had such an impact on people and how it continues to still impact today’s world. Throughout history we have seen and learned how our culture has changes and ideas about people have conformed our society. 

The article “The active virtue of The Columbian Orator” is written by Granville Ganter and it is a comparison of “The Columbian Orator” and how Frederick Douglass read this book while he was a slave in Baltimore, and the book American Selection and how he read it after he was a slave. Each of these books had a major influence on why Fredrick Douglass did the things that he did after he was freed. “The Columbian Orator” included political history along with very dramatic excerpts and was used as a vehicle of patriotism. The book “American Selection” emphasized discipline and control. You can see that he read these and took into consideration what they said by what he quotes in his speech “What to a Slave Is the Fourth of July”. Also in the article it explains that both of the books talk about virtue but each in their own way. In “The Columbian Orator” virtue is informed by tradition of Christian radicalism while the “American Selection” virtue is about the struggle between liberal economic theory and republican political thought. In today’s society all religion is seen as important and you have the right to worship what you want to worship and believe what you want to believe. Also we as Americas living in 2016 have the right to have our own political views and express them how we feel and we all, well everyone over the age of 18 have the right to vote. Something that always hasn’t been allowed in this country. Can you imagine a time were only a certain group of people got to vote?  That is completely ridiculous and something we couldn’t even fathom this day in time. This article also goes into great detail of the horrible things that Douglass went through and encountered while being and slave and getting out of slavery. Today we read these horrible things and again can’t imagine how or why people did the things that they did to innocent human beings. It all goes back to race, how could one race decided to enslave another? How are we in today’s society and people still think that one race is better than another, I just don’t understand. People fight for our freedom every day and someone fought like hell for the freedom of all citizens and sacrificed everything for an equal opportunity and we are letting them down. Throughout the article is examples of how slaves were treated after they were freed from slavery, and though they were “free” they were not treated as equally as a white man. It really gives a huge perspective on the feelings and beliefs of people during that time period and how they thought the world should be. It is still amazing that in the world we live in today some people still are as close minded as they were back then.

Frederick Douglass makes a point to use specific quotes in his speech that come from the book as well as make sure that everything is said in context. Frederick Douglass’s speech to each other and how he used the book as a life guide and how it pretty much was the only thing he had to live by and was drastically influenced by. Another thing is that the traumatic events that Frederick Douglass had to go through are expressed in his speech and you can see the toll it took on him and how he feels about the whole situation. These feelings that people today still feel very strongly about and want others to feel that way as well. In the speech he also wants to show people the type of patriotism that they express is different than the one expressed in the article and that the feelings he has towards the fourth of July is different than the “free” citizens that have always been free. I feel this article helped me understand why Frederick Douglass wrote “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?” and I felt he wanted to make the audience feel the way he felt. The speech is given in a very stern and serious tone and it is meant for you to have that feeling and I feel that the article is as well and that another way to connect the two because they both want to show an important message. 

Along with that source I also read an article called “Life after Slavery” and this gave a different perspective then the other article did. Since the last source talked about his life as a slave and what all the horrible things he encountered this article was all about what he did to make sure no one else had to go through that anymore. This article relates to the speech he gave because in the speech he wants the people that weren’t there during that time to realize how it was and how it shouldn’t ever happen again. Once Douglass was free he started to negotiate with Abraham Lincoln about African American men joining the military to help fight in the Civil War. Douglass says “Once let the black man get upon his person the press letter, U.S., let him get an eagle on his button, and a musket on his shoulder and bullet in his pocket, there is no power on earth that can deny that he has earned the right to citizenship.” I think this quote that is one that should be remember, because he is so right. These black men are risking their lives for every single citizen of the US then they should be considered a full citizen and have every right that the rest of them have. Not only did Douglass fight for African American rights he fought very hard for women’s rights at the 1848 Women’s Rights Convention at Seneca Falls. He said “We hold woman to be justly entitled to all we claim for man. We go farther, and express our conviction that all political rights which it is expedient for man to exercise, it is equally so for woman.” This could not be a more accurate statement. Fredrick fought for the woman that felt they didn’t have a voice and today I am so thankful for that because I do get to have that voice. Without women’s rights I wouldn’t get to do the great things this country has to offer. From the one speech that he gave to the thousands of times he stood up for African Americans or women we should all be grateful that someone did it for us. In today’s society we don’t take into consideration how people feel on certain situations and we should, we should respect everyone’s opinion a choice and not degrade them for thinking one way if we think another. It is a shame that someone worked so hard to make this country as equal as possible and we let small petty things get in the way of the values this nation was built upon. 
