Slavery Is The Fourth Of July Rhetorical Analysis

Words: 813
Pages: 4

In the speech, “What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?”, Douglass’s overall tone is passionate when regarding the abolishment of slavery. In lines 150-153 he states, “Your celebration is a sham; your boasted liberty, an unholy license your national greatness, swelling vanity; your sounds of rejoicing are empty and heartless.” The evidence shows that Douglass’s tone contributes to the appeal he creates when using pathos because his strong word choice triggers an emotional response to the audience. Ethos is shown in the speech when he states in lines 125-128, “ To beat them with a stick, burn their flesh, knocking out their teeth, and starve them...” The example adds to the appeal of ethics because Douglass is convincing his credibility of being the persuader.

Douglass’s extrinsic ethos influences the manner in which he addresses his audience because his background of being a slave shows credibility. In lines 3-5 he states,
…show more content…
Some of the assumptions of slaves are that white individuals see them as not people and that slaves should have to prove that we are men when they are doing the same or even more work than the white men. The example is shown in lines 90-92 when Douglass states, “The manhood of the slave is conceded. We are called upon to prove that we are men!” In this section of the text, Douglass is using logos when he says in lines 95-98, “People say that I need to argue, and denounce less to get my point across. I am not going to argue points that people already