Reflection- The Meaning of July Fourth for the Negro

From the writing of Frederick Douglass' The Meaning of July Fourth for the Negro, the reader can really see his point of view of our founding fathers and our nation in general.  Frederick Douglass starts out to say that he can not view the men who started this country "with less than admiration" (Douglass).  As he goes on, he makes the point to give his reasons as to why he does not like the Fourth of July.  He speaks for the slaves, and says that the country had never looked so hideous except for this day.  I think he is saying that the Fourth of July was the day that "Americans" got their freedom and independence, but the "Americans" only included white people.  African Americans and slaves had absolutely no part in this new freedom.  He is asking if a man has his right to liberty, and if so, why should that exclude slaves?  The argument can be made that African Americans were robbed of their liberty and freedom because they were not thought of when America gained its independence from Britain.  The thoughts of Frederick Douglass can be compared to those of Henry David Thoreau.  Henry David Thoreau did not like his government at all.  He, along with Frederick Douglass, did not want and did not understand slavery.  He thought the government was being too aggressive in the Mexican-American war when they should have been more passive, and that slavery caused too many taxes to be put on the people.  Frederick Douglass and Henry David Thoreau can be compared by their thoughts and beliefs on slavery.  Obviously, neither of them liked it.  Frederick Douglass, having been a slave himself, did not understand why slaves were still being deprived of their freedom by a country who lived by the motto that everyone deserved liberty.  Henry Thoreau did not have the exact same point of view because he was white and clearly had never been a slave, but he still believed the act to be atrocious and blamed the government.


"Africans in America/Part 4/Frederick Douglass Speech." PBS: Public Broadcasting Service. Web. 07 Feb. 2012.