The Meaning of July Forth for the Negro Analysis

"The Meaning of July Forth for the Negro" by Fredrick Douglas reflects Realism in two specific ways. One way would be that the speech uses very simple writing. For example, throughout the speech, the author, Douglass, is very straightforward when explaining that the Forth of July really does not mean much for the negro because African-Americans really did not have very many rights at all because they were basically all slaves and law did not require them to have any civil rights whatsoever. This is why Douglass says that when a man says that America is a land where everyone is free and everyone has opportunity, he is a hypocrite. This is simply because not everyone did have right in this time era. African Americans did not and they also did not really have much opportunity other than being a slave in the United States(Douglass 336). The other reason that this would be considered Realism is because of the time period in which it was written. This speech by Fredrick Douglass was written on a Forth of July during the Civil War. The beginning of the the Civil War was when Realism began. The Civil War was the period of time in the United States when people began to see the world for how it truly was because of the effect the world had on the Civil War(Douglass 336). Government was clearly a focus when Douglass wrote this speech. This is because the main emphasis of this speech is the fact that African-Americans really have nothing to be happy about when it comes to celebrating the Forth of July because it really does not have much meaning the the Negro because they do not have rights(Douglass 336). The audience of this speech is basically the government because that is who is not giving the African Americans rights. This speech is basically complaining to the government about how the Negros in the United States of America when they have really not done anything to not deserve rights because they are officially slaves who work out in fields just to try to make a living. The American also comes into play when reading this speech because that is basically what the entire speech is about-the American Dream. The American Dream is what writers talk about when they refer to the fact that America is the land of freedom and opportunity(Douglass 336). This idea is clearly not true when it comes to African Americans and Negros because once again, they have been forced into slavery. Douglass is referring to this American Dream because it really is not true for African Americans and for that reason, African Americans did not truly enjoy or celebrate the Forth of July. Even though this speech is not focused on the idea of the hero, i think that the main hero of this speech would have to be Fredrick Douglass. This is because he was the first one who actually confronted the government about how they are all hypocrites and how they basically lie when it comes to celebrating the Forth of July.

Douglas, Frederick. "The Meaning of July Fourth for the Negro." Glencoe Literature. American Literature ed. Columbus: McGraw-Hill, 2009. 336. Print. (Douglass 336)