100th Blog! - Frederick Douglass - Speech

In Frederick Douglass's "The Meaning of the Fourth of July for the Negro", many interesting points are made that signifies the philosophy of Ralph Waldo Emerson. First off, according to Stanford University, Emerson's philosophy is highly structured around "self-reliance" (Stanford). He believes that in order for an individual to do something outstanding or make a good point, they must first come to terms with the fact that they are significant. Emerson basically says that confidence and an overall understanding of one's abilities to achieve greatness is in order before anything great can come from it. In Douglass's speech, he states that the Fourth of July means nothing to them because they lack the freedom that all other white men have. "What, to the American slave, is your 4th of July? I answer; a day that reveals to him, more than all other days in the year, the gross injustice and cruelty to which he is the constant victim," (Douglass). This day of celebration regarding freedom and victory mocks the common slave each and every year that they continue to labor in cotton fields and answer to their slaveholders.

Douglass motivates the slaves and points out that whites are claiming to live a life full of liberty and independence while blacks are simply tossed aside and treated unfairly. I think that like Emerson says, the blacks see the Fourth as their "self-reliance". They realize that none of them enjoy the freedom and liberty that comes along with the celebration of the Fourth.

Overall, I believe that Emerson's philosophy highly reflects Douglass's speech in the fact that both regard coming to terms with something that hinders greatness. For Emerson, it was realizing the true potential of one's self, while for the slaves, it was realizing that the United States was not the "land of the free" but rather a country full of oppression and inequality. Frederick Douglass's speech ultimately motivated slaves enough to realize that for them, freedom would come at a cost more devastating than the American Revolution.

Douglass, Frederick. "Africans in America." PBS: Public Broadcasting Service. International Publishers Co. Web. 07 Feb. 2012.

Goodman, Russell, "Ralph Waldo Emerson", The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Fall 2011 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.)