How we cite our quotes: (Sentence)
Quote #1
To drag a man in fetters into the grand illuminated temple of liberty, and call upon him to join you in joyous anthems, were inhuman mockery and sacrilegious irony. Do you mean, citizens, to mock me, by asking me to speak today? (21-22)
"What is your deal?" asks Douglass. "It's an offense to God and humanity to ask a person you have enslaved to join you in celebrating freedom."
What do you think the organizers of the Fourth of July celebration actually expected from Douglass? Were they looking for a standard patriotic speech, or might they have intentionally given him a platform to discuss the hypocrisy of American slavery?
Quote #2
Whether we turn to the declarations of the past, or to the professions of the present, the conduct of the nation seems equally hideous and revolting. America is false to the past, false to the present, and solemnly binds herself to be false to the future. (31-32)
Americans have talked, do talk, and (Douglass can only assume) will talk a big game re: freedom. But do they actually believe in it? Not really—not for everyone, anyway. Why is this a problem for Douglass? How would his speech change if Americans were able to honestly confront the inequalities in their own society?
Quote #3
The feeling of the nation must be quickened; the conscience of the nation must be roused; the propriety of the nation must be startled; the hypocrisy of the nation must be exposed; and its crimes against God and man must be denounced. (79)
"Now," says Douglass, "it's entirely possible that you people really do need a wake-up call." Good thing he's here to give it. However, Douglass discusses abstract ideas in these lines. What concrete actions or events would be necessary to quicken, rouse, startle, expose, and denounce the nation?