How we cite our quotes: (Sentence)
Quote #1
Fellow citizens, pardon me, and allow me to ask, why am I called upon to speak here today? What have I or those I represent to do with your national independence? Are the great principles of political freedom and of natural justice, embodied in that Declaration of Independence, extended to us? And am I, therefore, called upon to bring our humble offering to the national altar, and to confess the benefits, and express devout gratitude for the blessings resulting from your independence to us? (1-4)
Douglass starts strong with the sarcasm. "What's up with this?" he asks. "Am I supposed to talk about how grateful Black people are that you let us live in this country?"
Think about the rest of the text: how do the rhetorical questions Douglass asks in the opening paragraph foreshadow the rest of the speech?
Quote #2
For who is there so cold that a nation's sympathy could not warm him? Who so obdurate and dead to the claims of gratitude, that would not thankfully acknowledge such priceless benefits? Who so stolid and selfish that would not give his voice to swell the hallelujahs of a nation's jubilee, when the chains of servitude had been torn from his limbs? I am not that man. (7-10)
"You'd have to be a jerk to not feel grateful for the blessings of living in America," Douglass says. "Well, I guess I'm a jerk. But—oh, wait—it's because the blessings of America aren't really for people like me."
Looking at American history as a whole, what other groups of people might have felt or feel that the promise of America is not really for them?
Quote #3
Your high independence only reveals the immeasurable distance between us. The blessings in which you this day rejoice are not enjoyed in common. The rich inheritance of justice, liberty, prosperity, and independence bequeathed by your fathers is shared by you, not by me. The sunlight that brought life and healing to you has brought stripes and death to me. This Fourth of July is yours, not mine. (15-19)
It's easy to feel patriotic in a country that gives you good things. Feeling patriotic about a country that has enslaved you and still treats you like a second-class citizen? That's a lot harder. What specific examples does Douglass offer to support his claim that the Fourth of July does not belong to him?