Frederick Douglass – from The Meaning of July Fourth for the Negro

The speech delivered by Frederick Douglass entitled "The Meaning of Fourth of July for the Negro" falls into the regular Realism genre. This speech was delivered to a white congregation, which was actually a reflection of Realism. There was an African American giving the speech, which was not considered normal in the past. In the past, narrators were typically white males. This somewhat strange flip is a reflection of Realism.

This speech was delivered in 1852, which made its contents appropriate for the time period (Douglass, 337). The speech was delivered during the time of the Civil War, which was when many literary genres were emerging. The speech talked about the injustice of Fourth of July celebration for the negroes. The speech itself is real, which makes it appear to be a piece of Realism literature. Realist writing often included historical facts, and the speech itself is one whole historical piece. Frederick Douglass used a combination of emotions and facts in order to get his point across, which is a fundamental concept of Realism. Realism uses scientific facts and historic references to make it seem believable, and Realism also factors in the use of emotions and relatable situations to seem even more realistic. In this way, Frederick Douglass played upon the emotions of the people by approaching them with solid facts about the injustice (Douglass, 337).

Frederick Douglass' point in "The Meaning of Fourth of July for the Negro" is that the celebration of the Fourth of July in America makes the country appear hypocritical (Douglass, 337). The whole point of the Fourth of July is to celebrate the freedom of the people of America- their freedom from the chains and rules that were forced upon them by Great Britain. The holiday was hypocritical in that whilst the white folk of America celebrated their freedom, blacks were not able to celebrate freedom, for many of them did not know it. In this way Douglass displays the idea of Realism by using the everyday African American person as the hero (Douglass, 337).

One important aspect of Realism is the "hero". The hero is typically an average person whom other people are able to easily relate with. He is typically is just a middle class citizen who just wants to try and make the best out of the situations that he is forced into. In Frederick Douglass' speech, although it was written by an African American man about the plights of African American people to a strictly white audience, he played upon the basic ideas of humanity and the rights that we all share (Douglass, 337). It is at this point in the speech that emotions begin to make an appearance. Sometimes guilt is the best way to make someone understand that what they have done was wrong. Frederick Douglass used this to his advantage by making the white men realize that they were being hypocritical by saying that they deserved their freedom from Great Britain, but the African Americans did not deserve freedom from their bondage as well (Douglass, 337).

Douglass, Frederick. from "The Meaning of July Fourth for the Negro." Glencoe American Literature.comp. Wilhelm, Jeffery. McGraw Hill. Columbus, OH. 2009. pg 337.