Meaning of the 4th of July Reflection

In "The Meaning of July Fourth for the Negro" the author Fredrick Douglass claims that this is their day and time of independence of the white man, but he is still enslaved. "This Fourth July is yours, not mine. You may rejoice, I must mourn.."( Douglass 337). When he made this speech in 1852 slavery was still a common practice and the Civil War had not begun but the tension was rising between many groups of people and this speech probably influenced more people to join the fight against slavery. The Fourth of July was also a significant day for Thoreau because on that day he took on his own independence from society and ventured out of society living in the woods away from the society he believes is corrupt. The movement away from society by Thoreau was his witnessing of the people being ruined by luxury and heedless expense, which he felt was wrong and that the people should connect more with people and nature (Grant). The Fourth of July is the holiday used to celebrated the independence of the nation and its people and Fredrick Douglass sees this as wrong and that what they are really celebrating is the freedom of the whites because his people are not free they are slaves and property in the eyes of the free white man. The Constitution states that all men are created equal and Fredrick Douglass wants to see that equality that does not exist among the people because of race. Fredrick Douglass also makes a point in saying that the Americans are hypocritical because they do not practice what they preach it says all men are created equal yet the people are enslaved and we cover up all the crimes with a thin veil and if that veil was uncovered all that would be left is a nation of savages. The views of both Fredrick Douglass and Thoreau about the quiet kept secrets of their governments that hide the evils of the government and hurt the society's freedom and keeps them captive to their materialistic lives.

Grant, P. B. "Individual and Society in Walden." McClinton-Temple, Jennifer ed. Encyclopedia of

Themes in Literature. New York: Infobase Publishing, 2011. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc.

Douglass, Fredrick. "The Meaning of July Fourth for the Negro" Comp. Jeffrey D. Wilhelm, Ph.D. and Douglas Fisher, Ph.D. Glencoe Literature. American Literature ed. Columbus: McGraw-Hill Companies, 2009.337. Print.