Douglas exposes the irony of a country that celebrates freedom and independence yet a great deal of its population are oppressed slaves. He reminds the audience that the nation is young and just as a child grows; the nation had the ability to grow positively. He starts his speech by apologizing for his nervousness and appreciate he has moved great mile from his slavery days. He sheds some light on the historic revolutionaries’ fights against the British rule. Contrary to the aim of the revolutionist, black American were under captivity. Douglass appreciates the work of the revolutionaries that encourages them to continue with that work. He condemns America since it was fallacious to its founding ideologies. He felt that the spectators had a mandate to execute what the nation’s founders fought for. He gained the sympathy of his audience by saying that no one who wants to be a slave. He condemned the religious leaders and the profits made from slavery and criticized the subject of American freedom and democracy because it did not guarantee equity to all.
Question 2
What does Douglas hope to accomplish by accusing white Americans of hypocrisy?
Douglas aimed at beating slavery movement in the USA. He pushed for equivalent integrity and privileges along with the nationality of the American blacks. This was triggered by the fact he was birthed a slave. He escaped to the North region which was highly dominated by the whites. He attacked the hypocrisy of a country that celebrated freedom and independence but kept 4 million persons as slaves. The slaves were treated with sovereign unresponsiveness, draughtiness and scornfulness. Despite the fact that the slaves lobbied and squabbled with lots of respect and loyalty, they were treated insensitively and discriminatorily.
Question 3
Does Douglas possess any optimism in terms of the evils of slavery being addressed?
Douglas was optimistic that racial reforms would be made. This would go a long way in fighting slavery. According to Frost and Jeffery, Douglass spoke effectively and dealt with white citizens in needs of correction on the slavery issue (386). Douglas believed evils like slavery was unbearable. Douglass trusts that anti-slavery opinions will succeed over the pro-slavery forces.
Works Cited
Frost, Bryan-Paul and Jeffrey, Sikkenga. History of American Political Thought. Lanham: Lexington Books, 2003. Print.