Friday, November 25, 2011

LAD #16 & #17: Douglass and Truth

Douglas Speech Summary

Douglas's speech was held on July 5th 1841 in Rochester New York. Opening the speech Douglas asks why he has come to speak the day after July 4th Independence day, he said that for him and other slaves it meant nothing for they were still slaves and not independent. He goes further into saying how the 4th of July is not a good day for slaves and instead a bad one like all the other days as a slave. He describes the hardships of being a slave, and talks about how slaves suffered on the 4th of July. Douglas then brings up the constitution and bible and says that african americans are people too, that all races are equal. In essence the 4th of July was simply a day marking independence for only white Americans, and for slaves it was nothing but a reminder that they were still slaves.

Truths' A'int I a woman

On May 29th 1851 Sojourner Truth spoke to a group of women at a convention in Ohio. Truth touched upon the many unfair things and rights that women did not have compared to men. Although Truth was african american she took a different approach in the speech and said that if both african american and white women worked together for womens rights they would truly be a force to reckon with. In this speech Truth was able to fight for womens rights and anti slavery at the same time. The speech was able to gain lots of support for anti slavery and womens rights.

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