Frederick Douglass Rhetorical Analysis: Persuasive Techniques in the Speeches

Introduction

“Ain’t I a Woman” and “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July” are both people trying to protest to make a change, especially when they feel discriminated against. Sojourner Truth. In the articles, she speaks to the women’s rights convention in 1851 While in Akron, Ohio, about her experiences as a black woman in America. Likewise, Fredrick Douglass speaks to the ladies of the Anti-slavery Society in 1852 at a Fourth of July celebration, and he lectures against slavery and campaigns for the rights of all people.

Both Truth and Douglass appeal to logos, pathos, and Ethos to persuade the audience toward their goals.

Ethical Connection and Credibility

Sojourner Truth appeals to logos when She asks the rhetorical question, “And ain’t I a woman,” which is asking why she cannot be treated as a white woman would be treated in that time frame; Frederick Douglass appeals to logos by asking many rhetorical questions. Truth catalogs things that she can do as much as a man could. “Look at me! Look at my arm! I have Plowed and planted and gathered into barns, and no man could head me! And ain’t I a woman?” – pg. “331”.. A few examples from Frederick Douglass would be, “Why am I called upon to speak here today? What have I, or those I present, 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?” – pg. “289”.

In “from What to the slave is the Fourth of July?” Douglass states many things that make his audience feel guilty and sympathetic. Also, in “Ain’t I a Woman” by Sojourner Truth, he appeals to pathos by making her audience feel sympathy and guilt. “I have borne 13 children and seen them most all sold off to slavery, and which I cried out with my mother’s grief, none but Jesus heard me!”.These appeal to pathos by sympathy for her past and her losing several children. Douglass states, “Fellow citizens, above your national, tumultuous joy, I hear the mournful wail of millions! Whose chains, heavy and grievous yesterday, are, today, rendered more intolerable by the jubilee shouts that reach them.” pg. “290”. Douglass makes them feel as if they shouldn’t be celebrating freedom in a country in which everyone is not free.

Conclusion

“What to the Slave is the Fourth of July” by Frederick Douglass appeals to Ethos due to his background and the connection he has to them, and in “Ain’t I a Woman?” Sojourner Truth appeals to Ethos by explaining she was born into slavery. In 1826, Truth’s master broke the promise to free her, and she fled with her baby girl, Sophia. Before the speech, the audience knows Douglass as a former fugitive slave and an abolitionist. He was also an advocate for the freedom of all people. During the speech, he addresses the audience as “fellow citizens.” He alludes to the Bible, God, and the Declaration of Independence. Douglass asks the question, “Do you mean, citizens, to mock me by asking me to speak today?” He was asking why he asked me to speak for people who are not supporting the freedom of all. Even Douglass was questioning why he was giving the speech.

References

1. “Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave” by Frederick Douglass

2. “Frederick Douglass: Prophet of Freedom” by David W. Blight

3. “The Life and Times of Frederick Douglass” by Frederick Douglass

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