Question

source 8.5 rights and slavery: an african american voice frederick douglass | what to the slave is the fourth of july? | 1852 fellow-citizens, pardon me, allow me to ask, why am i called upon to speak here to - day? what have i, or those i represent, 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? and am i, therefore, called upon to bring our humble offering to the national altar, and to confess the benefits and express devout gratitude for the blessings resulting from your independence to us? would to god, both for your sakes and ours, that an affirmative answer could be truthfully returned to these questions! but, such is not the state of the case. i say it with a sad sense of the disparity between us. i am not included within the pale of this glorious anniversary! your high independence only reveals the immeasurable distance between us... this fourth of july is yours, not mine... you may rejoice. i must mourn. i shall see, this day... from the slave’s point of view... i do not hesitate to declare, with all my soul, that the character and conduct of this nation never looked blacker to me than on this 4th of july!... standing with god and the crushed and bleeding slave on this occasion, i will... dare to call in question and to denounce, with all the emphasis i can command, everything that serves to perpetuate slavery — the great sin and shame of america! for the present, it is enough to affirm the equal manhood of the negro race. is it not astonishing that... while we are engaged in all manner of enterprises common to other men... we are called upon to prove that we are men! would you have me argue that man is entitled to liberty? that he is the rightful owner of his own body? you have already declared it. must i argue the wrongfulness of slavery? is that a question for republicans? at a time like this, scorching irony, not convincing argument, is needed... for it is not light that is needed, but fire... the conscience of the nation must be roused, the hypocrisy of the nation must be exposed, and its crimes against god and man must be proclaimed and denounced. what, to the american slave, is your 4th of july? i answer: a day that reveals to him, more than all other days in the year, the gross injustice and cruelty to which he is the constant victim. to him, your celebration is a sham, your boasted liberty... he compares the fourth of july to a slave’s birthday in bondage. he argues that all that is required to bring slavery to an end is to present convincing arguments against its inequities. 24 multiple choice 1 point at the conclusion of his speech, what does douglass identify as the force that will usher in the downfall of slavery in the united states? armed slave revolts the social stigma in elite american society associated with slaveholding increased international trade and commerce the supreme court 25 multiple choice 1 point what does this speech by douglass and source 8.4 rights and slavery: ‘reason and nature’ share? both threaten armed violence if slaves are not granted their freedom. both appeal to christian principles in their calls to end slavery. both argue that increased international trade and communication will ultimately bring an end to slavery. both assert that the fundamental laws defining the rights of citizens apply to people of african descent.

Explanation:

For question 24: Douglass's speech focuses on exposing the hypocrisy of American freedom celebrations while enslavement exists, arguing that stirring the nation's conscience (and thus creating stigma around the injustice of slaveholding) is the force to end slavery, not armed revolts, trade, or the Supreme Court.
For question 25: Douglass references the Declaration of Independence's natural justice principles, and "Reason and Nature" frames freedom as a natural right; both root their arguments in the idea that core citizen rights should extend to enslaved African Americans.

Answer:

1. The social stigma in elite American society associated with slaveholding
2. Both assert that the fundamental laws defining the rights of citizens apply to people of African descent