Frederick Douglass an escaped slave who became a prominent activist, author, and public speaker during the civil war era once gave a lecture about what the fourth of July meant to slaves, he raised issues that are still relevant today. Exaggeration and imagery are all mentioned throughout the speech. These recurring themes link to today since they are recurrent and are things that have not changed over time. Frederick Douglass’ point of view is why should slaves be separated from something they had to work so hard for, and he goes on to explain how white people are so different from enslaved people.

When Fredrick Douglass spoke about why enslaved people should be included in the Fourth of July celebrations in the United States, a lot of imagery sprang to mind. You might almost imagine that you were in the room with Frederick Douglass and that he was speaking to you.“O! had I the ability, and could reach the nation’s ear, I would, today, pour out a fiery stream of biting ridicule, blasting reproach, withering sarcasm, and stern rebuke” (Douglass). This demonstrates rhetorical language since you can imagine yourself in the room with Frederick Douglass, trying to make his point about why enslaved people should be included in the celebration of the United States independence day. Frederick Douglass then illustrates how an enslaved person would feel if white men celebrated their national independence. “I say it with a sad sense of the disparity between us. I am not included within the pale of glorious anniversary! Your high independence only reveals the immeasurable distance between us. The blessings in which you, this day, rejoice, are not enjoyed in common. The rich inheritance of justice, liberty, prosperity, and independence, bequeathed by your fathers, is shared by you, not by me”(Douglass). This contributes to Frederick Douglas’s argument about how different enslaved people are from white males, and the remark above exemplifies the differences.

Another aspect of Frederick Douglass’ speech that keeps coming back is how he utilizes exaggeration to convey how different enslaved people were from white people. “At a time like this, scorching irony, not convincing argument, is needed. O! had I the ability, and could reach the nation’s ear, I would, today, pour out a fiery stream of biting ridicule, blasting reproach, withering sarcasm, and stern rebuke. For it is not light that is needed, but fire; it is not the gentle shower, but thunder. We need the storm, the whirlwind, and the earthquake. The nation’s feeling must be quickened; the nation’s conscience must be roused; the propriety of the nation must be startled; the hypocrisy of the nation must be exposed, and its crimes against God and man must be proclaimed and denounced”(Douglass). This demonstrates what enslaved people went through, how different they are, and what white men thought of them. Even through all the hardships that colored people went through slavery still goes on to this day.

In conclusion, Fredrick Douglass uses Exaggeration and imagery. These recurring themes are relevant now since they have not altered over time. Why should slaves be separated from something they worked so hard for, Frederick Douglass argues, and he goes on to explain how white people are so different from enslaved people.