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Kaiden Martinez

Simpson

English 101

16 September 2020

Take Up The Mantle

Escaped slave, famous abolitionist, and public speaker Frederick Douglass gave a speech

to six-hundred or so abolitionists in Rochester titled, “What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July.”

The speech aimed to challenge traditional views and make his audience take on a different

perspective on the view of independence in America by means of calling out hypocrisy by the

US Government and through the use of emotional and credible appeals. In contrast to the style

and delivery of Douglass, well-known former civil rights leader, and former US Representative

John Lewis, writes his essay “Together, You Can Redeem the Soul of Our Nation” nearly 170

years later. In his last hours, Lewis inspires the next generation of Americans through the use of

personal and emotional connections. While there are stark differences in delivery, both men

strive to inform, inspire, and spark change in hopes of a brighter tomorrow.

To begin a speech by asking rhetorical questions is a way to immediately capture the

audience’s attention. Douglass speaks at a podium in front of hundreds directly addressing his

audience by asking them what his representation has to do with national independence. To start

he makes comparisons between what the celebration of the American Independence Day is for

“you,” his audience, and how the rejoiceful celebration brings hope and light but to him, has only

“brought stripes and death”. Meaning that the significance of the Fourth of July is not the same

to average citizen than to a citizen who was a slave.

Like Douglass, Lewis begins by directly addressing his audience, only his intention is to

personally connect with them. The word “you” is used a total of five times in the first paragraph

and about eighteen times throughout the whole essay. Indicating that his message was meant for

each individual as a way to establish a strong connection with the reader. The target audience

includes the next generation of Americans, the younger population, and those who feel the “

soul-wrenching, existential struggle.” Lewis speaks to those who seem to be continuing his work

sixty years later. By praising the actions of his readers, Lewis draws in the audience’s attention

and toggles the readers’ ability to comprehend the meaning of his words in a similar way that

active listening enables.

Douglass tends to play on emotional appeals but instead of trying to gain sympathy, he

tries to envoke guilt. Throughout the speech, he constantly is making parallels such as “you may

rejoice, I must mourn,” and “above your national tumoultuous joy, I hear the mournful wails of

millions!” The strategy of making these comparisons for the purpose of drawing out the feeling

of guilt is meant to act as tough love and a motivator. Almost as if saying “we are not where we

should be and you should be ashamed. But you have the power to make change and we can do

better.”Alongside emotional appeals, as a former slave himself, Douglass also uses a credible

appeal by using personal experiences to further drive his point.

Throughout Lewis’s essay, the use of pathos is prominent in personal anecdotes and

allusions to Dr. Martin Luther King. Lewis refers to Martin Luther King’s philosophy of

nonviolence and transforms his personal anecdote into a call to action. Lewis goes from stating,

“He said each of us has a moral obligation to stand up,” to “You must do something.” The short

statement used in the transition is incredibly powerful, completely severing the separation of
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time between the civil rights movement and the ongoing Black Lives Matter movement,

connecting generations through the familiar desire of change for the better. Lewis himself

becomes Dr. Martin Luther King as his readers turn into a young John Lewis listening to an old

radio.

Coming out of the personal anecdotes Lewis goes back to his first strategy through the

repeated use of the word “you”. Though he is no longer praising the readers he is now

encouraging and urging people to take action and get into some needed “necessary trouble.”

Doing so will be the way to ignite change. Voting in a democratic society is “the most powerful

nonviolent change agent you have...” and reminds his audience that voting is essential especially

when we live in a society where it is not guaranteed and can be easily taken away. Learning from

history is also essential as it is common knowledge that history repeats itself. Though it is not

possible to change what has happened, we can learn from those events and strive to do better in

the future.

Douglass also encourages learning from history but in a less direct way. By addressing

the hypocrisy present through the church and the government, Douglass creates a powerful

declariation. A declaration that the Constitution and the Bible are being trampled upon by the

very houses that claim to worship them. “Would you have me argue that man is entitled to

liberty? That he is the rightful owner of his own body? You have already claimed it.” There is

absolutely no logic in calling a nation “Land of the Free” and say that every man is entitled to

land, freedom and happiness when men, women, and children are bing sold to do other peoples

labor. To thoes who are not familiar with the Bible, God told Moses to lead his people out of

Egypt because they were being kept as slaves. “There is not a man beneath the canopy of heaven,
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that does not know that slavery is wrong...That which is inhumane is not divine!” Is treating,

torturing, and killing people like dogs loving them as you love thyself?

Douglass is angry and he degrades Americans but he does show that there is hope. In the

concluding paragraphs he affirms that does “not despair of this country.” He acknowledges that

that state of the world is not how it once was. Nations are now connected and they cannot travel

down previous paths without interference and how “intelligence is penetrating the darkest

corners of the globe.” The world is becoming smaller and through the new path that is being

carved out elicits a sense of relief that the world is changing and hope for a brighter future.

After Lewis’s call to action, he delves even deeper into establishing a strong connection

to strengthen his influence before his last paragraph. After telling his readers to learn from

history, he makes a connection between humanity and history and how the constant struggle for

survival is what ties people from all walks of life and from different points in time together. The

connection is an even further play into the emotional appeal of the readers as the purpose of

connecting people together is meant to inspire everyone to speak up for what they believe and for

those who have not had the ability to stand up for what is truly right and just.

The concluding paragraphs of John Lewis’s essay is a final inspiring call to action

through his use of praise, connection, allusions, and morality. Lewis knows that he is using his

final hours to write an essay addressing us. He acknowledges that he may no longer be with us at

the time of our reading. As he uses his final words to praise us and our accomplishments and

express his hope that we will be the generation that will let peace and love finally overcome

violence and hate, makes his words all the more powerful. Using the words of Martin Luther

King to tell us, his “brothers and sisters”, to “let freedom ring” and his own to “let the spirit of
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peace and the power of everlasting love be your guide” is the perfect way to end his essay to

leave a forever lasting impression in the hearts of the audience and give a sense of love and

community as everyone is striving for the same goal, to stand up for what is right.

John Lewis and Frederick Douglass both are very influential individuals. Though their

words are about 170 years apart, their relevancey to current and past events proves that time

irrelevant and certain ideals will remain, but that does not mean that they cannot be changed.

John Lewis calls to his brothers and sisters to use peace and love to finally triumph over

centuries of hate and to at last end oppression through his powerful use of the personal

connection, anecdotes, and his inspirational style. Frederick Douglass scolds the American

people for their hypocrisy and challenges others to take on a different perspective. Overall the

effect of these pieces is up to the reader and as to how they prefer to be motivated but that does

not change the fact that these are two incredibly are incredibly influential and serve the same

purpose. These men both hope for the same goal, which is for a brighter future even if neither are

around to see it. So they leave the future in the hands of generations of Americans to come as

they have done what they could and have now passed on the torch.