Reflections on Fundamental American Liberties
There were four documents to analyze that reflect on the idea what are the basic liberties that Americans should be entitled to? The four documents are Civil Disobedience, Declaration of Rights and Sentiments, What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?, and A Lecture on the Anti-Slavery Movement.
Civil Disobedience: The document opens up with a classical republican statement expressing how much better a smaller government would be. The government would move faster and be more effective if it were smaller but due to the large size of the government, it is actually paradoxically slower. The document continues to express how the government is nor representative of its people but the government imposes its will onto its people. It is made clear that the writer is not anarchist fighting for a no government system but a someone wishing to have a smalle more respectable government. Expressing how the military has turned into a soulless machine a shadow of what it used to be as men using their best judgment. He says a government that is built on slaves and war is not a government he would support and if others didn't pay their taxes the would not be able to fund and continue their reprehensible behavior. His hope was to change the laws and made it clear he was not superior of above them, and so long as unjust laws exist citizens should continue to not obey them.
Declaration of Rights and Sentiments: This document opens with polarizing statements stating that not all men are created equal, not everyone has inalienable rights, and not everyone is entitled to life liberty and the pursuit of happiness. While not explicitly stating it is clear that these statements are anti-government, and is a call of action to those that share the same opinion. It argues that the current government is self-destructive and it is the responsibility of those feeling oppressed to stand up to create a new better government in its place. It argues it is a government that repeats its own mistakes and never learns from them, dooming them in an endless cycle. It then lists the many ways government is supposed to be representative of its people and how inadequate it has become. It then states how this government will be different, then the signing of the names of the many that will achieve these ambitious goals by signing them to the underside of the document.
What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?: This document is a speech addressing an assembly and the speaker starts very humbly explaining the amount of preparation he has taken before speaking to the assembly. He states that the plantation from where he escaped is very far away from where he speaks and it is amazing to him how much it has taken him to be able to speak where he is speaking on the 4th of July. Explaining the 4th of July is the celebration of becoming an independent nation and a time for reflection just like the holiday of Passover. Reflecting on the tear between men during the time, and what it took to succeed. However, the speaker then challenges the holiday, by doing this he shows he fully understands what the holiday means to everyone and by celebrating it is hypocritical. He is challenging everyone who celebrates a day where all men are to be equal but still the evils of slavery exist. He speaks from a slaves point of view to show the assembly how slavery is the biggest American sin and shame. He shows how there are 72 crimes punishable by death for a black man in Virginia but only 2 crimes punishable by death for a white man. Showing the injustices that black men face and arguing that black men are men and deserve the same rights as all other men.
A Lecture on the Anti-Slavery Movement: The speaker speaks about his current state of health, while he is very unwell he felt it was more important to address a major evil. The biggest evil America can commit is the injustice of slavery and wished to speak about the history of the Anti-Slavery movement. The speaker divides this history into four major categories The Garrisonians, or the American Anti-Slavery Society, The Anti-Garrisonians, or the American and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society, The Free Soil Party, or Political Abolitionists, The Liberty Party, or Gerrit Smith School of Abolitionists. The Garrisonians are the oldest anti-slavery society with a focus to free the north of all slavery, slavery around the world was considered too ambitious which is why they focused on the north. The second is the American and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society, while they decimate information on paper they fail by not using their most powerful weapon of speech. The third is the Free Soil Society which hoped to limit the expansion of slavery but not abolishes it through emancipation. The final is the liberty party which was the most extreme and wide sweeping in their beliefs that slavery should be abolished across the United State. He then explains how they failed in their movements which brings great pain to the speaker however he makes it clear that the anti-slavery movement will prevail.
There were four documents to analyze that reflect on the idea what are the basic liberties that Americans should be entitled to? The four documents are Civil Disobedience, Declaration of Rights and Sentiments, What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?, and A Lecture on the Anti-Slavery Movement.
Civil Disobedience: The document opens up with a classical republican statement expressing how much better a smaller government would be. The government would move faster and be more effective if it were smaller but due to the large size of the government, it is actually paradoxically slower. The document continues to express how the government is nor representative of its people but the government imposes its will onto its people. It is made clear that the writer is not anarchist fighting for a no government system but a someone wishing to have a smalle more respectable government. Expressing how the military has turned into a soulless machine a shadow of what it used to be as men using their best judgment. He says a government that is built on slaves and war is not a government he would support and if others didn't pay their taxes the would not be able to fund and continue their reprehensible behavior. His hope was to change the laws and made it clear he was not superior of above them, and so long as unjust laws exist citizens should continue to not obey them.
Declaration of Rights and Sentiments: This document opens with polarizing statements stating that not all men are created equal, not everyone has inalienable rights, and not everyone is entitled to life liberty and the pursuit of happiness. While not explicitly stating it is clear that these statements are anti-government, and is a call of action to those that share the same opinion. It argues that the current government is self-destructive and it is the responsibility of those feeling oppressed to stand up to create a new better government in its place. It argues it is a government that repeats its own mistakes and never learns from them, dooming them in an endless cycle. It then lists the many ways government is supposed to be representative of its people and how inadequate it has become. It then states how this government will be different, then the signing of the names of the many that will achieve these ambitious goals by signing them to the underside of the document.
What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?: This document is a speech addressing an assembly and the speaker starts very humbly explaining the amount of preparation he has taken before speaking to the assembly. He states that the plantation from where he escaped is very far away from where he speaks and it is amazing to him how much it has taken him to be able to speak where he is speaking on the 4th of July. Explaining the 4th of July is the celebration of becoming an independent nation and a time for reflection just like the holiday of Passover. Reflecting on the tear between men during the time, and what it took to succeed. However, the speaker then challenges the holiday, by doing this he shows he fully understands what the holiday means to everyone and by celebrating it is hypocritical. He is challenging everyone who celebrates a day where all men are to be equal but still the evils of slavery exist. He speaks from a slaves point of view to show the assembly how slavery is the biggest American sin and shame. He shows how there are 72 crimes punishable by death for a black man in Virginia but only 2 crimes punishable by death for a white man. Showing the injustices that black men face and arguing that black men are men and deserve the same rights as all other men.
A Lecture on the Anti-Slavery Movement: The speaker speaks about his current state of health, while he is very unwell he felt it was more important to address a major evil. The biggest evil America can commit is the injustice of slavery and wished to speak about the history of the Anti-Slavery movement. The speaker divides this history into four major categories The Garrisonians, or the American Anti-Slavery Society, The Anti-Garrisonians, or the American and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society, The Free Soil Party, or Political Abolitionists, The Liberty Party, or Gerrit Smith School of Abolitionists. The Garrisonians are the oldest anti-slavery society with a focus to free the north of all slavery, slavery around the world was considered too ambitious which is why they focused on the north. The second is the American and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society, while they decimate information on paper they fail by not using their most powerful weapon of speech. The third is the Free Soil Society which hoped to limit the expansion of slavery but not abolishes it through emancipation. The final is the liberty party which was the most extreme and wide sweeping in their beliefs that slavery should be abolished across the United State. He then explains how they failed in their movements which brings great pain to the speaker however he makes it clear that the anti-slavery movement will prevail.
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