from "The Meaning of July Fourth for the Negro" - Frederick Douglass

This short excerpt from Frederick Douglass's "The Meaning of July Fourth for the Negro" is very much so a piece of realism. According to Abby Werlock, realism "is the attempt to depict life as it actually exists, not as the author wants it to be in the present or the future, or imagines it was in the past. A realist carefully chooses details that illustrate this vision, unlike the naturalist who tries to include all possible details" (Werlock) In this short passage, Douglass describes his torture and his bondage of being an African American at this time and tells of how he is not free. He wishes he was free, but he is unfortunately not free and he ridicules the white people for this day of "freedom" for the country. He does not leave out the details of how he feels for them, otherwise known as the white people. It is brutal; "To him (an African American slave), your celebration is a sham; your boasted liberty, an unholy license; your national greatness, swelling vanity; your sounds of rejoicing are empty and heartless; your denunciation of tyrants, brass fronted impudence; your shouts of liberty and equality, hollow mockery.... a thin veil to cover up crimes which would disgrace a nation of savages" (Douglass 337). This passage is just one of hate towards the people who are keeping him in captivity. I believe this work would also fall under the subset of regionalism. It is clearly in the southern states, since they were the only ones to have slavery. "The primary focus of interest lies in the particular characteristics of a region and people at a particular time" (Kasraie). This is in the south at the time of slavery, in 1852, so it fits this genre of realism. This literary work reflects the anger of not just African American slaves at this time, but also the abolitionists and the freedmen. They were enrages by this "freedom" that black people had at this time and they had their emotions to deal with. This is what we see in Douglass's "The Meaning of July Fourth for the Negro." This story reflects the feelings of thousands of people just like Douglass at this time period.

There really are no arguments with religion as this is mostly a political issue. The government had no right to keep these people in bondage underneath them, but they did anyway. Douglass recognized this and he was infuriated by his position in the world just because of the color of his skin. This is what we see in this story is Douglass's anger towards the United States' government and the whole idea of slavery in the south. Nature is not included much in this story unless you want to count the nature of slavery angering Douglass to write this story. He believes that he should be an equal and share in the freedom that whites are given, but the white people are celebrating through lies and terrible crimes. He feels very angered by this. The American Dream in this short story by Douglass would be the idea of freedom for slaves, which would eventually come to the slaves, but after many more years of separation. There would be no hero in this story.


Douglass, Frederick."from The Meaning of July Fourth for the Negro." Glencoe Literature. Comp. Jeffrey Wilhelm. American Literature ed. Columbus; McGraw-Hill, 2010. 337. Print.


Kasraie, Mary Rose. "local color." In Barney, Brett, and Lisa Paddock, eds. Encyclopedia of American Literature: The Age of Romanticism and Realism, 1816–1895, vol. 2, Revised Edition. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2008. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. Feb 7, 2011.


Werlock, Abby H. P. "realism." The Facts On File Companion to the American Short Story, Second Edition. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2009. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. Feb 7, 2011.