Frederick Douglass Vs. Hamilton. Though abolitionists David Walker and Frederick Douglass both identify with the natural laws and principals found at the very core of Thomas Jeffersons Declaration of Independence, their opinions of this text drastically

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The American Abolitionist

and the Declaration of Independence

Harshitha R. Kilari

African American Literature I

Prof. Farah J. Griffin

ENGL V3400.001

October 3rd, 2012

The American Abolitionist and the Declaration of Independence

Though abolitionists David Walker and Frederick Douglass both identify with the natural laws and principals found at the very core of Thomas Jefferson’s Declaration of Independence, their opinions of this text drastically diverge as soon as the Declaration is examined alongside the African American culture and the institution of slavery.  In this broader, more inclusive context, it is clear that, in his 1850 pamphlet, Appeal in Four Articles: Together with a Preamble, to the Coloured Citizens of the World,” David Walker chooses to embrace the Declaration and all its promises so he can use the denial of these self-evident rights to create outrage amongst his brethren and challenge his place in American society.  In contrast, Frederick Douglass, as demonstrated in his 1852 speech, “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?” understands and even admires the ideas inherent in the Declaration of Independence, but, due to its contradictory coexistence with slavery, refuses to accept it as having a legitimate impact on himself or his fellow African Americans.  In stark contrast to Walker, who wants to spark a revolution amongst blacks, Douglass is interested only in the gentle reshaping of attitudes amongst whites.  Even though the messages behind the Walker and Douglass texts are not closely related, the two authors utilize many of the same literary devices and tropes when crafting their work.  More specifically, both Walker and Douglass start by examining slavery with the framework of the Declaration of Independence and then add to it by considering the conflicts and hypocrisies that pervaded society in pre-Civil War, post-independence America.  David Walker and Frederick Douglass also construct their narrative in the form of the black jeremiad and utilize both direct references and indirect allusions to contrast the institution of slavery in the status quo with the circumstances and ideas that defined the American Revolution.  Regardless of the significant overlap between the authors’ chosen rhetorical and literary devices, David Walker’s “Appeal,” and Frederick Douglass’s “Fourth of July,” are two uniquely purposed texts that illustrate two distinct relationships between the American abolitionist and the Declaration of Independence.

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But, before we examine the work of either Walker or Douglass, let’s take a moment to better understand the exact way in which the Declaration of Independence touches on the ideas of natural law and liberalism.  These two ideas take on their most recognizable form in the Declaration’s preamble, where they’re described to be “the separate but equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them” (Declaration of Independence 1).  Both Walker’s pamphlet and Douglass’s speech use indirect allusion to borrow the argument being made here without having to restate it: all human beings, regardless ...

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