Equal Rights; Frederick Douglass and T.H Marshall

Carllene Brooks
March 29, 2016
Professor Murdaco
Politics



   Frederick Douglass once said " Knowledge makes a man unfit to be a slave." This quote is 100 percent true. I say this because if one obtains the necessary knowledge needed in order to belong to society. then they shouldn't be characterized to be slaves ( particularly African Americans).  To begin with, in Frederick Douglass' speech " What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?" he expresses his thoughts and opinions on the scrutiny and treatment that the black population has endured. The first half of his speech focuses on the benefits and contributions that the founding fathers did for their country. He then goes on to to express the importance of the condemnation of the attitude of American society toward slavery. In my perspective, I believe that the issue of slavery during these times weren't really of relevance because it was mainly directed towards the black minority. Blacks were the underdogs as well as the minority. Many people believed that all we were good for was picking cotton and taking orders from the "white man".  So I feel that by Frederick Douglass obtaining the ability to read, he really proved that blacks are capable of learning and making a name for themselves. The one part of the speech that resonated for me was in the very beginning in the opening line. " Mr. President, Friends, and Fellow Citizens". I think that this statement suggests that the president who Douglass is addressing is the president of anti- slavery. In essence this does make sense because his main focus was to bring awareness to the treatment of African Americans in society. His main priority was not only to stress the importance of slavery, but to also advocate for equal justice, rights, and citizenship for blacks. Keep in mind that when Douglass gave his speech the year was 1852; so he often refers to the nation as " like a young child, that is still impressionable and capable for positive change".
      Without delay, one argument that I picked up on while reading Douglass' speech was his passion for freeing slaves. He points out that in 1852, people consider abolitionism a dangerous and subversive political stance. He predicts that in the future generations to come, that anti- slavery will eventually become reasonable and hopefully abolished.  Another purpose of the speech was to urge everyone to continue their works and involvement on who bought freedom and democracy to this land we call home. One rhetorical question that Douglass asks during his speech was " Are the great principles of political freedom and of natural justice, embodied in that Declaration of Independence, extended to us ( blacks)?". This is another question that resonates with me because it speaks not only for the conditions that were going on throughout the 18th century back then, but it also applies to even the present society we live in today. The Declaration was created in order to give freedom to "all" that live in society. These laws apply to everyone who lives in our nation; regardless of your color, gender, or ethnicity.  The Fourth of July for some can be perceived as the " white man's" holiday. He strongly feels that if a black man celebrates this freedom from oppression and tyranny, it is truly a mockery to our race as well as the black community. One quote form his speech that really emphasizes the arguments against slavery was " Your 4th July is a sham; your boasted liberty, an unholy license ( for enslaving blacks) ... your shouted of liberty and equality hollow mockery". This quote states that there is no person on Earth who would be in favor of becoming a slave himself. He feels that the fact that we celebrate Fourth of July, it was a way for the white man to feel that he has won and has obtained all the power he needs to control us black folk.  This holiday is more of an "excuse" on bragging about the liberty and prosperity that the white man has obtained. He goes on to compare the treatment of slaves to that of animals. He points out the incident in Baltimore where slaves were transported in chains onto ships due to the anti-slavery issues. Slavery brutality and animal brutality are the same in a sense that they are both being abused and deprived of their natural rights of them being animals and of them being citizens on the United States. The last point that I would like to emphasize is when he talks about the American Declaration of Independence. The one important statement in the declaration is " all men are created equal". This also implies to men of different colors, men of different races, and men of different genders. Douglass' speech was and will always be a lasting legacy in history; because he was one of the first African Americans to passionately speak on the hardships slaves go through and on ways on how we as a nation should try to change it.
    Another speech that was influential was T.H Marshall's Citizenship and Social Class (1949). I think the main focus of the speech was that the social responsibilites the state has ( America) to its citizens. To summarize his speech in a few short sentences would be that this speech was a stepping stone for America learning how to accept responsibility for their actions. I think the three major points in his speech that are important are (1.) The lessening of the income gap ( 2.)The great extension of the area of common culture and common experience ( 3.)An enlargement of citizenship and more rights granted to these citizens. I think these three points are crucial to understand when speaking about out nation.
      In closing we can see that these three individuals gave speeches that were influential and beneficial to this developing nation. Granted at the times these speeches were given, our nation wasn't exactly " the ideal" place to live in. IF these people never written or gave these speeches, then who knows what our country would've developed into.

Henry David Thoreau, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and Frederick Douglass

Carllene Brooks
March 18, 2016
Professor M
Politics


Task: Summarize the three articles



         Paul Wellstone once said, " Politics is not about power". This quote means that when studying the art of politics, it doesn't mean you are trying to learn the ropes of obtaining the most power. Politics in my opinion is a term used when someone is trying to understand the ropes of trying to make the government as well as our nation a better place. If I had to rephrase the quote I would say politics is about understanding the government and the rules that apply to it.
     To begin with, for this weeks blog, we read three different articles from three different historical figures. The first article was from Henry David Thoreau called " Civil Disobedience, 1848". In his speech he proposed that one's conscience should focus over the way the laws are being dictated. He goes on to criticize Americans social institutions and their polices. Throughout his speech Thoreau addresses some valid points that many politicians and government officials would often ignore. For example: He argued that the government rarely proves itself useful and that it derives its power from the majority because they aren't the strongest group. This statement goes for how today's government is run as well. Whenever an issue arises, the government is sometimes hesitant on fixing the problems ( depending on the severity of the problem). Thoreau is a strong believer in honesty and on effective ways of helping American citizens. He feels that when a government is not honest, the people should refuse to follow the law and distance themselves from the government in general. I think Thoreau's ideas are similar to that of some of the candidates in the presidential race. Primarily similar to the ideas of Donald Trump. Trump is a strong believer in eliminating negativity and focusing on how we as a nation can come to together and be more self sufficient and not worry about irrelevant factors.  One statement that Thoreau resonated with me was " A person is not obligated to devote his life to eliminating evils from the world, but he is obligated not to participate in such evil". ( www.sparknotes.com) Basically Thoreau is saying that no man or woman for that matter is obligated to devote their energy to the corruptness or evils that are occurring around the world. However he goes on to say that we have the choice on whether or not we want to participate in such evil behaviors.  Not only does he propose that we aren't obligated to participate in such evils, but he also dissociates himself from the government and refused to participate in his institutions. This means that he removes himself from a situation if he feels that the government is up to no good.
     Meanwhile, in Elizabeth Cady Stanton's " Declaration of Rights and Sentiments, 1848",  was created around the same time as the women's rights convention. Stanton's rendition of he Declaration was similar to the ideas of the original American Declaration of Independence. The sentiments demanded equality with men before the law in education and employment. Her speech was geared toward men allowing women the equality rights for obtaining employment opportunities as well as educational. According to www.infoplease.com, their were two statements  that really caught my attention. The first statement was " He denied her the facilities for obtaining a thorough education, all colleges being closed against her". This statement is solely focused on equal educational opportunities for women.  During the 18th century women weren't allowed to continue their education; due to the fact that the school district was predominately run by men. However eventually with the publishing of Stanton's speech, the issue was later resolved.  The solution was " That the equality of human rights results necessarily from the fact of the identity of the race in capabilities and responsibilities.  This means that human rights was based on your gender. Being male or female during these times really made a difference as far as equality in employment, education, as well as social status.
     In like manner, the last speech that we analyzed was Frederick Douglass' " A Lecture on the Anti- S;avery Movement 1855." This speech was an inspiring story because he really went through a lot of hardships during his youthful life. When he escaped slavey, he became one of the leaders of the anti slavery movement. His main goal in his speech was to obtain the natural rights for citizens to be equal and to put an end to racial inequality. One thing that many did't know was that Douglass' gave his anti slavery speech to a group of women. During this time, many women in the north were working together to put an end to slavery. One step they took was by joining reform groups were they learned the knowledge of organizing political skills and establishing social networks. ( for example: protests, articles in the newspaper and giving speeches. )
    In closing, we can see that the three different perspectives seen in these speeches all relate to one thing: which is obtaining equality as a natural American citizen.

Public opinion

     When reading the article " Polls Got It Seriously Wrong in Michigan's Democratic Primary", I found it to be quite interesting due to the amount of statistical information that was presented. In this article they talk about the race between Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders. The interesting thing about these two candidates is that they both have somewhat of a target audience. When I say target audience, I mean that Bernie Sanders is more likely to score big within the adolescent crowd, whereas Hillary Clinton is more closely linked to the young adult crowd as well as the middle aged crowd. According to the article, Hillary is a heavy favorite in Michigan state. She was given margins between 11 and 37 points over Sanders. Although Hillary had more points during their campaign, Sanders went out of his way and spent the most money on ads. While in Michigan, Sanders outspent Clinton. According to the article ( as well as data from Kantar Media), He spent $3.5 million to her $ 2.6 million, alongside that he made a heavier investment in the last week before the primary.
      In addition to the spike of points as well as who outspent who, when it comes to gender and ethnicity it really raises eyebrows in a sense. According to the article, it states that the results of the polls suggests that Sanders did indeed struggle to have any African American voters in the South. However the exit polls show that he won 30% of the state's black votes. On the other hand, Clinton had a 17 point lead and won 21% of the African American votes. And Sanders only managed to capture 19% African American votes. This does seem to be a slight improvement in the amount of African American votes that Sanders has received. As we know Sanders target audience ranges from ages 18-29 year olds. This is due to the things that he is promising and also the talks of either lowering college tuition or not having it at all. According to NBC/ Wall Street the polls state that the 18-29 age group make up 15% of the electorate.