Frederick Douglass accuses the portrayal of American identity as independent, fair, free, and individualistic as "inhumane mockery," falsely announcing that not all people in the United States possess the same freedoms and freedoms that all Americans are supposed to have. Say no to plagiarism. . Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay Douglass refutes the common belief that when you first set foot on American soil, it doesn't matter where you come from, symbolizes a new beginning on the path to a better life. In Letters from an American Farmer, author Michel Guillaume Jean De Crevecoeur points out that America is a huge melting pot and that no matter where you come from, once you set foot in this country, you will be a American and you will receive everything you deserve. freedom that accompanies this title. “The laws, the lenient laws, protect them as they arrive, imprinting on them the symbol of adoption… these lands confer on them the title of free men, and to this title are attached all the advantages which men can possibly require. » (Crèvecoeur 3). According to Crèvecœur, every man has the right to be a free man, and this title includes all the freedoms that a man can desire and need. Frederick Douglass strongly disagreed with this statement, as shown in his work “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?” » speech he gave to a group of abolitionists on Independence Day in 1852. Douglass begins his speech positively, with a very calm and humble tone, and talks about America being a nation so young, he had high hopes that the abolition of slavery would be achieved in the future. Then, about halfway through his speech (our abridged copy), Douglass takes a much more aggressive and direct stance on what he thinks about slavery in the United States and how the first steps of a slave on American soil are opposed to those of a person of European origin. “The 4th of July is yours, not mine. You can rejoice. I have to cry. To drag a man in chains into the great illuminated temple of liberty and ask him to join you in joyful hymns was inhuman mockery and sacrilegious irony. (Douglas 5). Douglass emphasizes all of his pronouns regarding the slaves and the white man to show how all of the freedoms that are supposed to come with being American are only afforded to a certain category of the population. He also considers it an abomination that you bring people in chains into this great land of "freedom" and then expect them to agree that America is indeed the land of the free, which is so openly advertised as the basis of American identity. . Another big part of the American identity is the ability to work hard to achieve economic success. Throughout his article, Crevecoeur constantly reiterates the fact that being an American means having the ability to work hard to obtain monetary rewards and climb the social ladder. “They receive large rewards for their work; these accumulated rewards provide them with land; (Crèvecoeur 3). All citizens earned a fair wage for their work and the new rewards would give them the opportunity to prove their wealth. Douglass proved this statement false by using slavery as the perfect example of why it was not true. "What, must I affirm that it is wrong to make men brutal, to deprive them of their freedom, to make them work without pay, to keep them in.