Walt Whitman addresses how the American Election Day is a harsh and painstaking conflict even though there is no physical fighting taking place. While this refers to all Elections in general, this line directly alludes to the Election of 1884. In the context of history, the Election of 1884 is remembered due to the large amount of mudslinging done by Grover Cleveland and James G. Blaine

I found this section of the poem to be particularly powerful to me. to me this section of the poem lady liberty begs for us for freedom to touch all "all our people". The dissension in these lines is powerful because lady liberty designates that these are not only our people but the fact that they are people at all means that they deserve liberty

The poet uses repetition and capitalization to stress the importance that ALL current and future Americans be granted the principle of liberty.

These six lines of the poem are in conversation with Frederick Douglass' What to the Slave is the 4th of July. Douglass discusses in his speech the hypocrisy of the American holiday as it celebrates the nation's freedom and equality while African Americans are subjected to slavery. In this poem, Lady Liberty calls upon the nation to work on its problems and help those who suffer instead of harping on its power.

Walt Whitman describes how the most powerful aspect of the young United States of America is Election Day. He portrays the nation as a young country with intense anger as he uses the phrase "seething hemisphere's"

And they do this without the consent of the African American population within the United States. This happens again and again throughout history.

The author explains here how race can grant a certain group of people privileges while excluded another. Whiteness vs. darkness

In order to maintain their superiority over the newly freed African Americans, white supremist used to Reconstruction and post-Reconstruction Era to implement laws that denied them access to the various privileges of citizenship.

It is unfortunate and saddening to see that American Americans have to continue to face discrimination and racism in the political system. When will this ever end?

Dr. King exposes the clergymen of Birmingham by explaining how these peaceful demonstrations who have not occurred if they were given their rights as American citizens.

I find this very disturbing because the government could not find a way to enforce the 15th Amendment even though they tried to. I am also surprised that expresses were that high to keep Congress from addressing the unconstitutional actions by the states.

I also believe it was a failure because Native Americans were not allowed to vote despite the Constitution saying race and color cannot prevent voting. Furthermore, I find it interesting at how quickly states created ways to make the. ability to vote even more difficult to obtain.

Native Americans who chose to remain with their families, their culture, and their traditions, were outcast from ours because of ideas like Manifest Destiny that American culture and religion are superior and should be spread across the land.

This passage Maltz makes a very important claim regarding the founders perspective on citizenship. Maltz believes it was important to the founders to exclude natives that retained their cultural identity and only accepted "tax-paying natives" that chose to abandon their ways and live in white society. In doing this we can see the way exclusion was used to found the early identity of the nation by othering those in the tribes the settlers felt more connected and united.

The biggest conflict between politicians during this era was the definition of "persons." While this generalization should be inclusive of people of all different races, we see in the case of Native Americans that the term did not necessarily apply to them thus separating them from the clauses of the 14th Amendment and the Civil Rights Act of 1866.

We see here how hypocritical Senator Trumbull of his statement on citizenship in the United States. On the one hand he proclaims that all people born in America are citizens of the nation. But he articulates that this doesn't necessarily apply to Native Americans.

We see here the power of language/ rhetoric. By taking out the term "African descent" and adding "not subject to any foreign power", Senator Lyman Trumbull changes the entire dynamic of this clause articulated in the Civil Rights Act of 1866. I wonder what caused him to change the wording of this clause?

We see in this line how discriminatory the creators of the Constitution were toward Native Americans when creating the structure of the House of Representatives. The only way Native Americans were considered to be part of the state's population was by abandoning there tribal ties and assimilating into white society. However, these assimilated Indians were used as pawns to help states gain more representation in the House, and some were not even granted citizenship.

Considering the age of our nation and the conditions and issues we still fight with should our brow as reformers be heavy? should we be skeptical that we will ever achieve equality through legal civil means?

I think it's crucial that Douglass takes the time to remember the struggle of Chinese Americans who at this time where working in close to slave conditions to construct the railroads that would connect our nation. Doing this adds greats ethos to his argument by giving him a nice empathy.

To Douglass, the slave auction is an important point of tragedy. This passage he expresses how these people have been pressed into chattel slavery and just how dehumanizing and horrifying that is.

Sometimes in modern day rhetoric about race we forget just how brutal and awful the history of slavery and it should not be on people of color to constantly educate others.

This is Douglass appealing to American pride that people want to believe that we can be a nation of equality. Flattery is Douglass safest rhetorical tactic considering his position at the beginning of the speech

I think the crux of this paragraph is Douglass being extremely polite to his audience considering the era of the id 1800's and expressing his own humility

This paragraph is a conceit used by Douglass as the "ship" being our state tussling against the crisis of slavery and that we should clean to the Declaration for our identity and to guide us to Freedom AND equality in the ways that we've read about from Canton and Allen.

The movement will never been followed by the church since many find this movement to be unnecessary. They do not see the harm that slavery does to the community created by independence. Until the church specifically recognizes that slavery is an issue, there will not be a religion tied to the movement

The Figurative Slave Law is so clearly present, but there is nothing being done about it. The nation is simply accepting it.

There must be turbulence for there to be change. There will be no differences in anything if there is not a strong enough force.

It is critical to focus on the present and to live and work in the present. Many people look at the past and how much has been done, but they do not look at how they can continue that work.

Despite having such little, the colonists still decided to fight against the English rule. The colonists understood that having independence from the British government was the utmost important goal to reach.

The English rule did not allow for the Americans colonies to govern itself, but instead restricted its ability to grow as a separate unit. This is similar to men putting limitations on women, and whites putting limitations on blacks.

While he is happy to speak today, Douglas is nervous but willing to endure this to get his message across. This to me also shows some humility in that he feels that he may not be that good of a speaker then others. However, is audience knows better.

This was an idea from the DOI that they colonists didn't want to be oppressed and under British rule. speaking to the previous comment, Douglas is saying that slaves and black Americans are no different then the colonists from 76 years ago. Americans talk about oppression as if they lived hard lives but the slave has endured more then the colonist.

America is still young. It will take time to be great and we will have bumps and buses along the way. In time we may all be one and show an appreciation for the times and tribulations that America has gone through. good or bad it is our history and we must learn from that.

He says that he is going to say something quick and lay out a plan for is topic. However, It is in eloquence that he says this that he will be concise and detailed. At this time it may have been fast but we have lost this eloquent oration in how we address our fellow man. He ask for patients. this is to say that he is going to extend and olive branch and start speech of "A meaning of the 4th of July"

Douglass describes in this concluding paragraph that he is hopeful for the future because the nation is involved in a world community, and the injustices experienced by the slaves will not go unnoticed by the rest of the world.

Douglass calls the church to defend blacks against the nation's institutions of slavery and advocate against slavery laws.

Douglass describes the horrifying sound of the rattling chains as slaves were transported to the ship.

In this paragraph, Douglass articulates that members of the African American race can function and do the same tasks as any other person in the country. He states that because they can do all the things whites can do, it is there duty to show the world that they too are human beings.

In this paragraph, Fredrick Douglass explains to his audience that the history surrounding American Independence Day establishes a common national rhetoric that everyone in the audience is familiar with

In this statement, Fredrick Douglass is explaining why the Declaration of Independence is important to his audience and himself. It is the document's principles, established by the Founding Fathers 76 years ago, that freed Americans from tyrannical rule. He also calls the audience to stay true to these principles in all circumstances.

In this paragraph, Fredrick Douglass feels a sense of embarrassment and pressure about delivering this speech because he feels unprepared.

INSTRUCTIONS for our Collaborative Roadmap of Douglass's "What To The Slave": write a Roadmap Entry for each of your assigned paragraphs. Follow the directions in the Roadmap handout.

Questions we collaboratively brainstormed to analyze Douglass's oration:

1. What is Douglass’s motive? Call to action? Purpose?

2. What is Douglass’s thesis?

3. What is Douglass’s stance and positionality?

4. What evidence (kinds/types of evidence) does Douglass cite?

5. What are Douglass’s Keyterms?

6. Who is Douglass’s audience?

7. What is the context of the speech?

8. What rhetorical strategy/ies does Douglass use? What is his rhetorical strategy?

I like this point is Bee's argument as well and this reminds me of the argument of the DOI that it becomes necessary for citizens to question the government and the mechanisms of democracy as a whole. In this case Bee exposes a double standard that voters have too little responsibility to complain about it and the voters have too much responsibility that they feel they are responsible for the actions of the government itself

I think this is the essential part of Bee's argument that many people today are still disenfranchised today. I think President Obama's argument is fair that we need to encourage more people to be active about voting but we need to make structural changes to help more people vote.

Vanessa Bee's claim goes hand-in-hand with Danielle Allen's stance on equality in her book, Our Declaration. Through our ability to complain and argue about political issues, we all have a stake in the remodeling process of our great nation.

I agree with this claim the author makes. Our foundational principle of freedom allows all citizens to speak their mind about the nation's issues. After all, if the colonists didn't complain to King George about their lack of representation in Parliament, we would not be here right now. While I think we have an obligation to vote, I believe that we have the ability to "boo" in other ways as well.

This section where the phrasing "he has" is repeated several times almost like a list of grievances levied against men and how they are treated. In these grievances the main connecting theme is that women have been denied access to participate in the community and the discussions that have gone into forming our nation.

This opening caught my attention because it defines women as being part of the "family of man" connecting directly to the language of the Declaration of Independence that Stanton believes they clearly are included in. This passage also clearly states their desire to rise in social location

Although the Declaration is intended for all of us as Americans as we saw in Danielle Allen's book Our Declaration, women like Elizabeth Cady Stanton felt that they needed to deliberately state the word "women" in their declaration due to their current conditions. Women were not being granted rights in either the public and private sectors, so they felt they needed to add "women" to the famous words of the Declaration to show that they deserve these rights.

This section is the greatest difference I noticed from the actual Declaration of Independence. Stanton and the writers of the Declaration of Sentiments deliberately state that they will be judged and ridiculed for making this document. However, they will continue to protest and fight for their rights anyway. This is their "all in" moment.

This extended metaphor is a really interesting way to look at how the Declaration was formed. The different conversations and states that contributed to the document are tributaries that all nicely come together in one central document.

Allen uses Thomas Jefferson's capitalization of the word "MEN" in the rough draft of the Declaration to prove that it is a living document that represents and is applicable to all of us. This initial capitalization of the word reveals to us that Jefferson was speaking on behalf of all the men, women and children of the colonies when writing that "all men are created equal"

Allen describes how a speaker's personal perspective can be seen through the use of their language. We must be aware of our officials use of language so that we can understand a situation or issue from their viewpoint.

If we opt for freedom rather than equality we create a imbalance in our society or you could say that we have one now. How can we as a people truly be "free" if there isn't equal opportunities? How can there be freedom if their are constraints on some but not others?

The story Allen uses clearly displays a place without equality. No matter what one does or has done in a society (that doesn't have equality) that person is still "this" or "that." Having someone(s) "higher" than others could lead to a hierarchy rather then a democracy.

Democracy is made to unite citizens as an entire community. A hierarchy in a society would cause inequality to rise, which is why democracy is built to prevent it. Allen causes us to recognize how democracy is supposed to help and not hurt us, and also later introduces the idea that it creates the composition of the world to promote equality in the community.

Allen is causing her reader to think about cases of autonomy in our history . This word also stood out to me because it made me realize that the Thirteen Colonies wanted to be autonomous, which caused them to leave the King of England's rule. Autonomy has caused many changes in society throughout history, such as the Civil Rights Movement. Men and women of color refused to stand by and listen to an unjust law, and fought for their right to vote. They made the laws themselves.

Should either equality or liberty fall, democracy will also struggle to succeed. Our government and us as citizens need to give equal attention to keeping both values alive in society. I believe we all need to focus on keeping both equality and liberty as a priority in our society, rather than putting more weight on one over the other.

Allen's argument about liberty and equality has entered a conversation in which the prevailing views has been that these two rights are in tension, or oppositional, to each other, rather than interdependent. According to Allen, this view reflects an inaccurate view suggested by the culmination of primary source documents that preceded and contributed to the writing of the declaration, and by the Declaration itself. Her argument--and what she does the close reading of the Declaration and other primary source documents to show, is that not only are freedom and inequality interdependent, but also we can't have liberty if we don't have equality. In other words: equality creates the conditions under which we can experience freedom.

In the very first sentence we have Danielle Allen's motive for writing Our Declaration...