"What, To a Slave, is the Fourth of July?"

Question

by Frederick Douglass

At a time like this, scorching irony, not convincing argument, is needed. O! had I the ability, and could reach the nation's ear, I would, to-day, pour out a fiery stream of biting ridicule, blasting reproach, withering sarcasm, and stern rebuke. For it is not light that is needed, but fire; it is not the gentle shower, but thunder. We need the storm, the whirlwind, and the earthquake. The feeling of the nation must be quickened; the conscience of the nation must be roused; the propriety of the nation must be startled; the hypocrisy of the nation must be exposed; and its crimes against God and man must be proclaimed and denounced.

What, to a Slave, is the Fourth of July?

"Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address"
by Abraham Lincoln

Each looked for an easier triumph and a result less fundamental and astounding. Both read the same Bible and pray to the same God and each invokes His aid against the other. It may seem strange that any men should dare to ask a just God's assistance in wringing their bread from the sweat of other men's faces but let us judge not that we be not judged.

President Abraham Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address (1865)

Question
Use the passages from Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln to answer the question.

Which statement best identifies similar ideas regarding slavery and the country’s problems in both passages?

(1 point)
Responses

What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July? clearly blames supporters of slavery for the country’s problems, while Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Address is more neutral in its tone.
What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July? clearly blames supporters of slavery for the country’s problems, while Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Address is more neutral in its tone.

Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Address clearly blames supporters of slavery for the country’s problems, while What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July? is more neutral in its tone.
Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Address clearly blames supporters of slavery for the country’s problems, while What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July? is more neutral in its tone.

Both passages argue that placing blame on a specific group is a wrongheaded endeavor.
Both passages argue that placing blame on a specific group is a wrongheaded endeavor.

Both passages place clear blame on supporters of slavery for the country’s problems.
Both passages place clear blame on supporters of slavery for the country’s problems.
Skip to navigation

Answer 1

The statement that best identifies similar ideas regarding slavery and the country's problems in both passages is:

Both passages place clear blame on supporters of slavery for the country’s problems.

In Douglass's speech, he exposes the hypocrisy of a nation celebrating freedom while simultaneously upholding slavery, indicating clear blame towards those who support such an institution. Lincoln, while adopting a more neutral tone, still acknowledges that both sides invoke divine support for their opposing causes, which implicitly points out the moral failings of those who perpetuate and support slavery. Thus, both authors attribute significant moral responsibility to supporters of slavery for the issues facing the nation.