There have been a great many people in our country's history that have been extremely influential. Today's subject is certainly one of them. Frederick Douglass is one of these men. Frederick was born into enslavement in Maryland. He never knew his father, barely knew his mother, and his grandmother was forced to abandon him when he was less than 10 years old. He was passed around to a few different farms. He was lucky enough to gain a small start to his education through his time at one of farms he was assigned. He quickly realized that education was powerful, and his ability to read would likely one day lead to his freedom. There are many stories in which he would trick young, white, males (same age as him) into educating him. Not so much by coercing (forcing) them to teach a lesson, but by challenging them to contests in which he could learn new words. Frederick eventually became literate, and once able to read and write on his own he was able to continue to expand his knowledge through books. He also learned to speak, and is one of the greatest rhetorical speakers in the 19th century, if not all time. Frederick escaped enslavement when he was twenty, and began to use his speaking abilities to bring to the nation the atrocities that were occurring on plantations. Today, we look at what is one of his most famous speeches. Below you will see the color code for what are directions and what are questions that must be answered and turned in through Google Classroom.
Directions
Questions to be answered
Directions: 1. Listen to the following excerpt from a famous speech, as read by James Earl Jones (He was the voice of Darth Vader).
https://www.democracynow.org/2015/7/3/what_to_the_slave_is_4th
A. Let's take some time to analyze this speech a little bit. As a class we will open take The Actor's Approach to analyze the speech. Open "The Actor's Approach" (not the Frederick Douglass one...at least not yet).
B. Now let's look at the words of the speech. Go ahead and open "Actors Approach Frederick Douglass".
Directions: Read the biography linked below then answers the questions.
Who is Frederick Douglass and what gives him credibility as he talks? (Who do you think he is, then we'll look at the bio)
https://www.biography.com/people/frederick-douglass-9278324
Answer these questions and turn them in via Google Classroom.
Question: What is Frederick Douglass getting at in this speech? What is he asking of us as a nation?
Question: We will make an assumption that the majority of slaves felt the same way Douglass did. How did the rest of the country feel about slavery?
IF YOU WANT MORE INFO ON FREDERICK DOUGLASS YOU CAN LISTEN THE HISTORY BROS PODCAST EPISODE 49
https://anchor.fm/history-bros/episodes/Episode-49-Frederick-Douglass---The-Epic-Story-eirfo8