What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?

Use these activities to engage all types of learners, while requiring that they refer to and incorporate details from the text over the course of each activity.

ACTIVITY 1: “Examine the Constitution”

In this activity, students will take up Douglass’s challenge for his audience to examine the Constitution and draw their own conclusions.

In the last third of his speech, Douglass challenges his audience to examine the Constitution and draw their own conclusions and opinions about the document—an activity that reflects a serious commitment to civic duty. Prior to this speech, Douglass used his newspaper, The North Star, to promote the same idea. He once believed the document was flawed and defended slavery. However, by the time he gave this famous address, he had changed his mind, declaring, “The Constitution is a GLORIOUS LIBERTY DOCUMENT. Read its preamble, consider its purposes. Is slavery among them? Is it at the gateway? or is it in the temple? It is neither” (17).

He proclaims that with a plain reading, “it will be found to contain principles and purposes, entirely hostile to the existence of slavery” (17).

• Now it’s your turn: Read the Constitution and its Amendments up to the 12th Amendment. Decide whether it does or does not defend slavery.
• Next, read the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments. Does their inclusion change your answer?
• Do you think the ratification of these amendments might have changed Douglass’s opinion or supported it?

Teaching Suggestion: Students are not meant to debate whether slavery was wrong. The focus of this activity is to get students engaged in the civic discourse that requires a deep reading of the guiding document of the United States government. Students might find it helpful to read the annotations provided on the given website, or they may find those annotations distracting. Truncated readings of Douglass’s famous speech have led to a misrepresentation of his attitudes toward the United States, its laws, and the Constitution. This article from the Wall Street Journal (subscription may be required to view) discusses the importance of analyzing the speech in full, with an emphasis on Douglass’s attitude toward the Constitution. You might share this article with students or use it to inform the setup for this activity so that students don’t stray from the activity’s intent.

Paired Text Extension:

Read the opening sections of the Levinsons’ Fault Lines in the Constitution (“Introduction” and “Preamble”). Consider the author’s arguments and weight them against your own understanding of and opinions on the Constitution, in theory and in practice.

• Write an essay or journal entry detailing your understanding of and opinions about the Constitution. What questions do you still have? What ideas do you want to explore or observe further?

Teaching Suggestion: This activity allows students to take Douglass’s challenge to the next level and apply their analysis to current political issues and challenges presented by the Constitution and lawmakers’ interpretations of it. You might find it helpful to select an alternative chapter that holds relevance and interest for students and guide discussion and analysis of one specific issue, such as voting rights. If access to the book is limited, you might also supply a post from the Levinsons’ blog, which serves as a journal of updates to the main text.

Both of these activities present unique opportunities for students to consider and reflect upon one or all of the unit’s three themes: Celebrating and Acknowledging History’s Legacy, The Appropriate Response to Oppression, and The Idea of America as a Child.

Differentiation Suggestion: Students who need more visual support or simpler language might benefit from reading the graphic novel version of Fault Lines in the Constitution, while advanced readers might find debating, critiquing, and analyzing Sanford Levinson’s Our Undemocratic Constitution more satisfying.

ACTIVITY 2: “Rhetorical and Literary Partnership”

In this activity, students will write a speech on a topic of their choosing and a literary work (poem) to go with it.

Throughout his speech, Douglass employs both rhetorical and literary devices to support his point. In his closing, he reads a poem written by his friend and fellow abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison, a poem that reflects many of the arguments and images that Douglass employs throughout his speech. Select a topic of interest to you, one that you can easily write an impassioned persuasive or argumentative speech about. Then write a speech that includes both literary and rhetorical devices and an accompanying poem that uses imagery and language to illustrate the emotional texture of your speech.

• To get started, study Douglass’s speech and the poem he includes at the end. How does the poem’s language reflect the speech and vice versa?
• Write your speech following the conventions of the form and including rhetorical devices you have seen used by Douglass or others. Use this list of rhetorical and literary devices to inspire and challenge you.
• After you’ve completed your speech, make a list of images, emotions, and ideas that make up the bulk of your message. How can you incorporate these into a poem?
• You might be inclined to write the poem first and the speech second. That’s up to you, as long as one supports the other! Each piece should be able to stand on its own as well.

Teaching Suggestion: The purpose of this activity is for students to experiment with the ways rhetorical and literary devices can support one another and intermingle to create moving speeches and writing. You might consider playing slam poetry (links below) to inspire students and challenge them to see how the activity might apply in the “real world,” though there are limitless possibilities!

• “Solli Raphael, 12, Becomes Youngest Winner of Australian Poetry Slam”
• “Therapy Session” by Atlanta Team, 2015 Brave New Voices Finals (Content Warning: mature content; profanity)
• “Anxiety: A Ghost Story” by Brenna Twohy
• “When the Fat Girl Gets Skinny” by Blythe Baird (Content Warning: disordered eating; mature content; profanity)