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Samuel Gallardo
English 296.003
Prof. Karen Roybal
December 3, 2013
Essay 3: On Thoreau and Douglasss View of Freedom
Frederick Douglass and Henry David Thoreau both are very influential people of their
time, and while they were both for the abolishment of slavery, Douglass and Thoreau had many
different ideas on America and freedom. Frederick Douglass was born in 1818, as a slave and
eventually escaped to become a free man, who eventually educated himself and began to fight
for the abolishment of slavery. Henry David Thoreau was born in 1817, just one year before
Frederick Douglass, was raised in Concord, Massachusetts and attended Harvard College. Once
Thoreau grew up, he became a national voice for reason and an influence for many people after
him, just as Douglass did too with his powerful anti-slavery arguments. Frederick Douglass with
his famous autobiography and speech "What To The Slave Is The Fourth Of July?, and Henry
David Thoreau with his many works but most importantly Resistance to Civil Government,
both show how these men compare in their beliefs on how America should be perceived and
ran. While both Frederick Douglass and Henry David Thoreau disagreed with their government
and how action should be taken, they both believed that extreme change was needed, and they
both had hope for the future of the United States of America.
In On Translating Thoreau: A Conversation With Franois Specq," Randall Conrad the
author interviews Franois Specq who explains the difficulties of translating Thoreau and
Douglass into French and how their writing styles are very important to their overall message. In
the interview when talking about how a new edition compares Thoreau and Douglass, Specq

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says "What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?," spoken by Douglass in 1852, and "Slavery in
Massachusetts," which Thoreau gave was particularly interesting to compare because,
beyond their common abolitionist commitment, they reflect different political convictions and
personal concerns (Conrad). These different convictions and concerns come from the fact that
Douglass and Thoreau both came from such different backgrounds, with Douglass more
concerned over abolishing slavery and Thoreau more concerned over philosophy and
transcendentalism while also still being very disapproving of slavery. Thoreau was much more
focused on how government is a failure and needs to be changed with more pessimism and
disappointment with American government, than Douglass who was mostly optimistic and
believed that the constitution was good.
In the introduction to What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July? by Frederick Douglass,
the author explains how Douglass retained his optimism and his strong belief in the constitution
when the author says that Douglass took the strict line that slavery was never the true intent
of the Founders and argued that, even if popular sentiment currently dictated otherwise, the
inhumane institution of slavery was fundamentally un-American and unpatriotic (45). This
shows how Frederick Douglass had a strong belief in the constitution and how he showed a
strong optimism towards the United States of America. Comparing Thoreau to Douglass, in
"Thoreau's Case for Political Disengagement" by Carl L. Bankston III, the author shows how
Thoreau was more judgmental of his country than Douglass. In Thoreaus Resistance to Civil
Government, Bankston explains that Following his own conscience, Thoreau asserts that the
American government of his time does not merit his support because it is unjust (Bankston 7).

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Thoreau believes this because of the War in Mexico and the fact that America is still a country
that legalizes slavery.
Continuing "Thoreau's Case For Political Disengagement," Bankston shows through
Thoreaus famous civil disobedience speech what Thoreaus belief in government was and how
he felt people should respond to it if they disagreed with their government. Bankston explains
that Thoreaus Civil Disobedience was not a call for political or social action It was a call for
the autonomy of the individual and the disengagement of the individual from civic
entanglements (Bankston 6). Thoreau did not believe in taking strong action against the
government, and believed in a more quiet and reserved lifestyle that was more independent of
the government. Civil Disobedience is not a call to activism or a program for some version of
social justice It is a manifesto of political and social libertarianism. The essay reminds us that
we are not here to build the perfect world, but to live according to conscience (Bankston 13).
Thoreau believed that living your own life that did not depend on the government in almost any
way was the best course of action to take and he felt that trying to change the government by
using the rules it has in place was futile.
Jason P. Matzke explains how Thoreau and Douglass both argue for action or lack of
action in "The John Brown Way: Frederick Douglass and Henry David Thoreau on the Use of
Violence." Matzke explains how Thoreau and Douglass both justify John Browns use of violence
to free slaves. Matzke believes that Douglass argues much better for action and for the
justification of violence than Thoreau did when they both justified John Browns use of violence.
Matzke says, It is this right to defend one's freedom that Douglass uses to defend Brown
(Matzke 72). Douglass believes that freedom must be defended even through violence if

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necessary which shows how he feels action must be taken. Thoreau's rather vague notion of
action from principle seems considerably less helpful in sorting out the issues than does
Douglass's work (Matzke 73). This shows how Matzke believes that Douglass is more of a man
of action than Thoreau who believes certain actions must be taken to create change.
In Douglass famous What To The Slave Is The Fourth Of July?" speech, he laments that
on this day celebrating freedom, there is still slavery in America which shows the hypocrisy of
the holiday and slaves do not experience any joy on this day. The whole speech is made to show
the people their hypocrisy and to show them that they need to change the way their
government is working and abolish slavery. Douglass explains how the slaves see the holiday
when he says it is a day that reveals to him, more than all other days in the year, the gross
injustice and cruelty to which he is the constant victim (49). Yet at the end of the speech,
Douglass shows that he still believes in America when he says the doom of slavery is certain. I,
therefore, leave off where I began, with hope (54). Douglass truly believes that America can
change and he believes that action is the way to create this change.
In Frederick Douglass Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave,
he explains how he escaped from slavery into freedom, and how important it was to know how
to read to gain his freedom. Throughout the narrative, Douglass explains how horrible slavery is
and spares no expense to attack the slaveholders for their hypocritical actions. I took right hold
of the cause. I could do but little; but what I could, I did with a joyful heart, and never felt
happier than when in an anti-slavery meeting (Douglass 1023). This shows how excited
Douglass was to participate and take action to create change in the government. This is most
likely due to the fact that Douglass was not born free, and was not allowed to ever participate in

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changing the government or taking action. Unlike Thoreau who was always free and always had
a voice, Douglass was happy to use his as soon as he got a chance.
In Thoreaus Resistance to Civil Government, he argues why we should not participate
in government because it does not work and that we can create change through passive
disobedience. Thoreau believes that the less government oversight exists, the better society will
be and that society should eventually be able to self-govern themselves. I heartily accept the
motto, that government is best which governs least: and I should like to see it acted up to
more rapidly and systematically (Thoreau 829). Thoreau shows he has some love for America
when he says the Constitution, with all its faults, is very good; the law and the courts are very
respectable; even this State and this American government are, in many respects, very
admirable (843).
Frederick Douglass and Henry David Thoreau both have strong feelings about how
America was conducted in their time, and they both helped to create motivation and inspiration
for others to improve their government. Thoreau believed that the government was a nuisance
and the best government would be the one that was the least involved. Douglass believed that
the government which allowed slavery was hypocritical but he also believed in the constitution
and that slavery was going to die. Thoreau felt that the best action to be taken was a passive
one where the individual lives their own life away from the government and that change was
close to impossible by using the government structures. Douglass believed that change was very
possible and loved to try to take action and rally up supporters because he was an optimistic
man. Whether Thoreau or Douglass is right is hard to decide but it is important to note that
slavery is abolished and Douglass helped to create this change along with many others.

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Works Cited
Bankston, III, Carl L. "Thoreau's Case For Political Disengagement." Modern Age 52.1 (2010): 613. Literary Reference Center. Web. 3 Dec. 2013.

Conrad, Randall. "On Translating Thoreau: A Conversation With Franois Specq." Thoreau
Society Bulletin 257 (2007): 14-15. Literary Reference Center. Web. 3 Dec. 2013.

Douglass, Frederick. Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave.


The Concise Heath Anthology of American Literature. 2nd Edition. Ed. Lauter, Paul.
Boston: Wadsworth Cengage Learning, 2014. 956-1028. Print.

. "What To The Slave Is The Fourth Of July?." Ripples Of Hope: Great American Civil Rights
Speeches (2004): 45-54. Literary Reference Center. Web. 3 Dec. 2013.

Matzke, Jason P. "The John Brown Way: Frederick Douglass And Henry David Thoreau On The
Use Of Violence." Massachusetts Review 46.1 (2005): 62-75. Academic Search Complete.
Web. 2 Dec. 2013.

Thoreau, Henry David. Resistance to Civil Government. The Concise Heath Anthology of
American Literature. 2nd Edition. Ed. Lauter, Paul. Boston: Wadsworth Cengage
Learning, 2014. 829-845. Print.

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