Name:
Date:
from “What to the Slave Is the
Fourth of July?”
Frederick Douglass
Comprehension
Identify the choice that best answers the question.
FIRST READ:
1.
In his Fourth of July speech, why does Douglass say to his audience that “The
Fourth of July is yours, not mine”?
He believes that, too often, African Americans such as himself are
excluded from celebrations of public holidays.
b. He believes that enslaved persons should not celebrate the Fourth until
they have earned their freedom.
c. He and others like him do not believe in some of the key values
represented by the holiday.
d. He contends that the liberty affirmed by the holiday has been denied to
African Americans such as himself.
a.
2.
In his Fourth of July speech, Douglass says that “above your national,
tumultuous joy, I hear the wail of millions.” To what is he referring?
the angry protest of African Americans against slavery
b. the extensive sufferings of enslaved African Americans
c. the anger of slaveholders opposed to slaves’ freedom
d. the outrage of Northerners opposed to slavery
a.
3.
Which of the following best summarizes Douglass’s judgment of the “conduct
of this nation” in his Fourth of July speech?
By engaging in slavery, the United States commits a crime, revealing the
evil principles on which it was founded.
b. By engaging in slavery, the United States disgraces itself, violating the
principles of independence it celebrates.
c. By celebrating liberty, the United States offers hope, showing that it will
free the slaves despite its mistreatment of them.
d. By celebrating liberty, the United States redeems itself, showing that
despite slavery, it still has good intentions.
a.
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1
GRADE 11 • UNIT 3 • SELECTION TEST
“WHAT TO THE SLAVE IS THE FOURTH OF JULY?” BY FREDERICK DOUGLASS
Name:
Date:
Concept Vocabulary
Identify the choice that best answers the question.
FIRST READ:
4.
A synonym is a word that means nearly the same as another word. Which of the
following words are synonyms of stolid? Choose three options.
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
f.
g.
5.
unemotional
unfriendly
expressionless
unexcitable
frightened
unpleasant
narrow-minded
In which of the following situations has a person most clearly conceded
something? Choose based on your knowledge of the meaning of conceded.
Tomas told the team that he was taking a break from practice.
b. Sid finally accepted the truth and logic of Sara’s argument.
c. Mikela let Miguel go ahead of her in line at the cafeteria.
d. Ramon and Taylor agreed to a debate on a controversial topic.
a.
6.
If there is a disparity between Mia’s grades this year and her grades last year,
which of the following must be true?
Mia’s grades this year are the same as they were last year.
b. Mia’s grades this year are worse than they were last year.
c. Mia’s grades this year are better than they were last year.
d. Mia’s grades this year are different than they were last year.
a.
7.
Which of the following is the best definition of denounce?
punish severely
criticize harshly
c. announce loudly
d. reason clearly
a.
b.
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2
GRADE 11 • UNIT 3 • SELECTION TEST
“WHAT TO THE SLAVE IS THE FOURTH OF JULY?” BY FREDERICK DOUGLASS
Name:
Date:
Analyze the Text
Identify the choice that best answers the question.
CLOSE READ:
8.
The following question has two parts. Answer Part A first, and then Part B.
Part A In his Fourth of July speech, Douglass asks, “Must I undertake to prove
that the slave is a man?” Why does he reject the idea that he must give this
proof?
He believes that if anyone should prove or disprove this claim, it is the
slaveholders.
b. He believes that the nation refuses to see the contradictions between its
ideals and the practice of slavery.
c. He believes that the rights of enslaved people are clearly supported by the
Bible and the Constitution.
d. He believes that even those who support slavery already admit that slaves
are people.
a.
Part B In which quotation from the speech does Douglass offer evidence to
support his point in Part A?
To drag a man in fetters into the grand illuminated temple of liberty, and
call upon him to join you in joyous anthems, were inhuman mockery and
sacrilegious irony.
b. … I will, in the name of the constitution and the Bible which are
disregarded and trampled upon, dare to call in question and to denounce
… everything that serves to perpetuate slavery.…
c. The manhood of the slave is conceded. It is admitted in the fact that
Southern statute books are covered with enactments forbidding … the
teaching of the slave to read or to write.
d. … [A]m I to argue that it is wrong to make men brutes, to rob them of
their liberty, to work them without wages, to keep them ignorant of their
relations to their fellow men … ?
a.
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3
GRADE 11 • UNIT 3 • SELECTION TEST
“WHAT TO THE SLAVE IS THE FOURTH OF JULY?” BY FREDERICK DOUGLASS
Name:
Date:
9.
The following question has two parts. Answer Part A first, and then Part B.
Part A In his Fourth of July speech, Douglass imagines someone in the
audience who believes he should “argue” and “persuade” more and criticize
less in order to serve his cause more effectively. Which answer choice best
summarizes Douglass’s response to this individual?
He adjusts his language and his argument and decides to speak more
persuasively.
b. He claims that the reasons to oppose slavery are so obvious that no
argument is needed.
c. He states that slaveholders are too stubborn to be persuaded by his
arguments.
d. He claims that the Declaration of Independence and the Bible present the
best arguments against slavery.
a.
Part B Which passage from the speech best supports the answer to Part A?
… and yet not one word shall escape me that any man … who is not at
heart a slaveholder, shall not confess to be right and just.
b. To drag a man in fetters into the grand illuminated temple of liberty …
were inhuman mockery.…
c. But, I submit, where all is plain, there is nothing to be argued.
d. … I will, in the name of the constitution and the Bible … dare to call in
question and to denounce … everything that serves to perpetuate slavery.
…
a.
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4
GRADE 11 • UNIT 3 • SELECTION TEST
“WHAT TO THE SLAVE IS THE FOURTH OF JULY?” BY FREDERICK DOUGLASS
Name:
10.
Date:
The following question has two parts. Answer Part A first, and then Part B.
Part A Read the following quotation from Douglass’s Fourth of July speech.
There is not a nation on the earth guilty of practices more shocking and bloody than
are the people of these United States, at this very hour. …
[However,] I do not despair … “The arm of the Lord is not shortened,” and the doom
of slavery is certain. I, therefore, leave off where I began, with hope. While drawing
encouragement from “the Declaration of Independence,” the great principles it
contains, and the genius of American Institutions, my spirit is also cheered by the
obvious tendencies of the age.
Which answer choice best summarizes the view of the future expressed in the
quotation?
Slavery will end because slaveholders cannot afford to fight their
opponents.
b. Slavery will end because slaveholders will be punished due to their
violations of religious principles.
c. Slavery will eventually come to an end due to public awareness of its
gruesome practices.
d. Slavery will eventually come to an end due to the nation’s principles and
the antislavery movement.
a.
Part B Which section of the passage best supports the answer to Part A?
[D]rawing encouragement from “the Declaration of Independence,” …
[and] American Institutions, my spirit is also cheered by the obvious
tendencies of the age.
b. There is not a nation on the earth guilty of practices more shocking and
bloody than are the people of these United States, at this very hour. …
[However,] I do not despair ….
c. “The arm of the Lord is not shortened,” and the doom of slavery is certain.
d. I, therefore, leave off where I began, with hope.
a.
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5
GRADE 11 • UNIT 3 • SELECTION TEST
“WHAT TO THE SLAVE IS THE FOURTH OF JULY?” BY FREDERICK DOUGLASS
Name:
Date:
Analyze Craft and Structure
Identify the choice that best answers the question.
CLOSE READ:
11.
The following question has two parts. Answer Part A first, and then Part B.
Part A Which of the following is a main or central claim that Douglass argues
in his Fourth of July speech?
Slavery is an evil that causes great suffering.
b. Slavery is an evil that causes him to become outraged.
c. Slavery is an evil that goes against American values.
d. Slavery is an evil that is doomed to end in the near future.
a.
Part B In which quotation from the speech does Douglass most clearly present
the claim identified in Part A?
I am not included within the pale of glorious anniversary! Your high
independence only reveals the immeasurable distance between us.
b. Fellow-citizens, above your national, tumultuous joy, I hear the mournful
wail of millions! whose chains, heavy and grievous yesterday, are, today,
rendered more intolerable by the jubilee shouts that reach them.
c. … I will, … in the name of liberty which is fettered, in the name of the
constitution and the Bible which are disregarded and trampled upon, dare
to call in question and to denounce … everything that serves to perpetuate
slavery.…
d. … I would, to-day, pour out a fiery stream of biting ridicule, blasting
reproach, withering sarcasm, and stern rebuke.
a.
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6
GRADE 11 • UNIT 3 • SELECTION TEST
“WHAT TO THE SLAVE IS THE FOURTH OF JULY?” BY FREDERICK DOUGLASS
Name:
12.
Date:
The following question has two parts. Answer Part A first, and then Part B.
Part A What is the main way in which Douglass supports his argument in his
Fourth of July speech?
He lists various arguments made in defense of slavery, showing each to be
without merit, even ridiculous.
b. He offers conclusive proof that enslaved persons are legally entitled to
equal rights, based on the Declaration of Independence.
c. He shows that enslaved persons feel excluded on the Fourth of July,
despite a natural desire to belong.
d. He provides detailed evidence of the suffering that enslaved persons
endure under slavery, despite their rights.
a.
Part B In what way does the strategy identified in Part A help Douglass to
effectively achieve his purpose?
He helps listeners understand the realities of slavery, focusing on its
brutality and evil, so that they will adopt his point of view.
b. He helps listeners consider the claims of enslaved persons to equal rights,
evaluating the strength of the claim, so that they will take action.
c. He elicits sympathy for enslaved persons from listeners, ensuring that their
reaction will lead them to take action.
d. He helps listeners see the contradiction in thinking of enslaved persons as
property, leading listeners to adopt his point of view.
a.
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7
GRADE 11 • UNIT 3 • SELECTION TEST
“WHAT TO THE SLAVE IS THE FOURTH OF JULY?” BY FREDERICK DOUGLASS
Name:
Date:
13.
In which of the following quotations from Douglass’s Fourth of July speech
does Douglass offer evidence to support his claim that enslaved persons are
human beings, not brutes?
To drag a man in fetters into the grand illuminated temple of liberty, and
call upon him to join you in joyous anthems, were inhuman mockery
and sacrilegious irony.
b. Is it not astonishing that, while we are ploughing, planting, and reaping,
using all kinds of mechanical tools, erecting houses, constructing
bridges … and looking hopefully for life and immortality beyond the
grave, we are called upon to prove that we are men!
c. What, am I to argue that it is wrong to make men brutes, to rob them of
their liberty, to work them without wages, to keep them ignorant of their
relations to their fellow men, … to starve them into obedience and
submission to their masters?
d. To [the slave], your celebration [of the Fourth of July] is a sham; your
boasted liberty, an unholy license; your national greatness, swelling
vanity; your sounds of rejoicing are empty and heartless; … your shouts
of liberty and equality, hollow mockery.…
a.
14.
The following question has two parts. Answer Part A first, and then Part B.
Part A Which of the following is a counterclaim addressed by Douglass in his
Fourth of July speech?
The Fourth of July “belongs to” the free.
b. Slavery is clearly an inexcusable practice.
c. Slavery was established by religious law.
d. The Fourth of July is a holiday doomed to end.
a.
Part B Which quotation from the speech gives Douglass’s response to the
counterclaim identified in Part A?
I am not included within the pale of glorious anniversary! Your high
independence only reveals the immeasurable distance between us.
b. That which is inhuman, cannot be divine! Who can reason on such a
proposition? They that can, may; I cannot. The time for such argument is
passed.
c. There is not a nation on the earth guilty of practices more shocking and
bloody than are the people of these United States, at this very hour.
d. There are forces in operation which must inevitably work the downfall of
slavery. “The arm of the Lord is not shortened,” and the doom of slavery is
certain.
a.
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8