Compare and Contrast Essay: Patrick Henry vs. Frederick Douglass

Patrick Henry and Frederick Douglass were both clearly very passionate about the topics they spoke about. Patrick Henry tried to convince the members at the Virginia Convention that we should go to war with Britain to gain our liberty, to gain our freedom. Frederick Douglass was speaking mostly to the upper class and people with some sort of influence to convince them that “all men are created equal”, everyone deserves the same rights and freedoms no matter the color of your skin. 76 years is a long time yet the two men spoke regarding verry similar topics, they both believed in freedom.

Patrick Henry had this whole speech about why the colonists should go to war with Britain.  He was tying to convince the people that we are stronger than we are being told to believe we are. And he said things like “there is no peace, the war has already begun”. The only thing people seem to remember from the famous speech is this one line “Give me liberty or give me death!”, Henry knows that there is more to life than being forced to live under the rule of another, he knows that we are meant to have rights and be able to do as we please.

Frederick Douglass spoke regarding slavery as an escaped slave himself. He knew what is was like to have no liberty, and he was trying to explain this to the white men at the time, because they were who led the country, they were the only ones with any influence. Douglass spoke all over the country for years trying to convince the elite that there was something that needed to be fixed. The speech in question was given at Rochester’s Corinthian Hall on July 5th, 1852, throughout the speech Douglass spoke about how horribly African-Americans were treated at the time. Douglass said “This fourth of July is yours not mine”, meaning that he has nothing to celebrate, because the fourth of July is a celebration of being free from British rule, but almost 80 years later not everyone is truly free, he still gets judged, he still can’t do things a white man can do. He will not be truly free until something is done. 

Two different men speaking in two completely different time periods speaking for the exact same thing. Americans were fighting a war having a similar end goal years later with just one difference, they were fighting their families, friends, or even their neighbors, instead of a global super power that they had been stuck under the rule of for years.