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In “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?”, Douglass uses the metaphor of a ship’s journey to explore America’s history. He first uses the metaphor when recounting the Founding Fathers’ struggle against the British government, in which they had to brace their metaphorical ship against the “chilling blasts of kingly displeasure.” As Douglass continues to describe the Revolutionary War and the successful liberation of America, he tells the present-day audience that the ideals represented by the Fourth of July are the first “ring-bolt” in the metaphorical ship’s chain of American history. Douglass urges the audience to hold tight to this chain in order to make it through the storm—namely slavery—that is coming to threaten America. In this way, Douglass uses the image of a ship and specifically a ship’s chain to connect America’s past and present, depicting America’s chronology as a treacherous journey that is not yet finished and carries many perils.
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Ships Symbol Timeline in What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?
The timeline below shows where the symbol Ships appears in What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Introduction
...and intensified the force of their resolve, which Douglass illustrates using the metaphor of a ship persevering through a powerful storm. Although many people in British government agreed that the American...
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...from this independence, and that the Fourth of July is “the very ring-bolt in the chain of your yet undeveloped destiny.”
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...cost, as its principles will allow them to endure the coming storm, which threatens their “ship of state.” He warns that if the bolt is broken, all of America will be...
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