Frederick Douglass accuses the portrayal of the independent, just, free, and individualistic American identity as an "inhuman mockery", falsely advertising that not all people residing in America possessed the same freedoms that every American should have. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay Douglass refutes the common belief that when you first set foot on American soil, no matter where you come from, you symbolize a new beginning on the path to a better life. In Letters from an American Farmer, author Michel Guillaume Jean De Crevecoeur highlights the fact that America is a huge melting pot and that no matter where you come from, once you set foot in this country you will be American and receive every freedom that comes with from that title. “The laws, the lenient laws, protect them when they arrive, stamping upon them the symbol of adoption…those lands confer upon them the title of free men, and to that title is affixed every benefit which men can possibly claim. " (Crèvecoeur 3). According to Crevecoeur, every man is granted the right to be a free man, and that title includes every freedom a man could want and need. Frederick Douglass strongly disagrees with this statement, as shown in his "What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?" speech he gave to a group of abolitionists on Independence Day in 1852. Douglass begins the speech in a positive way, with a very calm and humble tone, and talking about the fact that because America was such a young nation, it had great hopes that the abolition of slavery would occur be achieved in the future. Then, about halfway through the speech (our abridged copy) Douglass takes a much more aggressive and direct stance on what he thinks about slavery in the United States and how a slave takes his first steps on American soil compared to someone of European descent . “The Fourth of July is yours, not mine. You might rejoice. I have to cry. To drag a man in chains into the great illuminated temple of freedom, and invite him to join you in joyful hymns, would be an inhuman mockery and sacrilegious irony. (Douglass 5). Douglass places emphasis on all of his pronouns regarding slaves and the white man to show how all the freedoms and liberties that should come with being an American are only afforded to a certain category of the population. He also calls it an abomination to bring people to this great land of “freedom” in chains and then expect them to agree that America is indeed the land of the free, which is so openly touted as the basis of identity American. . Another important part of the American identity is the ability to work hard for economic success. Throughout his article Crevecoeur consistently reiterates the fact that being American means having the ability to work hard to gain monetary rewards and work your way up the social ladder. “They receive ample rewards for their labors; these accumulated rewards provide them with lands;” (Crèvecoeur 3). All citizens earned fair wages for their work, and the new rewards would give them a chance to demonstrate their wealth. Douglass proved this statement to be false by using slavery as the perfect example of why it was not true. “What, I must maintain that it is wrong to make men brutes, to deprive them of their liberty, to make them work without wages, to keep them ignorant of their relations with their fellow men” (Douglass 6). Douglass uses the American freedom of being able to earn money for one's hard work to demonstrate once again.