Analysis+of+Fighting+Rebels+with+Only+One+Hand

Lu pg.1 Adv. English 11 Mrs. Stack 16 December 2009

**Fighting Rebels with Only One Hand** Frederick Douglass was a man of wisdom and he has written many great speeches. This speech, Fighting Rebels with Only One Hand, is about the Civil War. Frederick was an ex-slave and ran away from the Confederacy to find freedom in the Union. Washington is on the verge of being captured, and Douglass fears that the Union may fall. Without the Union, he would be forced to return to slavery. Therefore, he must try to do everything he can to help the Union army. Douglass speaks upon the government saying “Men! men! send us men"( Douglass). He also notes that the army could use any man, no matter what status they are in; “Every resource of the nation, whether of men or money, whether of wisdom or strength, could be well employed to avert the impending ruin” (Douglass). Frederick’s goal for this speech is to convince the Union government to allow black men to fight for the freedom of their race. Douglass is going through a rough time in life. Racism is strong in America, and black men are still looked down upon, even by the Union government. Black men of America are in a state of oppression because of the war on slavery. Although the Union is fighting for the freedom of slaves, they still don’t let them fight in their army. Frederick uses many examples to illustrate the reason why black men can fight such as General Jackson fighting in combat side by side African Americans. Black soldiers could fight just as well as the any other soldier. But the Union has not seen any use for them.

Lu pg.2 The constant threat of the Union falling apart is on all the northerner’s minds. Many of the Union states are calling for men, yet none of them have summoned any black man to fight. It is quite ironic that the Union is fighting for the African Americans, but not letting them fight for what they want too. Every man would gladly fight for their freedom, so why not let the black man fight then? There is no logical explanation to why black men can’t fight in the war. On the other hand, there are numerous reasons to why they should be allowed into the Union Army. Having more soldiers would increase their rate of success in the Civil War. Even the Rebels, the very ones that want to suppress the abolition of slavery, use Africans to fight in the war. A military officer in the Rebel army would happily accept the help of an African American, but the northerners still don’t see the potential of including black men in their army; “… a man drowning would not refuse to be saved even by a colored hand”.(Douglass) The African American community doesn’t want the Union to fall into insurrection. If that were to happen, the Rebels would take over and force the African Americans back to slavery. The abolition of slavery is the sole intent of every black person. First it was our country’s freedom that we fought for, now it’s the freedom of the black race. America wouldn’t have obtained its freedom with the help of other countries. The government should know that they could easily receive help from allowing black soldiers into the army. But yet they are still oblivious to it all. The urge to fight against the Rebels is building inside of every black man. They are tired of the government’s supremacy, and just want to demolish slavery. Some black Lu pg.3 men already fight in regiments across the Union under the nose of the government. Clearly, that is still not enough help because Washington is under siege. There would be an instant and enormous flood of black men joining the Union forces if the government just allowed them to do so. Douglass is mocking the government when he says “Why does the Government reject the Negro? Is he not a man? Can he not wield a sword, fire a gun, march and countermarch, and obey orders like any other?” (Douglass) It’s almost as if the African American community wants to redeem themselves as a free man. They want to earn their freedom, not watch someone else do it for them. This is a revolution for their race, and they want to be apart of it. Frederick’s quote “Men in earnest don't fight with one hand, when they might fight with two…” (Douglass) is a metaphor for the government using the extra hand that black soldiers could lend. A position as a soldier should be filled by any capable man, not just white people. The Union is just acting ignorant when just allowing whites to join the army. The Declaration of Independence states that all men are created equal. If this is true, then why are black men not allowed to fight their war? The main point of Frederick Douglass’ speech is to emphasize the strength that that the Union would receive for letting black men fight the Civil War. There was nothing more that a black man would want during these times. African Americans wanted the Union to win more than anyone else because their hopes and dreams rely on it.

Source: Frederick, Douglass. "Fighting Rebels with Only One Hand." //www.frederickdouglass.org//. September 1861. Fremarjo Enterprises, Inc, Web. 18 Dec 2009. .