Nichols 1 Ashley Nichols
Third edition
AMH2010-02 Ms. Tarah Luke 15 March 2012 Analysis of Document 10-1 (essay #6) Pete Wendover’s “Fourth of July Address� commends America for emancipating from Great Britain and broaches on their positive example for other countries experiencing the same bondage and war that they also experienced. In 1806 when Wendover gave this speech it was in celebration to the magnificent and previously impossible changes that had been made in America amongst the citizens and the way the government was controlled. In England, the monarchy focused on subjecting their citizens through bondage and essentially unspoken imposed slavery, but in America, they are beginning to gear their goals towards peace and an overall happiness of the citizens. America had realized that in order to have a truly consolidated country that the citizens played a large and powerful role in the unity they sought as necessary. America realized that this essential happiness of the citizens would irrevocably require free representation and equal rights while surrounding a democratic republicanism. This idea of freedom and emancipation from prior duress became appealing to other countries, such as Europe; America led the emancipation revolution by example and gave hope to those seeking freedom and new form of government that catered directly to the needs and happiness of the citizens.
Nichols 2 America’s step towards freedom and peace also gave France the much needed push for them to stand up for their political civil rights. As a further step, America decided to create the Bill of Rights as a written affirmation of their rights, as opposed to Great Britain and their many unspoken and unfulfilled spoken promises; this allowed for the American citizens to feel equal and satisfied with their deserved liberties, it also gave them a guarantee that they would be treated as promised. Wendover concludes his speech by thanking the soldiers for making a revolution possible and primarily God, to whom they owed all the glory and praise for making emancipation possible. This document is important, because it expresses the trials and glory that America and her citizens went through to get on the path of freedom, peace, and emancipation.
Word count: 338