Douglass begins 'What a Black Man Wants' like many of his others, setting the tone by directly adressing the audience. He informs them how greatful he is to be there and at the same time, how nervous he is. Douglass then encourages the people that they need to stay united, "How can we get up any different at this point or any point, where we are so united, so agreed?" and explains why there is a need for the black man to fight for their right to vote. He does an excellent job in his next paragraphs addressing and rebutting the reasons anti-abolitionists give for being against the black man's right to vote. The honesty he portrays by acknowledging that there is another side to the abolitionist story and the way he freely expresses how unqualified and 'inferior' the black man is to them at that point in time, plays on the audience's emotionsand makes Douglass more likable and believeable. As Benjamin Brawley says, "he aroused the respect and admiration if not always the affectionate regard of his hearers." (Brawley 65)
Furthermore, he influences the hearts of Americans by exposing America as a hypocrite, "but here where universal suffrage is the rule, where that is the fundamental idea of the Government, to rule us out is to make us an exception, to brand us with the stigma of inferiority, and to inviteto our heads the missiles of those about us." He also uses biblical scriptures to back up his ideals. Wolfgang Mieder, a writer for the Journal of American Folklore, believes that in the past this has not been emphasized enough, "Scholars have hitherto ignored one major element of that oratorical power, namely his repeated use of biblical and folk proverbs to add authoritative and generational wisdom to his arguments." (Mieder 331) This may be true for his works overall, but for 'What the Black Man Wants' it is not a major element; he quotes one short scripture, "What doth it profit a nation if he gain the whole world but lose its honor?" No other references to the Bible are then made. His real strength in his speech is his ability to persuade the people of the importance of individual freedom. He does this in part by asking many rhetorical questions, "What is freedom? Is it the right to choose one's own employment..." This actively engages the listener by forcing them to think of themselves in similar situations or try to think of an answer to his question. Which invariably leads them to agreeing with him more because they can see he is asking questions in which the only good answer is to give the black men their freedom.
Douglass continues by urging self-reliance, "And if the Negro can't stand on his own teo legs, let him fall also. All I ask is, give him a chance to stand on his own two legs! Let him alone! If you see him on his way to school , let him alone, don't disturb him!" He wanted blacks to be able to simply live on their own without a 'special status'. He wanted them to be truely equal with the white man, " I am not asking for sympathy at the hands of abolitionists, sympathy at the hands of anyone."
Mieder, Wolfgang. "Frederick Dougals's proverbial struggle for civil rights." Journal
of American Folklore. 114 (2001):331.
Brawley, Benjamin. "Frederick Douglass As an Orator." Nineteenth-Century
Literature Criticism. Vol 7.