Great Leaders – Nnamdi Azikiwe And Patrick Henry Essay, Research Paper

Both Nnamdi Azikiwe and Patrick Henry though they lived more than two hundred years apart from each other, were leaders of their own time. They both lived through unbearable, and inhumane conditions. Nnamdi Azikiwe through slavery in Nigeria, and Patrick Henry through the unbearable things that Great Britain had placed upon the colonists.

The conditions in both of their times might have been similar, but certainly not equal. The Africans were under much worse conditions than the colonists. They had to deal with the segregation of all the people around them. Separate benches, and even different restrooms for the Nigerians and the white men. The ex-servicemen didn?t get the same privileged that the white men did. They were denied many things. Political freedom, economic security and social emancipation. They had to give up all that was theirs so that others could rule over them. The Nigerians were denied their basic human right that all people get. They were treated as if they of another kind like an animal or beast. Slavery was one of the worst things that the Nigerians had to live through. Working for others, and barely earning what would be just enough for their families, if they even got that, because some didn?t get any money if they were stolen, so that other Nigerians could get money. They were sold, traded and tossed around as if they were not people. They were forced to live under humiliating conditions. The conditions were unbearable to what the average person in America might be able to handle in this day and age. The Nigerians were torn from one of the most basic rights that we have here in America today. The right to freedom, and the pursuit of happiness. Through these conditions it is unnatural to live life, so that is why they needed their freedom.

The Americans were treated in a similar way. They were forced to live under laws that today would seem to be the craziest ideas, and they seems like they could never actually happen to anybody, but they did a very long time ago. They were taxed major amounts. They paid taxes on almost every item. There was only tax on the items that they purchased from Great Britain, However they got all their items from Great Britain because there was no other place that they could get these items, so they paid taxes on everything. They could get their supplies no other way. They had several different acts that placed taxes on items. To name a few there was the stamp act which placed a tax on every item that was exported or imported (both ways) that needed a stamp, the tea act that placed tax on teas and the sugar act which placed a tax on sugars, and molasses, and some other items. They paid so much tax that it almost drove them to starvation. They had less money to spend on their families needs because of all the taxes they owed to Great Britain. They were forced to shelter soldier whenever they came. They had to provide the soldiers with all their needs, such as food and shelter for their animals. These people did not have the money to do these things, but they were forced to. If they did not do as the soldiers told them they had to suffer the punishments from their mother country Great Britain.

In these two places so very far apart you see a connection. A connection that was through their many hardships. In Patrick Henry?s speech he states that the colonists duty was to Great Britain, and that the colonists had no intentions on not being Englishmen until after all of the mistreatments that took place. Similarly, In Nnamdi Azikiwe?s speech he makes a small point of how the Nigerians opinion of the people from Great Britain changed through time as slavery, and all the other bad treatments from them took place.

Another thing that is similar in the speeches by both of the men is When Patrick Henry states that the Nigerian people are not weak and they have power. Where as in Nnamdi Azikiwe?s speech states the rights that the people of Nigeria should have. When he states this he gives the impression on the reader that the people of Nigeria are not stupid and they know what is going on around them even if it is not happening in their country. He shows the reader that the people of Nigeria are not as naive as the people of Great Britain believe that they are. Patrick Henry also says in his speech that he considered his speech to be a question of freedom or slavery, likewise Nnamdi Azikiwe states that only those who accept slavery as their destiny would continue to live under such humiliating conditions without asserting their right to live their lives and pursue their happiness. When he states this it creates the image that his speech was a question of freedom or slavery as well.

In Patrick Henry?s speech he basically says to the people to take of their blinders and see that the colonists last ten years have been unbearable. In comparison, Nnamdi Azikiwe also states that they are living through the unbearable and the humiliating. Both of the men are basically using the same words to describe what is happening to them and their people.

Another major similarity between these speeches is the fact that they are both fighting for what they believe in, and are just asking for their freedom. They both state why freedom is important to them and their people. The one thing that sticks out in these two speeches is that both of them are going through this because of Great Britain, and that they want the same things for their people just a better life for them to live, so they can be equal, and see each other as different because one is white, and the other is of another ethnicity.

In conclusion, there are a lot of similarities between these two very separate speeches that are written in two separate times that are almost two centuries apart. It just goes to show that back in those days the most important thing to the people was their freedom, and how their people were treated. They all wanted freedom so they could live their lives without prosecutions for not following the rules, or following what they believe in. They just wanted to follow their hearts and wherever they took them they knew it was the right thing. These two men were courageous and cared for the people around them, and only wanted to be free. They wanted what was best for their people and their country, so that they could live without fear and be the people that they wanted to be in their countries.