Douglass message about America struggling to live up to the lofty goals it set for itself at the founding continues to be relevant, says Blight. So while the U.S. tends to go all out celebrating freedom on the Fourth of July, alternate independence commemorations held a day later often draw attention to a different side of that story, with readings of the Frederick Douglass speech best known today as What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?. Although it has also facilitated the spread of hateful ideas and untruths, I suspect Douglass, who understood perhaps better than anyone in the 19th century the power of images, would have reveled in our ability to capture and convey video of events. Th oppressd shall vilely bend the knee, I recall seeing a group of young blonde-haired children standing at the wall overlooking the reading as a group of late adolescents and young men sat on the adjacent steps on a lunch break from their work with YouthBuild. Of Douglass's many speeches, "What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?" was perhaps one of the most well-known. What is Frederick Douglass's overall claim in The Narrative of the Life Douglass presented this speech to an antislavery societyan audience that was already on his side. What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July? See answers Advertisement bhawsarsakshi4 There are seventy-two crimes in the State of Virginia which, if committed by a black man (no matter how ignorant he be), subject him to the punishment of death; while only two of the same crimes will subject a white man to the like punishment. He would use the Fourth of July for its irony over and over and over, just like the Declaration of Independence is used to remind the country of its potential and promise, and to him, race was always the measure of that, he says. While I do not intend to argue this question on the present occasion, let me ask, if it be not somewhat singular that, if the Constitution were intended to be, by its framers and adopters, a slave-holding instrument, why neither slavery, slaveholding, nor slave can anywhere be found in it. Douglasss searing ability to cut through the rhetoric of freedom and democracy lives on in works like these that reveal the enduring cruelty of the exemption as it continues to haunt our flawed legal and punishment systems. I attended in 2008 and was deeply moved by the experience. He had it printed immediately after delivering it and then went out on the road and sold it for 50 cents a copy or $6 for a hundred. Politics latest updates: NHS 'on the brink' says nursing union; 10% God speed the day when human blood The purpose of Douglass' message was to inform abolitions of the inhumane treatment of slaves and to continue making progress in freeing slaves. SOURCE FORMAT: Public speech (excerpt) WORD COUNT: 1,660 words Excerpt from Frederick Douglass's "Fifth of July" Speech (1852). The rich inheritance of justice, liberty, prosperity and independence, bequeathed by your fathers, is shared by you, not by me. The Boston communal reading of What to the Slave is the Fourth of July? will take place on Tuesday, July 2 at noon on the Boston Common at the State House, Shaw-MA 54th Memorial. But, I submit, where all is plain there is nothing to be argued. During the Civil War he worked tirelessly for the emancipation ofenslaved African Americans and duringthe decades followingthe war, he was arguably the most influential African American leader in the nation. Frederick Douglass, Fifth of July speech (1852) I doubt even Douglass could have anticipated the technology we have or its uses. Must I undertake to prove that the slave is a man? Can you tell me about the origins of the Reading Frederick Douglas Together project? 4 Pages. For the present, it is enough to affirm the equal manhood of the Negro race. I will not. The audience of Douglass' message were abolitionists, who were white people from the north who did not own slaves and wanted to abolish slavery. Were the nation older, the patriots heart might be sadder, and the reformers brow heavier. Formerly . At the same time, we need to be studying the history of slavery and racism in this country so we can build policies, practices, and procedures that address the present problems with those historical inequities in mind. Why do you think he does so? It does not often happen to a nation to raise, at one time, such a number of truly great men. What point in the anti-slavery creed would you have me argue? Indeed, in one of the most timeless passages in the speech, Douglass insists that the character and conduct of this nation never looked blacker to me than on this 4th of July, adding as if speaking today, Whether we turn to the declarations of the past, or to the professions of the present, the conduct of the nation seems equally hideous and revolting. Its future might be shrouded in gloom, and the hope of its prophets go out in sorrow. Based on what I know of his writings, however, I think he would have very mixed feelings about the progress we have made. Last year, Singapore's GDP grew 3.6%. On what branch of the subject do the people of this country need light? Each foe. You may rejoice, I must mourn. The purpose of the event was to celebrate America's signing of the Declaration of Independence, 76 years before. Wells, which was incorporated into the preface of her 1892 pamphlet Southern Horrors: Lynch Law in All Its Phases.. Is slavery among them? He implored the Rochester, N.Y., audience to think about the ongoing oppression of Black Americans during a holiday celebrating freedom. I am not that man. In the orations most famous passages, Douglass discussed what it felt like to see such festivities and to know independence was not a given for people like him: What have I, or those I represent, to do with your national independence? The spoiler of his prey deprive They are not part of the original. We would be well advised to ponder Douglasss speech as we frame this conversation. There is not a nation on the earth guilty of practices, more shocking and bloody, than are the people of these United States, at this very hour. For decades, slaves fled the South . Must I argue that a system thus marked with blood, and stained with pollution, is wrong? Until that year, day, hour, arrive, They were statesmen, patriots and heroes, and for the good they did, and the principles they contended for, I will unite with you to honor their memory. This is the greatest anti-slavery speech uttered by an American "The arm of the Lord is not shortened," and the doom of slavery is certain. They were great in their day and generation. In Douglass' speech, his tone mainly appeals to emotions. With them, nothing was settled that was not right. [Under the Act] it became illegal not to arrest and return runaway slaves. These rules are well established. To him, your celebration is a sham; your boasted liberty, an unholy license; your national greatness, swelling vanity; your sounds of rejoicing are empty and heartless; your denunciation of tyrants, brass fronted impudence; your shouts of liberty and equality, hollow mockery; your prayers and hymns, your sermons and thanksgivings, with all your religious parade and solemnity, are, to Him, mere bombast, fraud, deception, impiety, and hypocrisya thin veil to cover up crimes which would disgrace a nation of savages. AN summary of Themes in Frederick Douglass's Narrative of the Lived of Frederick Douglass. He follows this observation by closing with words from William Lloyd Garrison, suggesting the new reach of the great abolitionist across the ocean as part of a global abolition movement. ROY:One of the things that Douglass writings shows us is that he believed in amplifying a variety of voices. I shall see this day and its popular characteristics from the slave's point of view. In some ways, the first part of the speech is a traditional patriotic speech. And never from my chosen post, Before you read the speech you can follow these links to learn more about Douglasss life and the evolution of his thought in this period. What, to the American slave, is your 4th of July? He who will, intelligently, lay down his life for his country, is a man whom it is not in human nature to despise. For more information on this event visit CharlesHamiltonHouston.org. They showed forbearance; but that they knew its limits. Do you think Douglass would be surprised to learn that Americans are reciting his words nearly 170 years later? Frederick Douglass "What to the Slave" - Lesson Plan | Learning to To what other elements in the American political tradition does he appeal? In their admiration of liberty, they lost sight of all other interests. The feeling of the nation must be quickened; the conscience of the nation must be roused; the propriety of the nation must be startled; the hypocrisy of the nation must be exposed; and its crimes against God and man must be proclaimed and denounced. Restore. The rich inheritance of justice, liberty, prosperity and independence, bequeathed by your fathers, is shared by you, not by me. At some future period I will gladly avail myself of an opportunity to give this subject a full and fair discussion. what is the main message of douglass's speech? When none on earth He took action to raise the voices of others and to aid their work on the national stage, especially that of two Black women in the last half of the 19th century. Frederick Douglass' Fourth of July speech, then and now: A Q&A with What is the main message of Douglass's speech? This year is pretty challenging in the wake of COVID-19, and the event is going to be held online instead of before a live audience like we did last year. I say it with a sad sense of the disparity between us. He further says, the Constitution, in its words, is plain and intelligible, and is meant for the home-bred, unsophisticated understandings of our fellow-citizens. Thoughts expressed on one side of the Atlantic are, distinctly heard on the other. I am also hosting a summer reading and discussion series called Race, Fragility, and Anti-Racism through the Somerville Museum and the City on a Hill network of local churches. Understanding contradictions such as this is critical for honest conversation. I, therefore, leave off where I began, with hope. Within twenty years Douglass was the one of the most famous men in the United Statesauthor of two widely read memoirs and an orator who commanded among the highest speaking fees in the nation. The message of Frederick Douglasss 1852 speech on the contradiction of Americas just ideals and unjust realities endures. Africa must rise and put on her yet unwoven garment. I say it with a sad sense of the disparity between us. You may rejoice, I must mourn. From what point of view does he look at it? On the Fourth of July, 1852, America celebrated its freedom, as it does every Independence Day. had I the ability, and could reach the nation's ear, I would, to-day, pour out a fiery stream of biting ridicule, blasting reproach, withering sarcasm, and stern rebuke. Is it at the gateway? You may rejoice, I must mourn. What would be thought of an instrument, drawn up, legally drawn up, for the purpose of entitling the city of Rochester to a track of land, in which no mention of land was made? Rhetorical Analysis Of Frederick Douglass Speech It does not often happen to a nation to raise, at one time, such a number of truly great men. In short, it gave the federal government an active role in maintaining the Souths system of slavery. In the early 1850s, tensions over slavery were high across the county. Ex-Vice-President Dallas tells us that the constitution is an object to which no American mind can be too attentive, and no American heart too devoted. In Douglass's case, he was in a room with people who supported the ending of slavery. If I do forget, if I do not faithfully remember those bleeding children of sorrow this day, "may my right hand forget her cunning, and may my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth!" It fetters your progress; it is the enemy of improvement, the deadly foe of education; it fosters pride; it breeds insolence; it promotes vice; it shelters crime; it is a curse to the earth that supports it; and yet, you cling to it, as if it were the sheet anchor of all your hopes. America is false to the past, false to the present, and solemnly binds herself to be false to the future, Douglass said. Standing with God and the crushed and bleeding slave on this occasion, I will, in the name of humanity which is outraged, in the name of liberty which is fettered, in the name of the constitution and the Bible which are disregarded and trampled upon, dare to call in question and to denounce, with all the emphasis I can command, everything that serves to perpetuate slavery the great sin and shame of America! Do you mean, citizens, to mock me, by asking me to speak to-day? Yale historian David Blight analyzes Douglass's speech and discusses its historical context in an episode ofthe podcastBackStory with the American History Guys (scroll down to the episode "What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?"). Go forth. Long established customs of hurtful character could formerly fence themselves in, and do their evil work with social impunity. Hard-hit sectors are recovering rapidly - tourism and hospitality establishments are back in business. The freedom gained is yours; and you, therefore, may properly celebrate this anniversary. Interview was lightly edited for clarity and length. American abolitionist Frederick Douglass, circa 1855. I am not included within the pale of glorious anniversary! With them, justice, liberty and humanity were final; not slavery and oppression. His speeches continued to agitate for racial equality and women's rights. Open Document. Douglass repeatedly uses the pronouns you and your (rather than our and ours) throughout this section. Many historians consider this effort to be Douglass's finest oration, and arguably one of the most powerful American political speeches ever written. "[L]et me ask, if it be not somewhat singular that, if the Constitution were intended to be, by its framers and adopters, a slave-holding instrument, why neither slavery, slaveholding, nor slave can anywhere be found in it.". But its quite another to change the way you see yourself and to grow into a person deeply committed to long-term interracial coalition building. I repeat, I am glad this is so. How should I look to-day, in the presence of Americans, dividing, and subdividing a discourse, to show that men have a natural right to freedom? My subject, then fellow citizens, says Douglass, is American slavery. He brings that subject to life in vivid and sometimes horrifying terms, Standing, as he says, with God and the crushed and bleeding slave on this occasion. The effect is undeniable and its implications inescapable: the contradiction between the celebration and the bondage it masks demands action. There is not a nation on the earth guilty of practices more shocking and bloody than are the people of the United States, at this very hour. Alison Drasner, the project coordinator for the Somerville Museum, teamed up with Dave Ortega at the Somerville Media Center to prerecord voices of 50 Somerville residents, including my 7-year-old daughter, Charlotte, to read sections of the speech. It is the birthday of your National Independence, and of your political freedom. Throughout this speech, as well as his life, Douglass advocated equal justice and rights, as well as citizenship, for blacks. speech was delivered on July 5, 1852 as an address to the Rochester Ladies' Anti-Slavery Society in Rochester, New York. Frederick Douglass's, "What To the Slave Is the Fourth of July?" 'Don't get in our way,' Harris urges in speech at Howard University What was the main point of Frederick Douglass speech? Well, we have all come to understand that while on its face this amendment appeared to outlaw forever slavery and involuntary servitude, its exception for those serving a punishment for crime left open the door for what Douglas Blackmon has called Slavery by Another Name and Ana DuVernays so painfully rendered film, 13th, revealed as continued oppression in the 21st century. Who so stolid and selfish, that would not give his voice to swell the hallelujahs of a nations jubilee, when the chains of servitude had been torn from his limbs? Must I argue that a system thus marked with blood, and stained with pollution, is wrong? I answer: a day that reveals to him, more than all other days in the year, the gross injustice and cruelty to which he is the constant victim. They loved their country better than their own private interests; and, though this is not the highest form of human excellence, all will concede that it is a rare virtue, and that when it is exhibited, it ought to command respect. On July 4th, 1852, he gave a speech to citizens of the United States. The charter of our liberties, which every citizen has a personal interest in understanding thoroughly. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our, Digital There should be no shoulder that does not bear the burden of the government. He had a prophetic vision for the future that he was always trying to work toward. David Harris: Douglass was known for his oratory and this speech is no exception. Many of you understand them better than I do. Frederick Douglass' Fifth of July Speech Asks 'What to the Slave is the 2023 TIME USA, LLC. My business, if I have any here today, is with the present. There is not a nation on the earth guilty of practices more shocking and bloody than are the people of the United States, at this very hour. The people who came to America were surprised by its history. Allow me to say, in conclusion, notwithstanding the dark picture I have this day presented of the state of the nation, I do not despair of this country. Tucker Carlson's vulgar language in texts contributed to Fox News It were considered radical, extreme, and risky. Were not only going to be reading books like White Fragility, and Divided by Faith, but were also going to read and watch a number of speeches by Martin Luther King Jr., and documentaries like 13th and King in the Wilderness, as we try to get at the root of racial division so we can come together to remove it. The 4th of July is the first great fact in your nations historythe very ring-bolt in the chain of your yet undeveloped destiny. How circumspect, exact and proportionate were all their movements! At the time of the delivery of this speech, Douglass had been living in Rochester, New York for several years editing a weekly abolitionist newspaper. GAZETTE: This is your second year as host of Reading Frederick Douglass Together in Somerville. My original thought was a public reading prior to the holiday, which would prompt people to incorporate the speech or a discussion of its meaning in their holiday observations, whether in the back yard or the local library. One of the parts of the speech that resonates with me the most is when Douglass says: What, to the American slave, is your 4th of July? Cling to this daycling to it, and to its principles, with the grasp of a storm-tossed mariner to a spar at midnight. In a case like that, the dumb might eloquently speak, and the 'lame man leap as an hart. In an 1868 speech, he said, No man should be excluded from the government on the basis of his color, no woman on account of her sex. Now, take the constitution according to its plain reading, and I defy the presentation of a single pro-slavery clause in it. there is no matter in respect to which, the people of the North have allowed themselves to be so ruinously imposed upon, as that of the pro-slavery character of the Constitution. These gentlemen have, as I think, fully and clearly vindicated the Constitution from any design to support slavery for an hour. I have better employments for my time and strength. Are the great principles of political freedom and of natural justice, embodied in that Declaration of Independence, extended to us? Who so stolid and selfish, that would not give his voice to swell the hallelujahs of a nation's jubilee, when the chains of servitude had been torn from his limbs? On July 5, 1852, Frederick Douglass gave a keynote address at an Independence Day celebration and asked, What to the Slave is the Fourth of July? Douglass was a powerful orator, often traveling six months out of the year to give lectures on abolition. And each return for evil, good, And let me warn you that it is dangerous to copy the example of a nation whose crimes, towering up to heaven, were thrown down by the breath of the Almighty, burying that nation in irrevocable ruin! Shall exercise a lordly power, and am I, therefore, called upon to bring our humble offering to the national altar, and to confess the benefits and express devout gratitude for the blessings resulting from your independence to us?, Would to God, both for your sakes and ours, that an affirmative answer could be truthfully returned to these questions! To man his plundered fights again This year we mark both the 400th anniversary of the arrival of captive Africans to the British colonies and the 65th anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education. 3 Lessons From Frederick Douglass About Finding the Courage to Speak Up Two readings, 165 years apart, addressed to a nation at a precarious political moment. Frederick Douglass delivered 'best Fourth of July speech in American On the 2nd of July, 1776, the old Continental Congress, to the dismay of the lovers of ease, and the worshipers of property, clothed that dreadful idea [i.e., the idea of total separation of the colonies from the crown] with all the authority of national sanction. The Celestial Empire, the mystery of ages, is being solved. They that can, may; I cannot. It is admitted in the fact that Southern statute books are covered with enactments forbidding, under severe fines and penalties, the teaching of the slave to read or to write. It is the birthday of your National Independence, and of your political freedom. speaking of it relatively and positively, negatively and affirmatively. The rich inheritance of justice, liberty, prosperity and independence, bequeathed by your fathers, is shared by you, not by me. The main message of Douglass's speech is that it is hypocritical to celebrate the Fourth of July as a day of freedom and independence while slaves are not independent nor do they have freedom. On the other hand it will be found to contain principles and purposes, entirely hostile to the existence of slavery. What have I, or those I represent, to do with your national independence? When the dogs in your streets, when the fowls of the air, when the cattle on your hills, when the fish of the sea, and the reptiles that crawl, shall be unable to distinguish the slave from a brute, then will I argue with you that the slave is a man! Douglass continued to add to the speech in the years that followed. To forget them, to pass lightly over their wrongs, and to chime in with the popular theme, would be treason most scandalous and shocking, and would make me a reproach before God and the world. That assembly, which represented property-owning men, took place on July 30, 1619. The freedom gained is yours; and you, therefore, may properly celebrate this anniversary. In Douglasss honor, wed like to share an abridged version of his speech now considered one of the greatest in US history. Members of the public will take turns reading parts of the speech until theyve read all of it, together. At a time like this, scorching irony, not convincing argument, is needed. It is the antagonistic force in your government, the only thing that seriously disturbs and endangers your Union. and am I, therefore, called upon to bring our humble offering to the national altar, and to confess the benefits and express devout gratitude for the blessings resulting from your independence to us? We hanged our harps upon the willows in the midst thereof. The Meaning of July Fourth for the Negro - CliffsNotes It is, he declares, the birthday of your National Independence, and of your political freedom.. They were great men toogreat enough to give fame to a great age. It makes its pathway over and under the sea, as well as on the earth. As I mentioned earlier, the first reading was designed to the think about race in the Age of Obama. I remember that first year, looking out at the crowd I was filled with the kind of hope Douglass expressed at the end of his speech. But such is not the state of the case. In July of 1852, Frederick Douglass delivered a speech titled "What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?," a call for the promise of liberty be applied equally to all Americans. The wet plate ambrotype plates are housed in a folding leather case with tooled gilt oval mat.

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