Born into slavery around 1818, Douglass became a key leader of the abolitionist movement. 2003. Keidrick Roy, the host of the virtual reading event. be warned! If I do not remember thee, let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth.. Mr. President, Friends and Fellow Citizens: He who could address this audience without a quailing sensation, has stronger nerves than I have. Not everyone. Your fathers were wise men, and if they did not go mad, they became restive under this treatment. Her speed had faltered under the weight of her child and her chains! I will not. Do you mean, citizens, to mock me, by asking me to speak to-day? 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? Douglass declares that true freedom can not exist in America if Black people are still enslaved there and is adamant that the end of slavery is near. Is it at the gateway? It is said that America is built on the idea of liberty and freedom, but Douglass tells his audience that more than anything, it is built on inconsistencies and hypocrisies that have been overlooked for so long they appear to be truths. was delivered in the decade preceding the American Civil War, which lasted from 1861 to 1865 and achieved the abolition of slavery. GAZETTE: Why is it important to do this kind of community-building work at a local level? They are plain, common-sense rules, such as you and I, and all of us, can understand and apply, without having passed years in the study of law. I am glad, fellow-citizens, that your nation is so young. However, if slavery were abolished and equal rights given to all, that would no longer be the case. 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? Seventy-six years, though a good old age for a man, is but a mere speck in the life of a nation. Products. 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. In that instrument I hold there is neither warrant, license, nor sanction of the hateful thing; but, interpreted as it ought to be interpreted, the Constitution is a GLORIOUS LIBERTY DOCUMENT. in preference to the gospel, as preached by those Divines! You will see one of these human flesh-jobbers, armed with pistol, whip and bowie-knife, driving a company of a hundred men, women, and children, from the Potomac to the slave market at New Orleans. Must I argue that a system thus marked with blood, and stained with pollution, is wrong? But a change has now come over the affairs of mankind. These rules are well established. In the language of Isaiah, the American church might be well addressed, Bring no more vain ablations; incense is an abomination unto me: the new moons and Sabbaths, the calling of assemblies, I cannot away with; it is iniquity even the solemn meeting. He can bring no witnesses for himself. When a sufficient number have been collected here, a ship is chartered, for the purpose of conveying the forlorn crew to Mobile, or to New Orleans. 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. It saps the foundation of religion; it makes your name a hissing, and a by word to a mocking earth. Your lawmakers have commanded all good citizens to engage in this hellish sport. From Boston to London is now a holiday excursion. 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. You invite to your shores fugitives of oppression from abroad, honor them with banquets, greet them with ovations, cheer them, toast them, salute them, protect them, and pour out your money to them like water; but the fugitives from your own land you advertise, hunt, arrest, shoot and kill. 00 Comments Please sign inor registerto post comments. It was demanded, in the name of humanity, and according to the law of the living God. (1982). The testimony of Senator Breese, Lewis Cass, and many others that might be named, who are everywhere esteemed as sound lawyers, so regard the constitution. He celebrates the efforts of the founding fathers of America for fighting back against the tyranny of England.[18]. Many of its most eloquent Divines. 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. But, with that blindness which seems to be the unvarying characteristic of tyrants, since Pharaoh and his hosts were drowned in the Red Sea. 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. At some future period I will gladly avail myself of an opportunity to give this subject a full and fair discussion.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. Everywhere, in this country, it is safe to speak of this foreign slave-trade, as a most inhuman traffic, opposed alike to the laws of God and of man. I scout the idea that the question of the constitutionality or unconstitutionality of slavery is not a question for the people. This page was last edited on 5 February 2023, at 19:31. 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. This is the inevitable conclusion, and from it there is no escape. The crack you heard, was the sound of the slave-whip; the scream you heard, was from the woman you saw with the babe. Hear his savage yells and his blood-chilling oaths, as he hurries on his affrighted captives! Ossie DavisA Voice Ringing O'er the Gale! It is neither. This home government, you know, although a considerable distance from your home, did, in the exercise of its parental prerogatives, impose upon its colonial children, such restraints, burdens and limitations, as, in its mature judgment, it deemed wise, right and proper. I will not equivocate; I will not excuse;. In this collection, students will review the life of Frederick Douglass and learn about one of his most famous speeches, "The Meaning of Fourth of July for the Negro" (it is also commonly referred to as "What to the Slave is the Fourth of July). There are illustrations of it near and remote, ancient and modern. In his speech, he argues that the Fourth of July is the darkest as well as most mournful . The inaugural meeting between six women took place in Corinthian Hall on August 20. welcome anything! What is now known as the "What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?" speech was delivered on July 5, 1852 as an address to the Rochester Ladies' Anti-Slavery Society in Rochester, New York. Pride and patriotism, not less than gratitude, prompt you to. It is the birthday of your National Independence, and of your political freedom. These ministers make religion a cold and flinty-hearted thing, having neither principles of right action, nor bowels of compassion. Follow the drove to New Orleans. Ever ready to drink, to treat, and to gamble. 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!For the present, it is enough to affirm the equal manhood of the Negro race. Frederick Douglass delivered his famous speech "What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?" in 1852, drawing parallels between the Revolutionary War and the fight to abolish slavery. The right of the hunter to his prey stands superior to the right of marriage, and to all rights in this republic, the rights of God included! The British accomplished this through religion or more specifically, the church. He describes the legislation as "tyrannical," and believes that it is in "violation of justice.". Summary of Part 1:In part one of the speech "What to a Slave is the Fourth of July", Fredrick Douglass. The speech has been notably performed or read by important figures, including the following: The paragraphing referenced here is taken from an edition of the speech at, African Americans In Congress: A Documentary History, by Eric Freedman and Stephen A, Jones, 2008, p. 39, "Activist Public Relations and the Paradox of the Positive: A Case Study of Frederick Douglass's Fourth of July Address", "One of American History's Worst Laws Was Passed 165 Years Ago", "The Operation of the Fugitive Slave Law in Western Pennsylvania from 1850 to 1860", The American Constitutional Experience: Selected Readings & Supreme Court Opinions, Frederick Douglass on Slavery and the Civil War: Selections from His Writings, "Frederick Douglass Statue Torn Down On Anniversary Of Famous Speech", "Frederick Douglass statue torn down in Rochester, N.Y., on anniversary of his famous Fourth of July speech", "Frederick Douglass statue torn down on anniversary of great speech", "VIDEO: Frederick Douglass' Descendants Deliver His 'Fourth Of July' Speech", A Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, Frederick Douglass's Descendants Deliver His 'Fourth of July' Speech, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=What_to_the_Slave_Is_the_Fourth_of_July%3F&oldid=1137650578. See, too, that girl of thirteen, weeping, yes! They strip the love of God of its beauty, and leave the throng of religion a huge, horrible, repulsive form. Nevertheless, Douglass claims that this can change. True Christians, according to Douglass, should not stand idly by while the rights and liberty of others are stripped away. Not fewer than forty Americans have, within the past two years, been hunted down and, without a moments warning, hurried away in chains, and consigned to slavery and excruciating torture. What is this but the acknowledgement that the slave is a moral, intellectual and responsible being? by Frederick Douglass 1852 11th Grade Lexile: 1140 Font Size Frederick Douglass (1818-1895) was an African American social reformer, orator, and writer. This act forced citizens to report people who had escaped their enslavement and escaped to a free state, under punishment of a fine or imprisonment. We hanged our harps upon the willows in the midst thereof. ARI . 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. The power is co-extensive with the Star-Spangled Banner and American Christianity. In spite of his praise of the Founding Fathers, he maintains that slaves owe nothing to and have no positive feelings towards the founding of the United States. It makes its pathway over and under the sea, as well as on the earth. Without this fight, the liberty of an American citizen would be as insecure as that of a Frenchman. Is it not astonishing that, while we are ploughing, planting and reaping, using all kinds of mechanical tools, erecting houses, constructing bridges, building ships, working in metals of brass, iron, copper, silver and gold; that, while we are reading, writing and cyphering, acting as clerks, merchants and secretaries, having among us lawyers, doctors, ministers, poets, authors, editors, orators and teachers; that, while we are engaged in all manner of enterprises common to other men, digging gold in California, capturing the whale in the Pacific, feeding sheep and cattle on the hill-side, living, moving, acting, thinking, planning, living in families as husbands, wives and children, and, above all, confessing and worshipping the Christians God, and looking hopefully for life and immortality beyond the grave, we are called upon to prove that we are men!Would you have me argue that man is entitled to liberty? A John Knox would be seen at every church door, and heard from every pulpit, and Fillmore would have no more quarter than was shown by Knox, to the beautiful, but treacherous queen Mary of Scotland. I lived on Philpot Street, Fells Point, Baltimore, and have watched from the wharves, the slave ships in the Basin, anchored from the shore, with their cargoes of human flesh, waiting for favorable winds to waft them down the Chesapeake. Douglass was a former slave of the 19th century and soon became a leader during the Abolitionist Movement. The minister of American justice is bound by the law to hear but one side; and that side, is the side of the oppressor. Fellow-citizens, pardon me, allow me to ask, why am I called upon to speak here to-day? Yet his monument is built up by the price of human blood, and the traders in the bodies and souls of men shoutWe have Washington to our father.Alas! [16] Additionally, it awarded $10 to a judge who sentenced an individual to return to enslavement, while awarding only $5 if the claim was dismissed. There was, at that time, a grand slave mart kept at the head of Pratt Street, by Austin Woldfolk. How can we sing the Lords song in a strange land? The eye of the reformer is met with angry flashes, portending disastrous times; but his heart may well beat lighter at the thought that America is young, and that she is still in the impressible stage of her existence. It is not that pure and undefiled religion which is from above, and which is first pure, then peaceable, easy to be entreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy. But a religion which favors the rich against the poor; which exalts the proud above the humble; which divides mankind into two classes, tyrants and slaves; which says to the man in chains, stay there; and to the oppressor, oppress on; it is a religion which may be professed and enjoyed by all the robbers and enslavers of mankind; it makes God a respecter of persons, denies his fatherhood of the race, and tramples in the dust the great truth of the brotherhood of man. Attend the auction; see men examined like horses; see the forms of women rudely and brutally exposed to the shocking gaze of American slave-buyers. Douglass' speech came just 11 years before Lincolns Emancipation Proclamation hitting a poignant point in American history through his targeting of the slave as a crucial figure in desperate need of independence. As the project scholar, my role is to advise the process as it rolls out, to give a talk that provides contemporary and historical context and to facilitate the community discussion around the speech against the backdrop of other relevant issues. In several states, this trade is a chief source of wealth. You may rejoice, I must mourn. What point in the anti-slavery creed would you have me argue? As with rivers so with nations. Their opposition to the then dangerous thought was earnest and powerful; but, amid all their terror and affrighted vociferations against it, the alarming and revolutionary idea moved on, and the country with it. Mark the sad procession, as it moves wearily along, and the inhuman wretch who drives them. That is a question Frederick Douglass posed 169 Julys ago in a speech to a group of abolitionists, one that's become perhaps his most famous. By an act of the American Congress, not yet two years old, Mason and Dixons line has been obliterated, Did this law concern the mint, anise, and cumin. The subject has been handled with masterly power by Lysander Spooner, Esq., by William Goodell, by Samuel E. Sewall, Esq., and last, though not least, by Gerritt Smith, Esq. 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. "Meaning of the Fourth of July to a Negro" by Bridget Durham The Fourth of July is a day of celebration for many Americans because on July 4th, 1776, America declared independence from Britain and said that everyone was free under the US government, right? According to this fact, you are, even now, only in the beginning of your national career, still lingering in the period of childhood. Cling to this daycling to it, and to its principles, with the grasp of a storm-tossed mariner to a spar at midnight, Neither steam nor lightning had then been reduced to order and discipline, With them, justice, liberty and humanity were final; not slavery and oppression. With brave men there is always a remedy for oppression. Long established customs of hurtful character could formerly fence themselves in, and do their evil work with social impunity. The audience must fulfill what the founders of the country advocated. His agents were sent into every town and county in Maryland, announcing their arrival, through the papers, and on flaming hand-bills, headed CASH FOR NEGROES. Ex-Senator Benton tells us that the price of men was never higher than now. What, to the American slave, is your 4th of July? "What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July? Stauffer, John. Some of these have had wives and children, dependent on them for bread; but of this, no account was made. As the sheet anchor takes a firmer hold, when the ship is tossed by the storm, so did the cause of your fathers grow stronger, as it breasted the chilling blasts of kingly displeasure. This trade is one of the peculiarities of American institutions. ROY: The better we get to know the people that we live with, that we work around, that we see at the coffee shop, and the more we talk about these important racial issues with one another, the easier it will be to heal our divided communities. To do so, would be to make myself ridiculous, and to offer an insult to your understanding.There is not a man beneath the canopy of heaven, that does not know that slavery is wrong for him.What, am I to argue that it is wrong to make men brutes, to rob them of their liberty, to work them without wages, to keep them ignorant of their relations to their fellow men, to beat them with sticks, to flay their flesh with the lash, to load their limbs with irons, to hunt them with dogs, to sell them at auction, to sunder their families, to knock out their teeth, to bum their flesh, to starve them into obedience and submission to their masters? Yet this is but a glance at the American slave-trade, as it exists, at this moment, in the ruling part of the United States. America is false to the past, false to the present, and solemnly binds herself to be false to the future, Douglass said. Is it that slavery is not divine; that God did not establish it; that our doctors of divinity are mistaken? The oath of any two villains is sufficient, under this hell-black enactment, to send the most pious and exemplary black man into the remorseless jaws of slavery! In short, it gave the federal government an active role in maintaining the Souths system of slavery. Summary: "What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?" In "What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?", otherwise known as "The Meaning of July Fourth for the Negro," Frederick Douglassoutlines a careful argument against the institution of slavery and more specifically the Fugitive Slave Act. 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. Because the church stood behind the decision to abolish the selling and buying of people, so did the rest of the country. You have already declared it. There are forces in operation, which must inevitably work The downfall of slavery. 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