How does he show that everyone in America, North and South, views enslaved Africans as human beings. When you can point to any such laws in reference to the beasts of the field, then I may consent to argue the manhood of the slave. A black-and-white photograph of Frederick Douglass wearing a jacket, waistcoat, and bowtie. 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. This Fourth July is yours, not mine. It is neither. Read its preamble, consider its purposes. Had I the ability, and could I reach the nations ear, I would, today, pour out a fiery stream of biting ridicule, blasting reproach, withering sarcasm, and stern rebuke. The point from which I am compelled to view them is not, certainly, the most favorable; and yet I cannot contemplate their great deeds with less than admiration. What was the purpose of Frederick Douglass's slave narrative Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass An American Slave? 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 hypocrisy a thin veil to cover up crimes which would disgrace a nation of savages. He was invited to give a fourth of July speech by the Ladies Anti-Slavery Society of Rochester. Whateer the peril or the cost, Harriet Beecher Stowes novel about slavery, Uncle Toms Cabin: Or Life among the Lowly had been published a few months before and unexpectedly became a national bestseller. Douglass continued to add to the speech in the years that followed. THAT HOUR WILL, COME, to each, to all, The people who came to America were surprised by its history. But, I submit, where all is plain there is nothing to be argued. Why, then, did Douglass speak as harshly as he did? The Celestial Empire, the mystery of ages, is being solved. His speeches continued to agitate for racial equality and women's rights. He point-by-point counters a. It destroys your moral power abroad; it corrupts your politicians at home. For decades, slaves fled the South . And that is one of the truly special elements, the combination of a core group of readers and the accidental attendees who happen by and hear bits and pieces of this incredible speech. What have I, or those I represent, to do with your national independence? The headings in brackets have been supplied by the editor to guide your reading as have the questions after each section. No! 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. This speech is now remembered as oneof Douglass' most poignant. The time for such argument is passed. 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. They were peace men; but they preferred revolution to peaceful submission to bondage. While drawing encouragement from the Declaration of Independence, the great principles it contains, and the genius of American Institutions, my spirit is also cheered by the obvious tendencies of the age. 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! Its also an election year; the 1852 presidential election was heating up that summer. Sign up for daily emails to get the latest Harvardnews. The 4th of July is the first great fact in your nations historythe very ring-bolt in the chain of your yet undeveloped destiny. Is it at the gateway? I shall see this day and its popular characteristics from the slave's point of view. You may well cherish the memory of such men. Harvard Law School provides unparalleled opportunities to study law with extraordinary colleagues in a rigorous, vibrant, and collaborative environment. I take it, therefore, that it is not presumption in a private citizen to form an opinion of that instrument. I shall see this day and its popular characteristics from the slave's point of view," (52-54). As we emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic, our economy continues to recover. And each return for evil, good, The wet plate ambrotype plates are housed in a folding leather case with tooled gilt oval mat. Would you argue more, and denounce less, would you persuade more, and rebuke less, your cause would be much more likely to succeed. Many of you understand them better than I do. The River Campus Libraries Department of Rare Books, Special Collections, and Preservation's holdings includes a manuscript collection of Douglass's letters, photographs, and ephemera. 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 stated that the nation's founders were great men for their ideals of freedom. I have detained my audience entirely too long already. 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?. or is it in the temple? At the time Douglass spoke, Blight says, the opportunity was ripe for a lecture on the moral crisis. That holiday, he delivered the greatest anti-slavery speech in American history. A champion of America's great writers and timeless works, Library of America guides readers in finding and exploring the exceptional writing that reflects the nation's history and culture. The freedom gained is yours; and you, therefore, may properly celebrate this anniversary. With them, justice, liberty and humanity were final; not slavery and oppression. 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. 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? But, he said, speaking more than a decade before slavery was ended nationally, a lot of work still needed to be done so that all citizens can enjoy life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Above your national, tumultuous joy the July 4th celebrations of white Americans were the mournful wails of millions whose heavy chains are, today, rendered more intolerable by the jubilee shouts that reach them.. Must we allow symbols of racism on public land? Were the nation older, the patriots heart might be sadder, and the reformers brow heavier. The main message of Douglass's speechis 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. Long established customs of hurtful character could formerly fence themselves in, and do their evil work with social impunity. With head, and heart, and hand Ill strive, This power fuels modern abolition movements, whether of human trafficking, prison or police. Shall exercise a lordly power, So, all these years later, our massive system of incarceration echoes Douglasss charge that, 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. This is not to say there are not tyrannical regimes elsewhere in the world or that other nations do not abuse human rights, but it is the self-righteousness of our celebration in the midst of ongoing injustice that continues to resonate today. What characteristics does he praise about them? Pride and patriotism, not less than gratitude, prompt you to celebrate and to hold it in perpetual remembrance. 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. Identify these elements. 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. There are forces in operation, which must inevitably work the downfall of slavery. EDSITEment is a project of theNational Endowment for the Humanities, Uncle Toms Cabin: Or Life among the Lowly, From Courage to Freedom: Frederick Douglass's 1845 Autobiography. I say it with a sad sense of the disparity between us. This Fourth of July is yours, not mine. It does not often happen to a nation to raise, at one time, such a number of truly great men. 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. The point from which I am compelled to view them is not, certainly, the most favorable; and yet I cannot contemplate their great deeds with less than admiration. -douglas was trying to to reach to people who didn't agree with slavery, but never did anything to fight against it How does the struggle for freedom change with history? GAZETTE: What is something you have discovered about Douglass while researching this speech and his work more broadly that people might be surprised to learn? America is false to the past, false to the present, and solemnly binds herself to be false to the future.. It is, he declares, the birthday of your National Independence, and of your political freedom.. In doing so he sets the stage to distinguish the holiday for his audience and establishes the gulf between those in his audience and those who remain in bondage. Is slavery among them? In an Independence Day address in 1852, abolitionist movement leader Frederick Douglass famously asked a gathering in Rochester, New York What to the slave is the Fourth of July?Answering his own question, it is a day, he said, that reveals to him, more than all other days in the year, the gross injustice and cruelty to which he is the constant victim. Douglass speech laid bare the hypocrisy of American ideals of freedom at a time when millions were living in Constitutionally-sanctioned bondage across the United States. The slaveholders themselves acknowledge it in the enactment of laws for their government. Hisspeech, given at an event commemorating the signing of the Declaration of Independence, was held at Corinthian Hall in Rochester, New York. 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. From poetry, novels, and memoirs to journalism, crime writing, and science fiction, the more than 300 volumes published by Library of America are widely . The Act also denied suspected slaves trial by jury or even the ability to testify on their own behalf in court. He begins his speech by modestly apologizing for being nervous in front of the crowd and recognizes that he has come a long way since his escape from slavery. I think he would look at the ongoing gulf between our ideals and reality and might refer back to some of his own analysis to understand the current contradictions. The wide world oer Throughout this speech, as well as his life, Douglass advocated equal justice and rights, as well as citizenship, for blacks.

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