Slavery

Frederick Douglass on the Fourth of July

Frederick Douglass escaped from slavery and became one of the most prominent abolitionist in the United States. Before he fled Maryland, Douglass taught himself to read and write, and ultimately became a masterful writer. He published his own paper, The North Star, as well as autobiographical slavery narratives like The Narrative of Frederick Douglass and My Bondage, My Freedom. He also was a popular speaker on the antislavery circuit.

The selection here comes from a Fourth of July Speech Douglass delivered in 1852, a particularly bleak time for the antislavery movement because it appeared to be making little headway. As you read, pay attention to the following things. Note how Douglass uses pronouns. Why did he make a point to discuss your Revolution (instead of our Revolution)? What emotions did the Revolution evoke in Douglass? Finally, what significance did Douglass place on the relatively young age of the Republic? Why point that out?

Extracts from Frederick Douglass, “What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?” Speech made at Rochester’s

Corinthian Hall (July 5, 1852)

Full text

http://teachingamericanhistory.org/library/document/what-to-the-slave-is-the-fourth-of-july/

The fact is, ladies and gentlemen, the distance between this platform and the slave plantation, from which

I escaped, is considerable — and the difficulties to be overcome in getting from the latter to the former,

are by no means slight. That I am here to-day is, to me, a matter of astonishment as well as of gratitude.

You will not, therefore, be surprised, if in what I have to say I evince no elaborate preparation, nor grace

my speech with any high sounding exordium. With little experience and with less learning, I have been

able to throw my thoughts hastily and imperfectly together; and trusting to your patient and generous

indulgence, I will proceed to lay them before you.

…This, for the purpose of this celebration, is the 4th of July. It is the birthday of your National

Independence, and of your political freedom... This celebration also marks the beginning of another year

of your national life; and reminds you that the Republic of America is now 76 years old. I am glad,

fellow-citizens, that your nation is so young. Seventy-six years, though a good old age for a man, is but a

mere speck in the life of a nation…. Were the nation older, the patriot’s heart might be sadder, and the

reformer’s brow heavier. Its future might be shrouded in gloom, and the hope of its prophets go out in

sorrow. There is consolation in the thought that America is young. Great streams are not easily turned

from channels, worn deep in the course of ages.

…Fellow-citizens, I shall not presume to dwell at length on the associations that cluster about this day.

The simple story of it is that, 76 years ago, the people of this country were British subjects. The style and

title of your “sovereign people” (in which you now glory) was not then born. You were under the British

Crown. Your fathers esteemed the English Government as the home government; and England as the

fatherland. 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.

…To say now that America was right, and England wrong, is exceedingly easy. Everybody can say it; the

dastard, not less than the noble brave, can flippantly discant on the tyranny of England towards the

American Colonies. It is fashionable to do so; but there was a time when to pronounce against England,

and in favor of the cause of the colonies, tried men’s souls…. [but now] The cause of liberty [in the form

of slavery] may be stabbed by the men [Americans who tolerate slavery while they] … glory in the deeds

of your fathers [the patriots]. But, to proceed.

…Feeling themselves harshly and unjustly treated by the home government, your fathers, like men of

honesty, and men of spirit, earnestly sought redress. They petitioned and remonstrated; they did so in a

decorous, respectful, and loyal manner. Their conduct was wholly unexceptionable. This, however, did

not answer the purpose. They saw themselves treated with sovereign indifference, coldness and scorn. Yet

they persevered. They were not the men to look back.

…They [the founding fathers and patriots of ‘76] loved their country better than their own private

interests [that is, they showed ‘republican virtue] ; and, though this is not the highest form of human

excellence, all will concede that it is a rare [republican] virtue, and that when it is exhibited, it ought to

command respect. He who will, intelligently, lay down his life for his country, is a man whom it is not in

human nature to despise. Your fathers staked their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor, on the

cause of their country. In their admiration of liberty, they lost sight of all other interests.

…Fellow-citizens, pardon me, allow me to ask, why am I called upon to speak here to-day? What have I,

or those I represent, to do with your national independence? Are the great principles of political freedom

and of natural justice, embodied in that Declaration of Independence, extended to us [African

Americans]? 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, such is not the state of the case. I say it with a sad sense of the disparity between us. I [as an

African American and former slave] am not included within the pale of this glorious anniversary! Your

high independence only reveals the immeasurable distance between us. The blessings in which you, this

day, rejoice, are not enjoyed in common. — The rich inheritance of justice, liberty, prosperity and

independence, bequeathed by your fathers, is shared by you, not by me. The sunlight that brought life and

healing to you, has brought stripes and death to me. This Fourth [of] July is yours, not mine. You may

rejoice, I must mourn….

….Fellow-citizens; above your national, tumultuous joy, I hear the mournful wail of millions! whose

chains, heavy and grievous yesterday, are, to-day, rendered more intolerable by the jubilee shouts that

reach them. 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!” 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. My subject, then

fellow-citizens, is AMERICAN SLAVERY. I shall see, this day, and its popular characteristics, from the

slave’s point of view. Standing, there, identified with the American bondman [slave], making his wrongs

mine, I do not hesitate to declare, with all my soul, that the character and conduct of this nation never

looked blacker to me than on this 4th of July! 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. America is false

to the past, false to the present, and solemnly binds herself to be false to the future. 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! “I will not

equivocate; I will not excuse;” I will use the severest language I can command; and yet not one word shall

escape me that any man, whose judgment is not blinded by prejudice, or who is not at heart a slaveholder,

shall not confess to be right and just.