2. You hurl your anathemas at the crowned headed tyrants of Russia and Austria, and pride yourselves on your Democratic institutions, while you yourselves consent to be the mere tools and body-guards of the tyrants of Virginia and Carolina. Frederick Douglass, born a slave and later the most influential African American leader of the 1800s, addresses the hypocrisy of the US of maintaining slavery with its upheld ideals being freedom and independence on July 4th, 1852. By that most foul and fiendish of all human decrees, the liberty and person of every man are put in peril. You know what is a swine-drover? 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. After this, he turns his attention to the church. My subject, then fellow-citizens, is AMERICAN SLAVERY. The slaveholders themselves acknowledge it in the enactment of laws for their government. But it is answered in reply to all this, that precisely what I have now denounced is, in fact, guaranteed and sanctioned by the Constitution of the United States; that the right to hold and to hunt slaves is a part of that Constitution framed by the illustrious Fathers of this Republic. It is a religion for oppressors, tyrants, man-stealers, and thugs. The crack you heard, was the sound of the slave-whip; the scream you heard, was from the woman you saw with the babe. These ministers make religion a cold and flinty-hearted thing, having neither principles of right action, nor bowels of compassion. With brave men there is always a remedy for oppression. Douglass also stresses the view that slaves and free Americans are equal in nature. Douglass then discusses the internal slave trade in America. The evil that men do, lives after them, The good is oft-interred with their bones. The accepted time with God and his cause is the ever-living now. 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. Douglass was a former slave of the 19th century and soon became a leader during the Abolitionist Movement. Tell me citizens, WHERE, under the sun, you can witness a spectacle more fiendish and shocking. be warned! 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. 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. "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? They, however, gradually flow back to the same old channel, and flow on as serenely as ever. He refers to the Constitution as a "Glorious Liberty Document". Yea! a horrible reptile is coiled up in your nations bosom; the venomous creature is nursing at the tender breast of your youthful republic; for the love of God, tear away, and fling from you the hideous monster, and let the weight of twenty millions crush and destroy it forever!But it is answered in reply to all this, that precisely what I have now denounced is, in fact, guaranteed and sanctioned by the Constitution of the United States; that the right to hold and to hunt slaves is a part of that Constitution framed by the illustrious Fathers of this Republic.Then, I dare to affirm, notwithstanding all I have said before, your fathers stooped, basely stooped. He faults America for utter hypocrisy and betrayal of those values in maintaining the institution of slavery. that it should be so; yet so it is. I will show you a man-drover. In a Fourth of July holiday special, we begin with the words of Frederick Douglass. If I do not remember thee, let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth.Fellow-citizens; above your national, tumultuous joy, I hear the mournful wail of millions! who stand as the very lights of the church, have shamelessly given the sanction of religion and the Bible to the whole slave system. 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. And let me warn you that it is dangerous to copy the example of a nation whose crimes, lowering up to heaven, were thrown down by the breath of the Almighty, burying that nation in irrecoverable ruin! when ye make many prayers, I will not hear. 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. This Fourth [of] July is yours, not mine. On what branch of the subject do the people of this country need light? 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 mens souls. Text Frederick Douglass, " What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July? 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. 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? 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. 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). [5], A statue of Douglass erected in Rochester in 2018 was torn down on July 5, 2020the 168th anniversary of the speech. 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. "[1][2] was a speech delivered by Frederick Douglass on July 5, 1852, at Corinthian Hall in Rochester, New York, at a meeting organized by the Rochester Ladies' Anti-Slavery Society. 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. 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. 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. Must we allow symbols of racism on public land? ROY:One of the things that Douglass writings shows us is that he believed in amplifying a variety of voices. Douglass says that if the residents of America believe that slaves are "men",[20]:342 they should be treated as such. Panel on dispossession of African Americans says burying truth keeps Black Americans dispossessed, Legal scholar and historian puts the push to remove Confederate statues in context, Members of the community share memories, plans, hopes for the holiday, Quantum computing simulation reveals possible wormhole-like dynamics. [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. Pride and patriotism, not less than gratitude, prompt you to. 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.What, to the American slave, is your 4th of July? 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 slaverythe great sin and shame of America! All this we affirm to be true of the popular church, and the popular worship of our land and nation a religion, a church, and a worship which, on the authority of inspired wisdom, we pronounce to be an abomination in the sight of God. He had delivered a series of seven lectures about slavery there in the winter of 185051. Students also viewed I was glad to find one who sympathized with me in my horror.Fellow-citizens, this murderous traffic is, to-day, in active operation in this boasted republic. Must I argue the wrongfulness of slavery? Douglass referred not only to the captivity of enslaved people, but to the merciless exploitation and the cruelty and torture that slaves were subjected to in the United States. 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. The Celestial Empire, the mystery of ages, is being solved. [20]:345He also attempts to demonstrate the irony of their inability to sympathize with the Black people they oppressed in cruel ways that the forefathers they valorized never experienced. Let it be thundered around the world, that, in tyrant-killing, king-hating, people-loving, democratic, Christian America, the seats of justice are filled with judges, who hold their offices under an open and palpable bribe, and are bound, in deciding in the case of a mans liberty, hear only his accusers!In glaring violation of justice, in shameless disregard of the forms of administering law, in cunning arrangement to entrap the defenseless, and in diabolical intent, this Fugitive Slave Law stands alone in the annals of tyrannical legislation. Douglass then pivots to the present, stating that "We have to do with the past only as we can make it useful to the present and to the future". Africa must rise and put on her yet unwoven garment. official permission or approval. Some of these have had wives and children, dependent on them for bread; but of this, no account was made. Your high independence only reveals the immeasurable distance between us. had I the ability, and could I reach the nations ear, I would, to-day, pour out a fiery stream of biting ridicule, blasting reproach, withering sarcasm, and stern rebuke. We need the storm, the whirlwind, and the earthquake. Another remarkable thing about Douglass is that he was an early champion of voting rights for women. In his speech, "The Hypocrisy of American Slavery . GAZETTE: Why is it important to do this kind of community-building work at a local level? How can we sing the Lords song in a strange land? 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. The timid and the prudent (as has been intimated) of that day, were, of course, shocked and alarmed by it. O! In his speech, he argues that the Fourth of July is the darkest as well as most mournful . But I differ from those who charge this baseness on the framers of the Constitution of the United States. He validates the feelings of injustice the Founders felt then juxtaposes their experiences with vivid descriptions of the harshness of slavery.[21]. See, too, that girl of thirteen, weeping, yes! If so, there is a parallel to your conduct. Who so obdurate and dead to the claims of gratitude, that would not thankfully acknowledge such priceless benefits? 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. What to the American slave is your Fourth of July? The rich inheritance of justice, liberty, prosperity and independence, bequeathed by your fathers, is shared by you, not by me. Born into slavery around 1818, Douglass became a key leader of the abolitionist movement. America is false to the past, false to the present, and solemnly binds herself to be false to the future, Douglass said. Douglass details the hardships past Americans once endured when they were members of British colonies and validates their feelings of ill treatment. 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. No nation can now shut itself up from the surrounding world, and trot round in the same old path of its fathers without interference. GAZETTE: This is your second year as host of Reading Frederick Douglass Together in Somerville. We need individual events like reading Douglass, but we also need to be thinking about ways to extend this conversation over the long term. 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. There is blasphemy in the thought. Walled cities and empires have become unfashionable. "What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July? or is it in the temple? Space is comparatively annihilated. 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 have better employments for my time and strength than such arguments would imply.What, then, remains to be argued? 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 denunciations 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. It is the antagonistic force in your government, the only thing that seriously disturbs and endangers your Union. Mr. President, Friends and Fellow Citizens: He who could address this audience without a quailing sensation, has stronger nerves than I have. Noble men may be found, scattered all over these Northern States, of whom Henry Ward Beecher of Brooklyn, Samuel J. welcome anything! [7], The Rochester Ladies' Anti-Slavery Society was founded in 1851. You have no right to wear out and waste the hard-earned fame of your fathers to cover your indolence. They have taught that man may, properly, be a slave; that the relation of master and slave is ordained of God; that to send back an escaped bondman to his master is clearly the duty of all the followers of the Lord Jesus Christ; and this horrible blasphemy is palmed off upon the world for Christianity.For my part, I would say, welcome infidelity! The existence of slavery in this country brands your republicanism as a sham, your humanity as a base pretence, and your Christianity as a lie. Ethiopia shall stretch out her hand unto God. In the fervent aspirations of William Lloyd Garrison, I say, and let every heart join in saying it: Frederick Douglass delivered his famous speech at the Corinthian Hall in Rochester, NY, on July 5th, 1852. If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning. No! 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. You live and must die, and you must do your work. In 1850, the Fugitive Slave Act had passed Congress as part of the broader Compromise of 1850. [13] Although the import of people directly from Africa had been banned in 1807,[14] the domestic slave trade, still legal, was thriving. 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 it also imposed severe penalties on anyone who helped enslaved people to escape. 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