At some future period I will gladly avail myself of an opportunity to give this subject a full and fair discussion. On this, the bicentennial year of Douglasss birth, the Frederick Douglass Family Initiatives and American Universitys Antiracist Research and Policy Center are honoring 200 Americans whose work best reflects his legacy. Seventy-six years, though a good old age for a man, is but a mere speck in the life of a nation. 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. 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. What is the main message of Douglass's speech? The blessings in which you, this day, rejoice, are not enjoyed in common. On July 4, 1862 with the war underway he addressed an audience of about 2,000 in Himrods Corner, N.Y.; Blight argues that his shift then from addressing simply you to discussing the Revolution as something undertaken by your fathers, and my fathers indicates he believed emancipation will happen more than he did a decade earlier. What is the main message of Douglass's speech? 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. On July 4th, 1852, he gave a speech to citizens of the United States. Pride and patriotism, not less than gratitude, prompt you to celebrate and to hold it in perpetual remembrance. Uncle Toms Cabin had just been published that spring and was taking the country by storm. 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. The country was in the midst of crises over fugitive slave rescues in the wake of the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850. The blessings in which you, this day, rejoice, are not enjoyed in common. Must I argue that a system thus marked with blood, and stained with pollution, is wrong? Based on what I know of his writings, however, I think he would have very mixed feelings about the progress we have made. There is blasphemy in the thought. What characteristics does he praise about them? Two years before Douglass' famed speech, the U.S. government passed the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, which required runaway slaves to be returned to their owners. I have better employments for my time and strength. 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?"). 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. What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July? Are the great principles of political freedom and of natural justice, embodied in that Declaration of Independence, extended to us? For it is not light that is needed, but fire; it is not the gentle shower, but thunder. They showed forbearance; but that they knew its limits. David Harris: Douglass was known for his oratory and this speech is no exception. And wear the yoke of tyranny If youre not a person of color, its one thing to go to a couple of events or protests, or to read a few articles and move on. What is the main message of Douglass's speech? No! Butin doing so he brings awareness to the hypocrisy of their ideals by the existence of slavery on American soil. Are the great principles of political freedom and of natural justice, embodied in that Declaration of Independence, extended to us? If I do not remember thee, let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth." Fully appreciating the hardship to be encountered, firmly believing in the right of their cause, honorably inviting the scrutiny of an on-looking world, reverently appealing to heaven to attest their sincerity, soundly comprehending the solemn responsibility they were about to assume, wisely measuring the terrible odds against them, your fathers, the fathers of this republic, did, most deliberately, under the inspiration of a glorious patriotism, and with a sublime faith in the great principles of justice and freedom, lay deep the corner-stone of the national superstructure, which has risen and still rises in grandeur around you. ': The History of Frederick Douglass' Searing Independence Day Oration. 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. What is his opinion of the American Founders? That point is conceded already. At the time Douglass spoke, Blight says, the opportunity was ripe for a lecture on the moral crisis. Three score years and ten is the allotted time for individual men; but nations number their years by thousands. . Intelligence is penetrating the darkest corners of the globe. They were great men toogreat enough to give fame to a great age. Your fathers were wise men, and if they did not go mad, they became restive under this treatment. Obviously, the speech has taken a much darker meaning in the Age of [President Donald] Trump. That annihilation of space has allowed for real time reporting of events, which in turn has led to considerable change around the world. Space is comparatively annihilated. I shall not presume to dwell at length on the associations that cluster about this day. 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. With them, nothing was "settled" that was not right. It saps the foundation of religion; it makes your name a hissing, and a byword to a mocking earth. But, I submit, where all is plain there is nothing to be argued. The message of Frederick Douglasss 1852 speech on the contradiction of Americas just ideals and unjust realities endures. Douglass continued to add to the speech in the years that followed. He was invited to give a fourth of July speech by the Ladies Anti-Slavery Society of Rochester. One of his famous speeches, called "The Meaning of July Fourth for the Negro," was given on July 5, 1852, in Rochester, New York, at an event in the Corinthian Hall. When the Ladies Anti-Slavery Society of Rochester, N.Y., invited Douglass to give a July 4 speech in 1852, Douglass opted to speak on July 5 instead. To man his plundered fights again On the Fourth of July, 1852, America celebrated its freedom, as it does every Independence Day. Many of you understand them better than I do. Neither group had any idea what would be going on when they happened by and I was truly heartened that both groups seemed to be intrigued and listening closely. One of the biggest challenges we face in our present moment is building sustainable movements that fundamentally change peoples minds about race and racism. 11th annual public reading of What to the slave is the Fourth of July? takes place on July 2nd at noon on Boston Common, Photo via the Harvard Gazette David Harris, managing director of the Charles Hamilton Houston Institute for Race & Justice at Harvard Law School. In their admiration of liberty, they lost sight of all other interests. Nor in a tyrants presence cower; Is it to be settled by the rules of logic and argumentation, as a matter beset with great difficulty, involving a doubtful application of the principle of justice, hard to be understood? There is consolation in the thought that America is young. 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 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. Write to Olivia B. Waxman at olivia.waxman@time.com. This is a particularly difficult time for any such return, given the lack of civility and acceptance of intolerance that characterize our public discourse starting with the president. What is surprising about this appeal? Its future might be shrouded in gloom, and the hope of its prophets go out in sorrow. Identify these elements. I am not that man. 838 Words. But such is not the state of the case. For who is there so cold, that a nation's sympathy could not warm him? speech was delivered on July 5, 1852 as an address to the Rochester Ladies' Anti-Slavery Society in Rochester, New York. 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. Magazines, 4,000 African Americans paraded down Broadway in New York City, Or create a free account to access more articles, 'What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July? Is that a question for Republicans? But a change has now come over the affairs of mankind. For it is not light that is needed, but fire; it is not the gentle shower, but thunder, he said. I am not included within the pale of this glorious anniversary! 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?. When none on earth 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. Fellow Citizens, I am not wanting in respect for the fathers of this republic. The Compromise of 1850 had failed to resolve the controversy over the admission of new slaveholding states to the Union. 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. Wind, steam, and lightning are its chartered agents. He wrote a glowing letter of encouragement to Harriet Tubman, which served as the preface to Sarah Bradfords 1869 biography about Tubmans life. For those who feel that way, July 5 may be an easier day to celebrate: on that day in 1827, 4,000 African Americans paraded down Broadway in New York City to celebrate the end of slavery in their state. 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. 4 Pages. Must I argue that a system thus marked with blood, and stained with pollution, is wrong? Until that year, day, hour, arrive,With head, and heart, and hand Ill strive,To break the rod, and rend the gyve,The spoiler of his prey deprive So witness Heaven!And never from my chosen post,Whateer the peril or the cost. Who so obdurate and dead to the claims of gratitude, that would not thankfully acknowledge such priceless benefits? 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. That year will come, and freedoms reign, As with rivers so with nations. And from his prison-house, the thrall Cambridge, MA 02138, 2022 The President and Fellows of Harvard College, International Legal Studies & Opportunities, Syllabi, Exam and Course Evaluation Archive, Sign Up for the Harvard Law Today Newsletter, Consumer Information (ABA Required Disclosures). Read each part and answer the questions at the end of that part. The Act also denied suspected slaves trial by jury or even the ability to testify on their own behalf in court. 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. Shall exercise a lordly power, Addressing an audience of about 600 at the newly constructed Corinthian Hall, he started out by acknowledging that the signers of the Declaration of Independence were brave and great men, and that the way they wanted the Republic to look was in the right spirit. Douglass's own sons, Lewis and Charles, became two of the first to volunteer for the 54th, which ultimately comprised more than 1,000 men from 15 Northern states. 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! The first autobiography, The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave, Written by Himself, catapulted him to fame and invigorated the abolitionist movement. 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. This Fourth July is yours, not mine. But I differ from those who charge this baseness on the framers of the Constitution of the United States. Magazines, Digital GAZETTE: This is your second year as host of Reading Frederick Douglass Together in Somerville. And it also imposed severe penalties on anyone who helped enslaved people to escape. This, to you, is what the Passover was to the emancipated people of God. From poetry, novels, and memoirs to journalism, crime writing, and science fiction, the more than 300 volumes published by Library of America are widely . 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. The spoiler of his prey deprive It gave me such a surge of hope that the event could bring together such divergent groups. 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? 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. Who can reason on such a proposition? Crowd of men and women during the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, Washington, D.C., Aug.28, 1963, Get the latest information about timed passes and tips for planning your visit, Search the collection and explore our exhibitions, centers, and digital initiatives, Online resources for educators, students, and families, Engage with us and support the Museum from wherever you are, Find our upcoming and past public and educational programs, Learn more about the Museum and view recent news, National Archives and Records Administration, Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture.
