What Is the Slave to the Fourth of July

Speech by Frederick Douglass

Coordinates: 43°09′22″Northward 77°36′47″W  /  43.1562269°N 77.6129184°Due west  / 43.1562269; -77.6129184

Frederick Douglass circa 1852

The 1852 pamphlet printing of the spoken communication

"What to the Slave Is the 4th of July?"^{[1] [2]} is the title now given to a speech by Frederick Douglass delivered on July 5, 1852, at Corinthian Hall in Rochester, New York, at a coming together organized by the Rochester Ladies' Anti-Slavery Guild.^[iii] The spoken communication is perhaps the nearly widely known of all of Frederick Douglass' writings save his autobiographies. Many copies of one department of it, beginning in paragraph 32, accept been circulated online.^[iv] Due to this and the variant titles given to information technology in various places, and the fact that information technology is called a July 4th Oration just was really delivered on July five, some confusion has arisen about the appointment and contents of the speech. The voice communication has since been published under the higher up title in The Frederick Douglass Papers, Series One, Vol. 2. (1982) ^[5]

While referring to the celebrations of the Independence Day in the United States the day before, the speech uses biting irony and bitter rhetoric, and acute textual analysis of the Constitution and Declaration of Independence, and the Christian Bible, to accelerate a values-based argument against the continued existence of Slavery in the United States.^[vi] Douglass orates that positive statements about American values, such as liberty, citizenship, and freedom, were an crime to the enslaved population of the Us because of their lack of liberty, liberty, and citizenship. Every bit well, Douglass referred non only to the captivity of enslaved people, but to the merciless exploitation and the cruelty and torture that slaves were subjected to in the Usa.^[seven] Rhetoricians R.L. Heath and D. Waymer called this topic the "paradox of the positive" because it highlights how something positive and meant to be positive tin can also exclude individuals.^[7]

Views expressed in the voice communication [edit]

The fourth of July Accost, delivered in Corinthian Hall, by Frederick Douglass, is published on good newspaper, and makes a neat pamphlet of forty pages. The 'Accost' may be had at this part, price ten cents, a unmarried copy, or six dollars per hundred.

—Advertisement for the pamphlet of Douglass' speech from the July 12, 1852 edition of Frederick Douglass' Paper (formerly The Northward Star)

Douglass said that the fathers of the nation were great statesmen, and that the values expressed in the Declaration of Independence were "saving principles", and the "ringbolt of your nations destiny", stating, "stand by those principles, be true to them on all occasions, in all places, against all foes, and at whatever toll." However, he maintained that slaves owed nothing to and had no positive feelings towards the founding of the United States. He faulted America for utter hypocrisy and expose of those values in maintaining the institution of slavery.

What have I, or those I represent, to practice with your national independence? Are the neat principles of political freedom and of natural justice, embodied in that Announcement of Independence, extended to united states of america?...What, to the American slave, is your 4th of July? I reply; 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.^[8]

Douglass as well stresses the view that slaves and free Americans are equal in nature. He expresses his belief in the voice communication that he and other slaves are fighting the aforementioned fight in terms of wishing to exist gratuitous that White Americans, the ancestors of the white people he is addressing, fought seventy years earlier.

They were statesmen, patriots, and heroes, and…with them, justice, liberty, and humanity were final; not slavery and oppression.^{[9] : 340}

Douglass likewise says that if the residents of America believe that slaves are "men",^{[ix] : 342} they should exist treated as such. True Christians, according to Douglass, should not stand idly by while the rights and liberty of others are stripped abroad.

Douglass denounces the churches for betraying their ain biblical and Christian values. He is outraged by the lack of responsibility and indifference towards slavery that many sects have taken effectually the nation. He says that, if anything, many churches actually stand behind slavery and support the continued being of the institution. Douglass equates this to existence worse than many other things that are banned, in particular, books and plays that are banned for adultery.

They convert the very name of faith into an engine of tyranny and barbarous cruelty, and serve to ostend more than infidels, in this age, than all the infidel writings of Thomas Paine, Voltaire, and Bolingbroke put together have done.^{[ix] : 344}

All the same, Douglass claims that this tin can change. The United states of america does not have to stay the mode it is. The land tin can progress like information technology has earlier, transforming from being a colony of a far-away king to an independent nation. Great United kingdom, and many other countries of that time, had already abolished slavery from its territories. The British accomplished this through religion or more specifically, the church. Because the church stood behind the conclusion to cancel the selling and buying of people, so did the rest of the country. Douglass argues that religion is the centre of the problem merely also the main solution to information technology.

Douglass believed that slavery could be eliminated with the support of the church, and also with the reexamination of what the Bible was actually saying.

Yous profess to believe, "that, of 1 claret, God made all nations of men to dwell on the face of all the earth," and hath commanded all men everywhere to love one another; yet you notoriously detest (and glory in your hatred) all men whose skins are not colored like your own.^{[nine] : 345}

Douglass wants his audience to realize that they are not living upwards to their proclaimed beliefs. He talks near how they, being Americans, are proud of their country and their religion and how they rejoice in the proper noun of freedom and liberty and yet they practice not offer those things to millions of their country's residents.^{[9] : 345}

He employs irony to practice a lot of this piece of work. Douglass spends time jubilant the efforts of the founding fathers of America for fighting back against the tyranny of England when he says^[10]

Oppression makes a wise man mad. Your fathers were wise men, and if they did not become mad, they became restive under this treatment. They felt themselves the victims of grievous wrongs, wholly incurable in their colonial chapters. With brave men there is ever a remedy for oppression. Only hither, the idea of a full separation of the colonies from the crown was born! It was a startling idea, much more so, than nosotros, at this distance of fourth dimension, regard it. The timid and the prudent (as has been intimated) of that twenty-four hours, were, of course, shocked and alarmed past it.

Douglass details the hardships past Americans once endured when they were members of British colonies and validates their feelings of ill handling. He does all this to show the irony of their inability to understand with the Black people they oppressed in vicious ways that the forefathers they valorized never experienced. He validates the feelings of injustice the Founders felt then juxtaposes their experiences with vivid descriptions of the harshness of slavery when he says:^[eleven]

The crack y'all heard, was the sound of the slave-whip; the scream you heard, was from the woman you saw with the babe. Her speed had faltered nether the weight of her child and her chains! that gash on her shoulder tells her to move on. Follow the collection to New Orleans. Attend the auction; meet men examined like horses; see the forms of women rudely and brutally exposed to the shocking gaze of American slave-buyers. Encounter this drove sold and separated forever; and never forget the deep, sad sobs that arose from that scattered multitude. Tell me citizens, WHERE, under the sun, you can witness a spectacle more than fiendish and shocking. Yet this is but a glance at the American slave-trade, equally information technology exists, at this moment, in the ruling function of the United states of america.

Essentially, Douglass criticizes his audience'due south pride for a nation that claims to value freedom though it is composed of people who continuously commit atrocities against Blacks. It is said that America is built on the idea of liberty and liberty, merely Douglass tells his audience that more than anything, it is built on inconsistencies and hypocrisies that have been overlooked for and so long they appear to be truths. According to Douglass, these inconsistencies have made the United States the object of mockery and frequently contempt among the diverse nations of the world.^{[9] : 346} To prove evidence of these inconsistencies, as one historian noted, during the speech Douglass claims that the U.s.a. Constitution is an abolitionist document and not a pro-slavery certificate.^[12] Douglass said:^{[xiii] [xiv]}

An advertisement for the occasion of the speech.

Fellow-citizens! there is no affair in respect to which, the people of the N have immune themselves to be and then ruinously imposed upon, equally that of the pro-slavery character of the Constitution. In that instrument I hold there is neither warrant, license, nor sanction of the hateful thing; but, interpreted as information technology ought to exist interpreted, the Constitution is a GLORIOUS LIBERTY DOCUMENT. Read its preamble, consider its purposes. Is slavery amid them? Is it at the gateway? or is it in the temple? Information technology is neither.

In this respect, Douglass' views converged with that of Abraham Lincoln's^[15] in that those politicians who were saying that the Constitution was a justification for their beliefs in regard to slavery were doing and then dishonestly.

However, if slavery were abolished and equal rights given to all, that would no longer be the case. In the stop, Douglass wants to go along his hope and religion in humanity high. Douglass declares that true liberty can not exist in America if Blackness people are still enslaved there and is adamant that the end of slavery is nearly. Noesis is becoming more readily available, Douglass said, and soon the American people will open their optics to the atrocities they have been inflicting on their fellow Americans.

Intelligence is penetrating the darkest corners of the earth. It makes its pathway over and nether the sea, equally well as on the world.^{[ix] : 346}

Later views on American independence [edit]

The speech "What to the Slave Is the 4th of July?" was delivered in the decade preceding the American Civil War, which lasted from 1861 to 1865 and accomplished the abolition of slavery. During the Ceremonious War, Douglass said that since Massachusetts had been the first country to join the Patriot crusade during the American Revolutionary State of war, black men should go to Massachusetts to enlist in the Union Army.^[xvi] Subsequently the Ceremonious War, Douglass said that "nosotros" had achieved a great thing past gaining American independence during the American Revolutionary War, though he said information technology was non as great as what was achieved by the Civil War.^[17]

Legacy [edit]

In the United States, the voice communication is widely taught in history and English language classes in high school and college.^[6] American studies professor Andrew S. Bibby argues that because many of the editions produced for educational utilize are abridged, they often misrepresent Douglass'south original through omission or editorial focus.^[6]

A statue of Douglass erected in Rochester in 2018 was torn down on July five, 2020—the 168th ceremony of the speech.^{[xviii] [19]} The head of the organization responsible for the memorial speculated that it was vandalized in response to the removal of Amalgamated monuments in the wake of the George Floyd protests, though in that location is no evidence to testify this statement. ^[20]

Notable readings [edit]

The speech has been notably performed or read by of import figures, including the following:

• James Earl Jones^[6]
• Morgan Freeman^[vi]
• Danny Glover^[six]
• Ossie Davis^{[half dozen]}
• Baratunde Thurston^[21]
• 5 of his descendants^[22]

References [edit]

1. ^ Douglass, Frederick (1852). Frederick Douglass, Oration, Delivered in Corinthian Hall, Rochester, July 5th, 1852. Rochester: Lee, Mann & Co., 1852. Rochester, NY: Lee, Isle of mann & Co.
2. ^ Douglass, Frederick (July 5, 1852). ""What to the Slave is the 4th of July?"". Retrieved January two, 2022.
3. ^ McFeely, William Due south. (1991). Frederick Douglass . New York: W.Westward. Norton & Company. pp. 172–173. ISBN978-0-393-02823-2.
4. ^ The paragraphing referenced here is taken from an edition of the speech at RhetoricalGoddess
5. ^ Douglass, Frederick (1982). Blassingame, John W. (ed.). The Frederick Douglass Papers, Series One: Speeches Debates, and Interviews. Vol. 2, 1847-54. New Haven: Yale University Press. p. 359-387.
6. ^ ^{a b c d e f g} Bibby, Andrew Southward. (July 2, 2014). "'What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?': Frederick Douglass'southward fiery Independence Solar day oral communication is widely read today, but non and then widely understood". Wall Street Journal . Retrieved August 13, 2015.
7. ^ ^{a b} Heath, Robert Fifty.; Waymer, Damion (2009). "Activist Public Relations and the Paradox of the Positive: A Example Study of Frederick Douglass's Quaternary of July Accost". Rhetorical and Disquisitional Approaches to Public Relations II: 192–215. ISBN9781135220877.
8. ^ Battistoni, Richard. The American Constitutional Experience: Selected Readings & Supreme Court Opinions, pp. 66-73 (Kendall Hunt, 2000).
9. ^ ^{a b c d e f g} Douglass, Frederick (1852). "Oration, Delivered in Corinthian Hall, Rochester, July 5, 1852". In Harris, Leonard; Pratt, Scott L.; Waters, Anne Due south. (eds.). American Philosophies: An Anthology. Malden, Mass.: Blackwell (published 2002). ISBN978-0-631-21002-3.
10. ^ ""What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?"". Teaching American History . Retrieved 2021-05-22 .
11. ^ ""What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?"". Teaching American History . Retrieved 2021-05-22 .
12. ^ Colaiaco, James A. (March 24, 2015). Frederick Douglass and the Fourth of July. St. Martin's Publishing Group. ISBN9781466892781 – via Google Books.
13. ^ "Exceptionalism and the left". Los Angeles Times. Dec 13, 2010.
14. ^ African Americans In Congress: A Documentary History, by Eric Freedman and Stephen A, Jones, 2008, p. 39
15. ^ Gorski, Philip (Feb 6, 2017). American Covenant: A History of Civil Religion from the Puritans to the Present. Princeton University Press. ISBN9781400885008 – via Google Books.
16. ^ Douglass, Frederick. Frederick Douglass on Slavery and the Civil State of war: Selections from His Writings, p. 46 (Dover Publications, 2014): "We can get at the throat of treason and slavery through the Country of Massachusetts. She was first in the War of Independence; first to intermission the bondage of her slaves; kickoff to make the black human being equal before the law; kickoff to admit colored children to her common schools, and she was first to respond with her blood the alarm cry of the nation, when its uppercase was menaced past rebels."
17. ^ Douglass, Frederick. Autobiographies, p. 765 (Library of America, 1994): "It was a great matter to attain American Independence when we numbered three millions, but information technology was a greater affair to save this country from dismemberment and ruin when it numbered xxx millions."
18. ^ Schwartz, Matthew S. (July 6, 2020). "Frederick Douglass Statue Torn Down On Ceremony Of Famous Voice communication". NPR. Archived from the original on July 7, 2020. Retrieved July 7, 2020.
19. ^ Brown, Deneen L. (July vi, 2020). "Frederick Douglass statue torn down in Rochester, Due north.Y., on anniversary of his famous 4th of July speech". The Washington Postal service. Archived from the original on July 7, 2020. Retrieved July 7, 2020.
20. ^ Pengelly, Martin (July six, 2020). "Frederick Douglass statue torn down on ceremony of great voice communication". The Guardian. Archived from the original on July 7, 2020. Retrieved July 7, 2020. Speaking to WROC, [Carvin] Eison asked: 'Is this some blazon of retaliation considering of the national fever over Confederate monuments right now? Very disappointing, information technology's beyond disappointing.'
21. ^ Thurston, Baratunde (July 4, 2020) [Recorded July 1, 2016]. Baratunde Delivers United states Co-Founder Frederick Douglass 1852 Spoken language: 'What To The Slave Is The 4th of July' . Facebook. Directed past Tara Garver Mikhael. Brooklyn Public Library. Retrieved July 7, 2020.
22. ^ "VIDEO: Frederick Douglass' Descendants Deliver His 'Fourth Of July' Speech". NPR.org . Retrieved 2021-05-22 .

Farther reading [edit]

• Bizzell, Patricia (1997-02-01). "The fourth of July and the 22nd of December: The Part of Cultural Archives in Persuasion, as Shown by Frederick Douglass and William Apess". College Limerick and Advice. 48 (1): 44–60. doi:10.2307/358770. ISSN 0010-096X. JSTOR 358770.
• Douglass, Frederick. A Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave. New York: Dover Publications, Inc. 1845.
• Douglass, Frederick, ed. Stauffer, John. Random House. 2003. My Chains and My Freedom: Part I - Life as a Slave, Part II - Life as a Freeman, with an introduction by James McCune Smith. New York: Miller, Orton & Mulligan. 1855.
• Gates, Jr. Henry Louis, ed. Frederick Douglass, Autobiography. New York: Library of America. 1994.
• Oakes, James. The Radical and the Republican: Frederick Douglass, Abraham Lincoln, and the Triumph of Antislavery Politics. New York: W.Due west. Norton & Company, Inc. 2007.

External links [edit]

• Frederick Douglass' Descendants Deliver His 'Quaternary of July' Speech (video)
• Beginning edition of the publication of Douglass' speech
• Discussion of the pamphlet from The Public Domain Review
• What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July? public domain audiobook at LibriVox

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Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/What_to_the_Slave_Is_the_Fourth_of_July%3F

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