Oh! On the other hand it will be found to contain principles and purposes, entirely hostile to the existence of slavery. And never from my chosen post, It gave me such a surge of hope that the event could bring together such divergent groups. Open Document. Allow me to say, in conclusion, notwithstanding the dark picture I have this day presented of the state of the nation, I do not despair of this country. Its also an election year; the 1852 presidential election was heating up that summer. Be driven. Space is comparatively annihilated. In Douglass's case, he was in a room with people who supported the ending of slavery. The Nativist party is rising. May he not hope that high lessons of wisdom, of justice and of truth, will yet give direction to her destiny? My original thought was a public reading prior to the holiday, which would prompt people to incorporate the speech or a discussion of its meaning in their holiday observations, whether in the back yard or the local library. Must we allow symbols of racism on public land? When the dogs in your streets, when the fowls of the air, when the cattle on your hills, when the fish of the sea, and the reptiles that crawl, shall be unable to distinguish the slave from a brute, then will I argue with you that the slave is a man! The principles contained in that instrument are saving principles. Harvard Law Today: Can you tell me a little bit about Douglass speech? Toward the end of the Civil War he delivered a speech, "What the Black Man Wants," discussing what the nation should do to help the newly freed . Members of the public will take turns reading parts of the speech until theyve read all of it, together. These rules are well established. He also wrote a letter to Ida B. My subject, then fellow citizens, says Douglass, is American slavery. He brings that subject to life in vivid and sometimes horrifying terms, Standing, as he says, with God and the crushed and bleeding slave on this occasion. The effect is undeniable and its implications inescapable: the contradiction between the celebration and the bondage it masks demands action. What is the main message of Douglass's speech? Douglass's speech emphasized that American slavery and American freedom is a shared history and that the actions of ordinary men and women, demanding freedom, transformed our nation. 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. Douglass' speech also foreshadowed the bloody reckoning to come: Civil War. On July 5, 1875, as Reconstruction brought its own fears, like violence from the Ku Klux Klan, Douglass shifted his speech for the day, asking, If war among the whites brought peace and liberty to the blacks, what will peace among the whites bring? But the 1852 What to the Slave is the Fourth of July? speech remains the best known of his addresses on the occasion, especially as it became even more widely read in the late-20th century, with events like the public readings sponsored by the Vermont Humanities Council and a powerful reading by James Earl Jones in 2004. That day will come all feuds to end. 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! ROY: Douglass wrote the speech in the wake of the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, which effectively extended the reach of slave power in the South throughout the rest of the country. Read each part and answer the questions at the end of that part. Go forth. God speed the day when human bloodShall cease to flow!In every clime be understood,The claims of human brotherhood,And each return for evil, good,Not blow for blow;That day will come all feuds to end.And change into a faithful friendEach foe. 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. These gentlemen have, as I think, fully and clearly vindicated the Constitution from any design to support slavery for an hour. 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. 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. AN summary of Themes in Frederick Douglass's Narrative of the Lived of Frederick Douglass. No abuse, no outrage whether in taste, sport or avarice, can now hide itself from the all-pervading light. PMO | May Day Message 2023 Inches "What to the Slave Can the Fourth of July?" Frederick Duplex seeking not only to persuades my of the wrongfulness starting slavery but also to make abolition find acceptable for Northern whites. Why does Douglass appeal to the Constitution in the last section of the speech? Presenting ideas in. At the time Douglass spoke, Blight says, the opportunity was ripe for a lecture on the moral crisis. An edited version of Douglasss speech is provided below. 'Don't get in our way,' Harris urges in speech at Howard University What characteristics does he praise about them? Harvard Law Today recently interviewed David Harris, managing director of the Charles Hamilton Houston Institute for Race & Justice at Harvard Law School, the events cosponsor, about the public reading and the continued relevance of Douglass words. While I do not intend to argue this question on the present occasion, let me ask, if it be not somewhat singular that, if the Constitution were intended to be, by its framers and adopters, a slave-holding instrument, why neither slavery, slaveholding, nor slave can anywhere be found in it. 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? Your fathers staked their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor, on the cause of their country. THAT HOUR WILL, COME, to each, to all, Thats a tough one for me. 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. Until that year, day, hour, arrive, On top of his federal work, Douglass kept a vigorous speaking tour schedule. Reading to explore the resonance of Douglass' famous speech And from his prison-house, the thrall Why is this speech still relevant today? In short, it gave the federal government an active role in maintaining the Souths system of slavery. I have better employment for my time and strength than such arguments would imply. In Douglasss honor, wed like to share an abridged version of his speech now considered one of the greatest in US history. 'It should be here in Rochester.' Fundraising underway for Frederick There are forces in operation, which must inevitably work The downfall of slavery. Is that a question for Republicans? It makes its pathway over and under the sea, as well as on the earth. Why does he call his own time degenerate? Oppression makes a wise man mad. Douglass speech also foreshadowed the bloody reckoning to come: Civil War. But we also need to invest as a city and as a society into reading and learning more about the present realities of oppressed peoples. He who will, intelligently, lay down his life for his country, is a man whom it is not in human nature to despise. With them, nothing was "settled" that was not right. 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. 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). I repeat, I am glad this is so. 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 freedom gained is yours; and you, therefore, may properly celebrate this anniversary. One of the parts of the speech that resonates with me the most is when Douglass says: What, to the American slave, is your 4th of July? That holiday, he delivered the greatest anti-slavery speech in American history. 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. We feel the pain and anguish ever more severely and it is much harder to find hope for the future. There is consolation in the thought that America is young. To drag a man in fetters into the grand illuminated temple of liberty, and call upon him to join you in joyous anthems, were inhuman mockery and sacrilegious irony. 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.. The Celestial Empire, the mystery of ages, is being solved. O! In the early 1850s, tensions over slavery were high across the county. That annihilation of space has allowed for real time reporting of events, which in turn has led to considerable change around the world. We convened a group of interested parties, met a few times over a couple of months, and decided to launch an event on the Common. The manhood of the slave is conceded. It saps the foundation of religion; it makes your name a hissing, and a byword to a mocking earth. Frederick Douglass published three autobiographies. This Fourth of July is yours, not mine. 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. The Compromise of 1850 had failed to resolve the controversy over the admission of new slaveholding states to the Union. He begins by praising the young nation and its origins in righteous protest against oppression by a tyrannical monarch. The headings in brackets have been supplied by the editor to guide your reading as have the questions after each section. I take it, therefore, that it is not presumption in a private citizen to form an opinion of that instrument. In 1881, Douglass published his third autobiography, Life and Times of Frederick Douglass, which took a long view of his life's work, the nation's progress, and the work left to do. At a time like this, scorching irony, not convincing argument, is needed. For example, acknowledging all of the darker sides of our history makes it easier to understand why and how Colin Kaepernick taking a knee during the national anthem is actually an expression of the same kind of patriotism Douglass demonstrates in his critique of the United States. 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. But for me, the hope is in the very fact of gathering, of reading the speech in community, renewing the bonds with others who share a determination to change, and committing to act accordingly. Why do you think he does so? Frederick Douglass (18181895) was a former slave who became a nationally recognizedabolitionist orator during the antebellum period. With them, justice, liberty and humanity were final; not slavery and oppression. 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. It is neither. 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. I shall see this day and its popular characteristics from the slave's point of view. He was invited to give a fourth of July speech by the Ladies Anti-Slavery Society of Rochester. Somehow I often find myself reading this paragraph and Im always struck by its prescience. The sunlight that brought light and healing to you, has brought stripes and death to me. Frederick Douglass delivered 'best Fourth of July speech in American The purpose of Douglass' message was to inform abolitions of the inhumane treatment of slaves and to continue making progress in freeing slaves. Oh! In Douglass' speech, his tone mainly appeals to emotions. America, by its nature, is never quite fulfilling all of those promises.. Great streams are not easily turned from channels, worn deep in the course of ages. He follows this observation by closing with words from William Lloyd Garrison, suggesting the new reach of the great abolitionist across the ocean as part of a global abolition movement. What was Douglass's purpose in writing his Narrative of the Life of There are seventy-two crimes in the State of Virginia which, if committed by a black man (no matter how ignorant he be), subject him to the punishment of death; while only two of the same crimes will subject a white man to the like punishment. Throughout this speech, as well as his life, Douglass advocated equal justice and rights, as well as citizenship, for blacks.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. For more information on other communal readings scheduled throughout the state, visit MassHumanities.org. I will not. He would use the Fourth of July for its irony over and over and over, just like the Declaration of Independence is used to remind the country of its potential and promise, and to him, race was always the measure of that, he says. I have said that the Declaration of Independence is the ring-bolt to the chain of your nations destiny; so, indeed, I regard it. The Act also denied suspected slaves trial by jury or even the ability to testify on their own behalf in court. Magazines, Digital The spoiler of his prey deprive 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! Americans! We unveiled the first 10 members of the FD200 today, on the 166th anniversary of Douglasss speech. Read by Ava Yuninger, Music by Ava Yuninger 00:00 00:00 Stand by those principles, be true to them on all occasions, in all places, against all foes, and at whatever cost. How should I look to-day, in the presence of Americans, dividing, and subdividing a discourse, to show that men have a natural right to freedom? 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. Indeed, in one of the most timeless passages in the speech, Douglass insists that the character and conduct of this nation never looked blacker to me than on this 4th of July, adding as if speaking today, 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. Knowledge was then confined and enjoyed by the privileged few, and the multitude walked on in mental darkness. God speed the day when human blood Intelligence is penetrating the darkest corners of the globe. that he is the rightful owner of his own body? At the time of the delivery of this speech, Douglass had been living in Rochester, New York for several years editing a weekly abolitionist newspaper. With them, justice, liberty and humanity were "final;" not slavery and oppression. What is the main message of Douglass's speech? They may also rise in wrath and fury, and bear away, on their angry waves, the accumulated wealth of years of toil and hardship. The main message of Douglass's speech is 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. "The arm of the Lord is not shortened," and the doom of slavery is certain. What have I, or those I represent, to do with your national independence? 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. They were quiet men; but they did not shrink from agitating against oppression. Host called senior colleague a C-word in text message obtained by lawyers as part of Dominion lawsuit Tucker Carlson's firing from Fox News came after he used vulgar language to describe a . Douglass presented this speech to an antislavery societyan audience that was already on his side. Has the public reading of the speech each year on Boston Commonor the experience or meaning of itchanged over the years? It is actually quite longwe use an abridged version for our readingsbut despite its length it is at once riveting and concise. He was invited to give a fourth of July speech by the Ladies Anti-Slavery Society of Rochester. The wide world oer No nation can now shut itself up from the surrounding world, and trot round in the same old path of its fathers without interference. If I do not remember thee, let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth." or is it in the temple? The fight for independence was a long, hard battle. 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, Meredith Max Hodges and Geraldine Acua-Sunshine to assume leadership roles for 2023-24, We need individual events like reading Douglass, but we also need to be thinking about ways to extend this conversation over the long term., Happiness is not a destination Happiness is the way, Expanding our understanding of gut feelings, Gen Z, millennials need to be prepared to fight for change, What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?, Rewriting history to include all of it this time. I hold that every American citizen has a fight to form an opinion of the constitution, and to propagate that opinion, and to use all honorable means to make his opinion the prevailing one. 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. You may well cherish the memory of such men. Who so stolid and selfish, that would not give his voice to swell the hallelujahs of a nation's jubilee, when the chains of servitude had been torn from his limbs? 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. Obviously, the speech has taken a much darker meaning in the Age of [President Donald] Trump. ", Citizens, your fathers made good that resolution. But I differ from those who charge this baseness on the framers of the Constitution of the United States. And change into a faithful friend I attended in 2008 and was deeply moved by the experience. In the fervent aspirations of William Lloyd Garrison, I say, and let every heart join in saying it: God speed the year of jubilee In the late 1840s and into the 1850s, his finances were tight, and he was struggling to sustain the newspaper he founded, The North Star. (modern), Frederick Douglas addressing an English audience during his visit to London in 1846., Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America. The existence of slavery in this country brands your republicanism as a sham, your humanity as a base pretense, and your Christianity as a lie. The iron shoe, and crippled foot of China must be seen, in contrast with nature. What are some of Frederick Douglass's most famous writings and speeches Is it at the gateway? They were statesmen, patriots and heroes, and for the good they did, and the principles they contended for, I will unite with you to honor their memory.. Your high independence only reveals the immeasurable distance between us. This Fourth July is yours, not mine. 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. Why Frederick Douglass Wanted Black Men to Fight in the Civil War - History Politics latest updates: NHS 'on the brink' says nursing union; 10% They were peace men; but they preferred revolution to peaceful submission to bondage. 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. From Boston to London is now a holiday excursion. What, to the American slave, is your Fourth of July? Two readings, 165 years apart, addressed to a nation at a precarious political moment. On the Fourth of July, 1852, America celebrated its freedom, as it does every Independence Day. What, to the American slave, is your 4th of July? This, for the purpose of this celebration, is the 4th of July. I doubt even Douglass could have anticipated the technology we have or its uses. Before you read the speech you can follow these links to learn more about Douglasss life and the evolution of his thought in this period. Across the country, people were thinking and arguing about slavery, abolitionism, and the future of the nation. Cling to this daycling to it, and to its principles, with the grasp of a storm-tossed mariner to a spar at midnight. Douglass stated that the nation's founders were great men for their ideals of 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. 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. The time for such argument is passed. Overseers announce new president, vice chair. Their solid manhood stands out the more as we contrast it with these degenerate times. It is admitted in the fact that Southern statute books are covered with enactments forbidding, under severe fines and penalties, the teaching of the slave to read or to write. Frederick Douglass Speech On The Fourth Of July Revisited In - NPR 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. [Throughout the speech] Douglass looks at the contradictions between the reality of slavery and the lofty claims of a just society outlined in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. Frederick Douglass - Narrative, Quotes & Facts | HISTORY Original reporting and incisive analysis, direct from the Guardian every morning, 2023 Guardian News & Media Limited or its affiliated companies. Why, then, did Douglass speak as harshly as he did? The blessings in which you, this day, rejoice, are not enjoyed in common. Nobody doubts it. A small group would gather in a circle and take turns reading paragraphs from the speech. Frederick Douglass "What to the Slave" - Lesson Plan | Learning to I recall seeing a group of young blonde-haired children standing at the wall overlooking the reading as a group of late adolescents and young men sat on the adjacent steps on a lunch break from their work with YouthBuild.
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