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 wrote a glowing letter of encouragement to Harriet Tubman, which served as the preface to Sarah Bradfords 1869 biography about Tubmans life. 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.. I am glad, fellow-citizens, that your nation is so young. The people who came to America were surprised by its history. "[L]et 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.". Identify these elements. In short, it gave the federal government an active role in maintaining the Souths system of slavery. 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! 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. David Harris: Douglass was known for his oratory and this speech is no exception. While drawing encouragement from the Declaration of Independence, the great principles it contains, and the genius of American Institutions, my spirit is also cheered by the obvious tendencies of the age. 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. They succeeded; and to-day you reap the fruits of their success. I take it, therefore, that it is not presumption in a private citizen to form an opinion of that instrument. There is blasphemy in the thought. Convicted terrorists will be banned from taking a leading role in religious services and face more rigorous checks for extremist literature. For it is not light that is needed, but fire; it is not the gentle shower, but thunder, he said. They were peace men; but they preferred revolution to peaceful submission to bondage. 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. 838 Words. The arm of commerce has borne away the gates of the strong city. Why, then, did Douglass speak as harshly as he did? President Lincoln did issue the Emancipation Proclamation six months later but even after the wars end, Douglass continued to use the Fifth of July to draw attention to the nations track record on the idea celebrated on the Fourth. 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 does not often happen to a nation to raise, at one time, such a number of truly great men. Must I undertake to prove that the slave is a man? The slaveholders themselves acknowledge it in the enactment of laws for their government. As I mentioned earlier, the first reading was designed to the think about race in the Age of Obama. I remember that first year, looking out at the crowd I was filled with the kind of hope Douglass expressed at the end of his speech. We would be well advised to ponder Douglasss speech as we frame this conversation. 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). These gentlemen have, as I think, fully and clearly vindicated the Constitution from any design to support slavery for an hour. 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. With them, justice, liberty and humanity were "final;" not slavery and oppression. An edited version of Douglasss speech is provided below. Shall cease to flow! What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?, Watch: A Conversation with Ta-Nehisi Coates, Oprah Winfrey, Media Mogul and Philanthropist, National Museum of African American History & Culture, A Nation's Story: What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?. Fellow Citizens, I am not wanting in respect for the fathers of this republic. In their admiration of liberty, they lost sight of all other interests. Then, I dare to affirm, notwithstanding all I have said before, your fathers stooped, basely stooped "To palter with us in a double sense: And keep the word of promise to the ear, But break it to the heart.". SOURCE FORMAT: Public speech (excerpt) WORD COUNT: 1,660 words Excerpt from Frederick Douglass's "Fifth of July" Speech (1852). Oh! We have to do with the past only as we can make it useful to the present and to the future. 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? Douglass presented this speech to an antislavery societyan audience that was already on his side. Douglass's purpose in writing his Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave was to provide a first-hand account of the horrors of slavery and thereby support the. What, am I to argue that it is wrong to make men brutes, to rob them of their liberty, to work them without wages, to keep them ignorant of their relations to their fellow men, to beat them with sticks, to flay their flesh with the lash, to load their limbs with irons, to hunt them with dogs, to sell them at auction, to sunder their families, to knock out their teeth, to burn their flesh, to starve them into obedience and submission to their masters? May he not hope that high lessons of wisdom, of justice and of truth, will yet give direction to her destiny? Whateer the peril or the cost, I shall not presume to dwell at length on the associations that cluster about this day. I will not. In the fervent aspirations of William Lloyd Garrison, I say, and let every heart join in saying it: God speed the year of jubilee Many of you understand them better than I do. His speeches continued to agitate for racial equality and women's rights. When from their galling chains set free, 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? They, however, gradually flow back to the same old channel, and flow on as serenely as ever. What, then, remains to be argued? What did he say and in what context? Now, there are certain rules of interpretation, for the proper understanding of all legal instruments. The blessings in which you, this day, rejoice, are not enjoyed in common. You could instruct me in regard to them. 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. Douglass repeatedly uses the pronouns you and your (rather than our and ours) throughout this section. America is false to the past, false to the present, and solemnly binds herself to be false to the future. And it also imposed severe penalties on anyone who helped enslaved people to escape. 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? I have better employments for my time and strength. The headings in brackets have been supplied by the editor to guide your reading as have the questions after each section. What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July? We may finally be thinking about creating a commission to study the possibility of reparationsas with all deliberate speed, the American way of tackling a problem takes so much time and patienceand for this we can be thankful. The rich inheritance of justice, liberty, prosperity and independence, bequeathed by your fathers, is shared by you, not by me. 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. I say it with a sad sense of the disparity between us. What feelings is he appealing to in his audience in this section? 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. On July 4th, 1852, he gave a speech to citizens of the United States. The country was in the midst of crises over fugitive slave rescues in the wake of the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850. But I fancy I hear some one of my audience say, "It is just in this circumstance that you and your brother abolitionists fail to make a favorable impression on the public mind. Above your national, tumultuous joy, I hear the mournful wail of millions whose chains, heavy and grievous yesterday, are, today, rendered more intolerable by the jubilee shouts that reach them. That day will come all feuds to end. Can you tell me about the origins of the Reading Frederick Douglas Together project? 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. Oppression makes a wise man mad. Everyone is welcome to read; this event is free and open to the public. Would you have me argue that man is entitled to liberty? The fact of slavery ruins the celebrations of the Fourth of July. Senator Berrien tell us that the Constitution is the fundamental law, that which controls all others. These rules are well established. I generally try to avoid speculating about current or historical figures I dont know. 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. The rich inheritance of justice, liberty, prosperity and independence, bequeathed by your fathers, is shared by you, not by me. This, to you, is what the Passover was to the emancipated people of God. Chan School of Public Health celebrates opening of $25M Thich Nhat Hanh Center for research, approaches to mindfulness, Women who suppressed emotions had less diverse microbiomes in study that also found specific bacterial link to happiness, Tenn. lawmaker Justin Pearson, Parkland survivor David Hogg 23 talk about tighter gun control, GOP attempts to restrict voting rights, importance of local politics, Dangers involved in rise of neurotechnology that allows for tracking of thoughts, feelings examined at webinar, 2023 The President and Fellows of Harvard College, Photo courtesy of the National Archives and Records Administration, By Manisha Aggarwal-Schifellite Harvard Staff Writer, 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. And the contradiction of Americas just ideals and unjust realities endures, too. The freedom gained is yours; and you, therefore, may properly celebrate this anniversary. Do you think Douglass would be surprised to learn that Americans are reciting his words nearly 170 years later? No abuse, no outrage whether in taste, sport or avarice, can now hide itself from the all-pervading light. 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. Fellow-citizens! Mock said that Douglass has been a constant presence throughout her life. GAZETTE: What is the historical setting for this speech, and why did Douglass focus on the Fourth of July? 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? 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. Restore. God speed the hour, the glorious hour,When none on earthShall exercise a lordly power,Nor in a tyrants presence cower;But all to manhoods stature tower,By equal birth!That hour will come, to each, to all,And from his prison-house, the thrallGo forth. Throughout this speech, as well as his life, Douglass advocated equal justice and rights, as well as citizenship, for blacks. Their solid manhood stands out the more as we contrast it with these degenerate times. Fellow Citizens, I am not wanting in respect for the fathers of this republic. 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 project began in the library of an organization called Community Change, which was founded by Horace Seldon in 1968 to address the white problem at the root of American inequality revealed by the Kerner Report. The arm of the Lord is not shortened, and the doom of slavery is certain. I am not included within the pale of glorious anniversary! Were the nation older, the patriots heart might be sadder, and the reformers brow heavier. Why do you think he delivered the speech on the 5th rather than the 4th of July? American abolitionist Frederick Douglass, circa 1855. From poetry, novels, and memoirs to journalism, crime writing, and science fiction, the more than 300 volumes published by Library of America are widely . A Brief History of the S'more, America's Favorite Campfire Snack, The 25 Defining Works of the Black Renaissance. Original reporting and incisive analysis, direct from the Guardian every morning, 2023 Guardian News & Media Limited or its affiliated companies. The above audio reading by actor Ossie Davis can be used alongside the full text of Frederick Douglass's speech delivered on July 5, 1852 at Corinthian Hall to the Rochester Ladies' Anti-Slavery Society in Rochester, New York. It does not often happen to a nation to raise, at one time, such a number of truly great men. Frederick Douglass, America's most famous anti-slavery activist and fugitive slave, saw no ground to celebrate: he saw the octopus arms of slavery stretched everywhere, exposing the hollowness. Your high independence only reveals the immeasurable distance between us. I attended in 2008 and was deeply moved by the experience. You may well cherish the memory of such men. Like brutes no more. 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. Two readings, 165 years apart, addressed to a nation at a precarious political moment. God speed the day when human blood Would you argue more, and denounce less; would you persuade more, and rebuke less; your cause would be much more likely to succeed." However, this was not the purpose of Douglass's speech. Open Document. 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. What an understanding of the future this shows, although we know it is not all for the better.
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