Fellow-citizens; above your national, tumultuous joy, I hear the mournful wail of millions! Juneteenth Reading List: 10 Books To Learn More About Black Independence Day, Your email will be shared with newsone.com and subject to its, The Meaning of July Fourth for the Negro address before an audience, at Corinthian Hall in Rochester, New York, on July 5, 1852, he was issuing , a scathing indictment of American hypocrisy, Washington Post columnist Courtland Milloy, . Would you have me argue that man is entitled to Liberty, that he is the rightful owner of his body? The subject has been handled with masterly power by Lysander Spooner, Esq., by William Goodell, by Samuel E. Sewall, Esq., and last, though not least, by Gerritt Smith, Esq. There are exceptions, and I thank God that there are. I say it with a sad sense of disparity between us. The far off and almost fabulous Pacific rolls in grandeur at our feet. If I do forget, if I do not faithfully remember those bleeding children of sorrow this day, may my right hand forget her cunning, and may my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth! 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. These people were called Tories in the days of your fathers; and the appellation, probably, conveyed the same idea that is meant by a more modern, though a somewhat less euphonious term, which we often find in our papers, applied to some of our old politicians. For it is not light that is needed, but fire; it is not the gentle shower, but thunder. And it would go hard with that politician who presumed to solicit the votes of the people without inscribing this motto on his banner. They hate all changes, but silver, gold and copper change! Extend your content reach and maximize your engagement rates. Standing, there, identified with the American bondman, making his wrongs mine, I do not hesitate to declare, with all my soul, that the character and conduct of this nation never looked blacker to me than on this 4th of July! The arm of commerce has borne away the gates of the strong city. 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. He was invited to give a fourth of July speech by the Ladies Anti-Slavery Society of Rochester. In the early 1850s, tensions over slavery were high across the county. They convert the very name of religion into an engine of tyranny, and barbarous cruelty, and serve to confirm more infidels, in this age, than all the infidel writings of Thomas Paine, Voltaire, and Bolingbroke, put together, have done! Your lawmakers have commanded all good citizens to engage in this hellish sport. As the sheet anchor takes a firmer hold, when the ship is tossed by the storm, so did the cause of your fathers grow stronger, as it breasted the chilling blasts of kingly displeasure. What is this but the acknowledgement that the slave is a moral, intellectual and responsible being? It destroys your moral power abroad; it corrupts your politicians at home. With little experience and with less learning, I have been able to throw my thoughts hastily and imperfectly together; and trusting to your patient and generous indulgence, I will proceed to lay them before you. There were then no means of concert and combination, such as exist now. Wind, steam, and lightning are its chartered agents. that it should be so; yet so it is. Must I argue the wrongfulness of slavery? What, then, remains to be argued? It is not that pure and undefiled religion which is from above, and which is first pure, then peaceable, easy to be entreated, full of mercy and good fruits,without partiality, and without hypocrisy. But a religion which favors the rich against the poor; which exalts the proud above the humble; which divides mankind into two classes, tyrants and slaves; which says to the man in chains,stay there; and to the oppressor,oppress on; it is a religion which may be professed and enjoyed by all the robbers and enslavers of mankind; it makes God a respecter of persons, denies his fatherhood of the race, and tramples in the dust the great truth of the brotherhood of man. I take it, therefore, that it is not presumption in a private citizen to form an opinion of that instrument. It would, certainly, prove nothing, as to what part I might have taken, had I lived during the great controversy of 1776. Just here, the idea of a total separation of the colonies from the crown was born! Heat and sorrow have nearly consumed their strength; suddenly you hear a quick snap, like the discharge of a rifle; the fetters clank, and the chain rattles simultaneously; your ears are saluted with a scream, that seems to have torn its way to the center of your soul! I can to-day take up the plaintive lament of a peeled and woe-smitten people! According to this fact, you are, even now, only in the beginning of your national career, still lingering in the period of childhood. It saps the foundation of religion; it makes your name a hissing, and a bye-word to a mocking earth. Everybody can say it; the dastard, not less than the noble brave, can flippantly discant on the tyranny of England towards the American Colonies. Create a better, more engaging experience for every student. Its future might be shrouded in gloom, and the hope of its prophets go out in sorrow. It is the birthday of your National Independence, and of your political freedom. Nobody doubts it. They, that can, may. When Douglass delivered his famous The Meaning of July Fourth for the Negro address before an audience at Corinthian Hall in Rochester, New York, on July 5, 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. If any man in this assembly thinks differently from me in this matter, and feels able to disprove my statements, I will gladly confront him at any suitable time and place he may select. Sign up for NewsOne's email newsletter! 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. 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, Speech-to-Text API for pre-recorded audio, powered by the worlds leading speech recognition engine. To side with the right, against the wrong, with the weak against the strong, and with the oppressed against the oppressor! 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. How should I look today in the presence of Americans dividing and subdividing, a discourse to show that men have a natural right to freedom speaking of it, relatively and positively, negatively and affirmatively? Descendants of Frederick Douglass read excerpts from one of his most famous speeches: What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July? Such a declaration of agreement on my part would not be worth much to anybody. It makes its pathway over and under the sea, as well as on the earth. I do not remember ever to have appeared as a speaker before any assembly more shrinkingly, nor with greater distrust of my ability, than I do this day. The fiat of the Almighty, Let there be Light, has not yet spent its force. They may also rise in wrath and fury, and bear away, on their angry waves, the accumulated wealth of years of toil and hardship. Your fathers have lived, died, and have done their work, and have done much of it well. Frederick Douglass Read the full transcript here. 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. The minister of American justice is bound by the law to hear butoneside; andthatside, is the side of the oppressor. They who did so were accounted in their day, plotters of mischief, agitators and rebels, dangerous men. WebFrederick Douglass, July 5, 1852 INTRODUCTION (Exordium) 1. The madness of this course, we believe, is admitted now, even by England; but we fear the lesson is wholly lost on our present ruler. The duty to extirpate and destroy it, is admitted even by our DOCTORS OF DIVINITY. Your fathers esteemed the English Government as the home government; and England as the fatherland. WebIn December 1860, the great American orator and former slave Frederick Douglass delivered one of his finest speeches, A Plea for Free Speech in Boston. In it, he boldly declared that liberty is meaningless where the right to utter ones thoughts and For my part, I would say, welcome infidelity! The rich inheritance of justice, liberty, prosperity and independence, bequeathed by your fathers, is shared by you, not by me. I remember, also, that, as a people, Americans are remarkably familiar with all facts which make in their own favor. 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. Is it that slavery is not divine, that God did not establish it, that our doctors of divinity are mistaken? There are forces in operation, which must inevitably work the downfall of slavery. They, however, gradually flow back to the same old channel, and flow on as serenely as ever. America is false to the past, false to the present, and solemnly binds herself to be false to the future. That which is inhuman, cannot be divine! But I differ from those who charge this baseness on the framers of the Constitution of the United States. To do so would be to make myself ridiculous and to offer an insult to your understanding. The blessings in which you, this day, rejoice, are not enjoyed in common. Their statesmanship looked beyond the passing moment, and stretched away in strength into the distant future. That is a branch of knowledge in which you feel, perhaps, a much deeper interest than your speaker. Some of these have had wives and children, dependent on them for bread; but of this, no account was made. I say it with a sad sense of the disparity between us. For black men there are neither law, justice, humanity, not religion. He rose from the shackles of slavery to become an author, The country was poor in the munitions of war. The document is in the form of a Google Docs so it has a translation tool, dictionary, and voice to text. But, with that blindness which seems to be the unvarying characteristic of tyrants, since Pharaoh and his hosts were drowned in the Red Sea, the British Government persisted in the exactions complained of. In several states, this trade is a chief source of wealth. The fact that the church of our country, (with fractional exceptions), does not esteem the Fugitive Slave Law as a declaration of war against religious liberty, implies that that church regards religion simply as a form of worship, an empty ceremony, andnota vital principle, requiring active benevolence, justice, love and good will towards man. Let this damning fact be perpetually told. Cast one glance, if you please, upon that young mother, whose shoulders are bare to the scorching sun, her briny tears falling on the brow of the babe in her arms. WebFrederick Douglass speech Historical Document "The Meaning of July Fourth for the Negro" 1852 Resource Bank Contents Click here for the text of this historical document. or is it in the temple? They saw themselves treated with sovereign indifference, coldness and scorn. I hold that every American citizen has a right 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. My spirit wearies of such blasphemy; and how such men can be supported, as the standing types and representatives of Jesus Christ, is a mystery which I leave others to penetrate. The anti-slavery movementtherewas not an anti-church movement, for the reason that the church took its full share in prosecuting that movement: and the anti-slavery movement in this country will cease to be an anti-church movement, when the church of this country shall assume a favorable, instead of a hostile position towards that movement. Frederick Douglass thought that such rationalizations were crap, and he had the right to think so. The timid and the prudent (as has been intimated) of that day, were, of course, shocked and alarmed by it. It is neither. Add English on-screen subtitles for videos. Senator Berrien tell us that the Constitution is the fundamental law, that which controls all others. They seized upon eternal principles, and set a glorious example in their defense. Should I seem at ease, my appearance would much misrepresent me. By that act, Mason and Dixons line has been obliterated; New York has become as Virginia; and the power to hold, hunt, and sell men, women, and children as slaves remains no longer a mere state institution, but is now an institution of the whole United States. A John Knox would be seen at every church door, and heard from every pulpit, and Fillmore would have no more quarter than was shown by Knox, to the beautiful, but treacherous queen Mary of Scotland. Copyright 2023 Interactive One, LLC. The time for such argument is past. The propriety of the nation must be startled. 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. Web"The Lessons of the Hour" Speech by Frederick Douglass, January 9, 1894 Friends and Fellow Citizens : No man should come before an audience like the one by whose presence I am now honored, without a noble object and a fixed and earnest purpose. On what branch of the subject do the people of this country need light? It is a religion for oppressors, tyrants, man-stealers, andthugs. On the 2d of July, 1776, the old Continental Congress, to the dismay of the lovers of ease, and the worshipers of property, clothed that dreadful idea with all the authority of national sanction. There is not a man beneath the canopy of heaven, that does not know that slavery is wrong for him. His agents were sent into every town and county in Maryland, announcing their arrival, through the papers, and on flaming hand-bills, headed CASH FOR NEGROES. Would to God, both for your sakes and ours, that an affirmative answer could be truthfully returned to those questions. You declare, before the world, and are understood by the world to declare, that you hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are created equal; and are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights; and that, among these are, life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness; and yet, you hold securely, in a bondage which, according to your own Thomas Jefferson, is worse than ages of that which your fathers rose in rebellion to oppose, aseventh partof the inhabitants of your country. R. R. Raymond) on the platform, are shining examples; and let me say further, that upon these men lies the duty to inspire our ranks with high religious faith and zeal, and to cheer us on in the great mission of the slaves redemption from his chains. will be found by Americans. That, which is inhuman cannot be divine. He mentions the fact to show that slavery is in no danger. Your broad republican domain is hunting ground formen. Where these go, may also go the merciless slave-hunter. My soul sickens at the sight. 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 President, your Secretary of State, ourlords,nobles, and ecclesiastics, enforce, as a duty you owe to your free and glorious country, and to your God, that you do this accursed thing. Friends and citizens, I need not enter further into the causes which led to this anniversary. Space is comparatively annihilated. Yet his monument is built up by the price of human blood, and the traders in the bodies and souls of men shout We have Washington toour father. Alas! I repeat, I am glad this is so. Frederick Douglass: (10:31) The papers and placards say, that I am to deliver a 4th [of] July oration. speaking of it relatively, and positively, negatively, and affirmatively. Would you argue more, and denounce less, would you persuade more, and rebuke less, your cause would be much more likely to succeed. There is not time now to argue the constitutional question at length nor have I the ability to discuss it as it ought to be discussed. From the slave prison to the ship, they are usually driven in the darkness of night; for since the antislavery agitation, a certain caution is observed. Seventy-six years, though a good old age for a man, is but a mere speck in the life of a nation. In prosecuting the anti-slavery enterprise, we have been asked to spare the church, to spare the ministry; buthow, we ask, could such a thing be done? Many of you understand them better than I do. 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 in sacrilegious irony. That I am here to-day is, to me, a matter of astonishment as well as of gratitude. VIDEO: Frederick Douglass' descendants deliver his 'Fourth of July' speech. You could instruct me in regard to them. The Fugitive SlaveLawmakes mercy to them a crime; and bribes the judge who tries them. It does not often happen to a nation to raise, at one time, such a number of truly great men. It is called (in contradistinction to the foreign slave-trade) the internal slave trade. It is, probably, called so, too, in order to divert from it the horror with which the foreign slave-trade is contemplated. Under these, and innumerable other disadvantages, your fathers declared for liberty and independence and triumphed. You are all on fire at the mention of liberty for France or for Ireland; but are as cold as an iceberg at the thought of liberty for the enslaved of America. That people contented themselves under the shadow of Abrahams great name, while they repudiated the deeds which made his name great. These wretched people are to be sold singly, or in lots, to suit purchasers. For who is there so cold that a nation sympathy cannot warm him, who so adore it and dead to the claims of gratitude that would not thankfully acknowledge such priceless benefits? What was possible for him, he sincerely believed was possible for any man who was willing to work hard. I have detained my audience entirely too long already. The simple story of it is that, 76 years ago, the people of this country were British subjects. 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 and question and to denounce with all the emphasis I can command everything that serves to perpetuate slavery, the great sin and shame of America. WebAn excerpt from the 1847 Frederick Douglass speech given for the anniversary of the American Anti-Slavery Society. Hear his savage yells and his blood-chilling oaths, as he hurries on his affrighted captives! The message of Frederick Douglasss 1852 speech on the contradiction of Americas just ideals and unjust realities endures. In a very telling sign, the fateful words of Frederick Douglass from a speech he delivered 170 years ago still resonate very much in 2022 as Black people in America continue the fight for the same kind of equality that the legendary abolitionist was demanding back in the mid-19th century. I scout the idea that the question of the constitutionality or unconstitutionality of slavery is not a question for the people. What point in the anti-slavery creed would you have me argue? Is it at the gateway? Mr. President, Friends and Fellow Citizens: He who could address this audience nor grace my speech with any high sounding exordium. It is a fact, that whatever makes for the wealth or for the reputation of Americans, and can be had cheap! 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?
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