the meaning of july fourth for the negro
Long established customs of hurtful character could formerly fence themselves in, and do their evil work with social impunity. He had been invited to speak about what the Fourth of July means for America's black population, and while the first part of his speech praises what the founding fathers did for this country, his speech soon develops into a condemnation of the attitude of American society toward slavery. Throughout this speech, as well as his life, Douglass advocated equal justice and rights, as well as citizenship, for blacks.
Nations do not now stand in the same relation to each other that they did ages ago.
What is this but the acknowledgment that the slave is a moral, intellectual, and responsible being? "The Meaning of July Fourth for the Negro" Fellow Citizens, I am not wanting in respect for the fathers of this republic. Signers |
Yea!
O! 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! My subject, then, fellow-citizens, is American slavery. Among his well-known speeches is "The Meaning of July Fourth for the Negro," presented in Rochester, New York, on July 5, 1852, a version of which he published as a booklet. Who can reason on such a proposition? %%EOF
It is noteworthy that Douglass considers himself a citizen, an equal to the spectators in attendance. On what branch of the subject do the people of this country need light? America is false to the past, false to the present, and solemnly binds herself to be false to the future.
How should I look today, in the presence of Amercans, dividing, and subdividing a discourse, to show that men have a natural right to freedom? Douglass delivered this speech before a crowd in Rochester, NY on July 5, 1852. 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.
endstream endobj 118 0 obj <. They were great men, too — great enough to give frame to a great age. If I do not remember thee, let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth. 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. For the present, it is enough to affirm the equal manhood of the Negro race. Here, he is likely addressing the president of the Anti-Slavery Society — not the president of the United States.
Douglass praises and respects the signers of the Declaration of Independence, people who put the interests of a country above their own.
The slaveholders themselves acknowledge it in the enactment of laws for their government. From Boston to London is now a holiday excursion. I say it with a sad sense of the disparity between us.
The manhood of the slave is conceded. A speech given at Rochester, New York, July 5, 1852 . Among his well-known speeches is "The Meaning of July Fourth for the Negro," presented in Rochester, New York, on July 5, 1852, a version of which he published as a booklet. The Christian church which allows this law to remain in effect, Douglass says, is not really a Christian church at all. War Timeline | Are the great principles of political freedom and of natural justice, embodied in that Declaration of Independence, extended to us? There are forces in operation which must inevitably work the downfall of slavery. Fellow Citizens, I am not wanting in respect for the fathers of this republic.
Removing #book# Nations, particularly Western countries, in the mid-nineteenth century were generally against slavery. 0
The time was when such could be done. Douglass returns to his theme of American democracy and freedom. I, therefore, leave off where I began, with hope. "By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down. Declaration Timeline |
For there, they that carried us away captive, required of us a song; and they who wasted us required of us mirth, saying, Sing us one of the songs of Zion. speaking of it relatively and positively, negatively and affirmatively. Douglass concludes on an optimistic note. 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.
", Previous 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. The Fugitive Slave Law, Douglass reasons, is "tyrannical legislation" because it removes all due process and civil rights for the black person: "For black men, there is neither law nor justice, humanity nor religion." 136 0 obj <>/Filter/FlateDecode/ID[<3C7780BA671B97917FE6ABFD8C541D16><239814DFD2EC1D4A9AFC62D466D69409>]/Index[117 36]/Info 116 0 R/Length 92/Prev 94978/Root 118 0 R/Size 153/Type/XRef/W[1 2 1]>>stream We hanged our harps upon the willows in the midst thereof. The Celestial Empire, the mystery of ages, is being solved. Douglass begins his speech by addressing "Mr. President, Friends and Fellow Citizens."
— The rich inheritance of justice, liberty, prosperity and independence, bequeathed by your fathers, is shared by you, not by me. — Thoughts expressed on one side of the Atlantic are distinctly heard on the other. The sunlight that brought light and healing to you, has brought stripes and death to me. Walled cities and empires have become unfashionable. What point in the anti-slavery creed would you have me argue? I shall see this day and its popular characteristics from the slave's point of view. Instead, he urges his listeners to continue the work of those great revolutionaries who brought freedom and democracy to this land.
By "sacrilegious," he means the evil defilement of sacred American ideals — democracy, freedom, and equal rights. The fiat of the Almighty, "Let there be Light," has not yet spent its force. "The arm of the Lord is not shortened," and the doom of slavery is certain.
I can today take up the plaintive lament of a peeled and woe-smitten people!
He concedes, however, that the main purpose of his speech is not to give praise and thanks to these men, for he says that the deeds of those patriots are well known.
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? I have better employment for my time and strength than such arguments would imply. For who is there so cold, that a nation's sympathy could not warm him? 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. 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.
In the fervent aspirations of William Lloyd Garrison, I say, and let every heart join in saying it: God speed the year of jubilee The wide world o'er! Mr. President, Friends and Fellow Citizens: He who could address this audience without a quailing sensation, has stronger nerves than I have. (Under this Act, even freed blacks could easily be accused of being fugitive slaves and taken to the South.) 117 0 obj <> endobj It is often studied in literature classes today. Frederick Douglass: “The Meaning of July Fourth for the Negro” From PBS.com and Scholar-Griot Dr. Fran Kaplan On July 5, 1852, abolitionist and ex-slave Frederick Douglass gave a speech at an event commemorating the signing of the Declaration of Independence, held … He says there is no person on earth who would be in favor of becoming a slave himself. 152 0 obj <>stream The iron shoe, and crippled foot of China must be seen in contrast with nature. No abuse, no outrage whether in taste, sport or avarice, can now hide itself from the all-pervading light. Would to God, both for your sakes and ours, that an affirmative answer could be truthfully returned to these questions!
A speech given at Rochester, New York, July 5, 1852. 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. eHezi 10:30pm • July 4, 2020 Archives 5 Comments.
He believes that anti-slavery sentiments will eventually triumph over pro-slavery forces. Douglass thereby sets up an argument for the freeing of slaves. that he is the rightful owner of his own body?
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Frederick Douglass was a fiery orator and his speeches were often published in various abolitionist newspapers. Certainly, on THAT 4th of JULY, the Great Orator, truly had reason to lament the hypocrisy of this nation toward Africans. Fellow-citizens, pardon me, allow me to ask, why am I called upon to speak here today? The Meaning of July Fourth for the Negro By FREDERICK DOUGLASS. For him, while it professes freedom, it does not give all people that right. He mentions that in Baltimore, slave traders transported slaves in chains to ships in the dead of night because anti-slavery activism had made the public aware of the cruelty of that trade. your shouts of liberty and equality, hollow mockery.". No nation can now shut itself up from the surrounding world and trot round in the same old path of its fathers without interference.
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