what to the slave is the fourth of july annotationwhat to the slave is the fourth of july annotation

what to the slave is the fourth of july annotation02 Apr what to the slave is the fourth of july annotation

No nation can now shut itself up from the surrounding world, and trot round in the same old path of its fathers without interference. We have to do with the past only as we can make it useful to the present and to the future. GAZETTE: What is something you have discovered about Douglass while researching this speech and his work more broadly that people might be surprised to learn? 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. Easel Activity. One of the biggest challenges we face in our present moment is building sustainable movements that fundamentally change peoples minds about race and racism. But a still more inhuman, disgraceful, and scandalous state of things remains to be presented. speaking of it relatively, and positively, negatively, and affirmatively. 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. 15 November's Documents in Detail webinar was about Frederick Douglass's What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?, his oration delivered on 5 July 1862. America is false to the past, false to the present, and solemnly binds herself to be false to the future. It is said that America is built on the idea of liberty and freedom, but Douglass tells his audience that more than anything, it is built on inconsistencies and hypocrisies that have been overlooked for so long they appear to be truths. Read its preamble, consider its purposes. Kate Harris Date Published September 28, 2016 Last Modified November 14, 2021 Description. 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. What characteristics does he praise about them? In 1850, the Fugitive Slave Act had passed Congress as part of the broader Compromise of 1850. The evil that men do, lives after them, The good is oft-interred with their bones. In the language of Isaiah, the American church might be well addressed, Bring no more vain ablations; incense is an abomination unto me: the new moons and Sabbaths, the calling of assemblies, I cannot away with; it is iniquity even the solemn meeting. [4], The speech "What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?" It is the antagonistic force in your government, the only thing that seriously disturbs and endangers your Union. The occasion was the Society's Fourth of July celebration, but Douglass refused to give the speech on July 4; he would not celebrate the holiday so long as African Americans remained enslaved. They inhabit all our Southern States. Table of Contents. Essentially, Douglass criticizes his audience's pride for a nation that claims to value freedom though it is composed of people who continuously commit atrocities against Blacks. or is it in the temple? Everywhere, in this country, it is safe to speak of this foreign slave-trade, as a most inhuman traffic, opposed alike to the laws of God and of man. The iron shoe, and crippled foot of China must be seen, in contrast with nature. In order to put an end to it, some of these last have consented that their colored brethren (nominally free) should leave this country, and establish themselves on the western coast of Africa! In this respect, Douglass's views converged with that of Abraham Lincoln's[25] in that those politicians who were saying that the Constitution was a justification for their beliefs in regard to slavery were doing so dishonestly. This, to you, is what the Passover was to the emancipated people of God. Ex-Senator Benton tells us that the price of men was never higher than now. By that most foul and fiendish of all human decrees, the liberty and person of every man are put in peril. That people contented themselves under the shadow of Abrahams great name, while they repudiated the deeds which made his name great. [7], The Rochester Ladies' Anti-Slavery Society was founded in 1851. The audience must fulfill what the founders of the country advocated. Advertisement for the pamphlet of Douglass' speech from the July 12, 1852 edition of Frederick Douglass' Paper (formerly The North Star), Douglass begins by saying 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 nation's destiny", stating, "stand by those principles, be true to them on all occasions, in all places, against all foes, and at whatever cost." I am not that man. It has made itself the bulwark of American slavery, and the shield of American slave-hunters. Not for thieves and robbers, enemies of society, merely, but for men guilty of no crime. There are forces in operation, which must inevitably work The downfall of slavery. nor the perfect gage I think I have of Corinthian Hall, the slave plantation, from which I escaped, and trusting to your patient and generous indulgence, I will proceed to lay them before you, This, for the purpose of this celebration, is the 4th of July. Yea! 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. [11] Additionally, he had spoken there less than three months prior to this speech, on March 25. They are a trouble to me; I am weary to bear them; and when ye spread forth your hands I will hide mine eyes from you. All this we affirm to be true of the popular church, and the popular worship of our land and nation a religion, a church, and a worship which, on the authority of inspired wisdom, we pronounce to be an abomination in the sight of God. 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. By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down. I am not included within the pale of this glorious anniversary! Knowledge was then confined and enjoyed by the privileged few, and the multitude walked on in mental darkness. GAZETTE: Why is it important to do this kind of community-building work at a local level? He says that, if anything, many churches actually stand behind slavery and support the continued existence of the institution. "What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?" remains one of the most effective and poignant condemnations of slavery in the canon of American abolitionist literature, a tribute to the moral character and oratorical skills of Frederick Douglass. I will not enlarge further on your national inconsistencies. who stand as the very lights of the church, have shamelessly given the sanction of religion and the Bible to the whole slave system. In that speech, he cast the abolitionist movement as being engaged in a "War" against defenders of slavery. Oceans no longer divide, but link nations together. In speaking of the American church, however, let it be distinctly understood that I mean the great mass of the religious organizations of our land. What, to the American slave, is your 4th of July? The sunlight that brought life and healing to you, has brought stripes and death to me. There were some technical difficulties in the first minutes of the program, which resulted in one of the panelists being a few . At the same time, we need to be studying the history of slavery and racism in this country so we can build policies, practices, and procedures that address the present problems with those historical inequities in mind. dismay. Must we allow symbols of racism on public land? There is consolation in the thought that America is young. What to the Slave is the Fourth of July? The crack you heard, was the sound of the slave-whip; the scream you heard, was from the woman you saw with the babe. How can we sing the Lords song in a strange land? Seventy-six years, though a good old age for a man, is but a mere speck in the life of a nation. "[1][2] was a speech delivered by Frederick Douglass on July 5, 1852, at Corinthian Hall in Rochester, New York, at a meeting organized by the Rochester Ladies' Anti-Slavery Society. In a Fourth of July holiday special, we begin with the words of Frederick Douglass. (1982). [12], According to the 1850 Census, there were around 3.2 million enslaved persons in the United States. Rhetoricians R. L. Heath and D. Waymer refer to this as the "paradox of the positive" because it highlights how something positive and meant to be positive can also exclude individuals. Pride and patriotism, not less than gratitude, prompt you to. we wept when we remembered Zion. In his speech, "The Hypocrisy of American Slavery . Cling to this daycling to it, and to its principles, with the grasp of a storm-tossed mariner to a spar at midnight, Neither steam nor lightning had then been reduced to order and discipline, With them, justice, liberty and humanity were final; not slavery and oppression. Ossie DavisA Voice Ringing O'er the Gale! 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. He celebrates the efforts of the founding fathers of America for fighting back against the tyranny of England.[18]. A feeling has crept over me, quite unfavorable to the exercise of my limited powers of speech. The time was when such could be done. But, I submit, where all is plain there is nothing to be argued. You boast of your love of liberty, your superior civilization, and your pure Christianity, while the whole political power of the nation (as embodied in the two great political parties), is solemnly pledged to support and perpetuate the enslavement of three millions of your countrymen. See, too, that girl of thirteen, weeping, yes! Attend the auction; see men examined like horses; see the forms of women rudely and brutally exposed to the shocking gaze of American slave-buyers. The 4th of July is the first great fact in your nation's historythe very ring-bolt in the chain of your yet undeveloped destiny. Where these are, man is not sacred. An American judge gets ten dollars for every victim he con signs to slavery, and five, when he fails to do so. Because the church stood behind the decision to abolish the selling and buying of people, so did the rest of the country. Douglass, Frederick, ed. To me the American slave-trade is a terrible reality. A general shout would go up from the church, demanding repeal, repeal, instant repeal!And it would go hard with that politician who presumed to solicit the votes of the people without inscribing this motto on his banner. What, to the American slave, is your 4th of July? Africa must rise and put on her yet unwoven garment. 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 crack you heard, was the sound of the slave-whip; the scream you heard, was from the woman you saw with the babe. 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. You can bare your bosom to the storm of British artillery to throw off a threepenny tax on tea; and yet wring the last hard-earned farthing from the grasp of the black laborers of your country. But, with that blindness which seems to be the unvarying characteristic of tyrants, since Pharaoh and his hosts were drowned in the Red Sea. There, the question of emancipation was a high religious question. 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 denunciations 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 hypocrisya thin veil to cover up crimes which would disgrace a nation of savages. According to Douglass, these inconsistencies have made the United States the object of mockery and often contempt among the various nations of the world. 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. Sign up for daily emails to get the latest Harvardnews. He had delivered a series of seven lectures about slavery there in the winter of 185051. A self-taught man, he escaped from slavery and eventually became a leader in the abolitionist movement. My soul sickens at the sight. The little experience I have had in addressing public meetings, in country schoolhouses, avails me nothing on the present occasion. 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,. During the 1850's, the Fourth of July served as a reminder of the many horrors and injustices in the world. 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? The cause of liberty may be stabbed by the men who glory in the deeds of your fathers. 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. The speech has since been published under the above title in The Frederick Douglass Papers, Series One, Vol. ts future might be shrouded in gloom, and the hope of its prophets go out in sorr. However, if slavery were abolished and equal rights given to all, that would no longer be the case. They hate all changes, but silver, gold and copper change! Senator Berrien tell us that the Constitution is the fundamental law, that which controls all others. The anti-slavery movement there was 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 or a hostile position towards that movement. This is the inevitable conclusion, and from it there is no escape. Now, there are certain rules of interpretation, for the proper understanding of all legal instruments. The country can progress like it has before, transforming from being a colony of a far-away king to an independent nation. Follow the drove to New Orleans. I lived on Philpot Street, Fells Point, Baltimore, and have watched from the wharves, the slave ships in the Basin, anchored from the shore, with their cargoes of human flesh, waiting for favorable winds to waft them down the Chesapeake. 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.What, to the American slave, is your 4th of July? Were the nation older, the patriots heart might be sadder, and the reformers brow heavier. To the slave, Douglass tells the audience, "your 4th of July is a sham; your boasted liberty, an unholy license [for enslaving blacks] . 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. [5] American studies professor Andrew S. Bibby argues that because many of the editions produced for educational use are abridged, they often misrepresent Douglass's original through omission or editorial focus. Some of these have had wives and children, dependent on them for bread; but of this, no account was made. It was demanded, in the name of humanity, and according to the law of the living God. Born into slavery around 1818, Douglass became a key leader of the abolitionist. 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. May of Syracuse, and my esteemed friend (Rev. Stauffer, John. The power is co-extensive with the Star-Spangled Banner and American Christianity. The4th of July is the first great fact in your nation's history the very ringbolt in the chain of your yet undeveloped destinyPride and patriotism, not less than gratitude, prompt you to celebrate and to hold it in perpetualremembrance. But now is the time, the important time. 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.I take this law to be one of the grossest infringements of Christian Liberty, and, if the churches and ministers of our country were not stupidly blind, or most wickedly indifferent, they, too, would so regard it.At the very moment that they are thanking God for the enjoyment of civil and religious liberty, and for the right to worship God according to the dictates of their own consciences, they are utterly silent in respect to a law which robs religion of its chief significance, and makes it utterly worthless to a world lying in wickedness. But it is answered in reply to all this, that precisely what I have now denounced is, in fact, guaranteed and sanctioned by the Constitution of the United States; that the right to hold and to hunt slaves is a part of that Constitution framed by the illustrious Fathers of this Republic. Need I tell you that the Jews are not the only people who built the tombs of the prophets, and garnished the sepulchres of the righteous? That is a question Frederick Douglass posed 169 Julys ago in a speech to a group of abolitionists, one that's become perhaps his most famous. You may rejoice, I must mourn. On public land gratitude, prompt you to made itself the bulwark of American slave-hunters their.... It was demanded, in contrast with nature account was made panelists being a of. To change the way you see yourself and to grow into a person deeply committed to long-term interracial building. For a man, he had delivered a series of seven lectures about slavery there in the first of. 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