When the dogs in your street, 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 I will argue with you that the slave is a man. There is not a man beneath the canopy of heaven, that does not know that slavery is wrong for him. that it should be so; yet so it is. The feeling of the nation must be quickened. They have all been taught in your common schools, narrated at your firesides, unfolded from your pulpits, and thundered from your legislative halls, and are as familiar to you as household words. Where these go, may also go the merciless slave-hunter. It does not often happen to a nation to raise, at one time, such a number of truly great men. Now, there are certain rules of interpretation, for the proper understanding of all legal instruments. "What to the Slave is the 4th of July?" Speech Transcript He rose from the shackles of slavery to become an author, newspaper publisher, and respected abolitionist. 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 hypocrisy a thin veil to cover up crimes which would disgrace a nation of savages. I shall see this day and its popular characteristics from the slaves point of view. At some future period I will gladly avail myself of an opportunity to give this subject a full and fair discussion. 1883 Speech by Frederick Douglass - accessible-archives.com Frederick Douglass Fellow citizens, this murderous traffic is, today, in active operation in this boasted republic. You hurl your anathemas at the crowned headed tyrants of Russia and Austria, and pride yourselves on your Democratic institutions, while you yourselves consent to be the meretoolsand body-guardsof the tyrants of Virginia and Carolina. Even Mammon seems to have quitted his grasp on this day. 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? In a final celebratory post for Black History Month 2023, it is worth returning to the 1883 Douglass Banquet. The propriety of the nation must be startled. Prayers are made, hymns are sung, and sermons are preached in honor of this day; while the quick martial tramp of a great and multitudinous nation, echoed back by all the hills, valleys and mountains of a vast continent, bespeak the occasion one of thrilling and universal interest a nations jubilee. WebFrederick Douglass speech What to a Slave is the Fourth of July effectively argues against slavery. 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. Such a declaration of agreement on my part would not be worth much to anybody. This is a primary source reading analysis of Frederick Douglass' famous speech. I am not included within the pales of this glorious anniversary. It is neither. WebFrederick Douglass, Fifth of July speech (1852) O! What would be thought of an instrument, drawn up, legally drawn up, for the purpose of entitling the city of Rochester to a track of land, in which no mention of land was made? Add English on-screen subtitles for videos. Go where you may, search where you will, roam through all the monarchies and despotisms of the old world, travel through South America, search out every abuse, and when you have found the last, lay your facts by the side of the everyday practices of this nation, and you will say with me, that, for revolting barbarity and shameless hypocrisy, America reigns without a rival. You have no right to wear out and waste the hard-earned fame of your fathers to cover your indolence. There is not a nation of the earth, guilty of practices, more shocking and bloody than are the people of these United States at this very hour. WebCelebrating 200 years of Frederick Douglass. Get a weekly digest of the weeks most important transcripts in your inbox. Senator Berrien tell us that the Constitution is the fundamental law, that which controls all others. Is that a question for Republicans? And am I therefore called upon to bring our humble offering to the national alter and to confess the benefits and express devout gratitude for the blessings resulting from your independence to us? For it is not light that is needed, but fire; it is not the gentle shower, but thunder. The drove moves tardily. 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. 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. No abuse, no outrage whether in taste, sport or avarice, can now hide itself from the all-pervading light. Are the great principles of political freedom and of natural justice embodied in that Declaration of Independence extended to us? Translated on-screen subtitles for videos. 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. O! Calculate how much it costs to transcribe, caption, or subtitle your content. 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? The document is in the form of a Google Docs so it has a translation tool, dictionary, and voice to text. Africa must rise and put on her yet unwoven garment. As the champions of oppressors, the chosen men of American theology have appeared men, honored for their so-called piety, and their real learning. What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July? - Wikipedia 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! Resolved, That these united colonies are, and of right, ought to be free and Independent States; that they are absolved from all allegiance to the British Crown; and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain is, and ought to be, dissolved.. To say now that America was right, and England wrong, is exceedingly easy. The ear-piercing fife and the stirring drum unite their accents with the ascending peal of a thousand church bells. My soul sickens at the sight. Must I undertake to prove that the slave is a man? Fellow-citizens, I shall not presume to dwell at length on the associations that cluster about this day. They succeeded; and to-day you reap the fruits of their success. Do you mean citizens to mock me by asking me to speak today? And it would go hard with that politician who presumed to solicit the votes of the people without inscribing this motto on his banner. Discover why Rev is the #1 speech-to-text service in the world. And yet not one word shall escape me that any man whose judgment is not blinded by prejudice or who is not at heart, a slaveholder shall not confess to be right and just. If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning. Ever ready to drink, to treat, and to gamble. 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? Their solid manhood stands out the more as we contrast it with these degenerate times. Frederick Douglass, Fifth of July speech (1852) But neither their familiar faces, nor the perfect gage I think I have of Corinthian Hall, seems to free me from embarrassment. They hate all changes, but silver, gold and copper change! speech Under Title 17 U.S.C. They are food for the cotton-field, and the deadly sugar-mill. Intelligence is penetrating the darkest corners of the globe. The existence of slavery in this country brands your republicanism as a sham, your humanity as a base pretence, and your Christianity as a lie. 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. No nation can now shut itself up from the surrounding world, and trot round in the same old path of its fathers without interference. 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? The duty to extirpate and destroy it, is admitted even by our DOCTORS OF DIVINITY. The eye of the reformer is met with angry flashes, portending disastrous times; but his heart may well beat lighter at the thought that America is young, and that she is still in the impressible stage of her existence. What point in the anti-slavery creed would you have me argue? Then, I dare to affirm, notwithstanding all I have said before, your fathers stooped, basely stooped. who stand as the very lights of the church, have shamelessly given the sanction of religion and the Bible to the whole slave system. Frederick Douglass Just here, the idea of a total separation of the colonies from the crown was born! What, then, remains to be argued? Your fathers were wise men, and if they did not go mad, they became restive under this treatment. Mr. President, Friends and Fellow Citizens: He who Fellow-citizens; above your national, tumultuous joy, I hear the mournful wail of millions! Search out every abuse and when you have found the last, lay your facts by the side of the everyday practices of this nation, and you will say with me that for revolting barbarity and shameless hypocrisy, America reigns without a rival. It makes its pathway over and under the sea, as well as on the earth. The fate of many a slave has depended upon the turn of a single card; and many a child has been snatched from the arms of its mother by bargains arranged in a state of brutal drunkenness. This 4th of July is yours, not mine. Banners and pennants wave exultingly on the breeze. It is the birthday of your National Independence, and of your political freedom. In the text it states, above all, confessing and worshipping the Christian God, and looking hopefully for life and immortality beyond the grave- we are called upon to prove that we are men? (Douglas 763). The manhood of the slave is conceded. The sin of which it is guilty is one of omission as well as of commission. And the lame man leap as an heart, but such is not the case. For who is there so cold, that a nations sympathy could not warm him? "The Lessons of the Hour" Speech by Frederick Douglass In a case like that, the dumb might eloquently speak, and the lame man leap as an hart.. It is a slander upon their memory, at least, so I believe. Do you mean, citizens, to mock me, by asking me to speak to-day? Mr. President, Friends and Fellow Citizens: He who could address this audience nor grace my speech with any high sounding exordium. Fellow citizens, 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 jubilant shouts that reach them. It was, Milloy continued, a critique of a nation that claimed to hold dear the principles of freedom, justice and equality even as it enslaved black people.. If I do forget, if I do not 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. Transcript Descendants of Frederick Douglass read excerpts from one of his most famous speeches: What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July? Washington could not die till he had broken the chains of his slaves. By an act of the American Congress, not yet two years old, slavery has been nationalized in its most horrible and revolting form.
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