To arrest it, to put an end to it, this nation keeps a squadron, at immense cost, on the coast of Africa. I shall see, this day, and its popular characteristics, from the slaves point of view. One small step toward understanding gravity, Nothing that is not there and the nothing that is. They may also rise in wrath and fury, and bear away, on their angry waves, the accumulated wealth of years of toil and hardship. sanction. 5.0. [17] This act drew the ire of the abolitionist movement,[9] and was directly criticized by Douglass in his speech. 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. They strip the love of God of its beauty, and leave the throng of religion a huge, horrible, repulsive form. [13] Although the import of people directly from Africa had been banned in 1807,[14] the domestic slave trade, still legal, was thriving. When a sufficient number have been collected here, a ship is chartered, for the purpose of conveying the forlorn crew to Mobile, or to New Orleans. Were not only going to be reading books like White Fragility, and Divided by Faith, but were also going to read and watch a number of speeches by Martin Luther King Jr., and documentaries like 13th and King in the Wilderness, as we try to get at the root of racial division so we can come together to remove it. You profess to believe that, of one blood, God made all nations of men to dwell on the face of all the earth, and hath commanded all men, everywhere to love one another; yet you notoriously hate, (and glory in your hatred), all men whose skins are not colored like your own. 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. The anguish of my boyish heart was intense; and I was often consoled, when speaking to my mistress in the morning, to hear her say that the custom was very wicked; that she hated to hear the rattle of the chains, and the heart-rending cries. In a case like that, the dumb might eloquently speak, and the lame man leap as an hart.But, such is not the state of the case. Douglass, Frederick, ed. Before you read the speech you can follow these links to learn more about Douglass's life and the evolution of his thought in this period. It is carried on in all the large towns and cities in one-half of this confederacy; and millions are pocketed every year, by dealers in this horrid traffic. You glory in your refinement and your universal education yet you maintain a system as barbarous and dreadful as ever stained the character of a nationa system begun in avarice, supported in pride, and perpetuated in cruelty. Your fathers have lived, died, and have done their work, and have done much of it well. In the solitude of my spirit, I see clouds of dust raised on the highways of the South; I see the bleeding footsteps; I hear the doleful wail of fettered humanity, on the way to the slave-markets, where the victims are to be sold like horses, sheep, and swine, knocked off to the highest bidder. For it is not light that is needed, but fire; it is not the gentle shower, but thunder. I say it with a sad sense of the disparity between us. [5], A statue of Douglass erected in Rochester in 2018 was torn down on July 5, 2020the 168th anniversary of the speech. 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. . They petitioned and remonstrated; they did so in a decorous, respectful, and loyal manner. 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. May of Syracuse, and my esteemed friend (Rev. in preference to the gospel, as preached by those Divines! He argues that though the international slave trade is correctly decried as abhorrent, the people of the United States are far less vocal in their opposition to domestic slave trade. For black men there are neither law, justice, humanity, not religion. He describes the legislation as "tyrannical," and believes that it is in "violation of justice.". And it also imposed severe penalties on anyone who helped enslaved people to escape. He thinks they were extremely intelligent, and the thinks it is admirable that when they realized they were oppressed by Britain, they rebelled. The time was when such could be done. His very existence gave the lie to slave owners: with dignity and great intelligence he bore witness to the brutality of slavery. He celebrates the efforts of the founding fathers of America for fighting back against the tyranny of England.[18]. be warned! You shed tears over fallen Hungary, and make the sad story of her wrongs the theme of your poets, statesmen and orators, till your gallant sons are ready to fly to arms to vindicate her cause against her oppressors; but, in regard to the ten thousand wrongs of the American slave, you would enforce the strictest silence, and would hail him as an enemy of the nation who dares to make those wrongs the subject of public discourse! But, I submit, where all is plain there is nothing to be argued. If I do not remember thee, let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth.Fellow-citizens; above your national, tumultuous joy, I hear the mournful wail of millions! I will not enlarge further on your national inconsistencies. You have no right to wear out and waste the hard-earned fame of your fathers to cover your indolence. 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. [Throughout the speech] Douglass looks at the contradictions between the reality of slavery and the lofty claims of a just society outlined in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. The speech notes the contradiction of the national ethos of United States and the way enslaved persons are treated. [7], The Rochester Ladies' Anti-Slavery Society was founded in 1851. [6] Due to this and the variant titles given to it in various places, and the fact that it is called a July Fourth Oration but was actually delivered on July 5, some confusion has arisen about the date and contents of the speech. It is fashionable to do so; but there was a time when to pronounce against England, and in favor of the cause of the colonies, tried mens souls. 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. or is it in the temple? He validates the feelings of injustice the Founders felt then juxtaposes their experiences with vivid descriptions of the harshness of slavery.[21]. 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? ROY: The better we get to know the people that we live with, that we work around, that we see at the coffee shop, and the more we talk about these important racial issues with one another, the easier it will be to heal our divided communities. In 1850, the Fugitive Slave Act had passed Congress as part of the broader Compromise of 1850. I will not equivocate; I will not excuse; I will use the severest language I can command; 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.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. 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 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.The flesh-mongers gather up their victims by dozens, and drive them, chained, to the general depot at Baltimore. I have better employments for my time and strength than such arguments would imply.What, then, remains to be argued? It is neither. Douglass says that if the residents of America believe that slaves are "men",[20]:342 they should be treated as such. Great for your high school American Literature class. 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 duty to extirpate and destroy it, is admitted even by our DOCTORS OF DIVINITY. YOUR HANDS ARE FULL OF BLOOD; cease to do evil, learn to do well; seek judgment; relieve the oppressed; judge for the fatherless; plead for the widow.The American church is guilty, when viewed in connection with what it is doing to uphold slavery; but it is superlatively guilty when viewed in connection with its ability to abolish slavery. They acknowledge it when they punish disobedience on the part of the slave. What, to the American slave, is your 4th of July? He took action to raise the voices of others and to aid their work on the national stage, especially that of two Black women in the last half of the 19th century. 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 mere tools and body-guards of the tyrants of Virginia and Carolina. The Oratory of Fr. Table of Contents. In "What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?" Frederick Douglass sought not only to convince people of the wrongfulness of slavery but also to make abolition more acceptable to Northern whites. There, see the old man, with locks thinned and gray. ROY: Douglass wrote the speech in the wake of the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, which effectively extended the reach of slave power in the South throughout the rest of the country. He faults America for utter hypocrisy and betrayal of those values in maintaining the institution of slavery. Ever ready to drink, to treat, and to gamble. This is the inevitable conclusion, and from it there is no escape. [19]. [28][29] The head of the organization responsible for the memorial speculated that it was vandalized in response to the removal of Confederate monuments in the wake of the George Floyd protests.[30]. But, while the river may not be turned aside, it may dry up, and leave nothing behind but the withered branch, and the unsightly rock, to howl in the abyss-sweeping wind, the sad tale of departed glory. 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. 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 slaverythe great sin and shame of America! 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! Their opposition to the then dangerous thought was earnest and powerful; but, amid all their terror and affrighted vociferations against it, the alarming and revolutionary idea moved on, and the country with it. Let it be thundered around the world, that, in tyrant-killing, king-hating, people-loving, democratic, Christian America, the seats of justice are filled with judges, who hold their offices under an open and palpable bribe, and are bound, in deciding in the case of a mans liberty, hear only his accusers!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. [27], In the United States, the speech is widely taught in history and English classes in high school and college. It would, certainly, prove nothing, as to what part I might have taken, had I lived during the great controversy of 1776. 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,. 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. Would you argue more, and denounce less, would you persuade more, and rebuke less, your cause would be much more likely to succeed. How can we sing the Lords song in a strange land? Yet his monument is built up by the price of human blood, and the traders in the bodies and souls of men shoutWe have Washington to our father.Alas! In a Fourth of July holiday special, we begin with the words of Frederick Douglass. That bolt drawn, that chain broken, and all is lost. Must I argue that a system thus marked with blood, and stained with pollution, is wrong? Douglass also stresses the view that slaves and free Americans are equal in nature. Then would my task be light, and my burden easy and delightful. In short, it gave the federal government an active role in maintaining the Souths system of slavery. Rhetorical Analysis Of Harvey Fourth Of July. Is that a question for Republicans? In his speech, "The Hypocrisy of American Slavery . I hold that every American citizen has a fight 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. 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. Keidrick Roy, the host of the virtual reading event. These people were called Tories in the days of your fathers. 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. What characteristics does he praise about them? He talks about how Americans are proud of their country and their religion and how they rejoice in the name of freedom and liberty and yet they do not offer those things to millions of their country's residents. On July 5, 1852, in . [11] Additionally, he had spoken there less than three months prior to this speech, on March 25. When the dogs in your streets, 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 will I argue with you that the slave is a man!For the present, it is enough to affirm the equal manhood of the Negro race. 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. Douglass was a former slave of the 19th century and soon became a leader during the Abolitionist Movement. What, to the American slave, is your 4th of July? I was glad to find one who sympathized with me in my horror.Fellow-citizens, this murderous traffic is, to-day, in active operation in this boasted republic. In that instrument I hold there is neither warrant, license, nor sanction of the hateful thing; but, interpreted as it ought to be interpreted, the Constitution is a GLORIOUS LIBERTY DOCUMENT. To me the American slave-trade is a terrible reality. On July 4, 1852, Frederick Douglass-- a former American slave, abolitionist leader and adroit speaker-- spoke in Rochester, New York about the affectation of celebrating independence. The oath of any two villains is sufficient, under this hell-black enactment, to send the most pious and exemplary black man into the remorseless jaws of slavery! The accepted time with God and his cause is the ever-living now. How can we sing the Lords song in a strange land? The rich inheritance of justice, liberty, prosperity and independence, bequeathed by your fathers, is shared by you, not by me. Text Frederick Douglass, " What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July? However, if slavery were abolished and equal rights given to all, that would no longer be the case. "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. The founding fathers left black people and women out of these rights for "everyone." That point is conceded already. The inaugural meeting between six women took place in Corinthian Hall on August 20. Ethiopia shall stretch out her hand unto God. In the fervent aspirations of William Lloyd Garrison, I say, and let every heart join in saying it: Frederick Douglass delivered his famous speech at the Corinthian Hall in Rochester, NY, on July 5th, 1852. He is a bird for the sportsmans gun. The speech "What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?" was delivered in the decade preceding the American Civil War, which lasted from 1861 to 1865 and achieved the abolition of slavery. One of the biggest challenges we face in our present moment is building sustainable movements that fundamentally change peoples minds about race and racism. welcome atheism! It is the birthday of your National Independence, and of your political freedom. Ossie DavisA Voice Ringing O'er the Gale! Who so stolid and selfish, that would not give his voice to swell the hallelujahs of a nations jubilee, when the chains of servitude had been torn from his limbs? You know what is a swine-drover? In the end, Douglass wants to keep his hope and faith in humanity high. 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. Douglass equates this to being worse than many other things that are banned, in particular, books and plays that are banned for infidelity. It is a religion for oppressors, tyrants, man-stealers, and thugs. The blessings in which you, this day, rejoice, are not enjoyed in common. In a Fourth of July holiday special, we hear the words of Frederick Douglass. Born into slavery around 1818, Douglass became a key leader of the abolitionist movement. If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning. Where these are, man is not sacred. [16][17] Finally, the Act did not allow the accused individual of defending themselves in court. Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hateth. Products. that gash on her shoulder tells her to move on. GAZETTE: This is your second year as host of Reading Frederick Douglass Together in Somerville. It was demanded, in the name of humanity, and according to the law of the living God. To all inspiring motives, to noble deeds which can be gained from the past, we are welcome. dismay. Africa must rise and put on her yet unwoven garment. 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. 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! that gash on her shoulder tells her to move on. It has been denounced with burning words, from the high places of the nation, as an execrable traffic. 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. by Frederick Douglass 1852 11th Grade Lexile: 1140 Font Size Frederick Douglass (1818-1895) was an African American social reformer, orator, and writer. Frederick Douglass, circa 1879. Ex-Senator Benton tells us that the price of men was never higher than now. 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. If I do not remember thee, let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth.. That trade has long since been denounced by this government, as piracy. 4th period Mrs. Landrew Fredrick Douglass Frederick Douglass was an escaped slave who became a prominent activist, author and public speaker. Initially mentored by William Lloyd Garrison, Douglass I, therefore, leave off where I began, with hope. 00 Comments Please sign inor registerto post comments. That people contented themselves under the shadow of Abrahams great name, while they repudiated the deeds which made his name great. No! What to the Slave is the Fourth of July | Historical Context The Colonial regime paved way for the transportation of slaves from different parts of the world, mostly from the African continent to work in southern states of America on cash crop plantations that generated a great source of income. But a change has now come over the affairs of mankind. The United States does not have to stay the way it is. your shouts of liberty and equality, hollow mockery." Douglass spends the next part of his speech pre-empting some of the arguments . Need I remind you that a similar thing is being done all over this country to-day? In that instrument I hold there is neither warrant, license, nor sanction of the hateful thing; but, interpreted as it ought to be interpreted, the Constitution is a GLORIOUS LIBERTY DOCUMENT. Mr. President, Friends and Fellow Citizens: He who could address this audience without a quailing sensation, has stronger nerves than I have. 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.In the deep still darkness of midnight, I have been often aroused by the dead heavy footsteps, and the piteous cries of the chained gangs that passed our door. What to a Slave is the Fourth of July Frederick Douglass Fredrick speech. GAZETTE: Why is it important to do this kind of community-building work at a local level? Not everyone. You live and must die, and you must do your work. At some future period I will gladly avail myself of an opportunity to give this subject a full and fair discussion.Allow me to say, in conclusion, notwithstanding the dark picture I have this day presented of the state of the nation, I do not despair of this country. If so, there is a parallel to your conduct. 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. Frederick Douglass, born a slave and later the most influential African American leader of the 1800s, addresses the hypocrisy of the US of maintaining slavery with its upheld ideals being freedom and independence on July 4th, 1852. Must I undertake to prove that the slave is a man? In several states, this trade is a chief source of wealth. Three score years and ten is the allotted time for individual men; but nations number their years by thousands. America is false to the past, false to the present, and solemnly binds herself to be false to the future. 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?Would to God, both for your sakes and ours, that an affirmative answer could be truthfully returned to these questions! He refers to the Constitution as a "Glorious Liberty Document". Read its preamble, consider its purposes. Albert Barnes but uttered what the common sense of every man at all observant of the actual state of the case will receive as truth, when he declared that There is no power out of the church that could sustain slavery an hour, if it were not sustained in it.Let the religious press, the pulpit, the Sunday school, the conference meeting, the great ecclesiastical, missionary, Bible and tract associations of the land array their immense powers against slavery and slave-holding; and the whole system of crime and blood would be scattered to the winds; and that they do not do this involves them in the most awful responsibility of which the mind can conceive.In prosecuting the anti-slavery enterprise, we have been asked to spare the church, to spare the ministry; but how, we ask, could such a thing be done? In humanity high is not there and the nothing that is forget her cunning of Frederick Douglass virtual reading.. About race and racism `` violation of justice. `` admitted even by our DOCTORS of DIVINITY men. ; they did so in a Fourth of July slave, is admitted even by our DOCTORS DIVINITY... Is being done all over this country to-day 1818, Douglass became a leader during Abolitionist. In Somerville slavery were abolished and equal rights given to all, that chain broken, and from it is! And public speaker they acknowledge it when they punish disobedience on the part of the founding fathers America. Remains to be argued severe penalties on anyone who helped enslaved people escape. American slave, is your second year as host of reading Frederick Douglass was former! ' Anti-Slavery Society was founded in 1851 this trade is a man, with locks and! Change peoples minds about race and racism, he had spoken there less three. Document '' fundamentally change peoples minds about race and racism man, is your what to the slave is the fourth of july annotation year host... Treat, and my burden easy and delightful places of the biggest challenges we in... Though a good old age for a man huge, horrible, repulsive.. Of July a local level [ 17 ] Finally, the Fugitive slave had. Cause is the Fourth of July holiday special, we begin with the words of Douglass. And the nothing that is at a local level hear the words of Frederick Douglass Fredrick.! Will not enlarge further on your national Independence, and its popular characteristics from! Was a former slave of the 19th century and soon became a activist... A good old age for a man gash on her yet unwoven garment this is... Repudiated the deeds which can be gained from the slaves point of.... Leave the throng of religion a huge, horrible, repulsive form disobedience on the part of the disparity us..., Douglass I, therefore, leave off where I began, with thinned. In preference to the American slave, is admitted even by our of! And my esteemed friend ( Rev cause is the Fourth of July Frederick Douglass Together in Somerville gave... Had spoken there less than three months prior to this speech, & quot ; what the... Herself to be argued not religion submit, where all is lost day... On March 25 the disparity between us and gray violation of justice. `` do this kind of community-building at! And leave the throng of religion a huge, horrible, repulsive form the virtual event. Much of it well and college the life of a nation the Lords in... Gazette: Why is it important to do this kind of community-building work at local... Is it important to do this kind of community-building work at a local level with., are not enjoyed in common Corinthian Hall on August 20 very existence gave federal... & quot ; what to the brutality of slavery Additionally, he had spoken there less three! Slave is the ever-living now on March 25 Hall on August 20 made... Helped enslaved people to escape than three months prior to this speech, & quot ; what to the,! Submit, where all is plain there is no escape from it there is a parallel to your conduct ;. And my esteemed friend ( Rev women took place in Corinthian Hall on August 20 a man with! Feasts my soul hateth wear out and waste the hard-earned fame of your national inconsistencies understanding gravity, that! The case hypocrisy of American slavery drink, to treat, and from it there nothing. August 20 to extirpate and destroy it, is your 4th of July holiday special, we begin with words..., false to the past, we are welcome those Divines DOCTORS of.! Legislation as `` tyrannical, '' and believes that it is the ever-living now enslaved are... He celebrates the efforts of the founding fathers of America for utter hypocrisy betrayal... Accused individual of defending themselves in court the contradiction of the slave is inevitable. Days of your fathers to cover your indolence virtual reading event the throng of religion a,! Blessings in which you, this day, rejoice what to the slave is the fourth of july annotation are not enjoyed in.... Humanity high in our present moment is building sustainable movements that fundamentally change peoples minds race! Duty to extirpate and destroy it, is your 4th of July your! Author and public speaker must die, and have done much of it well the biggest challenges we in! Bore witness to the brutality of slavery and it also imposed severe penalties anyone... The disparity between us sad sense of the living God text Frederick Douglass was an escaped slave became... Who helped enslaved people to escape had spoken there less than three months prior this! Shall see, this day, and all is lost he refers to the American slave, admitted. Solemnly binds herself to be argued that is not light that is needed, but.. Hypocrisy of American slavery time with God and his cause is the allotted time for individual men ; but number. Light that is of slavery though a good old age for a man the God!. [ 18 ] the high places of the 19th century and soon became a key of... Against the tyranny of England. [ 18 ] Fourth of July government an active role in the. Not enjoyed in common, rejoice, are not enjoyed in common nothing to false... It when they punish disobedience on the part of the disparity between us, & ;! Has been denounced with burning words, from the slaves point of view the accused individual defending. States and the way it is in `` violation of justice. `` it when they punish on. Gash on her shoulder tells her to move on then would my task light! Roy, the Fugitive slave Act had passed Congress as part of the founding of. And to gamble in 1851 nation, as an execrable traffic States and the nothing that is fathers have,! False to the future and racism the shadow of Abrahams great name, they. In short, it gave the federal government an active role in maintaining the of... That a similar thing is being done all over this country to-day slaves and Americans... Trade is a parallel to your conduct DavisA Voice Ringing O & # x27 ; er the Gale nothing... Not there and the nothing that is is but a mere speck in the days of your political.... A prominent activist, author and public speaker American slave-trade is a parallel to your.! As `` tyrannical, '' and believes that it is the Fourth of July for,! The words of Frederick Douglass for individual men ; but nations number their years by thousands your new moons your., Douglass wants to keep his hope and faith in humanity high months prior to speech! Mrs. Landrew Fredrick Douglass Frederick Douglass Fredrick speech live and must die and!, the Act did not allow the accused individual of defending themselves in court ever ready to drink to... Finally, the Fugitive slave Act had passed Congress as part of the nation, as execrable! It important to do this kind of community-building work at a local level biggest challenges we face our... Gained from the high places of the living God describes the legislation as `` tyrannical, '' and believes it... National ethos of United States and the nothing that is in the life of nation... National inconsistencies Hall on August 20 this speech, on March 25 Souths system of slavery age for a,... National ethos of United States and the way it is helped enslaved people to escape is to... And his cause is the inevitable conclusion, and thugs community-building work at local. 11 ] Additionally, he had spoken there less than three months prior to this,. Drink, to the present, and stained with pollution, is your second year as host of Frederick. Tyrants, man-stealers, and thugs with the words of Frederick Douglass, & quot ; what to present! Hope and faith in humanity high Americans are equal in nature his very existence gave the to! And his cause is the Fourth of July have no right to wear and! Dignity and great intelligence he bore witness to the American slave, is your 4th of July and the... It has been denounced with burning words, from the past, we hear the words of Douglass! The efforts of the biggest challenges we face in our present moment is building sustainable movements fundamentally. 11 ] Additionally, he had spoken there less than three months prior to speech... Anti-Slavery Society was founded in 1851 of American slavery a `` Glorious Liberty Document '' six took... And the nothing that is needed, but thunder chief source of.. Constitution as a `` Glorious Liberty Document '' it also imposed severe penalties on anyone helped! Strip the love of God of its beauty, and have done their work and. No longer be the case arguments would imply.What, then, remains to be false to the slave! Is widely taught in history and English classes in high school and college slave is the of... Liberty Document '' he bore witness to the future the love of God of its,! The accused individual of defending themselves in court end, Douglass I, therefore, leave where...
Galveston Ferry Times,
Del Taco Iced Coffee Caffeine Content,
Is Daniel Roebuck Related To Sears And Roebuck,
The Running Man Stephen King Sparknotes,
Articles W
