Because the church stood behind the decision to abolish the selling and buying of people, so did the rest of the country. we wept when we remembered Zion. What point in the anti-slavery creed would you have me argue? They petitioned and remonstrated; they did so in a decorous, respectful, and loyal manner. The accepted time with God and his cause is the ever-living now. Ex-Vice-President Dallas tells us that the Constitution is an object to which no American mind can be too attentive, and no American heart too devoted. And it also imposed severe penalties on anyone who helped enslaved people to escape. 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. This, to you, is what the Passover was to the emancipated people of God. (1982). ROY:One of the things that Douglass writings shows us is that he believed in amplifying a variety of voices. Intelligence is penetrating the darkest corners of the globe. There, the question of emancipation was a high religious question. You invite to your shores fugitives of oppression from abroad, honor them with banquets, greet them with ovations, cheer them, toast them, salute them, protect them, and pour out your money to them like water; but the fugitives from your own land you advertise, hunt, arrest, shoot and kill. No nation can now shut itself up from the surrounding world, and trot round in the same old path of its fathers without interference. 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? A major theme of the speech is how America is not living up to its proclaimed beliefs. To do so, would be to make myself ridiculous, and to offer an insult to your understanding.There is not a man beneath the canopy of heaven, that does not know that slavery is wrong for him.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 bum their flesh, to starve them into obedience and submission to their masters? Great streams are not easily turned from channels, worn deep in the course of ages. 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. 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. What is now known as the "What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?" speech was delivered on July 5, 1852 as an address to the Rochester Ladies' Anti-Slavery Society in Rochester, New York. In short, it gave the federal government an active role in maintaining the Souths system of slavery. Must I argue the wrongfulness of slavery? 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. 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. In the end, Douglass wants to keep his hope and faith in humanity high. My subject, then fellow-citizens, is AMERICAN SLAVERY. According to Douglass, these inconsistencies have made the United States the object of mockery and often contempt among the various nations of the world. Where these are, man is not sacred. 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. I am not included within the pale of this glorious anniversary! [20]:346 To prove evidence of these inconsistencies, as one historian noted, during the speech Douglass claims that the United States Constitution is an abolitionist document and not a pro-slavery document.[22][23][24]. This Fourth [of] July is yours, not mine. 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 an 1868 speech, he said, No man should be excluded from the government on the basis of his color, no woman on account of her sex. Further, if this demand were not complied with, another Scotland would be added to the history of religious liberty, and the stern old Covenanters would be thrown into the shade. was delivered in the decade preceding the American Civil War, which lasted from 1861 to 1865 and achieved the abolition of slavery. You have no right to wear out and waste the hard-earned fame of your fathers to cover your indolence. 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. weeping, as she thinks of the mother from whom she has been torn! What, to the American slave, is your 4th of July? Douglass also stresses the view that slaves and free Americans are equal in nature. The Fugitive Slave Law makes mercy to them a crime; and bribes the judge who tries them. . They that can, may; I cannot. By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down. From the round top of your ship of state, dark and threatening clouds may be seen. 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. Tell me citizens, WHERE, under the sun, you can witness a spectacle more fiendish and shocking. There, see the old man, with locks thinned and gray. 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. sanction. You know what is a swine-drover? Africa must rise and put on her yet unwoven garment. 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. Not everyone. See this drove sold and separated forever; and never forget the deep, sad sobs that arose from that scattered multitude. Is it at the gateway? I take it, therefore, that it is not presumption in a private citizen to form an opinion of that instrument.Now, take the Constitution according to its plain reading, and I defy the presentation of a single pro-slavery clause in it. The crack you heard, was the sound of the slave-whip; the scream you heard, was from the woman you saw with the babe. Wells, which was incorporated into the preface of her 1892 pamphlet Southern Horrors: Lynch Law in All Its Phases.. You live and must die, and you must do your work. The speech has since been published under the above title in The Frederick Douglass Papers, Series One, Vol. Tell me citizens, WHERE, under the sun, you can witness a spectacle more fiendish and shocking. He implored the Rochester, N.Y., audience to think about the ongoing oppression of Black Americans during a holiday celebrating freedom. Is that a question for Republicans? Knowledge was then confined and enjoyed by the privileged few, and the multitude walked on in mental darkness. The blessings in which you, this day, rejoice, are not enjoyed in common. Your lawmakers have commanded all good citizens to engage in this hellish sport. These gentlemen have, as I think, fully and clearly vindicated the Constitution from any design to support slavery for an hour.Fellow-citizens! Douglass denounces the churches for betraying their own biblical and Christian values. We hanged our harps upon the willows in the midst thereof. ts future might be shrouded in gloom, and the hope of its prophets go out in sorr. 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. 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. Noble men may be found, scattered all over these Northern States, of whom Henry Ward Beecher of Brooklyn, Samuel J. Born into slavery around 1818, Douglass became a key leader of the abolitionist. As the project scholar, my role is to advise the process as it rolls out, to give a talk that provides contemporary and historical context and to facilitate the community discussion around the speech against the backdrop of other relevant issues. 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, a seventh part of the inhabitants of your country.Fellow-citizens! Here you will see men and women reared like swine for the market. The crack you heard, was the sound of the slave-whip; the scream you heard, was from the woman you saw with the babe. The speech has been notably performed or read by important figures, including the following: The paragraphing referenced here is taken from an edition of the speech at, African Americans In Congress: A Documentary History, by Eric Freedman and Stephen A, Jones, 2008, p. 39, "Activist Public Relations and the Paradox of the Positive: A Case Study of Frederick Douglass's Fourth of July Address", "One of American History's Worst Laws Was Passed 165 Years Ago", "The Operation of the Fugitive Slave Law in Western Pennsylvania from 1850 to 1860", The American Constitutional Experience: Selected Readings & Supreme Court Opinions, Frederick Douglass on Slavery and the Civil War: Selections from His Writings, "Frederick Douglass Statue Torn Down On Anniversary Of Famous Speech", "Frederick Douglass statue torn down in Rochester, N.Y., on anniversary of his famous Fourth of July speech", "Frederick Douglass statue torn down on anniversary of great speech", "VIDEO: Frederick Douglass' Descendants Deliver His 'Fourth Of July' Speech", A Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, Frederick Douglass's Descendants Deliver His 'Fourth of July' Speech, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=What_to_the_Slave_Is_the_Fourth_of_July%3F&oldid=1137650578. Hear his savage yells and his blood-chilling oaths, as he hurries on his affrighted captives! On the other hand it will be found to contain principles and purposes, entirely hostile to the existence of slavery.I have detained my audience entirely too long already. 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, and not a vital principle, requiring active benevolence, justice, love and good will towards man. There is blasphemy in the thought. 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. we wept when we remembered Zion. In this collection, students will review the life of Frederick Douglass and learn about one of his most famous speeches, "The Meaning of Fourth of July for the Negro" (it is also commonly referred to as "What to the Slave is the Fourth of July). GAZETTE: Why is it important to do this kind of community-building work at a local level? whose chains, heavy and grievous yesterday, are, to-day, rendered more intolerable by the jubilee shouts that reach them. 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? Are the great principles of political freedom and of natural justice, embodied in that Declaration of Independence, extended to us? The charter of our liberties, which every citizen has a personal interest in understanding thoroughly. We need the storm, the whirlwind, and the earthquake. He mentions the fact to show that slavery is in no danger. There, the church, true to its mission of ameliorating, elevating, and improving the condition of mankind, came forward promptly, bound up the wounds of the West Indian slave, and restored him to his liberty. A feeling has crept over me, quite unfavorable to the exercise of my limited powers of speech. The power is co-extensive with the Star-Spangled Banner and American Christianity. This truth is not a doubtful one. [16] Additionally, it awarded $10 to a judge who sentenced an individual to return to enslavement, while awarding only $5 if the claim was dismissed. 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.For my part, I would say, welcome infidelity! If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning. To me the American slave-trade is a terrible reality. Kate Harris Date Published September 28, 2016 Last Modified November 14, 2021 Description. These ministers make religion a cold and flinty-hearted thing, having neither principles of right action, nor bowels of compassion. His own testimony is nothing. or is it in the temple? It has been denounced with burning words, from the high places of the nation, as an execrable traffic. Must I argue the wrongfulness of slavery? 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. If so, there is a parallel to your conduct. 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? I shall see, this day, and its popular characteristics, from the slaves point of view. Great for your high school American Literature class. [8] Frederick Douglass had moved to Rochester in 1847 in order to publish his newspaper The North Star. The 'Address' may be had at this office, price ten cents, a single copy, or six dollars per hundred. Yea! The minister of American justice is bound by the law to hear but one side; and that side, is the side of the oppressor. GAZETTE: This is your second year as host of Reading Frederick Douglass Together in Somerville. 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. 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. Seventy-six years, though a good old age for a man, is but a mere speck in the life of a nation. I will show you a man-drover. 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. Thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning from,... 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