what to the slave is your fourth of july

Spoken language by Frederick Douglass

Coordinates: 43°09′22″N 77°36′47″W  /  43.1562269°North 77.6129184°W  / 43.1562269; -77.6129184

Frederick Douglass circa 1852

The 1852 pamphlet printing of the speech

"What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?"^{[i] [two]} is the title at present given to a oral communication past Frederick Douglass delivered on July 5, 1852, at Corinthian Hall in Rochester, New York, at a coming together organized by the Rochester Ladies' Anti-Slavery Social club.^[3] The speech is perhaps the near widely known of all of Frederick Douglass' writings salvage his autobiographies. Many copies of one section of information technology, commencement in paragraph 32, have been circulated online.^[4] Due to this and the variant titles given to it in various places, and the fact that it is chosen a July 4th Oration but was actually delivered on July 5, some confusion has arisen virtually the date and contents of the voice communication. The speech has since been published nether the above title in The Frederick Douglass Papers, Series I, Vol. 2. (1982) ^[5]

While referring to the celebrations of the Independence Solar day in the United States the day before, the speech uses bitter irony and biting rhetoric, and acute textual assay of the Constitution and Proclamation of Independence, and the Christian Bible, to advance a values-based argument against the continued being of Slavery in the The states.^[6] Douglass orates that positive statements about American values, such as liberty, citizenship, and freedom, were an offense to the enslaved population of the United States because of their lack of freedom, liberty, and citizenship. Every bit well, Douglass referred not only to the captivity of enslaved people, but to the merciless exploitation and the cruelty and torture that slaves were subjected to in the United states.^[vii] Rhetoricians R.Fifty. Heath and D. Waymer called this topic the "paradox of the positive" because it highlights how something positive and meant to be positive tin also exclude individuals.^[vii]

Views expressed in the speech [edit]

The 4th of July Address, delivered in Corinthian Hall, past Frederick Douglass, is published on good paper, and makes a bang-up pamphlet of 40 pages. The 'Accost' may exist had at this office, price ten cents, a single re-create, or six dollars per hundred.

—Advertisement for the pamphlet of Douglass' spoken language from the July 12, 1852 edition of Frederick Douglass' Paper (formerly The North Star)

Douglass said that the fathers of the nation were great statesmen, and that the values expressed in the Announcement of Independence were "saving principles", and the "ringbolt of your nations destiny", stating, "stand up by those principles, be truthful to them on all occasions, in all places, against all foes, and at whatever cost." Yet, he maintained that slaves owed nothing to and had no positive feelings towards the founding of the United states. He faulted America for utter hypocrisy and betrayal of those values in maintaining the institution of slavery.

What have I, or those I correspond, to practise with your national independence? Are the not bad principles of political freedom and of natural justice, embodied in that Declaration of Independence, extended to united states of america?...What, to the American slave, is your quaternary of July? I answer; a mean solar day that reveals to him, more than than all other days in the year, the gross injustice and cruelty to which he is the constant victim.^[8]

Douglass also stresses the view that slaves and gratis Americans are equal in nature. He expresses his belief in the speech that he and other slaves are fighting the same fight in terms of wishing to be free that White Americans, the ancestors of the white people he is addressing, fought seventy years before.

They were statesmen, patriots, and heroes, and…with them, justice, liberty, and humanity were terminal; non slavery and oppression.^{[9] : 340}

Douglass too says that if the residents of America believe that slaves are "men",^{[9] : 342} they should exist treated equally such. True Christians, according to Douglass, should not stand idly by while the rights and liberty of others are stripped away.

Douglass denounces the churches for betraying their own biblical and Christian values. He is outraged by the lack of responsibleness and indifference towards slavery that many sects have taken around the nation. He says that, if anything, many churches actually stand backside slavery and support the continued existence of the institution. Douglass equates this to being worse than many other things that are banned, in particular, books and plays that are banned for infidelity.

They catechumen the very proper noun of religion into an engine of tyranny and fell cruelty, and serve to confirm more infidels, in this age, than all the infidel writings of Thomas Paine, Voltaire, and Bolingbroke put together take washed.^{[nine] : 344}

Nevertheless, Douglass claims that this tin change. The United States does not accept to stay the way it is. The country can progress like it has before, transforming from existence a colony of a far-abroad king to an independent nation. Corking Britain, and many other countries of that time, had already abolished slavery from its territories. The British accomplished this through religion or more specifically, the church. Because the church stood behind the decision to abolish the selling and buying of people, so did the residual of the country. Douglass argues that religion is the heart of the problem merely also the chief solution to it.

Douglass believed that slavery could exist eliminated with the support of the church building, and also with the reexamination of what the Bible was actually proverb.

Y'all profess to believe, "that, of one blood, God fabricated all nations of men to dwell on the face of all the earth," and hath commanded all men everywhere to beloved one some other; yet you notoriously hate (and glory in your hatred) all men whose skins are not colored like your own.^{[9] : 345}

Douglass wants his audience to realize that they are not living upwardly to their proclaimed beliefs. He talks about how they, being Americans, are proud of their country and their religion and how they rejoice in the proper noun of liberty and liberty and yet they do non offer those things to millions of their country'due south residents.^{[9] : 345}

He employs irony to do a lot of this work. Douglass spends time celebrating the efforts of the founding fathers of America for fighting back against the tyranny of England when he says^[10]

Oppression makes a wise human being mad. Your fathers were wise men, and if they did not go mad, they became restive nether this treatment. They felt themselves the victims of grievous wrongs, wholly incurable in their colonial capacity. With dauntless men there is always a remedy for oppression. Simply hither, the idea of a full separation of the colonies from the crown was born! It was a startling idea, much more so, than we, at this distance of time, regard it. The timid and the prudent (equally has been intimated) of that day, were, of course, shocked and alarmed by it.

Douglass details the hardships by Americans once endured when they were members of British colonies and validates their feelings of sick treatment. He does all this to show the irony of their inability to sympathize with the Black people they oppressed in brutal ways that the forefathers they valorized never experienced. He validates the feelings of injustice the Founders felt then juxtaposes their experiences with vivid descriptions of the harshness of slavery when he says:^[11]

The crack you heard, was the audio of the slave-whip; the scream you heard, was from the adult female you saw with the baby. Her speed had faltered under the weight of her child and her bondage! that gash on her shoulder tells her to move on. Follow the drove to New Orleans. Attend the auction; see men examined similar horses; meet the forms of women rudely and brutally exposed to the shocking gaze of American slave-buyers. Run into this drove sold and separated forever; and never forget the deep, pitiful sobs that arose from that scattered multitude. Tell me citizens, WHERE, under the sun, yous tin witness a spectacle more than fiendish and shocking. Yet this is only a glance at the American slave-trade, as it exists, at this moment, in the ruling part of the United states.

Essentially, Douglass criticizes his audition's pride for a nation that claims to value freedom though it is equanimous of people who continuously commit atrocities against Blacks. Information technology is said that America is built on the thought of liberty and liberty, but Douglass tells his audition that more than anything, it is built on inconsistencies and hypocrisies that have been overlooked for and then long they appear to be truths. According to Douglass, these inconsistencies have made the United States the object of mockery and often antipathy among the various nations of the world.^{[9] : 346} To prove evidence of these inconsistencies, as one historian noted, during the speech Douglass claims that the U.s. Constitution is an abolitionist certificate and not a pro-slavery document.^[12] Douglass said:^{[13] [14]}

An advertizement for the occasion of the spoken language.

Fellow-citizens! there is no matter in respect to which, the people of the Northward have allowed themselves to exist so ruinously imposed upon, as that of the pro-slavery character of the Constitution. In that instrument I hold there is neither warrant, license, nor sanction of the mean thing; but, interpreted as it ought to exist interpreted, the Constitution is a GLORIOUS LIBERTY Certificate. Read its preamble, consider its purposes. Is slavery amidst them? Is it at the gateway? or is it in the temple? Information technology is neither.

In this respect, Douglass' views converged with that of Abraham Lincoln's^[15] in that those politicians who were proverb that the Constitution was a justification for their beliefs in regard to slavery were doing then dishonestly.

All the same, if slavery were abolished and equal rights given to all, that would no longer be the case. In the finish, Douglass wants to go along his hope and faith in humanity loftier. Douglass declares that true liberty can non be in America if Black people are even so enslaved at that place and is adamant that the stop of slavery is near. Knowledge is becoming more readily bachelor, Douglass said, and before long the American people will open their eyes to the atrocities they have been inflicting on their boyfriend Americans.

Intelligence is penetrating the darkest corners of the globe. Information technology makes its pathway over and under the sea, as well as on the world.^{[9] : 346}

Later views on American independence [edit]

The spoken communication "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. During the Civil War, Douglass said that since Massachusetts had been the first state to bring together the Patriot crusade during the American Revolutionary War, black men should become to Massachusetts to enlist in the Union Ground forces.^[16] After the Ceremonious State of war, Douglass said that "we" had achieved a great thing by gaining American independence during the American Revolutionary State of war, though he said information technology was not as great equally what was accomplished by the Civil State of war.^[17]

Legacy [edit]

In the U.s.a., the speech is widely taught in history and English classes in high schoolhouse and college.^[six] American studies professor Andrew S. Bibby argues that because many of the editions produced for educational use are abridged, they often misrepresent Douglass'south original through omission or editorial focus.^[six]

A statue of Douglass erected in Rochester in 2018 was torn down on July 5, 2020—the 168th anniversary of the spoken language.^{[xviii] [nineteen]} The head of the system 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, though there is no evidence to prove this argument. ^[xx]

Notable readings [edit]

The speech has been notably performed or read by important figures, including the following:

• James Earl Jones^[six]
• Morgan Freeman^[vi]
• Danny Glover^[six]
• Ossie Davis^[6]
• Baratunde Thurston^[21]
• Five of his descendants^[22]

References [edit]

1. ^ Douglass, Frederick (1852). Frederick Douglass, Oration, Delivered in Corinthian Hall, Rochester, July 5th, 1852. Rochester: Lee, Isle of man & Co., 1852. Rochester, NY: Lee, Mann & Co.
2. ^ Douglass, Frederick (July 5, 1852). ""What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?"". Retrieved January 2, 2022.
3. ^ McFeely, William South. (1991). Frederick Douglass . New York: W.W. Norton & Company. pp. 172–173. ISBN978-0-393-02823-2.
4. ^ The paragraphing referenced here is taken from an edition of the spoken language at RhetoricalGoddess
5. ^ Douglass, Frederick (1982). Blassingame, John W. (ed.). The Frederick Douglass Papers, Series One: Speeches Debates, and Interviews. Vol. 2, 1847-54. New Oasis: Yale University Press. p. 359-387.
6. ^ ^{a b c d e f grand} Bibby, Andrew S. (July 2, 2014). "'What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?': Frederick Douglass's fiery Independence Day speech is widely read today, simply not so widely understood". Wall Street Journal . Retrieved August thirteen, 2015.
7. ^ ^{a b} Heath, Robert L.; Waymer, Damion (2009). "Activist Public Relations and the Paradox of the Positive: A Case Study of Frederick Douglass's Fourth of July Accost". Rhetorical and Disquisitional Approaches to Public Relations Two: 192–215. ISBN9781135220877.
8. ^ Battistoni, Richard. The American Ramble Experience: Selected Readings & Supreme Court Opinions, pp. 66-73 (Kendall Hunt, 2000).
9. ^ ^{a b c d east f g} Douglass, Frederick (1852). "Oration, Delivered in Corinthian Hall, Rochester, July five, 1852". In Harris, Leonard; Pratt, Scott L.; Waters, Anne South. (eds.). American Philosophies: An Album. Malden, Mass.: Blackwell (published 2002). ISBN978-0-631-21002-3.
10. ^ ""What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?"". Didactics American History . Retrieved 2021-05-22 .
11. ^ ""What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?"". Teaching American History . Retrieved 2021-05-22 .
12. ^ Colaiaco, James A. (March 24, 2015). Frederick Douglass and the Quaternary of July. St. Martin's Publishing Group. ISBN9781466892781 – via Google Books.
13. ^ "Exceptionalism and the left". Los Angeles Times. Dec 13, 2010.
14. ^ African Americans In Congress: A Documentary History, by Eric Freedman and Stephen A, Jones, 2008, p. 39
15. ^ Gorski, Philip (Feb half dozen, 2017). American Covenant: A History of Civil Religion from the Puritans to the Nowadays. Princeton University Printing. ISBN9781400885008 – via Google Books.
16. ^ Douglass, Frederick. Frederick Douglass on Slavery and the Civil State of war: Selections from His Writings, p. 46 (Dover Publications, 2014): "We tin can become at the throat of treason and slavery through the State of Massachusetts. She was outset in the State of war of Independence; first to pause the bondage of her slaves; first to make the blackness man equal before the law; start to admit colored children to her common schools, and she was commencement to answer with her claret the alarm weep of the nation, when its capital was menaced by rebels."
17. ^ Douglass, Frederick. Autobiographies, p. 765 (Library of America, 1994): "It was a great thing to achieve American Independence when we numbered three millions, but it was a greater thing to save this state from dismemberment and ruin when information technology numbered thirty millions."
18. ^ Schwartz, Matthew S. (July 6, 2020). "Frederick Douglass Statue Torn Down On Anniversary Of Famous Speech communication". NPR. Archived from the original on July 7, 2020. Retrieved July 7, 2020.
19. ^ Dark-brown, Deneen L. (July 6, 2020). "Frederick Douglass statue torn downwards in Rochester, N.Y., on anniversary of his famous Fourth of July spoken communication". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on July vii, 2020. Retrieved July 7, 2020.
20. ^ Pengelly, Martin (July half dozen, 2020). "Frederick Douglass statue torn downward on anniversary of great voice communication". The Guardian. Archived from the original on July seven, 2020. Retrieved July 7, 2020. Speaking to WROC, [Carvin] Eison asked: 'Is this some type of retaliation because of the national fever over Amalgamated monuments right now? Very disappointing, information technology's beyond disappointing.'
21. ^ Thurston, Baratunde (July 4, 2020) [Recorded July i, 2016]. Baratunde Delivers The states Co-Founder Frederick Douglass 1852 Spoken language: 'What To The Slave Is The 4th of July' . Facebook. Directed by Tara Garver Mikhael. Brooklyn Public Library. Retrieved July 7, 2020.
22. ^ "VIDEO: Frederick Douglass' Descendants Deliver His 'Fourth Of July' Oral communication". NPR.org . Retrieved 2021-05-22 .

Further reading [edit]

• Bizzell, Patricia (1997-02-01). "The quaternary of July and the 22nd of December: The Role of Cultural Archives in Persuasion, every bit Shown by Frederick Douglass and William Apess". Higher Composition and Communication. 48 (1): 44–60. doi:10.2307/358770. ISSN 0010-096X. JSTOR 358770.
• Douglass, Frederick. A Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave. New York: Dover Publications, Inc. 1845.
• Douglass, Frederick, ed. Stauffer, John. Random Firm. 2003. My Bondage and My Freedom: Part I - Life equally a Slave, Role 2 - Life equally a Freeman, with an introduction past James McCune Smith. New York: Miller, Orton & Mulligan. 1855.
• Gates, Jr. Henry Louis, ed. Frederick Douglass, Autobiography. New York: Library of America. 1994.
• Oakes, James. The Radical and the Republican: Frederick Douglass, Abraham Lincoln, and the Triumph of Antislavery Politics. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc. 2007.

External links [edit]

• Frederick Douglass' Descendants Deliver His 'Fourth of July' Spoken communication (video)
• Commencement edition of the publication of Douglass' speech
• Discussion of the pamphlet from The Public Domain Review
• What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July? public domain audiobook at LibriVox

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Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/What_to_the_Slave_is_the_Fourth_of_July%3F

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