Extend your content reach and maximize your engagement rates. My spirit wearies of such blasphemy; and how such men can be supported, as the standing types and representatives of Jesus Christ, is a mystery which I leave others to penetrate. There are 72 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 these same crimes will subject a white man to like punishment. Yea! There is blasphemy in the thought. Is it not astonishing that, while we are ploughing, planting and reaping, using all kinds of mechanical tools, erecting houses, constructing bridges, building ships, working in metals of brass, iron, copper, silver and gold; that, while we are reading, writing and cyphering, acting as clerks, merchants and secretaries, having among us lawyers, doctors, ministers, poets, authors, editors, orators and teachers; that, while we are engaged in all manner of enterprises common to other men, digging gold in California, capturing the whale in the Pacific, feeding sheep and cattle on the hill-side, living, moving, acting, thinking, planning, living in families as husbands, wives and children, and, above all, confessing and worshipping the Christians God, and looking hopefully for life and immortality beyond the grave, we are called upon to prove that we are men! Speech Must I argue the wrongfulness of slavery? The blessings in which you, this day, rejoice, are not enjoyed in common. All Rights Reserved. During He mentions the fact to show that slavery is in no danger. 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. They went so far in their excitement as to pronounce the measures of government unjust, unreasonable, and oppressive, and altogether such as ought not to be quietly submitted to. They acknowledge it when they punish disobedience on the part of the slave. Citizens, your fathers made good that resolution. Take the American slave-trade, which, we are told by the papers, is especially prosperous just now. A RESTful API to access Revs workforce of fast, high quality transcriptionists and captioners. Frederick Douglass's, What To the Slave Is the Fourth of That year will come, and freedoms reign. 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. Is that a question for Republicans? It has been denounced with burning words, from the high places of the nation, as an execrable traffic. 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. Speech-to-Text live streaming for live captions, powered by the worlds leading speech recognition API. Oh, had I, the ability, and could I reach the nations ear, I would today pour out a fiery steam of biting ridicule, blasting reproach, withering sarcasm, and stern rebuke. that gash on her shoulder tells her to move on. Africa must rise and put on her yet unwoven garment. What to the Slave is the 4th of July? Speech Transcript by Frederick Douglass, Congressional Testimony & Hearing Transcripts. See this drove sold and separated forever; and never forget the deep, sad sobs that arose from that scattered multitude. Fellow-citizens! Is slavery among them? Noble men may be found, scattered all over these Northern States, of whom Henry Ward Beecher of Brooklyn, Samuel J. Neither steam nor lightning had then been reduced to order and discipline. It makes its pathway over and under the sea, as well as on the earth. 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. Would you persuade more and rebuke less? A worship that can be conducted by persons who refuse to give shelter to the houseless, to give bread to the hungry, clothing to the naked, and who enjoin obedience to a law forbidding these acts of mercy, is a curse, not a blessing to mankind. 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. "What to the Slave is the 4th of July?" Fellow-citizens, I shall not presume to dwell at length on the associations that cluster about this day. But now is the time, the important time. Your high independence only reveals the immeasurable distance between us. To do so would be to make myself ridiculous and to offer an insult to your understanding. My soul sickens at the sight. I am not that man. Add English on-screen subtitles for videos. But the church of this country is not only indifferent to the wrongs of the slave, it actually takes sides with the oppressors. If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning. speech 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? Walled cities and empires have become unfashionable. 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. Would you have me argue that man is entitled to Liberty, that he is the rightful owner of his body? Our eyes are met with demonstrations of joyous enthusiasm. Morel is right that the 1876 speech by Frederick Douglass is remarkable and masterful. 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. Your fathers esteemed the English Government as the home government; and England as the fatherland. WebIn this speech, Frederick Douglass reflected on how the outpouring of joy at the conclusion of the Civil War turned to mourning with Lincolns assassination. Need I remind you that a similar thing is being done all over this country to-day? But I differ from those who charge this baseness on the framers of the Constitution of the United States. And while slavery has long been abolished and outlawed, the sentiment behind the address still applies in many unfortunate ways when it comes to the overall Black experience in America. 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. If so, there is a parallel to your conduct. 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. To forget them, to pass lightly over their wrongs and to chime in with the popular theme would be treason most sacrilegious and shocking and would make me a reproach before God and the world. 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 to the American slave is your 4th of July? 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. They loved their country better than their own private interests; and, though this is not the highest form of human excellence, all will concede that it is a rare virtue, and that when it is exhibited, it ought to command respect. It was fashionable, hundreds of years ago, for the children of Jacob to boast, we have Abraham to our father, when they had long lost Abrahams faith and spirit. May he not hope that high lessons of wisdom, of justice and of truth, will yet give direction to her destiny? For my part, I would say, welcome infidelity! His own testimony is nothing. There is hope in the thought, and hope is much needed, under the dark clouds which lower above the horizon. Let this damning fact be perpetually told. Frederick Douglass: (02:13) WebBoth anniversaries remind us that the fight for independence and equality did not end in the 18th century - a theme highlighted in Douglass speech. From Boston to London is now a holiday excursion. An American judge gets ten dollars for every victim he consigns to slavery, and five, when he fails to do so. They are plain, common-sense rules, such as you and I, and all of us, can understand and apply, without having passed years in the study of law. 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 palpablebribe, and are bound, in deciding in the case of a mans liberty,hear only his accusers! The cause of liberty may be stabbed by the men who glory in the deeds of your fathers. Is it to be settled by the rules of logic and argumentation? WebOn December 3, 1860, Frederick Douglass and a group of fellow abolitionists met at the Tremont Temple Baptist Church in Boston for a discussion centered around the following Fellow citizens, this murderous traffic is, today, in active operation in this boasted republic. I was glad to find one who sympathized with me in my horror. 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. Its the news, without the news. Frederick Douglass: (05:02) 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. Frederick Douglass speech - PBS VIDEO: Frederick Douglass' descendants deliver his 'Fourth of July' speech. Many of you understand them better than I do. It destroys your moral power abroad; it corrupts your politicians at home. It has made itself the bulwark of American slavery, and the shield of American slave-hunters. 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. You live and must die, and you must do your work. What, to the American slave, is your 4th of July? I was born amid such sights and scenes. The feeling of the nation must be quickened. 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 scout the idea that the question of the constitutionality or unconstitutionality of slavery is not a question for the people. For the present, it is enough to affirm the equal manhood of the Negro race. Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hateth. But, your fathers, who had not adopted the fashionable idea of this day, of the infallibility of government, and the absolute character of its acts, presumed to differ from the home government in respect to the wisdom and the justice of some of those burdens and restraints. 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. 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. Celebrating Frederick Douglass through Transcription You discourse eloquently on the dignity of labor; yet, you sustain a system which, in its very essence, casts a stigma upon labor. 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. The rich inheritance of justice, liberty, prosperity and independence bequeathed by your fathers is shared by you, not by me. Just here, the idea of a total separation of the colonies from the crown was born! From the round top of your ship of state, dark and threatening clouds may be seen. Community Reading: Frederick Douglass's "What speech 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. You could instruct me in regard to them. Speech Towards the end of But a still more inhuman, disgraceful, and scandalous state of things remains to be presented. Without this right, the liberty of an American citizen would be as insecure as that of a Frenchman. when ye make many prayers, I will not hear. His death, according to Douglass was not only tragic, but also prevented recently freed slaves and African Americans from gaining the ear of wise and well-intentioned leader. But, besides general considerations, there were peculiar circumstances which make the advent of this republic an event of special attractiveness. Must I argue that a system thus marked with blood and stained with pollution is wrong? They were statesmen, patriots and heroes, and for the good they did, and the principles they contended for, I will unite with you to honor their memory. From police shootings to the wage gap to crippling stereotypes (and everything in between), there are too many parallels today with what Douglass described in his speech to white America, including this relevant line: This Fourth of July is yours, not mine. The style and title of your sovereign people (in which you now glory) was not then born. Many of its most eloquent Divines. Frederick Douglass's, What To the Slave Is the Fourth of Frederick Douglass: (10:31) They form the staple of your national poetry and eloquence. As with rivers so with nations. They inhabit all our Southern States. Fellow-citizens, pardon me, allow me to ask, why am I called upon to speak here to-day? speech was delivered on July 5, 1852 as an address to the Rochester Ladies' Anti-Slavery Society in Rochester, New York. Before you read the speech you can follow these links to learn more about Douglasss life and the evolution of his thought in this period. Short bio of Frederick Douglass The Frederick Douglass Papers Library of Congress I have detained my audience entirely too long already. Its quite a remarkable speech as Douglass in a way reenacts his own journey in appreciation for the work that Lincoln did, not just for blacks, but for whites in this country. I am not included within the pale of this glorious anniversary! With little experience and with less learning, I have been able to throw my thoughts hastily and imperfectly together; and trusting to your patient and generous indulgence, I will proceed to lay them before you. The slaveholders themselves acknowledge it in the enactment of laws for their government. The Lords of Buffalo, the Springs of New York, the Lathrops of Auburn, the Coxes and Spencers of Brooklyn, the Gannets and Sharps of Boston, the Deweys of Washington, and other great religious lights of the land have, in utter denial of the authority ofHimby whom they professed to be called to the ministry, deliberately taught us, against the example or the Hebrews and against the remonstrance of the Apostles, they teachthat we ought to obey mans law before the law of God. They petitioned and remonstrated; they did so in a decorous, respectful, and loyal manner. 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. I must mourn. The iron shoe, and crippled foot of China must be seen, in contrast with nature. A speech given at Rochester, New York, July 5, 1852 . 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. 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. I answer: a day that reveals to him more than all other days of the year, the gross injustice and cruelty to which he is the constant victim. But I fancy, I hear some of my audience say it is just in this circumstance that you and your brother abolitionists fail to make a favorable impression upon the public mind. will be found by Americans. No! Try Rev and save time transcribing, captioning, and subtitling. 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! They were not the men to look back. The minister of American justice is bound by the law to hear butoneside; andthatside, is the side of the oppressor. In a case like that, the dumb might eloquently speak. 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? What have I, or those I represent, to do with your national independence? The coming into being of a nation, in any circumstances, is an interesting event. The task before me is one which requires much previous thought and study for its proper performance. Get a weekly digest of the weeks most important transcripts in your inbox. How circumspect, exact and proportionate were all their movements! This is the inevitable conclusion, and from it there is no escape. My subject, then fellow-citizens, is AMERICAN SLAVERY. What is this but the acknowledgement that the slave is a moral, intellectual and responsible being? or is it in the temple? Your high independence only reveals the immeasurable distance between us. That trade has long since been denounced by this government, as piracy. I shall see, this day, and its popular characteristics, from the slaves point of view. You were under the British Crown. On the other hand it will be found to contain principles and purposes, entirely hostile to the existence of slavery. We hanged our harps upon the willows in the midst thereof. A Nation's Story: What to the Slave is the Fourth of July? Pride and patriotism, not less than gratitude, prompt you to celebrate and to hold it in perpetual remembrance. We are called upon to prove that we are men. With little experience and with less learning, I have been able to throw my thoughts hastily and imperfectly together; and 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. The timid and the prudent (as has been intimated) of that day, were, of course, shocked and alarmed by it. This, however, did not answer the purpose. 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). Sydney Smith tells us that men seldom eulogize the wisdom and virtues of their fathers, but to excuse some folly or wickedness of their own. I say it with a sad sense of the disparity between us. What, to the American Slave, Is Your Frederick Douglass: (09:38) Frederick Douglass thought that such rationalizations were crap, and he had the right to think so. When you can point to any such laws, in reference to the beasts of the field, then I may consent to argue the manhood of the slave. 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. The propriety of the nation must be startled. Friends and citizens, I need not enter further into the causes which led to this anniversary. Transcripts & captions for a better media workflow. I doubt if there be another nation on the globe, having the brass and the baseness to put such a law on the statute-book. 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. But a change has now come over the affairs of mankind. What? Build with the best speech-to-text APIs around. Frederick Douglass 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. We thank you for taking the time to watch this community reading of Frederick Douglasss What to the Slave is the Fourth of July? Source: Blight, David. By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down. "What to the Slave is the 4th of July?" Speech Transcript The whole scene, as I look back to it, was simple, dignified and sublime. Frederick Douglass: (03:37) Travel through South America. It is the antagonistic force in your government, the only thing that seriously disturbs and endangers yourUnion. With brave men there is always a remedy for oppression. Washington could not die till he had broken the chains of his slaves. Now, there are certain rules of interpretation, for the proper understanding of all legal instruments. How unlike the politicians of an hour! The sunlight that brought life and healing to you, has brought stripes and death to me. Nobody doubts it. Section 107, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. 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. 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. 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! Here you will see men and women reared like swine for the market. 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. 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. 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. May of Syracuse, and my esteemed friend (Rev. Nations do not now stand in the same relation to each other that they did ages ago. They saw themselves treated with sovereign indifference, coldness and scorn. The freedom gained is yours; and you, therefore, may properly celebrate this anniversary. whose chains, heavy and grievous yesterday, are, to-day, rendered more intolerable by the jubilee shouts that reach them. Standing here identified with the American bondsmen, making his wrongs mine. Such a declaration of agreement on my part would not be worth much to anybody. Wind, steam, and lightning are its chartered agents. To do so, would be to make myself ridiculous, and to offer an insult to your understanding. Of this fundamental work, this day is the anniversary. With head, and heart, and hand Ill strive, 8 Times Obama Showed Trump How Presidents Are Supposed To Celebrate The Fourth Of July, Welcome To The Cookout: 10 Lit Movies To Watch During July Fourth Holiday Weekend, 'Dilbert' Comic Creator Calls Black People A 'Hate Group,' Urges Segregation So Whites Can 'Escape', Bernie Mac Show Star Camille Winbush Is Not Ashamed Of Joining OnlyFans, Kyle Rittenhouse Faces 2nd Civil Lawsuit, Continues To Beg For Money From His Supporters, Ben Stein's 'Aunt Jemima' Rant Is A Master Class On White Privilege, Why Did tWitch Kill Himself? Stand by those principles, be true to them on all occasions, in all places, against all foes, and at whatever cost. They, that can, may. your republican politics, not less than your republican religion, are flagrantly inconsistent. Their conduct was wholly unexceptionable. Frederick Douglass 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. 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 slavery the great sin and shame of America! Fully appreciating the hardship to be encountered, firmly believing in the right of their cause, honorably inviting the scrutiny of an on-looking world, reverently appealing to heaven to attest their sincerity, soundly comprehending the solemn responsibility they were about to assume, wisely measuring the terrible odds against them, your fathers, the fathers of this republic, did, most deliberately, under the inspiration of a glorious patriotism, and with a sublime faith in the great principles of justice and freedom, lay deep the corner-stone of the national superstructure, which has risen and still rises in grandeur around you. Ex-Senator Benton tells us that the price of men was never higher than now. Fellow-citizens; above your national, tumultuous joy, I hear the mournful wail of millions! The simple story of it is that, 76 years ago, the people of this country were British subjects. You are all on fire at the mention of liberty for France or for Ireland; but are as cold as an iceberg at the thought of liberty for the enslaved of America. Would you argue more and denounce less? The time was when such could be done. There were then no means of concert and combination, such as exist now. Frederick Douglass, circa 1879. Difference between Rittenhouse and McMichael-Bryan verdicts? Frederick Douglass delivered his famous speech What to the Slave is the Fourth of July? in 1852, drawing parallels between the Revolutionary War and the fight to abolish slavery.
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