His own testimony is nothing. Your cause would be much more likely to succeed. I am not included within the pale of this glorious anniversary! WebThe Meaning of July Fourth for the Negro by Frederick Douglass. No nation can now shut itself up from the surrounding world, and trot round in the same old path of its fathers without interference. "What to the Slave is the 4th of July?" What, then, remains to be argued? Senator Berrien tell us that the Constitution is the fundamental law, that which controls all others. Fellows citizens, pardon me and allow me to ask, why am I called to speak here today? 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. Frederick Douglass thought that such rationalizations were crap, and he had the right to think so. Yea! These ministers make religion a cold and flinty-hearted thing, having neither principles of right action, nor bowels of compassion. By that most foul and fiendish of all human decrees, the liberty and person of every man are put in peril. On the other hand it will be found to contain principles and purposes, entirely hostile to the existence of slavery. There is not time now to argue the constitutional question at length nor have I the ability to discuss it as it ought to be discussed. I shall not be charged with slandering Americans, if I say I think the American side of any question may be safely left in American hands. Easily integrate Rev using our robust APIs to start building your product quickly. For black men there are neither law, justice, humanity, not religion. For it is not light that is needed, but fire; it is not the gentle shower, but thunder. 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. Would you have me argue that man is entitled to liberty? There is not a nation on the earth guilty of practices, more shocking and bloody, than are the people of these United States, at this very hour. 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. That is a branch of knowledge in which you feel, perhaps, a much deeper interest than your speaker. WebDescription. Many of you understand them better than I do. My soul sickens at the sight. You hurl your anathemas at the crowned headed tyrants of Russia and Austria, and pride yourselves on your Democratic institutions, while you yourselves consent to be the meretoolsand body-guardsof the tyrants of Virginia and Carolina. Nobody doubts it. With them, nothing was settled that was not right. An American judge gets ten dollars for every victim he consigns to slavery, and five, when he fails to do so. Who can reason on such a proposition? Fellow citizens, this murderous traffic is, today, in active operation in this boasted republic. Your high independence only reveals the immeasurable distance between us. As with rivers so with nations. To do so would be to make myself ridiculous and to offer an insult to your understanding. be warned! The simple story of it is that, 76 years ago, the people of this country were British subjects. Frederick Douglass: (02:57) 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. 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. See, too, that girl of thirteen, weeping, yes! 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! At a time like this, scorching irony not convincing argument is needed. That he is the rightful owner of his own body? when ye make many prayers, I will not hear. Frederick Douglass Read the full transcript here. What was possible for him, he sincerely believed was possible for any man who was willing to work hard. The sunlight that brought life and healing to you, has brought stripes and death to me. Americans! I scarcely need say, fellow-citizens, that my opinion of those measures fully accords with that of your fathers. President John F. Kennedy On July 4, 1962 President John F. Kennedy delivered this speech at Independence Hall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. WebOn January 9, 1894, at Washington, D.C.'s, Metropolitan African Methodist Episcopal Church, Frederick Douglass delivered his "The Lessons of the Hour" speech, which addressed the What to the Slave is the 4th of July? Speech Transcript by Frederick Douglass, Congressional Testimony & Hearing Transcripts. Their solid manhood stands out the more as we contrast it with these degenerate times. The din of business, too, is hushed. The blessings in which you, this day, rejoice, are not enjoyed in common. All this we affirm to be true of the popular church, and the popular worship of our land and nation a religion, a church, and a worship which, on the authority of inspired wisdom, we pronounce to be an abomination in the sight of God. There were then no means of concert and combination, such as exist now. For my part, I would say, welcome infidelity! The eye of the reformer is met with angry flashes, portending disastrous times; but his heart may well beat lighter at the thought that America is young, and that she is still in the impressible stage of her existence. The causes which led to the separation of the colonies from the British crown have never lacked for a tongue. 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.. If so, there is a parallel to your conduct. Are the great principles of political freedom and of natural justice embodied in that Declaration of Independence extended to us? My business, if I have any here today, is with the present. welcome atheism! Many of its most eloquent Divines. Frederick Douglass: (06:03) The Best Speech-to-Text Solution for Your Business Learn how Rev fits into your businesses workflow. Build with the best speech-to-text APIs around. Knowledge was then confined and enjoyed by the privileged few, and the multitude walked on in mental darkness. Frederick Douglass: (05:02) The text of Frederick Douglasss most famous speech, given in 1852, What, to a slave, is the Fourth of July? A chapter describing Douglasss early encounters with abolitionists, from his autobiography My Bondage and My Freedom, 1857. 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 ions, to hunt them with dogs, to sell them at auction, to sunder their families, to knock out their teeth, to burn their flesh, to starve them into obedience and submission to their masters? Then would my task be light, and my burden easy and delightful. And let me warn you that it is dangerous to copy the example of a nation whose crimes, lowering up to heaven, were thrown down by the breath of the Almighty, burying that nation in irrecoverable ruin! Are the great principles of political freedom and of natural justice, embodied in that Declaration of Independence, extended to us? No! You have already declared it. They are food for the cotton-field, and the deadly sugar-mill. The 4th of July is the first great fact in your nations history the very ring-bolt in the chain of your yet undeveloped destiny. Your fathers esteemed the English Government as the home government; and England as the fatherland. Should I seem at ease, my appearance would much misrepresent me. 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. 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. Space is comparatively annihilated. The most accurate AI-powered transcription on the market. I was born amid such sights and scenes. 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. I repeat, I am glad this is so. Oppression makes a wise man mad. We need the storm. Industry-leading accurate legal transcription to ensure you dont miss a statement. Thu 5 Jul 2018 07.00 EDT Last modified on Wed 24 Jul 2019 11.58 EDT. What then remains to be argued? 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. 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. 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. 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. It is not the gentle shower, but thunder. Would you argue more and denounce less? I have said that the Declaration of Independence is the ring-bolt to the chain of your nations destiny; so, indeed, I regard it. It is the birthday of your National Independence, and of your political freedom. They were not the men to look back. He can bring no witnesses for himself. What have I, or those I represent to do with your national independence. Pride and patriotism, not less than gratitude, prompt you to celebrate and to hold it in perpetual remembrance. There is not a nation of the earth, guilty of practices, more shocking and bloody than are the people of these United States at this very hour. Not for thieves and robbers, enemies of society, merely, but for men guilty of no crime. I remember, also, that, as a people, Americans are remarkably familiar with all facts which make in their own favor. The blessings in which you this day rejoice are not enjoyed in common. Would to God, both for your sakes and ours, that an affirmative answer could be truthfully returned to those questions. Yet they persevered. 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. 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. 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? These rules are well established. 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. R. R. Raymond) on the platform, are shining examples; and let me say further, that upon these men lies the duty to inspire our ranks with high religious faith and zeal, and to cheer us on in the great mission of the slaves redemption from his chains. Heavy billows, like mountains in the distance, disclose to the leeward huge forms of flinty rocks! This, however, did not answer the purpose. By an act of the American Congress, not yet two years old, slavery has been nationalized in its most horrible and revolting form. we wept when we remembered Zion. Cling to this day cling to it, and to its principles, with the grasp of a storm-tossed mariner to a spar at midnight. Calculate how much it costs to transcribe, caption, or subtitle your content. 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 nation a system begun in avarice, supported in pride, and perpetuated in cruelty. 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. For who is there so cold that a nation sympathy cannot warm him, who so adore it and dead to the claims of gratitude that would not thankfully acknowledge such priceless benefits? The minister of American justice is bound by the law to hear butoneside; andthatside, is the side of the oppressor. In a final celebratory post for Black History Month 2023, it is worth returning to the 1883 Douglass Banquet. Go search where you will. Mr. President, Friends and Fellow Citizens: He who could address this audience nor grace my speech with any high sounding exordium. Frederick Douglass: (09:38) A speech given at Rochester, New York, July 5, 1852 . I will not excuse. Where these go, may also go the merciless slave-hunter. They were peace men; but they preferred revolution to peaceful submission to bondage. Tell me citizens, WHERE, under the sun, you can witness a spectacle more fiendish and shocking. that it should be so; yet so it is. What point in the anti-slavery creed would you have me argue? that gash on her shoulder tells her to move on. If any man in this assembly thinks differently from me in this matter, and feels able to disprove my statements, I will gladly confront him at any suitable time and place he may select. But, with that blindness which seems to be the unvarying characteristic of tyrants, since Pharaoh and his hosts were drowned in the Red Sea, the British Government persisted in the exactions complained of. These people were called Tories in the days of your fathers; and the appellation, probably, conveyed the same idea that is meant by a more modern, though a somewhat less euphonious term, which we often find in our papers, applied to some of our old politicians. 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. 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! They that can, may; I cannot. They succeeded; and to-day you reap the fruits of their success. Behold the practical operation of this internal slave-trade, the American slave-trade, sustained by American politics and America religion. had I the ability, and could I reach the nations ear, I would, to-day, pour out a fiery stream of biting ridicule, blasting reproach, The arm of the Lord is not shortened, and the doom of slavery is certain. I have better employments for my time and strength than such arguments would imply. Create a better, more engaging experience for every student. 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! The manhood of the slave is conceded. 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. What is this but the acknowledgement that the slave is a moral, intellectual and responsible being? Is it to be settled by the rules of logic and argumentation, as a matter beset with great difficulty, involving a doubtful application of the principle of justice, hard to be understood? As noted here, that banquet was attended by prominent African-American professional men in celebration of the twenty-first anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation.After the toast provided by former Senator Blanche K. Bruce, 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 and question and to denounce with all the emphasis I can command everything that serves to perpetuate slavery, the great sin and shame of America. WebFrederick Douglass, July 5, 1852 INTRODUCTION (Exordium) 1. The task before me is one which requires much previous thought and study for its proper performance. Fair use is permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hateth. It is not that pure and undefiled religion which is from above, and which is first pure, then peaceable, easy to be entreated, full of mercy and good fruits,without partiality, and without hypocrisy. But a religion which favors the rich against the poor; which exalts the proud above the humble; which divides mankind into two classes, tyrants and slaves; which says to the man in chains,stay there; and to the oppressor,oppress on; it is a religion which may be professed and enjoyed by all the robbers and enslavers of mankind; it makes God a respecter of persons, denies his fatherhood of the race, and tramples in the dust the great truth of the brotherhood of man. Your high independence only reveals the immeasurable distance between us. They may sometimes rise in quiet and stately majesty, and inundate the land, refreshing and fertilizing the earth with their mysterious properties. There is blasphemy in the thought. 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. 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, andnota vital principle, requiring active benevolence, justice, love and good will towards man. 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. But, to proceed. The charter of our liberties, which every citizen has a personal interest in understanding thoroughly. Suicide Note Revealed After Shocking Death, Mississippi Cops Beat, Waterboarded Handcuffed Black Men, Shot 1 For Dating White Women': Lawyers, Indicted! A feeling has crept over me, quite unfavorable to the exercise of my limited powers of speech. Our eyes are met with demonstrations of joyous enthusiasm. The fiat of the Almighty, Let there be Light, has not yet spent its force. WebCelebrating 200 years of Frederick Douglass. I think that, in whatever else I may be deficient, I have Go where you may, search where you will, roam through all the monarchies and despotisms of the old world, travel through South America, search out every abuse, and when you have found the last, lay your facts by the side of the everyday practices of this nation, and you will say with me, that, for revolting barbarity and shameless hypocrisy, America reigns without a rival. Its the news, without the news. 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. Follow the drove to New Orleans. 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. Extend your content reach and maximize your engagement rates. The testimony of Senator Breese, Lewis Cass, and many others that might be named, who are everywhere esteemed as sound lawyers, so regard the constitution. The population was weak and scattered, and the country a wilderness unsubdued. They were great in their day and generation. Become a freelancer and work on your own terms. It has been denounced with burning words, from the high places of the nation, as an execrable traffic. Web" 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 His agents were sent into every town and county in Maryland, announcing their arrival, through the papers, and on flaming hand-bills, headed CASH FOR NEGROES. 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. When Douglass delivered his famous The Meaning of July Fourth for the Negro address before an audience at Corinthian Hall in Rochester, New York, on July 5, It makes its pathway over and under the sea, as well as on the earth. All Rights Reserved. WebA speech celebrating both Lincoln and African Americans freedom wrought by Lincoln. The right of the hunter to his prey stands superior to the right of marriage, and toallrights in this republic, the rights of God included! Attend the auction; see men examined like horses; see the forms of women rudely and brutally exposed to the shocking gaze of American slave-buyers. The document is in the form of a Google Docs so it has a translation tool, dictionary, and voice to text. The little experience I have had in addressing public meetings, in country schoolhouses, avails me nothing on the present occasion. Under these, and innumerable other disadvantages, your fathers declared for liberty and independence and triumphed. Try Rev and save time transcribing, captioning, and subtitling. 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. It is neither. Sign up for NewsOne's email newsletter! WebFrederick Douglass speech Historical Document "The Meaning of July Fourth for the Negro" 1852 Resource Bank Contents Click here for the text of this historical document. With them, justice, liberty and humanity were final; not slavery and oppression. In several states, this trade is a chief source of wealth. O! Resolved, That these united colonies are, and of right, ought to be free and Independent States; that they are absolved from all allegiance to the British Crown; and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain is, and ought to be, dissolved.. You have no right to enjoy a childs share in the labor of your fathers, unless your children are to be blest by your labors. Born to an enslaved family in 1818, Frederick Douglass never knew his actual birthday, a fact not uncommon for those enslaved. or is it in the temple? But I admit, where all is plain, there is nothing to be argued. What is this but the acknowledgement that the slave is a moral, intellectual and responsible being? 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. This certainly sounds large, and out of the common way, for it is true that I have often had the privilege to speak in this beautiful Hall, and to address many who now honor me with their presence. It fetters your progress; it is the enemy of improvement, the deadly foe of education; it fosters pride; it breeds insolence; it promotes vice; it shelters crime; it is a curse to the earth that supports it; and yet, you cling to it, as if it were the sheet anchor of all your hopes. Add English on-screen subtitles for videos. The point from which I am compelled to view them is not, certainly, the most favorable; and yet I cannot contemplate their great deeds with less than admiration. 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. Frederick Douglass: (10:31) And the lame man leap as an heart, but such is not the case. Must I undertake to prove that the slave is a man? WebIn the late 1860sat a moment of great hope for the promise of equality under the lawthe famed orator and once-enslaved abolitionist Frederick Douglass took his Our Composite Nation speech on the road to argue for a plural American democracy.
Millville Elevation Protein Bar Ingredients,
Are Jeff Foxworthy And Bill Engvall Still Friends,
Ap Government Practice Test Pdf,
Articles F