frederick douglass speech transcript frederick douglass speech transcript

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. Web"The Lessons of the Hour" Speech by Frederick Douglass, January 9, 1894 Friends and Fellow Citizens : No man should come before an audience like the one by whose presence I am now honored, without a noble object and a fixed and earnest purpose. I know that apologies of this sort are generally considered flat and unmeaning. I will show you a man-drover. My subject then, fellow citizens, is American slavery. 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. The signers of the Declaration of Independence were brave men. Sign up for NewsOne's email newsletter! What, to the American slave, is your 4th of July? 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. 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. In prosecuting the anti-slavery enterprise, we have been asked to spare the church, to spare the ministry; buthow, we ask, could such a thing be done? On what branch of the subject do the people of this country need light? Is it that slavery is not divine; that God did not establish it; that our doctors of divinity are mistaken? The fact is, ladies and gentlemen, the distance between this platform and the slave plantation, from which I escaped, is considerable and the difficulties to be overcome in getting from the latter to the former, are by no means slight. You were under the British Crown. I say it with a sad sense of disparity between us. What, then, remains to be argued? 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 They were not the men to look back. WebCelebrating 200 years of Frederick Douglass. 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? You may rejoice, I must mourn.. speaking of it relatively, and positively, negatively, and affirmatively. That people contented themselves under the shadow of Abrahams great name, while they repudiated the deeds which made his name great. 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. 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! The sin of which it is guilty is one of omission as well as of commission. To arrest it, to put an end to it, this nation keeps a squadron, at immense cost, on the coast of Africa. The message of Frederick Douglasss 1852 speech on the contradiction of Americas just ideals and unjust realities endures. Such people lived then, had lived before, and will, probably, ever have a place on this planet; and their course, in respect to any great change, (no matter how great the good to be attained, or the wrong to be redressed by it), may be calculated with as much precision as can be the course of the stars. These men were generally well dressed men, and very captivating in their manners. 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 cause of liberty may be stabbed by the men who glory in the deeds of your fathers. If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning. 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. The power is co-extensive with the Star-Spangled Banner and American Christianity. The far off and almost fabulous Pacific rolls in grandeur at our feet. Must I argue the wrongfulness of slavery? A RESTful API to access Revs workforce of fast, high quality transcriptionists and captioners. With brave men there is always a remedy for oppression. 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. If so, there is a parallel to your conduct. 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? Frederick Douglass: (02:13) There is consolation in the thought that America is young. 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. Transcript Descendants of Frederick Douglass read excerpts from one of his most famous speeches: What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July? Ever ready to drink, to treat, and to gamble. 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. There are exceptions, and I thank God that there are. 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. They strip the love of God of its beauty, and leave the throng of religion a huge, horrible, repulsive form. The simple story of it is that, 76 years ago, the people of this country were British subjects. Juneteenth Reading List: 10 Books To Learn More About Black Independence Day, Your email will be shared with newsone.com and subject to its, The Meaning of July Fourth for the Negro address before an audience, at Corinthian Hall in Rochester, New York, on July 5, 1852, he was issuing , a scathing indictment of American hypocrisy, Washington Post columnist Courtland Milloy, . It has made itself the bulwark of American slavery, and the shield of American slave-hunters. 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. I will not equivocate. that it should be so; yet so it is. Did this law concern the mint, anise, and cumin abridge the right to sing psalms, to partake of the sacrament, or to engage in any of the ceremonies of religion, it would be smitten by the thunder of a thousand pulpits. And instead of being the honest men I have before declared them to be, they were the veriest imposters that ever practiced on mankind. 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. The arm of the Lord is not shortened, and the doom of slavery is certain. 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. You have already declared it. Frederick Douglass Read the full transcript here. For 186 years this doctrine of national independence has shaken the globeand it remains the most powerful force anywhere in the world today. With them, nothing was settled that was not right. Douglass views the monument and the day's ceremonies as reflecting honor upon African The Best Speech-to-Text Solution for Your Business Learn how Rev fits into your businesses workflow. You may well cherish the memory of such men. That he is the rightful owner of his own body? "What to the Slave is the 4th of July?" 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. It was, Milloy continued, a critique of a nation that claimed to hold dear the principles of freedom, justice and equality even as it enslaved black people.. Towards the end of Douglass gave this speech to a group of abolitionists 168 years ago. we wept when we remembered Zion. Your lawmakers have commanded all good citizens to engage in this hellish sport. Descendants of Frederick Douglass read excerpts from one of his most famous speeches: What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July? For it is not light that is needed, but fire; it is not the gentle shower, but thunder. Are the great principles of political freedom and of natural justice, embodied in that Declaration of Independence, extended to us? or is it in the temple? Standing here identified with the American bondsmen, making his wrongs mine. Frederick Douglass (1818-1895) was a social reformer and advocate, abolitionist, orator, writer, minister, and statesman. This is a primary source reading analysis of Frederick Douglass' famous speech. This is the inevitable conclusion, and from it there is no escape. Frederick Douglass: (07:35) 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. O! I was glad to find one who sympathized with me in my horror. But a change has now come over the affairs of mankind. What point in the anti-slavery creed would you have me argue? Seventy-six years, though a good old age for a man, is but a mere speck in the life of a nation. What is this but the acknowledgement that the slave is a moral, intellectual and responsible being? Thu 5 Jul 2018 07.00 EDT Last modified on Wed 24 Jul 2019 11.58 EDT. Fellow citizens, above your national tumultuous joy I hear the mournful wail of millions whose chains heavy and grievous yesterday are today rendered more intolerable by the jubilant shouts that reach them. 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 speaking of it, relatively and positively, negatively and affirmatively? 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. 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). Must I undertake to prove that the slave is a man? 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. Frederick Douglass thought that such rationalizations were crap, and he had the right to think so. Mark the sad procession, as it moves wearily along, and the inhuman wretch who drives them. In the summer of 2020, the U.S. commemorated Independence Day amid nationwide Morel is right that the 1876 speech by Frederick Douglass is remarkable and masterful. The little experience I have had in addressing public meetings, in country schoolhouses, avails me nothing on the present occasion. 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. For the present, it is enough to affirm the equal manhood of the Negro race. These rules are well established. Let this damning fact be perpetually told. when ye make many prayers, I will not hear. Fellow-citizens, I shall not presume to dwell at length on the associations that cluster about this day. 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. There, see the old man, with locks thinned and gray. And am I therefore called upon to bring our humble offering to the national alter and to confess the benefits and express devout gratitude for the blessings resulting from your independence to us? Would you persuade more and rebuke less? We are called upon to prove that we are men. It esteems sacrifice above mercy; psalm-singing above right doing; solemn meetings above practical righteousness. The greatest and best of British statesmen admitted its justice, and the loftiest eloquence of the British Senate came to its support. 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! Nations do not now stand in the same relation to each other that they did ages ago. I leave, therefore, the great deeds of your fathers to other gentlemen whose claim to have been regularly descended will be less likely to be disputed than mine! 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 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. Pride and patriotism, not less than gratitude, prompt you to celebrate and to hold it in perpetual remembrance. Yea! Hear his savage yells and his blood-chilling oaths, as he hurries on his affrighted captives! When a child, my soul was often pierced with a sense of its horrors. There is hope in the thought, and hope is much needed, under the dark clouds which lower above the horizon. I will not enlarge further on your national inconsistencies. Frederick Douglass: (06:44) This 4th of July is yours, not mine. Discover why Rev is the #1 speech-to-text service in the world. 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. WebThe Meaning of July Fourth for the Negro by Frederick Douglass. I take it, therefore, that it is not presumption in a private citizen to form an opinion of that instrument. A speech given at Rochester, New York, July 5, 1852 . Full transcript of the famous speech What to the Slave is the 4th of July? by Frederick Douglass. They may sometimes rise in quiet and stately majesty, and inundate the land, refreshing and fertilizing the earth with their mysterious properties. The most accurate AI-powered transcription on the market. Where these are, man is not sacred. Then would my task be light, and my burden easy and delightful. It carries your minds back to the day, and to the act of your great deliverance; and to the signs, and to the wonders, associated with that act, and that day. There were then no means of concert and combination, such as exist now. The blessings in which you, this day, rejoice, are not enjoyed in common. President John F. Kennedy On July 4, 1962 President John F. Kennedy delivered this speech at Independence Hall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The time for such argument is passed. In a final celebratory post for Black History Month 2023, it is worth returning to the 1883 Douglass Banquet. weeping, as she thinks of the mother from whom she has been torn! The principles contained in that instrument are saving principles. 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! 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. 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, withering sarcasm, and stern rebuke. What to the American slave is your 4th of July? This trade is one of the peculiarities of American institutions. The flesh-mongers gather up their victims by dozens, and drive them, chained, to the general depot at Baltimore. I have said that the Declaration of Independence is the ring-bolt to the chain of your nations destiny; so, indeed, I regard it. The papers and placards say, that I am to deliver a 4th [of] July oration. 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. 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. You boast of your love of liberty, your superior civilization, and your pure Christianity, while the whole political power of the nation (as embodied in the two great political parties), is solemnly pledged to support and perpetuate the enslavement of three millions of your countrymen. That point is conceded already. The propriety of the nation must be startled. 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. 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 in sacrilegious irony. They, however, gradually flow back to the same old channel, and flow on as serenely as ever. Where these go, may also go the merciless slave-hunter. It is the birthday of your National Independence, and of your political freedom. Fellow Citizens, I am not wanting in respect for the fathers of this republic. Space is comparatively annihilated. The whole scene, as I look back to it, was simple, dignified and sublime. Become a freelancer and work on your own terms. Racist Ex-University Of Kentucky 'Karen' Sophia Rosing Is Charged For Assaulting Black Student. They felt themselves the victims of grievous wrongs, wholly incurable in their colonial capacity. Great streams are not easily turned from channels, worn deep in the course of ages. The ear-piercing fife and the stirring drum unite their accents with the ascending peal of a thousand church bells. 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? They that can, may; I cannot. And let me warn you that it is dangerous to copy the example of a nation Babylon, whose crimes towering up to heaven with thrown down by the breadth of the almighty, burying that nation in irrecoverable ruin. 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. But, to proceed. Fellow citizens, this murderous traffic is, today, in active operation in this boasted republic. Is it that slavery is not divine, that God did not establish it, that our doctors of divinity are mistaken? Follow the drove to New Orleans. The anti-slavery movementtherewas not an anti-church movement, for the reason that the church took its full share in prosecuting that movement: and the anti-slavery movement in this country will cease to be an anti-church movement, when the church of this country shall assume a favorable, instead of a hostile position towards that movement. Copyright 2023 Interactive One, LLC. We are met on the threshold of our efforts for the redemption of the slave, by the church and ministry of the country, in battle arrayed against us; and we are compelled to fight or flee. 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. 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.