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It is neither. The charter of our liberties, which every citizen has a personal interest in understanding thoroughly. Your cause would be much more likely to succeed. 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. 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.. They seized upon eternal principles, and set a glorious example in their defense. Allow me to say, in conclusion, notwithstanding the dark picture I have this day presented of the state of the nation, I do not despair of this country. 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 Frederick Douglass: (05:02) 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. You know what is a swine-drover? Is slavery among them? Is that a question for Republicans? We need the storm, the whirlwind, and the earthquake. Frederick Douglass: (07:35) What to the Slave is the 4th of July? Speech Transcript by Frederick Douglass, Congressional Testimony & Hearing Transcripts. No! There, see the old man, with locks thinned and gray. To me the American slave-trade is a terrible reality. What, am I to argue that it is wrong to make men brutes, to rob them of their liberty, to work them without wages, to keep them ignorant of their relations to their fellow men, to beat them with sticks, to flay their flesh with the lash, to load their limbs with irons, to hunt them with dogs, to sell them at auction, to sunder their families, to knock out their teeth, to burn their flesh, to starve them into obedience and submission to their masters? It is the birthday of your National Independence, and of your political freedom. On the other hand it will be found to contain principles and purposes, entirely hostile to the existence of slavery. 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. The drove moves tardily. 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? Would you persuade more and rebuke less? Let this damning fact be perpetually told. All Rights Reserved. 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. Just here, the idea of a total separation of the colonies from the crown was born! I am not that man. Many of its most eloquent Divines. Is it that slavery is not divine, that God did not establish it, that our doctors of divinity are mistaken? There I see the tenderest ties ruthlessly broken, to gratify the lust, caprice and rapacity of the buyers and sellers of men. Would to God, both for your sakes and ours, that an affirmative answer could be truthfully returned to those questions. The Best Speech-to-Text Solution for Your Business Learn how Rev fits into your businesses workflow. We have to do with the past only as we can make it useful to the present and to the future. Frederick Douglass: (06:03) 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. 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. Calculate how much it costs to transcribe, caption, or subtitle your content. WebOn July 5, 1852, Frederick Douglass gave a keynote address at an Independence Day celebration and asked, What to the Slave is the Fourth of July? Douglass was a powerful 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. The Celestial Empire, the mystery of ages, is being solved. I scout the idea that the question of the constitutionality or unconstitutionality of slavery is not a question for the people. You were under the British Crown. A feeling has crept over me, quite unfavorable to the exercise of my limited powers of speech. On what branch of the subject do the people of this country need light? That which is inhuman, cannot be divine! That is a branch of knowledge in which you feel, perhaps, a much deeper interest than your speaker. An American judge gets ten dollars for every victim he consigns to slavery, and five, when he fails to do so. It is a fact, that whatever makes for the wealth or for the reputation of Americans, and can be had cheap! You have already declared it. WebDescription. Would to God, both for your sakes and ours, that an affirmative answer could be truthfully returned to these questions! There are seventy-two 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 the same crimes will subject a white man to the like punishment. Speech-to-Text live streaming for live captions, powered by the worlds leading speech recognition API. Mr. President, Friends and Fellow Citizens: He who could address this audience without a quailing sensation, has stronger nerves than I have. 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 here identified with the American bondsmen, making his wrongs mine. He is a bird for the sportsmans gun. The existence of slavery in this country brands your republicanism as a sham, your humanity as a base pretence, and your Christianity as a lie. Yet they persevered. Were the nation older, the patriots heart might be sadder, and the reformers brow heavier. They were great men too great enough to give fame to a great age. The fate of many a slave has depended upon the turn of a single card; and many a child has been snatched from the arms of its mother by bargains arranged in a state of brutal drunkenness. This 4th of July is yours, not mine. I take it, therefore, that it is not presumption in a private citizen to form an opinion of that instrument. Should I seem at ease, my appearance would much misrepresent me. The blessings in which you this day rejoice are not enjoyed in common. I hold that every American citizen has a right to form an opinion of the constitution, and to propagate that opinion, and to use all honorable means to make his opinion the prevailing one. To say now that America was right, and England wrong, is exceedingly easy. They petitioned and remonstrated; they did so in a decorous, respectful, and loyal manner. Not fewer than forty Americans have, within the past two years, been hunted down and, without a moments warning, hurried away in chains, and consigned to slavery and excruciating torture. Mark them! That he is the rightful owner of his own body? 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. speaking of it relatively, and positively, negatively, and affirmatively. Under these, and innumerable other disadvantages, your fathers declared for liberty and independence and triumphed. President John F. Kennedy On July 4, 1962 President John F. Kennedy delivered this speech at Independence Hall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. According to this fact, you are, even now, only in the beginning of your national career, still lingering in the period of childhood. The feeling of the nation must be quickened; the conscience of the nation must be roused; the propriety of the nation must be startled; the hypocrisy of the nation must be exposed; and its crimes against God and man must be proclaimed and denounced. My subject then, fellow citizens, is American slavery. In a very telling sign, the fateful words of Frederick Douglass from a speech he delivered 170 years ago still resonate very much in 2022 as Black people in America continue the fight for the same kind of equality that the legendary abolitionist was demanding back in the mid-19th century. 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. It has been denounced with burning words, from the high places of the nation, as an execrable traffic. 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. Suicide Note Revealed After Shocking Death, Mississippi Cops Beat, Waterboarded Handcuffed Black Men, Shot 1 For Dating White Women': Lawyers, Indicted! There are exceptions, and I thank God that there are. But, I submit, where all is plain there is nothing to be argued. 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. Now, there are certain rules of interpretation, for the proper understanding of all legal instruments. Is it that slavery is not divine; that God did not establish it; that our doctors of divinity are mistaken? The message of Frederick Douglasss 1852 speech on the contradiction of Americas just ideals and unjust realities endures. WebCelebrating 200 years of Frederick Douglass. By that act, Mason and Dixons line has been obliterated; New York has become as Virginia; and the power to hold, hunt, and sell men, women, and children as slaves remains no longer a mere state institution, but is now an institution of the whole United States. The rich inheritance of justice, liberty, prosperity and independence, bequeathed by your fathers, is shared by you, not by me. This Fourth [of] July isyours, notmine. May of Syracuse, and my esteemed friend (Rev. Take the American slave-trade, which, we are told by the papers, is especially prosperous just now. 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. What then remains to be argued? The power is co-extensive with the Star-Spangled Banner and American Christianity. Of this fundamental work, this day is the anniversary. Oceans no longer divide, but link nations together. 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. The papers and placards say, that I am to deliver a 4th [of] July oration. This truth is not a doubtful one. You may well cherish the memory of such men. The manhood of the slave is conceded. Translated on-screen subtitles for videos. weeping, as she thinks of the mother from whom she has been torn! 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. I will show you a man-drover. Section 107, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. The task before me is one which requires much previous thought and study for its proper performance. Frederick Douglass: (09:38) The Sharps, the Clarksons, the Wilberforces, the Buxtons, and Burchells and the Knibbs, were alike famous for their piety, and for their philanthropy. They felt themselves the victims of grievous wrongs, wholly incurable in their colonial capacity. Seventy-six years, though a good old age for a man, is but a mere speck in the life of a nation. 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. The questions are designed to provoke thought and guide the students through the document. The crack you heard, was the sound of the slave-whip; the scream you heard, was from the woman you saw with the babe. Neither steam nor lightning had then been reduced to order and discipline. Fellow-citizens, pardon me, allow me to ask, why am I called upon to speak here to-day? But, such is not the state of the case. At a time like this, scorching irony not convincing argument is needed. Discover why Rev is the #1 speech-to-text service in the world. These gentlemen have, as I think, fully and clearly vindicated the Constitution from any design to support slavery for an hour. Must I argue that a system thus marked with blood and stained with pollution is wrong? Your sounds of rejoicing are empty and heartless, your shouts of Liberty and equality, hallow mocked, your prayers and hymns your sermons and Thanksgivings with all your religious parade in solemnity are to him, mere bombast, fraud, deception, a thin veil to cover up crimes, which would disgrace a nation of savages. The duty to extirpate and destroy it, is admitted even by our DOCTORS OF DIVINITY. Are the great principles of political freedom and of natural justice, embodied in that Declaration of Independence, extended to us? What have I, or those I represent, to do with your national independence? From the slave prison to the ship, they are usually driven in the darkness of night; for since the antislavery agitation, a certain caution is observed. Copyright 2023 Interactive One, LLC. 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. How can we sing the Lords song in a strange land? 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! Though a biting For 186 years this doctrine of national independence has shaken the globeand it remains the most powerful force anywhere in the world today. The sin of which it is guilty is one of omission as well as of commission. Frederick Douglass: (06:44) Frederick Douglass: (10:31) 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. The population was weak and scattered, and the country a wilderness unsubdued. There are illustrations of it near and remote, ancient and modern. Your high independence only reveals the immeasurable distance between us. 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? For the present, it is enough to affirm the equal manhood of the Negro race. Long established customs of hurtful character could formerly fence themselves in, and do their evil work with social impunity. WebFrederick Douglass, July 5, 1852 INTRODUCTION (Exordium) 1. In their admiration of liberty, they lost sight of all other interests. I say it with a sad sense of disparity between us. What, then, remains to be argued? Douglass views the monument and the day's ceremonies as reflecting honor upon African 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. Nobody doubts it. Do you mean, citizens, to mock me, by asking me to speak to-day? Great streams are not easily turned from channels, worn deep in the course of ages. With them, justice, liberty and humanity were final; not slavery and oppression. This is esteemed by some as a national trait perhaps a national weakness. At the very moment that they are thanking God for the enjoyment of civil and religious liberty, and for the right to worship God according to the dictates of their own consciences, they are utterly silent in respect to a law which robs religion of its chief significance, and makes it utterly worthless to a world lying in wickedness. who stand as the very lights of the church, have shamelessly given the sanction of religion and the Bible to the whole slave system. Sign up for NewsOne's email newsletter! It would, certainly, prove nothing, as to what part I might have taken, had I lived during the great controversy of 1776. Frederick Douglass thought that such rationalizations were crap, and he had the right to think so. One is struck with the difference between the attitude of the American church towards the anti-slavery movement, and that occupied by the churches in England towards a similar movement in that country. 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! Would you have me argue that man is entitled to liberty? He rose from the shackles of slavery to become an author, newspaper publisher, and respected abolitionist. Towards the end of Wind, steam, and lightning are its chartered agents. As noted here, that banquet was attended by prominent Feeling themselves harshly and unjustly treated by the home government, your fathers, like men of honesty, and men of spirit, earnestly sought redress. And the lame man leap as an heart, but such is not the case. Where these are, man is not sacred. I remember, also, that, as a people, Americans are remarkably familiar with all facts which make in their own favor. 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. 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. 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. Ex-Senator Benton tells us that the price of men was never higher than now. whose chains, heavy and grievous yesterday, are, to-day, rendered more intolerable by the jubilee shouts that reach them. 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. 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. The cause of liberty may be stabbed by the men who glory in the deeds of your fathers. There is not a man beneath the canopy of heaven, who does not know that slavery is wrong for him. There was, at that time, a grand slave mart kept at the head of Pratt Street, by Austin Woldfolk. Tell me citizens, WHERE, under the sun, you can witness a spectacle more fiendish and shocking. Frederick Douglass: (01:08) 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. One of the parts of the speech that resonates with me the most is when Douglass says: What, to the American slave, is your 4th of July? 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! This, to you, is what the Passover was to the emancipated people of God. At some future period I will gladly avail myself of an opportunity to give this subject a full and fair discussion. To side with the right, against the wrong, with the weak against the strong, and with the oppressed against the oppressor! There is not a man beneath the canopy of heaven, that does not know that slavery is wrong for him. The slave holders themselves acknowledge it in the enactment of laws for their government. Such a declaration of agreement on my part would not be worth much to anybody. I have better employment for my time and strength than such arguments would imply. The manhood of the slave is conceded. They are food for the cotton-field, and the deadly sugar-mill. Yea! This, however, did not answer the purpose. 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? 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 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. And it would go hard with that politician who presumed to solicit the votes of the people without inscribing this motto on his banner. If so, there is a parallel to your conduct. Fair use is permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. The flesh-mongers gather up their victims by dozens, and drive them, chained, to the general depot at Baltimore. The timid and the prudent (as has been intimated) of that day, were, of course, shocked and alarmed by it. This trade is one of the peculiarities of American institutions. Copyright 2023 Interactive One, LLC. Its the news, without the news. 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. I will not enlarge further on your national inconsistencies.