Must I argue the wrongfulness of slavery? Text Frederick Douglass, " What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July? The charter of our liberties, which every citizen has a personal interest in understanding thoroughly. 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? It saps the foundation of religion; it makes your name a hissing, and a by word to a mocking earth. O! that gash on her shoulder tells her to move on. To do so, would be to make myself ridiculous, and to offer an insult to your understanding.There is not a man beneath the canopy of heaven, that does not know that slavery is wrong for him.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 bum their flesh, to starve them into obedience and submission to their masters? We have to do with the past only as we can make it useful to the present and to the future. 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. After this, he turns his attention to the church. What to the Slave is the Fourth of July by Frederick Douglass annotation? Not for thieves and robbers, enemies of society, merely, but for men guilty of no crime. Your fathers have lived, died, and have done their work, and have done much of it well. In a Fourth of July holiday special, we hear the words of Frederick Douglass. by Frederick Douglass 1852 11th Grade Lexile: 1140 Font Size Frederick Douglass (1818-1895) was an African American social reformer, orator, and writer. 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, a seventh part of the inhabitants of your country.Fellow-citizens! By an act of the American Congress, not yet two years old, slavery has been nationalized in its most horrible and revolting form. Ethiopia shall stretch out her hand unto God. In the fervent aspirations of William Lloyd Garrison, I say, and let every heart join in saying it: Frederick Douglass delivered his famous speech at the Corinthian Hall in Rochester, NY, on July 5th, 1852. Panel on dispossession of African Americans says burying truth keeps Black Americans dispossessed, Legal scholar and historian puts the push to remove Confederate statues in context, Members of the community share memories, plans, hopes for the holiday, Quantum computing simulation reveals possible wormhole-like dynamics. 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? [20]:345He also attempts to demonstrate the irony of their inability to sympathize with the Black people they oppressed in cruel ways that the forefathers they valorized never experienced. Worksheet Excerpt Analyzing Rhetorical Devices in "What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?": The cause of liberty may be stabbed by the men who glory in the deeds of your fathers. There, see the old man, with locks thinned and gray. The speech has been notably performed or read by important figures, including the following: The paragraphing referenced here is taken from an edition of the speech at, African Americans In Congress: A Documentary History, by Eric Freedman and Stephen A, Jones, 2008, p. 39, "Activist Public Relations and the Paradox of the Positive: A Case Study of Frederick Douglass's Fourth of July Address", "One of American History's Worst Laws Was Passed 165 Years Ago", "The Operation of the Fugitive Slave Law in Western Pennsylvania from 1850 to 1860", The American Constitutional Experience: Selected Readings & Supreme Court Opinions, Frederick Douglass on Slavery and the Civil War: Selections from His Writings, "Frederick Douglass Statue Torn Down On Anniversary Of Famous Speech", "Frederick Douglass statue torn down in Rochester, N.Y., on anniversary of his famous Fourth of July speech", "Frederick Douglass statue torn down on anniversary of great speech", "VIDEO: Frederick Douglass' Descendants Deliver His 'Fourth Of July' Speech", A Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, Frederick Douglass's Descendants Deliver His 'Fourth of July' Speech, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=What_to_the_Slave_Is_the_Fourth_of_July%3F&oldid=1137650578. We hanged our harps upon the willows in the midst thereof. 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. 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. Douglass details the hardships past Americans once endured when they were members of British colonies and validates their feelings of ill treatment. Knowledge was then confined and enjoyed by the privileged few, and the multitude walked on in mental darkness. He is outraged by the lack of responsibility and indifference towards slavery that many sects have taken around the nation. These men were generally well dressed men, and very captivating in their manners. You know what is a swine-drover? They are food for the cotton-field, and the deadly sugar-mill. 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. What characteristics does he praise about them? Rhetorical Analysis Of Harvey Fourth Of July. 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. His very existence gave the lie to slave owners: with dignity and great intelligence he bore witness to the brutality of slavery. Read its preamble, consider its purposes. He wrote and presented a speech that challenged . We hanged our harps upon the willows in the midst thereof. According to Douglass, these inconsistencies have made the United States the object of mockery and often contempt among the various nations of the world. It is said that America is built on the idea of liberty and freedom, but Douglass tells his audience that more than anything, it is built on inconsistencies and hypocrisies that have been overlooked for so long they appear to be truths. If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning. Then would my task be light, and my burden easy and delightful. This year is pretty challenging in the wake of COVID-19, and the event is going to be held online instead of before a live audience like we did last year. 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. 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. "What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?" remains one of the most effective and poignant condemnations of slavery in the canon of American abolitionist literature, a tribute to the moral character and oratorical skills of Frederick Douglass. Did this law concern the mint, anise, and cuminabridge the fight 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. He faults America for utter hypocrisy and betrayal of those values in maintaining the institution of slavery. You have already declared it. On 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 orator, often traveling six months out of the year to give lectures on abolition. With this product, you can choose to either have your students read the entire speech and annotate and analyze Douglass' rhetorical devices or you can choose to have your students read shorter excerpts from the speech and do an abbreviated annotation and analysis of rhetorical devices. Students also viewed My business, if I have any here to-day, is with the present. I have better employments for my time and strength than such arguments would imply.What, then, remains to be argued? 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. Washington could not die till he had broken the chains of his slaves. See, too, that girl of thirteen, weeping, yes! Frederick Douglass, ca 1855, Metropolitan Museum of Art. Nobody doubts it. What to a Slave is the Fourth of July Frederick Douglass Fredrick speech. To him, your celebration is a sham; your boasted liberty, an unholy license; your national greatness, swelling vanity; your sounds of rejoicing are empty and heartless; your denunciations of tyrants, brass fronted impudence; your shouts of liberty and equality, hollow mockery; your prayers and hymns, your sermons and thanksgivings, with all your religious parade, and solemnity, are, to him, mere bombast, fraud, deception, impiety, and hypocrisya thin veil to cover up crimes which would disgrace a nation of savages. 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.For my part, I would say, welcome infidelity! Without this fight, the liberty of an American citizen would be as insecure as that of a Frenchman. I say it with a sad sense of the disparity between us. Initially mentored by William Lloyd Garrison, Douglass These ministers make religion a cold and flinty-hearted thing, having neither principles of right action, nor bowels of compassion. Douglass says that if the residents of America believe that slaves are "men",[20]:342 they should be treated as such. Ossie DavisA Voice Ringing O'er the Gale! What to the American slave is your Fourth of July? Douglass builds his argument by using surprising contrasts, plain facts, and provocative antithesis. He mentions the fact to show that slavery is in no danger. The drove moves tardily. For there, they that carried us away captive, required of us a song; and they who wasted us required of us mirth, saying, Sing us one of the songs of Zion. Read its preamble, consider its purposes. Her speed had faltered under the weight of her child and her chains! Where these are, man is not sacred. The anti-slavery movement there was 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 or a hostile position towards that movement. There should be no shoulder that does not bear the burden of the government. He had a prophetic vision for the future that he was always trying to work toward. Your President, your Secretary of State, your lords, nobles, and ecclesiastics, enforce, as a duty you owe to your free and glorious country, and to your God, that you do this accursed thing. What have I, or those I represent, to do with your national independence? And it also imposed severe penalties on anyone who helped enslaved people to escape. Were the nation older, the patriots heart might be sadder, and the reformers brow heavier. It destroys your moral power abroad; it corrupts your politicians at home. These gentlemen have, as I think, fully and clearly vindicated the Constitution from any design to support slavery for an hour.Fellow-citizens! What, to the American slave, is your 4th of July? Do you mean, citizens, to mock me, by asking me to speak to-day? 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. nor the perfect gage I think I have of Corinthian Hall, the slave plantation, from which I escaped, and trusting to your patient and generous indulgence, I will proceed to lay them before you, This, for the purpose of this celebration, is the 4th of July. They convert the very name of religion into an engine of tyranny and barbarous cruelty, and serve to confirm more infidels, in this age, than all the infidel writings of Thomas Paine, Voltaire, and Bolingbroke put together have done. "[1][2] 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 Society. The slaveholders themselves acknowledge it in the enactment of laws for their government. Is it at the gateway? [9][10] He had previously lived in Boston, but did not want his newspaper to interfere with sales of The Liberator, published by William Lloyd Garrison. Genius is the ultimate source of music knowledge, created by scholars like you who share facts and insight about the songs and artists they love. The Act also denied suspected slaves trial by jury or even the ability to testify on their own behalf in court. [5] Many copies of one section of it, beginning in paragraph 32, have been circulated online. What, to the American slave, is your 4th of July? In a case like that, the dumb might eloquently speak, and the lame man leap as an hart.But, such is not the state of the case. Heat and sorrow have nearly consumed their strength; suddenly you hear a quick snap, like the discharge of a rifle; the fetters clank, and the chain rattles simultaneously; your ears are saluted with a scream, that seems to have torn its way to the center of your soul! It is the antagonistic force in your government, the only thing that seriously disturbs and endangers your Union. On what branch of the subject do the people of this country need light? Pride and patriotism, not less than gratitude, prompt you to celebrate and to hold it in perpetual remembrance. Oppression makes a wise man mad. The speech has since been published under the above title in The Frederick Douglass Papers, Series One, Vol. Follow the drove to New Orleans. 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! It was demanded, in the name of humanity, and according to the law of the living God. 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