I have detained my audience entirely too long already. The slaveholders themselves acknowledge it in the enactment of laws for their government. Should I seem at ease, my appearance would much misrepresent me. 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. To him, your celebration is a sham, your boasted Liberty, an unholy license, your national greatness, swelling vanity. your republican politics, not less than your republican religion, are flagrantly inconsistent. For it is not light that is needed, but fire; it is not the gentle shower, but thunder. Yet this is but a glance at the American slave-trade, as it exists, at this moment, in the ruling part of the United States. 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? He rose from the shackles of slavery to become an author, Americans! Speech-to-Text API for pre-recorded audio, powered by the worlds leading speech recognition engine. will be found by Americans. Oration by Frederick Douglass, delivered on the occasion of the I scout the idea that the question of the constitutionality or unconstitutionality of slavery is not a question for the people. There, the question of emancipation was a high religious question. 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! 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? 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. Follow the drove to New Orleans. 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. Mr. President, Friends and Fellow Citizens: He who could address this audience without a quailing sensation, has 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. What was possible for him, he sincerely believed was possible for any man who was willing to work hard. This celebration also marks the beginning of another year of your national life; and reminds you that the Republic of America is now 76 years old. From Boston to London is now a holiday excursion. 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. Industry-leading accurate legal transcription to ensure you dont miss a statement. 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. You may rejoice, I must mourn.. 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. Read the full text below of the sage words from one of the greatest orators of all time. Even Mammon seems to have quitted his grasp on this day. WebBoth anniversaries remind us that the fight for independence and equality did not end in the 18th century - a theme highlighted in Douglass speech. Your President, your Secretary of State, ourlords,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. Speech 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? Your lawmakers have commanded all good citizens to engage in this hellish sport. The charter of our liberties, which every citizen has a personal interest in understanding thoroughly. These men were generally well dressed men, and very captivating in their manners. Try Rev and save time transcribing, captioning, and subtitling. 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. But, besides general considerations, there were peculiar circumstances which make the advent of this republic an event of special attractiveness. That year will come, and freedoms reign. 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. With little experience and with less learning, I have been able to throw my thoughts hastily and imperfectly together; and Calculate how much it costs to transcribe, caption, or subtitle your content. They strip the love of God of its beauty, and leave the throng of religion a huge, horrible, repulsive form. Copyright 2023 Interactive One, LLC. The arm of the Lord is not shortened, and the doom of slavery is certain. Feeling themselves harshly and unjustly treated by the home government, your fathers, like men of honesty, and men of spirit, earnestly sought redress. There are exceptions, and I thank God that there are. 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. 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. 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? Speech What, to the American Slave, Is Your This, to you, is what the Passover was to the emancipated people of God. 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 is hope in the thought, and hope is much needed, under the dark clouds which lower above the horizon. They believed in order; but not in the order of tyranny. The drove moves tardily. The slave holders themselves acknowledge it in the enactment of laws for their government. The population was weak and scattered, and the country a wilderness unsubdued. Our eyes are met with demonstrations of joyous enthusiasm. I scarcely need say, fellow-citizens, that my opinion of those measures fully accords with that of your fathers. 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. Extend your content reach and maximize your engagement rates. But the church of this country is not only indifferent to the wrongs of the slave, it actually takes sides with the oppressors. As with rivers so with nations. 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. 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. For the present, it is enough to affirm the equal manhood of the Negro race. 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. No nation can now shut itself up from the surrounding world, and trot round in the same old path of its fathers without interference. They who did so were accounted in their day, plotters of mischief, agitators and rebels, dangerous men. I was glad to find one who sympathized with me in my horror. 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. I think that, in whatever else I may be deficient, I have Mr. President, Friends and Fellow Citizens: He who in preference to the gospel,as preached by those Divines! You live and must die, and you must do your work. Is it at the gateway? But I differ from those who charge this baseness on the framers of the Constitution of the United States. Frederick Douglass delivered 'best Fourth of July speech in The flesh-mongers gather up their victims by dozens, and drive them, chained, to the general depot at Baltimore. And the lame man leap as an heart, but such is not the case. The Meaning of July Fourth for the Negro by 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. WebCelebrating 200 years of Frederick Douglass. Community Reading: Frederick Douglass's "What In several states, this trade is a chief source of wealth. What point in the anti-slavery creed would you have me argue? I shall see this day and its popular characteristics from the slaves point of view. 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. But now is the time, the important time. It is neither. Long established customs of hurtful character could formerly fence themselves in, and do their evil work with social impunity. 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. 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. Washington could not die till he had broken the chains of his slaves. speaking of it relatively, and positively, negatively, and affirmatively. Frederick Douglass When a child, my soul was often pierced with a sense of its horrors. 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. May he not hope that high lessons of wisdom, of justice and of truth, will yet give direction to her destiny? 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. America is false to the past, false to the present and solemnly binds herself to be false to the future. Speech May of Syracuse, and my esteemed friend (Rev. 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. 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. 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. Who so stolid and selfish that would not give his voice to swell the hallelujahs of a nations Jubilee when the chains of servitude have been torn from his limbs? Would you persuade more and rebuke less? Oppression makes a wise man mad. 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. 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. WATCH VIDEO: Should Black Americans Celebrate Independence Day? Under these, and innumerable other disadvantages, your fathers declared for liberty and independence and triumphed. On what branch of the subject do the people of this country need light? You have already declared it. Is it to be settled by the rules of logic and argumentation? 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. Frederick Douglass Ever ready to drink, to treat, and to gamble. They were great men too great enough to give fame to a great age. Frederick Douglass There is consolation in the thought that America is young. What have I, or those I represent to do with your national independence. Must I undertake to prove that the slave is a man? 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 VIDEO: Frederick Douglass' descendants deliver his 'Fourth of July' speech. 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. Copyright 2023 Interactive One, LLC. That which is inhuman, cannot be divine! Go search where you will. 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? This is esteemed by some as a national trait perhaps a national weakness. Youmay rejoice,Imust mourn. Transcribe your audio files to find high-impact insights in minutes. Just here, the idea of a total separation of the colonies from the crown was born! How circumspect, exact and proportionate were all their movements! 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! Not for thieves and robbers, enemies of society, merely, but for men guilty of no crime. But, such is not the state of the case. when ye make many prayers, I will not hear. The time was when such could be done. We need the storm, the whirlwind, and the earthquake. Here you will see men and women reared like swine for the market. They were peace men; but they preferred revolution to peaceful submission to bondage. 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. Frederick Douglass There is blasphemy in the thought. Speech They are food for the cotton-field, and the deadly sugar-mill. The Bible addresses all such persons as scribes, Pharisees, hypocrites, who pay tithe ofmint, anise,andcumin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy and faith.. Frederick Douglass: (04:09) 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. What to the Slave is the 4th of July? Speech Transcript by Frederick Douglass, Congressional Testimony & Hearing Transcripts. 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. and am I, therefore, called upon to bring our humble offering to the national altar, and to confess the benefits and express devout gratitude for the blessings resulting from your independence to us? They, however, gradually flow back to the same old channel, and flow on as serenely as ever. How can we sing the Lords song in a strange land? Its future might be shrouded in gloom, and the hope of its prophets go out in sorrow. 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. A general shout would go up from the church, demanding repeal, repeal, instant repeal! who stand as the very lights of the church, have shamelessly given the sanction of religion and the Bible to the whole slave system. Ex-Senator Benton tells us that the price of men was never higher than now. I will not enlarge further on your national inconsistencies. 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.. 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. weeping, as she thinks of the mother from whom she has been torn! The signers of the Declaration of Independence were brave men. To all inspiring motives, to noble deeds which can be gained from the past, we are welcome. 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.