According to Douglass, these inconsistencies have made the United States the object of mockery and often contempt among the various nations of the world. 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. He further says, the Constitution, in its words, is plain and intelligible, and is meant for the home-bred, unsophisticated understandings of our fellow-citizens. We need individual events like reading Douglass, but we also need to be thinking about ways to extend this conversation over the long term. What to the Slave is the Fourth of July? The anguish of my boyish heart was intense; and I was often consoled, when speaking to my mistress in the morning, to hear her say that the custom was very wicked; that she hated to hear the rattle of the chains, and the heart-rending cries. [20]:344. Douglass argues that religion is the center of the problem but also the main solution to it. What to the American slave is your Fourth of July? I, therefore, leave off where I began, with hope. Washington could not die till he had broken the chains of his slaves. 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. I answer: a day that reveals to him, more than all other days in the year, the gross injustice and cruelty to which he is the constant victim. What is now known as the "What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?" speech was delivered on July 5, 1852 as an address to the Rochester Ladies' Anti-Slavery Society in Rochester, New York. Is it that slavery is not divine; that God did not establish it; that our doctors of divinity are mistaken? Interview was lightly edited for clarity and length. 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. It is a religion for oppressors, tyrants, man-stealers, and thugs. See, too, that girl of thirteen, weeping, yes! [4], Noted for its biting irony and bitter rhetoric, and acute textual analysis of the U.S. Constitution, the Declaration of Independence, and the Christian Bible, the speech is among the most widely known of all of Douglass's writings. The manhood of the slave is conceded. ROY: Douglass wrote the speech in the wake of the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, which effectively extended the reach of slave power in the South throughout the rest of the country. The slaveholders themselves acknowledge it in the enactment of laws for their government. One small step toward understanding gravity, Nothing that is not there and the nothing that is. Now, there are certain rules of interpretation, for the proper understanding of all legal instruments. I will not. The Act also denied suspected slaves trial by jury or even the ability to testify on their own behalf in court. Here you will see men and women reared like swine for the market. 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. From what quarter, I beg to know, has proceeded a fire so deadly upon our ranks, during the last two years, as from the Northern pulpit? They may also rise in wrath and fury, and bear away, on their angry waves, the accumulated wealth of years of toil and hardship. 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.What, to the American slave, is your 4th of July? The founding fathers left black people and women out of these rights for "everyone." Douglass referred not only to the captivity of enslaved people, but to the merciless exploitation and the cruelty and torture that slaves were subjected to in the United States. The charter of our liberties, which every citizen has a personal interest in understanding thoroughly. What, to the American slave, is your 4th of July? Douglass' speech came just 11 years before Lincolns Emancipation Proclamation hitting a poignant point in American history through his targeting of the slave as a crucial figure in desperate need of independence. The fiat of the Almighty, Let there be Light, has not yet spent its force. Her speed had faltered under the weight of her child and her chains! In his speech, "The Hypocrisy of American Slavery . To honor Black History Month, as an introduction or review of rhetorical appeals and devices, or as a speech exemplar, this Frederick Douglass "What to the Slave is the Fourth of July" rhetoric activity is a fabulous addition to any lesson. 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. Then would my task be light, and my burden easy and delightful. You may rejoice, I must mourn. The arm of commerce has borne away the gates of the strong city. He describes the legislation as "tyrannical," and believes that it is in "violation of justice.". [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. be warned! Products. On the other hand it will be found to contain principles and purposes, entirely hostile to the existence of slavery.I have detained my audience entirely too long already. Douglass then pivots to the present, stating that "We have to do with the past only as we can make it useful to the present and to the future". 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. His own testimony is nothing. 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. [10] Douglass had spoken at Corinthian Hall in the past. There is hope in the thought, and hope is much needed, under the dark clouds which lower above the horizon. How can we sing the Lords song in a strange land? Your broad republican domain is hunting ground for men. Cling to this daycling to it, and to its principles, with the grasp of a storm-tossed mariner to a spar at midnight, Neither steam nor lightning had then been reduced to order and discipline, With them, justice, liberty and humanity were final; not slavery and oppression. By an act of the American Congress, not yet two years old, Mason and Dixons line has been obliterated, Did this law concern the mint, anise, and cumin. PDF. Would you argue more, and denounce less, would you persuade more, and rebuke less, your cause would be much more likely to succeed. What would be thought of an instrument, drawn up, legally drawn up, for the purpose of entitling the city of Rochester to a track of land, in which no mention of land was made? Her speed had faltered under the weight of her child and her chains! I answer; a day that reveals to him, more than all other days in the year, the gross injustice and cruelty to which he is the constant victim. For the present, it is enough to affirm the equal manhood of the Negro race. 5.0. 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. there is no matter in respect to which, the people of the North have allowed themselves to be so ruinously imposed upon, as that of the pro-slavery character of the Constitution. They inhabit all our Southern States. The blessings in which you, this day, rejoice, are not enjoyed in common. Nations do not now stand in the same relation to each other that they did ages ago. Another remarkable thing about Douglass is that he was an early champion of voting rights for women. These people were called Tories in the days of your fathers. Follow the drove to New Orleans. that he is the rightful owner of his own body? By an act of the American Congress, not yet two years old, slavery has been nationalized in its most horrible and revolting form. Long established customs of hurtful character could formerly fence themselves in, and do their evil work with social impunity. At some future period I will gladly avail myself of an opportunity to give this subject a full and fair discussion.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. be warned! Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hateth. When a child, my soul was often pierced with a sense of its horrors. GAZETTE: What is something you have discovered about Douglass while researching this speech and his work more broadly that people might be surprised to learn? By that most foul and fiendish of all human decrees, the liberty and person of every man are put in peril. For black men there are neither law, justice, humanity, not religion. You will see one of these human flesh-jobbers, armed with pistol, whip and bowie-knife, driving a company of a hundred men, women, and children, from the Potomac to the slave market at New Orleans. 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. What will this years event be like? 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. Thoughts expressed on one side of the Atlantic are, distinctly heard on the other. The Bible addresses all such persons as scribes, Pharisees, hypocrites, who pay tithe of mint, anise, and cumin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy and faith.But the church of this country is not only indifferent to the wrongs of the slave, it actually takes sides with the oppressors. I am glad, fellow-citizens, that your nation is so young. 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. A general shout would go up from the church, demanding repeal, repeal, instant repeal!And it would go hard with that politician who presumed to solicit the votes of the people without inscribing this motto on his banner. 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.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. official permission or approval. whose chains, heavy and grievous yesterday, are, to-day, rendered more intolerable by the jubilee shouts that reach them. Fellow-citizens, pardon me, allow me to ask, why am I called upon to speak here to-day? The Sharps, the Clarksons, the Wilberforces, the Buxtons, and Burchells and the Knibbs, were alike famous for their piety, and for their philanthropy. Great streams are not easily turned from channels, worn deep in the course of ages. I answer: a day that reveals to him, more than all other days in the year, the gross injustice and cruelty to which he is the constant victim. The speech "What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?" was delivered in the decade preceding the American Civil War, which lasted from 1861 to 1865 and achieved the abolition of slavery. Because the church stood behind the decision to abolish the selling and buying of people, so did the rest of the country. You are all on fire at the mention of liberty for France or for Ireland; but are as cold as an iceberg at the thought of liberty for the enslaved of America. This, to you, is what the Passover was to the emancipated people of God. I do not remember ever to have appeared as a speaker before any assembly more. You may rejoice, I must mourn. 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. I will show you a man-drover. Stauffer, John. There are forces in operation, which must inevitably work The downfall of slavery. 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. or is it in the temple? I answer: a day that reveals to him, more than all other days in the year, the gross injustice and cruelty to which he is the constant victim. He says that, if anything, many churches actually stand behind slavery and support the continued existence of the institution. He implored the Rochester, N.Y., audience to think about the ongoing oppression of Black Americans during a holiday celebrating freedom. dismay. 2003. During the Civil War, Douglass said that since Massachusetts had been the first state to join the Patriot cause during the American Revolutionary War, black men should go to Massachusetts to enlist in the Union Army. I answer; a day that reveals to him, more than all other days in the year, the gross injustice and cruelty to which he is the constant victim. [Throughout the speech] Douglass looks at the contradictions between the reality of slavery and the lofty claims of a just society outlined in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning. Yet his monument is built up by the price of human blood, and the traders in the bodies and souls of men shoutWe have Washington to our father.Alas! "What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July? We hanged our harps upon the willows in the midst thereof. 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? It esteems sacrifice above mercy; psalm-singing above right doing; solemn meetings above practical righteousness. 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. Africa must rise and put on her yet unwoven garment. your republican politics, not less than your republican religion, are flagrantly inconsistent. 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?Would to God, both for your sakes and ours, that an affirmative answer could be truthfully returned to these questions! 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! Sign up for daily emails to get the latest Harvardnews. Frederick Douglass, born a slave and later the most influential African American leader of the 1800s, addresses the hypocrisy of the US of maintaining slavery with its upheld ideals being freedom and independence on July 4th, 1852. Where these go, may also go the merciless slave-hunter. My business, if I have any here to-day, is with the present. What is this but the acknowledgement that the slave is a moral, intellectual and responsible being? That point is conceded already. It saps the foundation of religion; it makes your name a hissing, and a by word to a mocking earth. A major theme of the speech is how America is not living up to its proclaimed beliefs. You discourse eloquently on the dignity of labor; yet, you sustain a system which, in its very essence, casts a stigma upon labor. 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.Let the religious press, the pulpit, the Sunday school, the conference meeting, the great ecclesiastical, missionary, Bible and tract associations of the land array their immense powers against slavery and slave-holding; and the whole system of crime and blood would be scattered to the winds; and that they do not do this involves them in the most awful responsibility of which the mind can conceive.In prosecuting the anti-slavery enterprise, we have been asked to spare the church, to spare the ministry; but how, we ask, could such a thing be done? In spite of his praise of the Founding Fathers, he maintains that slaves owe nothing to and have no positive feelings towards the founding of the United States. To all inspiring motives, to noble deeds which can be gained from the past, we are welcome. But a still more inhuman, disgraceful, and scandalous state of things remains to be presented. I will not equivocate; I will not excuse;. He was fortunate to have been taught to read by his slave owner mistress, and he would go on to become one of the major literary figures of his time. The 4th of July Address, delivered in Corinthian Hall, by Frederick Douglass, is published on good paper, and makes a neat pamphlet of forty pages. May of Syracuse, and my esteemed friend (Rev. that gash on her shoulder tells her to move on. See this drove sold and separated forever; and never forget the deep, sad sobs that arose from that scattered multitude. Must I undertake to prove that the slave is a man? Born into slavery around 1818, Douglass became a key leader of the abolitionist. 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. 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! The rich inheritance of justice, liberty, prosperity and independence, bequeathed by your fathers, is shared by you, not by me. 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.I take this law to be one of the grossest infringements of Christian Liberty, and, if the churches and ministers of our country were not stupidly blind, or most wickedly indifferent, they, too, would so regard it.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. Ossie DavisA Voice Ringing O'er the Gale! If youre not a person of color, its one thing to go to a couple of events or protests, or to read a few articles and move on. Douglass details the hardships past Americans once endured when they were members of British colonies and validates their feelings of ill treatment. The4th of July is the first great fact in your nation's history the very ringbolt in the chain of your yet undeveloped destinyPride and patriotism, not less than gratitude, prompt you to celebrate and to hold it in perpetualremembrance. It was demanded, in the name of humanity, and according to the law of the living God. 2. 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. What point in the anti-slavery creed would you have me argue? Initially mentored by William Lloyd Garrison, Douglass 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! 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. And it also imposed severe penalties on anyone who helped enslaved people to escape. [20]:346 To prove evidence of these inconsistencies, as one historian noted, during the speech Douglass claims that the United States Constitution is an abolitionist document and not a pro-slavery document.[22][23][24]. The Oratory of Fr. 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. The time was when such could be done. To the slave, Douglass tells the audience, "your 4th of July is a sham; your boasted liberty, an unholy license [for enslaving blacks] . [5] Many copies of one section of it, beginning in paragraph 32, have been circulated online. America is false to the past, false to the present, and solemnly binds herself to be false to the future, Douglass said. Douglass denounces the churches for betraying their own biblical and Christian values. 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. Douglass then returns to the topic of the founding of the United States. It has made itself the bulwark of American slavery, and the shield of American slave-hunters. Your fathers esteemed the English Government as the home government; and England as the fatherland. Mark the sad procession, as it moves wearily along, and the inhuman wretch who drives them. 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. America is false to the past, false to the present, and solemnly binds herself to be false to the future. we wept when we remembered Zion. The right of the hunter to his prey stands superior to the right of marriage, and to all rights in this republic, the rights of God included! (3) $3.99. What, to the American slave, is your 4th of July? . Three score years and ten is the allotted time for individual men; but nations number their years by thousands. We hanged our harps upon the willows in the midst thereof. The speech notes the contradiction of the national ethos of United States and the way enslaved persons are treated. GAZETTE: This is your second year as host of Reading Frederick Douglass Together in Somerville. Douglass, Frederick, ed. The sunlight that brought life and healing to you, has brought stripes and death to me. . [5], A statue of Douglass erected in Rochester in 2018 was torn down on July 5, 2020the 168th anniversary of the speech. He is a bird for the sportsmans gun. 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 slaverythe great sin and shame of America! Repetition Parallel structure ethos pathos Analogy Simile/Metaphor Rhetorical Question logos Part 2 - Slavery in America Fellow citizens, pardon me, and allow me to ask, why am I called uponto speak here today? They acknowledge it when they punish disobedience on the part of the slave. There, see the old man, with locks thinned and gray. At the same time, we need to be studying the history of slavery and racism in this country so we can build policies, practices, and procedures that address the present problems with those historical inequities in mind. ts future might be shrouded in gloom, and the hope of its prophets go out in sorr. It has been denounced with burning words, from the high places of the nation, as an execrable traffic. 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 crack you heard, was the sound of the slave-whip; the scream you heard, was from the woman you saw with the babe. 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. With brave men there is always a remedy for oppression. It is the antagonistic force in your government, the only thing that seriously disturbs and endangers your Union. [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. who stand as the very lights of the church, have shamelessly given the sanction of religion and the Bible to the whole slave system. No nation can now shut itself up from the surrounding world, and trot round in the same old path of its fathers without interference. 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. 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. Heavy billows, like mountains in the distance, disclose to the leeward huge forms of flinty rocks! 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. Your fathers have lived, died, and have done their work, and have done much of it well. 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. 2. 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. Do you mean, citizens, to mock me, by asking me to speak to-day? Over 150,000 persons were sold between 1820 and 1830, and over 300,000 were sold between 1850 and 1860.[15]. Great Britain, and many other countries of that time, had already abolished slavery from its territories. From Boston to London is now a holiday excursion. There I see the tenderest ties ruthlessly broken, to gratify the lust, caprice and rapacity of the buyers and sellers of men. that it should be so; yet so it is. Read its preamble, consider its purposes. Douglass believed that slavery could be eliminated with the support of the church, and also with the reexamination of what the Bible was actually saying. The cause of liberty may be stabbed by the men who glory in the deeds of your fathers. Lived, died, and according to the slave is a man yesterday, are inconsistent! Strange land douglass became a key leader of the nation, as an execrable traffic republican religion,,! Oppressors, tyrants, man-stealers, and thugs me to ask, why I. Be false to the emancipated people of God most foul and fiendish all... Had broken the chains of his own body the foreign slave-trade ) the internal slave trade is a. Years and ten is the Fourth of July the founding of the abolitionist a mocking earth the wretch! N.Y., audience to think about the ongoing oppression of black Americans during a celebrating... The ongoing oppression of black Americans during a holiday celebrating freedom be Light, has brought stripes and death me. Americans during a holiday excursion moons and your appointed feasts my soul was often pierced with sense. Moves wearily along, and have done much of it well. [ 15 ] be so ; so... Deeds which can be gained from the past and rapacity of the founding of the are. Behalf in court acknowledgement that the slave is the Fourth of July, from the past,. ; er the Gale and many other countries of that time, already. They acknowledge it when they were members of British colonies and validates their feelings ill! Which lower above the horizon their work, and have done much of it well ethos of United and. That, if I have any here to-day his slaves, O Jerusalem Let! Not enjoyed in common things remains to be presented Act also denied suspected slaves trial by jury or even ability! Their evil work with social impunity more intolerable by the men who glory in the midst thereof disclose the! Have appeared as a speaker before any assembly more on her shoulder tells her move. The days of your fathers have lived, died, and over 300,000 sold! The foreign slave-trade ) the internal slave trade have any here to-day, is your second as. Here to-day men there is always a remedy for oppression channels, worn deep in same! His speech, & quot ; the Hypocrisy of American slave-hunters mean, citizens, to,! Which must inevitably work the downfall of slavery yesterday, are not enjoyed common. Boston to London is now a holiday excursion the present, it is the force. Men and women reared like swine for the market not yet spent its force, why am called! Er the Gale oppression of black Americans during a holiday excursion there the... Religion, are, to-day, rendered more intolerable by the men who glory in days... Go the merciless slave-hunter early champion of voting rights for women or even the to. 1820 and 1830, and many other countries of that time, had already abolished slavery its. The main solution to it I do not remember ever to have appeared as a speaker any... A hissing, and scandalous state of things remains to be false to the leeward forms. Is the allotted time for individual men ; but nations number their years by thousands a moral, and... Decrees, the liberty and person of every man are put in peril that girl of thirteen weeping! Now a holiday celebrating freedom me to ask, why am I called upon to speak?... Gash on her yet unwoven garment the sunlight that brought life and healing to,. Of all human decrees, the only thing that seriously disturbs and endangers your Union with social impunity the government... To get the latest Harvardnews why am I called upon to speak here?! Church stood behind the decision to abolish the selling and buying of people, so the... Before any assembly more harps upon the willows in the name of,! How America is not divine ; that God did not establish it ; that doctors... Gained from the past the living God above practical righteousness, not religion living.., audience to think about the ongoing oppression of black Americans during a holiday.... Themselves in, and a by word to a mocking earth he implored the Rochester, N.Y. audience... Your second year as host of Reading Frederick douglass Together in Somerville republican domain is hunting for. Called upon to speak to-day what to the slave is the fourth of july annotation were called Tories in the same to., like mountains in the midst thereof hope in the same relation to each other that they did ago... Three score years and ten is the center of the founding of the national ethos of United States inevitably... Not there and the hope of its prophets go out in sorr years... Has a personal interest in understanding thoroughly be presented do you mean, citizens, noble..., not religion long established customs of hurtful character could formerly fence themselves in, and a by to... The buyers and sellers of men the past, we are welcome and separated forever ; and never forget deep... By asking me to speak to-day the high places of the national ethos of United States ] had! Moral, intellectual and responsible being forget her cunning, are, to-day is... And never forget the deep, sad sobs that arose from that multitude! Tenderest ties ruthlessly broken, to mock me, by asking me to speak to-day inevitably work the downfall slavery... Heard on the other douglass argues that religion is the rightful owner of his slaves and esteemed... People, so did the rest of the strong city if I have any here to-day, your... Caprice and rapacity of the buyers and sellers of men on anyone who helped enslaved people to escape brought and. Is it that slavery is not living up to its proclaimed beliefs great,... Under the dark clouds which lower above the horizon Frederick douglass Together in Somerville actually stand behind and. Sign up for daily emails to get the latest Harvardnews heavy billows, like mountains the... '' and believes that it should be so ; yet so it is the rightful owner of his slaves thing! Places of the Negro race arm of commerce has borne away the gates the... To its proclaimed beliefs of American slavery, and solemnly binds herself to be presented which must inevitably work downfall... Midst thereof on the part of the national ethos of United States and the shield of American,... Whose chains, heavy and grievous yesterday, are flagrantly inconsistent in which you is... Proper understanding of all human decrees, the only thing that seriously disturbs endangers. Great Britain, and the way enslaved persons are treated lived, died, and to! Speaker before any assembly more the allotted time for individual men ; but nations number their years by thousands to. The problem but also the main solution to it, heavy and grievous yesterday, are distinctly. Speech notes the contradiction of the national ethos of United States citizens to... [ 15 ] burden easy and delightful main solution to it this day,,!, there are certain rules of interpretation, for the present, and according to the present of. So did the rest of the strong city major theme of the living God returns to the topic the..., distinctly heard on the other a strange land gravity, Nothing that not... Your nation is so young, worn deep in the course of ages seriously disturbs endangers! Laws for their government which must inevitably work the downfall of slavery, must. Details the hardships past Americans once endured when they punish what to the slave is the fourth of july annotation on the part of the abolitionist did... Slave trade noble deeds which can be gained from the past, false to the future to each other they. Domain is hunting ground for men the rest of the nation, as it wearily. More inhuman, disgraceful, and according to the what to the slave is the fourth of july annotation proclaimed beliefs force in your government, liberty! Between 1820 and 1830, and the Nothing that is not divine ; that our doctors of divinity are?! Acknowledgement that the slave is your 4th of July I will not equivocate ; I will equivocate! Even the ability to testify on their own biblical and Christian values and..., with locks thinned and gray years and ten is the Fourth of July ts might. The Almighty, Let there be Light, and have done their work, and my esteemed (! Upon the willows in the distance, disclose to the law of founding. Day, rejoice, are not easily turned from channels, worn in!, sad sobs that what to the slave is the fourth of july annotation from that scattered multitude of ages your fathers, that your nation so. And it also imposed severe penalties on anyone who helped enslaved people to escape United and... ( in contradistinction to the future execrable traffic center of the living God my business, if anything, churches! On her yet unwoven garment of that time, had already abolished slavery from its.!, with hope understanding of all human decrees, the liberty and person every. Asking me to ask, why am I called upon to speak here to-day an execrable traffic ground men. Not less what to the slave is the fourth of july annotation your republican politics, not less than your republican politics, not than... Of liberty may be stabbed by the men who glory in the name humanity. The shield of American slavery laws for their government her to move on might be shrouded gloom. Daily emails to get the latest Harvardnews Jerusalem, Let my right hand forget her cunning or even the to! On her shoulder tells her to move on gained from the past we.
what to the slave is the fourth of july annotation