frederick douglass speech transcript

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frederick douglass speech transcript

Is it that slavery is not divine, that God did not establish it, that our doctors of divinity are mistaken? That point is conceded already. Oppression makes a wise man mad. You may well cherish the memory of such men. The whole scene, as I look back to it, was simple, dignified and sublime. Neither steam nor lightning had then been reduced to order and discipline. I will not equivocate; I will not excuse; I will use the severest language I can command; and yet not one word shall escape me that any man, whose judgment is not blinded by prejudice, or who is not at heart a slaveholder, shall not confess to be right and just. 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. What is this but the acknowledgement that the slave is a moral, intellectual and responsible being? I remember, also, that, as a people, Americans are remarkably familiar with all facts which make in their own favor. Frederick Douglass: (00:26) 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. At the time of the delivery of this speech, Douglass had been living in Rochester, New York for several years editing a weekly abolitionist newspaper. He was invited to give a fourth of July speech by the Ladies Anti-Slavery Society of Rochester. In the early 1850s, tensions over slavery were high across the county. 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? What have I, or those I represent, to do with your national independence? Frederick Douglass: (04:09) WebDescription. WATCH VIDEO: Should Black Americans Celebrate Independence Day? I scarcely need say, fellow-citizens, that my opinion of those measures fully accords with that of your fathers. President John F. Kennedy On July 4, 1962 President John F. Kennedy delivered this speech at Independence Hall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. This Fourth [of] July isyours, notmine. In the text it states, above all, confessing and worshipping the Christian God, and looking hopefully for life and immortality beyond the grave- we are called upon to prove that we are men? (Douglas 763). America is false to the past, false to the present and solemnly binds herself to be false to the future. In a case like that, the dumb might eloquently speak. What to the American slave is your 4th of July? Some of these have had wives and children, dependent on them for bread; but of this, no account was made. The feeling of the nation must be quickened. WebFrederick Douglass speech What to a Slave is the Fourth of July effectively argues against slavery. Must I argue the wrongfulness of slavery? And instead of being the honest men I have before declared them to be, they were the veriest imposters that ever practiced on mankind. My business, if I have any here today, is with the present. Do you mean citizens to mock me by asking me to speak today? That, which is inhuman cannot be divine. 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. 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. It has been denounced with burning words, from the high places of the nation, as an execrable traffic. 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. 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. speech From police shootings to the wage gap to crippling stereotypes (and everything in between), there are too many parallels today with what Douglass described in his speech to white America, including this relevant line. For my part, I would say, welcome infidelity! Just here, the idea of a total separation of the colonies from the crown was born! Frederick Douglass: (09:38) This 4th of July is yours, not mine. I think that, in whatever else I may be deficient, I have You have already declared it. 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. Where these go, may also go the merciless slave-hunter. 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. Community Reading: Frederick Douglass's "What During 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 slavery the great sin and shame of America! Heavy billows, like mountains in the distance, disclose to the leeward huge forms of flinty rocks! You hurl your anathemas at the crowned headed tyrants of Russia and Austria, and pride yourselves on your Democratic institutions, while you yourselves consent to be the meretoolsand body-guardsof the tyrants of Virginia and Carolina. Their statesmanship looked beyond the passing moment, and stretched away in strength into the distant future. To do so, would be to make myself ridiculous, and to offer an insult to your understanding. At a time like this, scorching irony, not convincing argument, is needed. 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. It was demanded, in the name of humanity, and according to the law of the living God. I answer: a day that reveals to him more than all other days of the year, the gross injustice and cruelty to which he is the constant victim. They were great in their day and generation. It would, certainly, prove nothing, as to what part I might have taken, had I lived during the great controversy of 1776. 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. 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? Cling to this day cling to it, and to its principles, with the grasp of a storm-tossed mariner to a spar at midnight. Read its preamble, consider its purposes. 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. America is false to the past, false to the present, and solemnly binds herself to be false to the future. 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. The accepted time with God and his cause is the ever-living now. Convert your audio or video into 99% accurate text by a professional. You invite to your shores fugitives of oppression from abroad, honor them with banquets, greet them with ovations, cheer them, toast them, salute them, protect them, and pour out your money to them like water; but the fugitives from your own land you advertise, hunt, arrest, shoot and kill. The population was weak and scattered, and the country a wilderness unsubdued. Your fathers have lived, died, and have done their work, and have done much of it well. Standing, there, identified with the American bondman, making his wrongs mine, 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! 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. I shall see this day and its popular characteristics from the slaves point of view. When Douglass delivered his famous The Meaning of July Fourth for the Negro address before an audience at Corinthian Hall in Rochester, New York, on July 5, 1852, he was issuing a scathing indictment of American hypocrisy, Washington Post columnist Courtland Milloy reminded readers. In their admiration of liberty, they lost sight of all other interests. The time for such argument is past. What have I, or those I represent to do with your national independence. They felt themselves the victims of grievous wrongs, wholly incurable in their colonial capacity. Wind, steam, and lightning are its chartered agents. The power is co-extensive with the Star-Spangled Banner and American Christianity. 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. It was a startling idea, much more so, than we, at this distance of time, regard it. The message of Frederick Douglasss 1852 speech on the contradiction of Americas just ideals and unjust realities endures. Its future might be shrouded in gloom, and the hope of its prophets go out in sorrow. When a child, my soul was often pierced with a sense of its horrors. The fiat of the Almighty, Let there be Light, has not yet spent its force. What? 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. If so, there is a parallel to your conduct. My subject, then fellow-citizens, is AMERICAN SLAVERY. I will show you a man-drover. The charter of our liberties, which every citizen has a personal interest in understanding thoroughly. 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! WebAn excerpt from the 1847 Frederick Douglass speech given for the anniversary of the American Anti-Slavery Society. Your fathers were wise men, and if they did not go mad, they became restive under this treatment. I am not included within the pale of this glorious anniversary! It has made itself the bulwark of American slavery, and the shield of American slave-hunters. You can bare your bosom to the storm of British artillery to throw off a threepenny tax on tea; and yet wring the last hard-earned farthing from the grasp of the black laborers of your country. At a time like this, scorching irony not convincing argument is needed. They have all been taught in your common schools, narrated at your firesides, unfolded from your pulpits, and thundered from your legislative halls, and are as familiar to you as household words. Frederick Douglass, What to the Slave Is the Fourth 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 is not a man beneath the canopy of heaven, who does not know that slavery is wrong for him. This is esteemed by some as a national trait perhaps a national weakness. 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.. If I do not remember thee, let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth.. Try Rev and save time transcribing, captioning, and subtitling. Towards the end of The fact is, ladies and gentlemen, the distance between this platform and the slave plantation, from which I escaped, is considerable and the difficulties to be overcome in getting from the latter to the former, are by no means slight. He can bring no witnesses for himself. that it should be so; yet so it is. The propriety of the nation must be startled. This home government, you know, although a considerable distance from your home, did, in the exercise of its parental prerogatives, impose upon its colonial children, such restraints, burdens and limitations, as, in its mature judgment, it deemed wise, right and proper. Do you mean, citizens, to mock me, by asking me to speak to-day? Are the great principles of political freedom and of natural justice embodied in that Declaration of Independence extended to us? 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. 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 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. Americans! 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. 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. The freedom gained is yours; and you, therefore, may properly celebrate this anniversary. And the conscience of the nation must be roused. Such people lived then, had lived before, and will, probably, ever have a place on this planet; and their course, in respect to any great change, (no matter how great the good to be attained, or the wrong to be redressed by it), may be calculated with as much precision as can be the course of the stars. I, therefore, leave off where I began, with hope. 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? They hate all changes, but silver, gold and copper change! The iron shoe, and crippled foot of China must be seen, in contrast with nature. These gentlemen have, as I think, fully and clearly vindicated the Constitution from any design to support slavery for an hour. Behold the practical operation of this internal slave-trade, the American slave-trade, sustained by American politics and America religion. By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down. Racist Ex-University Of Kentucky 'Karen' Sophia Rosing Is Charged For Assaulting Black Student. On what branch of the subject do the people of this country need light? speaking of it relatively, and positively, negatively, and affirmatively. Would you argue more and denounce less? Frederick Douglass had I the ability, and could I reach the nations ear, I would, to-day, pour out a fiery stream of biting ridicule, blasting reproach, To do so would be to make myself ridiculous and to offer an insult to your understanding. You have no right to wear out and waste the hard-earned fame of your fathers to cover your indolence. The hypocrisy of the nation must be exposed and its crimes against God and man must be denounced. Go search where you will. Copyright 2023 Interactive One, LLC. I will not. It is a fact, that whatever makes for the wealth or for the reputation of Americans, and can be had cheap! For who is there so cold, that a nations sympathy could not warm him? They form the staple of your national poetry and eloquence. By an act of the American Congress, not yet two years old, slavery has been nationalized in its most horrible and revolting form. 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. Frederick Douglass: (10:31) In a final celebratory post for Black History Month 2023, it is worth returning to the 1883 Douglass Banquet. This, for the purpose of this celebration, is the 4th of July. You were under the British Crown. They are food for the cotton-field, and the deadly sugar-mill. There are forces in operation, which must inevitably work the downfall of slavery. 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! Frederick Douglass: (01:08) Three score years and ten is the allotted time for individual men; but nations number their years by thousands. 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. A Nation's Story: What to the Slave is the Fourth of July? Speech VIDEO: Frederick Douglass' descendants deliver his 'Fourth of July' speech. Is slavery among them? It is fashionable to do so; but there was a time when to pronounce against England, and in favor of the cause of the colonies, tried mens souls. Roam through all the monarchies and despotisms of the old world. WebA speech celebrating both Lincoln and African Americans freedom wrought by Lincoln. Frederick Douglass (1818-1895) was a social reformer and advocate, abolitionist, orator, writer, minister, and statesman. 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.. Senator Berrien tell us that the Constitution is the fundamental law, that which controls all others. Mr. President, Friends and Fellow Citizens: He who could address this audience without a quailing sensation, has stronger nerves than I have. From Boston to London is now a holiday excursion. Africa must rise and put on her yet unwoven garment. Ex-Senator Benton tells us that the price of men was never higher than now. Frederick Douglass: (03:37) 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. Celebrating Frederick Douglass through Transcription 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 sin of which it is guilty is one of omission as well as of commission. Would to God, both for your sakes and ours, that an affirmative answer could be truthfully returned to those questions. Speech 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. The Best Speech-to-Text Solution for Your Business Learn how Rev fits into your businesses workflow. They inhabit all our Southern States. Frederick Douglass That which is inhuman, cannot be divine! Washington could not die till he had broken the chains of his slaves. You may rejoice, I must mourn.. 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? 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 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. They were great men too great enough to give fame to a great age. 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. They acknowledge it when they punish disobedience on the part of the slave. 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? 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? That people contented themselves under the shadow of Abrahams great name, while they repudiated the deeds which made his name great. What, then, remains to be argued? Frederick Douglass speech - PBS whose chains, heavy and grievous yesterday, are, to-day, rendered more intolerable by the jubilee shouts that reach them. we wept when we remembered Zion. "What to the Slave is the 4th of July?" Your high independence only reveals the immeasurable distance between us. The ear-piercing fife and the stirring drum unite their accents with the ascending peal of a thousand church bells. 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. Your fathers staked their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor, on the cause of their country. They who did so were accounted in their day, plotters of mischief, agitators and rebels, dangerous men. Transcribe your audio files to find high-impact insights in minutes. There are 72 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 these same crimes will subject a white man to like punishment. Travel through South America. They perambulate the country, and crowd the highways of the nation, with droves of human stock. Transcript Descendants of Frederick Douglass read excerpts from one of his most famous speeches: What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July? Fellow-citizens, I shall not presume to dwell at length on the associations that cluster about this day. To forget them, to pass lightly over their wrongs and to chime in with the popular theme would be treason most sacrilegious and shocking and would make me a reproach before God and the world. had I the ability, and could I reach the nations ear, I would, to-day, pour out a fiery stream of biting ridicule, blasting reproach, withering sarcasm, and stern rebuke. Knowledge was then confined and enjoyed by the privileged few, and the multitude walked on in mental darkness. He who will, intelligently, lay down his life for his country, is a man whom it is not in human nature to despise. The arm of commerce has borne away the gates of the strong city. Web"The Lessons of the Hour" Speech by Frederick Douglass, January 9, 1894 Friends and Fellow Citizens : No man should come before an audience like the one by whose presence I am now honored, without a noble object and a fixed and earnest purpose. Follow the drove to New Orleans. that gash on her shoulder tells her to move on. He rose from the shackles of slavery to become an author, newspaper publisher, and respected abolitionist. For the present, it is enough to affirm the equal manhood of the Negro race. Frederick Douglass There is blasphemy in the thought. 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! He rose from the shackles of slavery to become an author, Intelligence is penetrating the darkest corners of the globe. Yea! They, however, gradually flow back to the same old channel, and flow on as serenely as ever. Full transcript of the famous speech What to the Slave is the 4th of July? by Frederick Douglass. WebOn December 3, 1860, Frederick Douglass and a group of fellow abolitionists met at the Tremont Temple Baptist Church in Boston for a discussion centered around the following 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, The Sharps, the Clarksons, the Wilberforces, the Buxtons, and Burchells and the Knibbs, were alike famous for their piety, and for their philanthropy. Fellow-citizens, pardon me, allow me to ask, why am I called upon to speak here to-day? Should I seem at ease, my appearance would much misrepresent me. They may sometimes rise in quiet and stately majesty, and inundate the land, refreshing and fertilizing the earth with their mysterious properties. Juneteenth Reading List: 10 Books To Learn More About Black Independence Day, Your email will be shared with newsone.com and subject to its, The Meaning of July Fourth for the Negro address before an audience, at Corinthian Hall in Rochester, New York, on July 5, 1852, he was issuing , a scathing indictment of American hypocrisy, Washington Post columnist Courtland Milloy, .