what is the main message of douglass's speech?

This is the inevitable conclusion, and from it there is no escape. The sunlight that brought light and healing to you, has brought stripes and death to me. Frederick Douglass delivered his famous speech "What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?" in 1852, drawing parallels between the Revolutionary War and the fight to abolish slavery. The fight for independence was a long, hard battle. It gave me such a surge of hope that the event could bring together such divergent groups. But I differ from those who charge this baseness on the framers of the Constitution of the United States. What are these? When none on earth Wind, steam, and lightning are its chartered agents. May he not hope that high lessons of wisdom, of justice and of truth, will yet give direction to her destiny? Shall cease to flow! The report is remembered for its conclusion that: Our nation is moving toward two societies, one black, one whiteseparate and unequal.. To break the rod, and rend the gyve, Frederick Douglass was a freed slave in the 1800's who was famous for his ability to read and write, uncommon of a black man at the time. My subject, then fellow-citizens, is AMERICAN SLAVERY. Douglass uses religious language in discussing Independence. Their solid manhood stands out the more as we contrast it with these degenerate times. Would you argue more, and denounce less; would you persuade more, and rebuke less; your cause would be much more likely to succeed." Your fathers staked their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor, on the cause of their country. Douglass states, "My subject, then, fellow-citizens, is AMERICAN SLAVERY. 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. As I mentioned earlier, the first reading was designed to the think about race in the Age of Obama. I remember that first year, looking out at the crowd I was filled with the kind of hope Douglass expressed at the end of his speech. AN summary of Themes in Frederick Douglass's Narrative of the Lived of Frederick Douglass. Go where you may, search where you will, roam through all the monarchies and despotisms of the old world, travel through South America, 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. When from their galling chains set free, Thoughts expressed on one side of the Atlantic are, distinctly heard on the other. Its relevance endures today. That day will come all feuds to end. For decades, slaves fled the South . It were considered radical, extreme, and risky. Douglass message about America struggling to live up to the lofty goals it set for itself at the founding continues to be relevant, says Blight. I, therefore, leave off where I began, with hope. 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. The political party system was beginning to tear itself asunder over the expansion of slavery, he says. Be driven. Your high independence only reveals the immeasurable distance between us. Harvard Law Today recently interviewed David Harris, managing director of the Charles Hamilton Houston Institute for Race & Justice at Harvard Law School, the events cosponsor, about the public reading and the continued relevance of Douglass words. That first year, 2009, was also President Obamas first year in office. "Resolved, That these united colonies are, and of right, ought to be free and Independent States; that they are absolved from all allegiance to the British Crown; and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain is, and ought to be, dissolved. 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. Had I the ability, and could I reach the nations ear, I would, today, pour out a fiery stream of biting ridicule, blasting reproach, withering sarcasm, and stern rebuke. There is not time now to argue the constitutional question at lengthnor have I the ability to discuss it as it ought to be discussed. "[L]et me ask, if it be not somewhat singular that, if the Constitution were intended to be, by its framers and adopters, a slave-holding instrument, why neither slavery, slaveholding, nor slave can anywhere be found in it.". The new rules are part of a government plan to crack . Senator Berrien tell us that the Constitution is the fundamental law, that which controls all others. Why is this speech still relevant today? The Boston communal reading of What to the Slave is the Fourth of July? will take place on Tuesday, July 2 at noon on the Boston Common at the State House, Shaw-MA 54th Memorial. I will not. Seventy-six years, though a good old age for a man, is but a mere speck in the life of a nation. Why does he call his own time degenerate? America has been working to fully live up to the ideals laid out in the Declaration of Independence ever since the document was printed on July 4, 1776. Host called senior colleague a C-word in text message obtained by lawyers as part of Dominion lawsuit Tucker Carlson's firing from Fox News came after he used vulgar language to describe a . . From the round top of your ship of state, dark and threatening clouds may be seen. All rights reserved. The Nativist party is rising. This Fourth July is yours, not mine. But I fancy I hear some one of my audience say, "It is just in this circumstance that you and your brother abolitionists fail to make a favorable impression on the public mind. 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? 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. On July 2nd, people from across Massachusetts will gather at noon on Boston Common near the State House for the 11th annual public reading of Douglasss historic address. What is the main message of Douglass's speech? Douglass's purpose in writing his Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave was to provide a first-hand account of the horrors of slavery and thereby support the. However, this was not the purpose of Douglass's speech. Stand by those principles, be true to them on all occasions, in all places, against all foes, and at whatever cost. whose chains, heavy and grievous yesterday, are, to-day, rendered more intolerable by the jubilee shouts that reach them. You have already declared it. Overseers announce new president, vice chair. This Fourth July is yours, not mine. 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. The fact of slavery ruins the celebrations of the Fourth of July. 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.. Chan School of Public Health celebrates opening of $25M Thich Nhat Hanh Center for research, approaches to mindfulness, Women who suppressed emotions had less diverse microbiomes in study that also found specific bacterial link to happiness, Tenn. lawmaker Justin Pearson, Parkland survivor David Hogg 23 talk about tighter gun control, GOP attempts to restrict voting rights, importance of local politics, Dangers involved in rise of neurotechnology that allows for tracking of thoughts, feelings examined at webinar, 2023 The President and Fellows of Harvard College, Photo courtesy of the National Archives and Records Administration, By Manisha Aggarwal-Schifellite Harvard Staff Writer, Frederick Douglass delivered his famous speech What to the Slave is the Fourth of July? in 1852, drawing parallels between the Revolutionary War and the fight to abolish slavery. The blessings in which you, this day, rejoice, are not enjoyed in common. I have better employment for my time and strength than such arguments would imply. They seized upon eternal principles, and set a glorious example in their defense. 838 Words. He begins his speech by modestly apologizing for being nervous in front of the crowd and recognizes that he has come a long way since his escape from slavery. Magazines, 4,000 African Americans paraded down Broadway in New York City, Or create a free account to access more articles, 'What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July? Who so stolid and selfish, that would not give his voice to swell the hallelujahs of a nations jubilee, when the chains of servitude had been torn from his limbs? Must I undertake to prove that the slave is a man? That point is conceded already. Douglass continues to interrogate the meaning of the Declaration of Independence, to enslaved African Americans experiencinggrave inequality and injustice: Fellow-citizens, pardon me, allow me to ask, why am I called upon to speak here to-day? Not blow for blow; The principles contained in that instrument are saving principles. It seems that every year we have marked some anniversary with the reading, whether civil rights movement or Civil War related. There is not a nation on the earth guilty of practices more shocking and bloody than are the people of the United States, at this very hour. Can you tell me about the origins of the Reading Frederick Douglas Together project? To drag a man in fetters into the grand illuminated temple of liberty and call upon him to join you in joyous anthems, is inhuman mockery. God speed the hour, the glorious hour,When none on earthShall exercise a lordly power,Nor in a tyrants presence cower;But all to manhoods stature tower,By equal birth!That hour will come, to each, to all,And from his prison-house, the thrallGo forth. Last year, Singapore's GDP grew 3.6%. Your high independence only reveals the immeasurable distance between us. The fiat of the Almighty, "Let there be Light," has not yet spent its force. What will this years event be like? ': The History of Frederick Douglass' Searing Independence Day Oration. No! "The arm of the Lord is not shortened," and the doom of slavery is certain. The sunlight that brought light and healing to you, has brought stripes and death to me. This speech is now remembered as oneof Douglass' most poignant. For more information on this event visit CharlesHamiltonHouston.org. 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. The purpose of Douglass' message was to inform abolitions of the inhumane treatment of slaves and to continue making progress in freeing slaves. The signers of the Declaration of Independence were brave men. On what branch of the subject do the people of this country need light? All Rights Reserved. A champion of America's great writers and timeless works, Library of America guides readers in finding and exploring the exceptional writing that reflects the nation's history and culture. had I the ability, and could reach the nation's ear, I would, to-day, pour out a fiery stream of biting ridicule, blasting reproach, withering sarcasm, and stern rebuke. The headings in brackets have been supplied by the editor to guide your reading as have the questions after each section. The freedom gained is yours; and you, therefore, may properly celebrate this anniversary. 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 denunciation 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 hypocrisy a thin veil to cover up crimes which would disgrace a nation of savages. As we emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic, our economy continues to recover. Convicted terrorists will be banned from taking a leading role in religious services and face more rigorous checks for extremist literature. How unlike the politicians of an hour! We convened a group of interested parties, met a few times over a couple of months, and decided to launch an event on the Common. What point in the anti-slavery creed would you have me argue? Be warned! 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? She can speak not only to Douglass' historical importance but to the urgency and relevancy of his message in today's . I say it with a sad sense of the disparity between us. Hed had a breakdown in the early 1850s, and was having trouble supporting his family. Frederick Douglass (18181895) was a former slave who became a nationally recognizedabolitionist orator during the antebellum period. The papers and placards say, that I am to deliver a 4th of July oration. You could instruct me in regard to them. Based on what I know of his writings, however, I think he would have very mixed feelings about the progress we have made. I generally try to avoid speculating about current or historical figures I dont know. Next, Douglass presents a picture of American slavery. America is false to the past, false to the present, and solemnly binds herself to be false to the future, Douglass said. The slaveholders themselves acknowledge it in the enactment of laws for their government. Why does he do this? But a change has now come over the affairs of mankind. Douglasss searing ability to cut through the rhetoric of freedom and democracy lives on in works like these that reveal the enduring cruelty of the exemption as it continues to haunt our flawed legal and punishment systems. So while the U.S. tends to go all out celebrating freedom on the Fourth of July, alternate independence commemorations held a day later often draw attention to a different side of that story, with readings of the Frederick Douglass speech best known today as What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?. So its important that our city and our society are outraged by the recent murders of unarmed black people. If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning. The point from which I am compelled to view them is not, certainly, the most favorable; and yet I cannot contemplate their great deeds with less than admiration. And wear the yoke of tyranny Walled cities and empires have become unfashionable. There is consolation in the thought that America is young. Would you have me argue that man is entitled to liberty? This Fourth of July is yours, not mine. The testimony of Senator Breese, Lewis Cass, and many others that might be named, who are everywhere esteemed as sound lawyers, so regard the constitution. And each return for evil, good, Has the public reading of the speech each year on Boston Commonor the experience or meaning of itchanged over the years? [Under the Act] it became illegal not to arrest and return runaway slaves. 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! On this, the bicentennial year of Douglasss birth, the Frederick Douglass Family Initiatives and American Universitys Antiracist Research and Policy Center are honoring 200 Americans whose work best reflects his legacy. God speed the day when human blood 11th annual public reading of What to the slave is the Fourth of July? takes place on July 2nd at noon on Boston Common, Photo via the Harvard Gazette David Harris, managing director of the Charles Hamilton Houston Institute for Race & Justice at Harvard Law School. 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. When you can point to any such laws in reference to the beasts of the field, then I may consent to argue the manhood of the slave. If so, there is a parallel to your conduct. With head, and heart, and hand Ill strive, It is the antagonistic force in your government, the only thing that seriously disturbs and endangers your Union. They did so in the form of a resolution; and as we seldom hit upon resolutions, drawn up in our day whose transparency is at all equal to this, it may refresh your minds and help my story if I read it. We unveiled the first 10 members of the FD200 today, on the 166th anniversary of Douglasss speech. This project began in the library of an organization called Community Change, which was founded by Horace Seldon in 1968 to address the white problem at the root of American inequality revealed by the Kerner Report. In Douglass's case, he was in a room with people who supported the ending of slavery. What, to the American slave, is your 4th of July? It is a slander upon their memory, at least, so I believe. Are the great principles of political freedom and of natural justice, embodied in that Declaration of Independence, extended to us? GAZETTE: This is your second year as host of Reading Frederick Douglass Together in Somerville. Is that a question for Republicans? I am not included within the pale of this glorious anniversary! The blessings in which you, this day, rejoice, are not enjoyed in common. That assembly, which represented property-owning men, took place on July 30, 1619. And it also imposed severe penalties on anyone who helped enslaved people to escape. 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. "For it is not light that is needed, but fire; it is not the gentle shower, but thunder," he said. There are forces in operation, which must inevitably work The downfall of slavery. Heavy billows, like mountains in the distance, disclose to the leeward huge forms of flinty rocks! I am not included within the pale of glorious anniversary! They believed in order; but not in the order of tyranny. Who can reason on such a proposition? We were all giddy with the reality of a black president who had been willing to talk about race during the campaign. In a case like that, the dumb might eloquently speak, and the "lame man leap as an hart." In some ways, the first part of the speech is a traditional patriotic speech. America is false to the past, false to the present, and solemnly binds herself to be false to the future. 4 Pages. In the early 1850s, tensions over slavery were high across the county. Fellow-citizens, pardon me, allow me to ask, why am I called upon to speak here to-day? ", Citizens, your fathers made good that resolution. No abuse, no outrage whether in taste, sport or avarice, can now hide itself from the all-pervading light. Oceans no longer divide, but link nations together. America is false to the past, false to the present, and solemnly binds herself to be false to the future. ', But such is not the state of the case. 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. That which is inhuman, cannot be divine! He point-by-point counters a. Frederick Douglass, Americas most famous anti-slavery activist and fugitive slave, saw no ground to celebrate: he saw the octopus arms of slavery stretched everywhere, exposing the hollowness of Americas freedom values. This power fuels modern abolition movements, whether of human trafficking, prison or police. Toward the end of the Civil War he delivered a speech, "What the Black Man Wants," discussing what the nation should do to help the newly freed . Must I argue that a system thus marked with blood, and stained with pollution, is wrong? Is slavery among them? The far off and almost fabulous Pacific rolls in grandeur at our feet. Oh! Nobody doubts it. An edited version of Douglasss speech is provided below. 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? It was a scathing speech in which Douglass stated, This Fourth of July is yours, not mine, You may rejoice, I must mourn., In his speech, Douglassacknowledgedthe Founding Fathers of America, the architects of the Declaration of Independence, for their commitment to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness:, Fellow Citizens, I am not wanting in respect for the fathers of this republic.

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