Feeling themselves harshly and unjustly treated by the home government, your fathers, like men of honesty, and men of spirit, earnestly sought redress. 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! Are the great principles of political freedom and of natural justice, embodied in that Declaration of Independence, extended to us? 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 They seized upon eternal principles, and set a glorious example in their defense. It is carried on in all the large towns and cities in one-half of this confederacy; and millions are pocketed every year, by dealers in this horrid traffic. May he not hope that high lessons of wisdom, of justice and of truth, will yet give direction to her destiny? Fellow citizens, above your national tumultuous joy I hear the mournful wail of millions whose chains heavy and grievous yesterday are today rendered more intolerable by the jubilant shouts that reach them. Frederick Douglass: (07:35) O! 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. WebFrederick Douglass speech What to a Slave is the Fourth of July effectively argues against slavery. be warned! I will not. Speech-to-Text live streaming for live captions, powered by the worlds leading speech recognition API. It was demanded, in the name of humanity, and according to the law of the living God. 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. Friends and citizens, I need not enter further into the causes which led to this anniversary. What, then, remains to be argued? May of Syracuse, and my esteemed friend (Rev. The feeling of the nation must be quickened. What point in the anti-slavery creed would you have me argue? Who so obdurate and dead to the claims of gratitude, that would not thankfully acknowledge such priceless benefits? But the church of this country is not only indifferent to the wrongs of the slave, it actually takes sides with the oppressors. You may rejoice. For the present, it is enough to affirm the equal manhood of the Negro race. What? I scarcely need say, fellow-citizens, that my opinion of those measures fully accords with that of your fathers. Space is comparatively annihilated. The cause of liberty may be stabbed by the men who glory in the deeds of your fathers. Here you will see men and women reared like swine for the market. 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? Senator Berrien tell us that the Constitution is the fundamental law, that which controls all others. Would to God, both for your sakes and ours, that an affirmative answer could be truthfully returned to these questions! At a time like this, scorching irony, not convincing argument, is needed. It is not that pure and undefiled religion which is from above, and which is first pure, then peaceable, easy to be entreated, full of mercy and good fruits,without partiality, and without hypocrisy. But a religion which favors the rich against the poor; which exalts the proud above the humble; which divides mankind into two classes, tyrants and slaves; which says to the man in chains,stay there; and to the oppressor,oppress on; it is a religion which may be professed and enjoyed by all the robbers and enslavers of mankind; it makes God a respecter of persons, denies his fatherhood of the race, and tramples in the dust the great truth of the brotherhood of man. President John F. Kennedy On July 4, 1962 President John F. Kennedy delivered this speech at Independence Hall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. your republican politics, not less than your republican religion, are flagrantly inconsistent. And let me warn you that it is dangerous to copy the example of a nation Babylon, whose crimes towering up to heaven with thrown down by the breadth of the almighty, burying that nation in irrecoverable ruin. 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 rich inheritance of justice, liberty, prosperity and independence bequeathed by your fathers is shared by you, not by me. 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 and write. You will not, therefore, be surprised, if in what I have to say I evince no elaborate preparation, nor grace my speech with any high sounding exordium. 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. I, therefore, leave off where I began, with hope. As noted here, that banquet was attended by prominent The 4th of July is the first great fact in your nations history the very ring-bolt in the chain of your yet undeveloped destiny. Would you have me argue that man is entitled to Liberty, that he is the rightful owner of his body? 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! The Celestial Empire, the mystery of ages, is being solved. Thu 5 Jul 2018 07.00 EDT Last modified on Wed 24 Jul 2019 11.58 EDT. But, to proceed. I will not equivocate. I was glad to find one who sympathized with me in my horror. It makes its pathway over and under the sea, as well as on the earth. Then would my task be light, and my burden easy and delightful. Frederick Douglass thought that such rationalizations were crap, and he had the right to think so. What is this but the acknowledgement that the slave is a moral, intellectual and responsible being? WebFrederick Douglass, Fifth of July speech (1852) O! When the dogs in your streets, when the fowls of the air, when the cattle on your hills, when the fish of the sea, and the reptiles that crawl, shall be unable to distinguish the slave from a brute, thenwill I argue with you that the slave is a man! You may well cherish the memory of such men. 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). The freedom gained is yours; and you, therefore, may properly celebrate this anniversary. A general shout would go up from the church, demanding repeal, repeal, instant repeal! 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. Such a declaration of agreement on my part would not be worth much to anybody. What to the American slave is your 4th of July? My subject, then fellow-citizens, is AMERICAN SLAVERY. WebBoth anniversaries remind us that the fight for independence and equality did not end in the 18th century - a theme highlighted in Douglass speech. The signers of the Declaration of Independence were brave men. But, your fathers, who had not adopted the fashionable idea of this day, of the infallibility of government, and the absolute character of its acts, presumed to differ from the home government in respect to the wisdom and the justice of some of those burdens and restraints. That point is conceded already. It is not the gentle shower, but thunder. They saw themselves treated with sovereign indifference, coldness and scorn. Under these, and innumerable other disadvantages, your fathers declared for liberty and independence and triumphed. When the dogs in your street, when the fowls of the air, when the cattle on your hills, when the fish of the sea and the reptiles that crawl shall be unable to distinguish the slave from a brute, then I will argue with you that the slave is a man. Were the nation older, the patriots heart might be sadder, and the reformers brow heavier. I have said that the Declaration of Independence is the ring-bolt to the chain of your nations destiny; so, indeed, I regard it. I was born amid such sights and scenes. Extend your content reach and maximize your engagement rates. 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! The sunlight that brought life and healing to you, has brought stripes and death to me. No, I will not. Its deeply moving to hear Douglass defend the honor of Black soldiers in his 1863 speech, The Proclamation And a Negro Army, read by Colman Domingo, while his final speech, 1894s Lessons of the Hour, lays out the crucial steps toward achieving equality that have yet to be followed today.The actor selected to read these words is That, which is inhuman cannot be divine. You live and must die, and you must do your work. That is a branch of knowledge in which you feel, perhaps, a much deeper interest than your speaker. 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, 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. The eye of the reformer is met with angry flashes, portending disastrous times; but his heart may well beat lighter at the thought that America is young, and that she is still in the impressible stage of her existence. Follow the drove to New Orleans. Standing here identified with the American bondsmen, making his wrongs mine. They acknowledge it when they punish disobedience on the part of the slave. I am not included within the pales of this glorious anniversary. The time for such argument is past. What to the Slave is the 4th of July? Speech Transcript by Frederick Douglass, Congressional Testimony & Hearing Transcripts. Fellow-citizens; above your national, tumultuous joy, I hear the mournful wail of millions!