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 denunciations 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. Who so stolid and selfish that would not give his voice to swell the hallelujahs of a nations Jubilee when the chains of servitude have been torn from his limbs? Thoughts expressed on one side of the Atlantic, are distinctly heard on the other. With little experience and with less learning, I have been able to throw my thoughts hastily and imperfectly together; and The hypocrisy of the nation must be exposed and its crimes against God and man must be denounced. All this we affirm to be true of the popular church, and the popular worship of our land and nation a religion, a church, and a worship which, on the authority of inspired wisdom, we pronounce to be an abomination in the sight of God. The document is in the form of a Google Docs so it has a translation tool, dictionary, and voice to text. Fair use is permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. Oh! Yea! There is not a man beneath the canopy of heaven, who does not know that slavery is wrong for him. But I differ from those who charge this baseness on the framers of the Constitution of the United States. As the champions of oppressors, the chosen men of American theology have appeared men, honored for their so-called piety, and their real learning. The sin of which it is guilty is one of omission as well as of commission. Nobody doubts it. Nations do not now stand in the same relation to each other that they did ages ago. Must I argue the wrongfulness of slavery? Try Rev and save time transcribing, captioning, and subtitling. They inhabit all our Southern States. The task before me is one which requires much previous thought and study for its proper performance. Prayers are made, hymns are sung, and sermons are preached in honor of this day; while the quick martial tramp of a great and multitudinous nation, echoed back by all the hills, valleys and mountains of a vast continent, bespeak the occasion one of thrilling and universal interest a nations jubilee. What to the Slave is the 4th of July? Speech Transcript by Frederick Douglass, Congressional Testimony & Hearing Transcripts. The population was weak and scattered, and the country a wilderness unsubdued. I will show you a man-drover. 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. 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? These ministers make religion a cold and flinty-hearted thing, having neither principles of right action, nor bowels of compassion. In glaring violation of justice, in shameless disregard of the forms of administering law, in cunning arrangement to entrap the defenseless, and in diabolical intent, this Fugitive Slave Law stands alone in the annals of tyrannical legislation. Even Mammon seems to have quitted his grasp on this day. The time for such argument is past. It does not often happen to a nation to raise, at one time, such a number of truly great men. There was, at that time, a grand slave mart kept at the head of Pratt Street, by Austin Woldfolk. You glory in your refinement and your universal education yet you maintain a system as barbarous and dreadful as ever stained the character of a nation a system begun in avarice, supported in pride, and perpetuated in cruelty. Tell me citizens, WHERE, under the sun, you can witness a spectacle more fiendish and shocking. Thu 5 Jul 2018 07.00 EDT Last modified on Wed 24 Jul 2019 11.58 EDT. But, such is not the state of the case. Your sounds of rejoicing are empty and heartless, your shouts of Liberty and equality, hallow mocked, your prayers and hymns your sermons and Thanksgivings with all your religious parade in solemnity are to him, mere bombast, fraud, deception, a thin veil to cover up crimes, which would disgrace a nation of savages. I am not included within the pales of this glorious anniversary. Take the American slave-trade, which, we are told by the papers, is especially prosperous just now. Your President, your Secretary of State, ourlords,nobles, and ecclesiastics, enforce, as a duty you owe to your free and glorious country, and to your God, that you do this accursed thing. Not for thieves and robbers, enemies of society, merely, but for men guilty of no crime. Space is comparatively annihilated. I know that apologies of this sort are generally considered flat and unmeaning. Mark them! The rich inheritance of justice, liberty, prosperity and independence bequeathed by your fathers is shared by you, not by me. My subject, then fellow-citizens, is AMERICAN SLAVERY. Seventy-six years, though a good old age for a man, is but a mere speck in the life of a nation. Ex-Senator Benton tells us that the price of men was never higher than now. Get a weekly digest of the weeks most important transcripts in your inbox. 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! This trade is one of the peculiarities of American institutions. They who did so were accounted in their day, plotters of mischief, agitators and rebels, dangerous men. What is this but the acknowledgement that the slave is a moral, intellectual and responsible being? 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 Best Speech-to-Text Solution for Your Business Learn how Rev fits into your businesses workflow. Hear his savage yells and his blood-chilling oaths, as he hurries on his affrighted captives! Her speed had faltered under the weight of her child and her chains! To say now that America was right, and England wrong, is exceedingly easy. I will not. Is that a question for Republicans? Now, take the Constitution according to its plain reading, and I defy the presentation of a single pro-slavery clause in it. In a final celebratory post for Black History Month 2023, it is worth returning to the 1883 Douglass Banquet. What to the American slave is your 4th of July? 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. In order to put an end to it, some of these last have consented that their colored brethren (nominally free) should leave this country, and establish themselves on the western coast of Africa! And the conscience of the nation must be roused. 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. This, however, did not answer the purpose. The text of Frederick Douglasss most famous speech, given in 1852, What, to a slave, is the Fourth of July? A chapter describing Douglasss early encounters with abolitionists, from his autobiography My Bondage and My Freedom, 1857. For who is there so cold that a nation sympathy cannot warm him, who so adore it and dead to the claims of gratitude that would not thankfully acknowledge such priceless benefits? Mr. President, Friends and Fellow Citizens: He who could address this audience without a quailing sensation, has stronger nerves than I have. 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. 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. Fellow-citizens, I shall not presume to dwell at length on the associations that cluster about this day. There is blasphemy in the thought. Oppression makes a wise man mad. The fact that the church of our country, (with fractional exceptions), does not esteem the Fugitive Slave Law as a declaration of war against religious liberty, implies that that church regards religion simply as a form of worship, an empty ceremony, andnota vital principle, requiring active benevolence, justice, love and good will towards man. I am not included within the pale of this glorious anniversary! I must mourn. 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. Yet they persevered. 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. That he is the rightful owner of his own body? Is it at the gateway? 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, . Did this law concern the mint, anise, and cumin abridge the right to sing psalms, to partake of the sacrament, or to engage in any of the ceremonies of religion, it would be smitten by the thunder of a thousand pulpits. The signers of the Declaration of Independence were brave men. Go search where you will. The coming into being of a nation, in any circumstances, is an interesting event. 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! With little experience and with less learning, I have been able to throw my thoughts hastily and imperfectly together; and trusting to your patient and generous indulgence, I will proceed to lay them before you. Industry-leading accurate legal transcription to ensure you dont miss a statement. Is that a question for Republicans? What was possible for him, he sincerely believed was possible for any man who was willing to work hard. 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. 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! They hate all changes, but silver, gold and copper change! Intelligence is penetrating the darkest corners of the globe. or is it in the temple? Discover why Rev is the #1 speech-to-text service in the world. I was born amid such sights and scenes. What have I, or those I represent, to do with your national independence? 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. 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. This Fourth [of] July isyours, notmine. At a time like this, scorching irony not convincing argument is needed. I have said that the Declaration of Independence is the ring-bolt to the chain of your nations destiny; so, indeed, I regard it. With brave men there is always a remedy for oppression. They were quiet men; but they did not shrink from agitating against oppression. Fellow-citizens; above your national, tumultuous joy, I hear the mournful wail of millions! Mark the sad procession, as it moves wearily along, and the inhuman wretch who drives them. President John F. Kennedy On July 4, 1962 President John F. Kennedy delivered this speech at Independence Hall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. These rules are well established. With them, justice, liberty and humanity were final; not slavery and oppression. Pride and patriotism, not less than gratitude, prompt you to celebrate and to hold it in perpetual remembrance. But, while the river may not be turned aside, it may dry up, and leave nothing behind but the withered branch, and the unsightly rock, to howl in the abyss-sweeping wind, the sad tale of departed glory. weeping, as she thinks of the mother from whom she has been torn! That is a branch of knowledge in which you feel, perhaps, a much deeper interest than your speaker. 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. VIDEO: Frederick Douglass' descendants deliver his 'Fourth of July' speech. These men were generally well dressed men, and very captivating in their manners. I shall see, this day, and its popular characteristics, from the slaves point of view. 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: This Fourth of July is yours, not mine. Would you argue more, and denounce less, would you persuade more, and rebuke less, your cause would be much more likely to succeed. You discourse eloquently on the dignity of labor; yet, you sustain a system which, in its very essence, casts a stigma upon labor. Fellows citizens, pardon me and allow me to ask, why am I called to speak here today? 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. 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. Douglass gave this speech to a group of abolitionists 168 years ago. WebAn excerpt from the 1847 Frederick Douglass speech given for the anniversary of the American Anti-Slavery Society. that it should be so; yet so it is. The timid and the prudent (as has been intimated) of that day, were, of course, shocked and alarmed by it. We need the storm, the whirlwind, and the earthquake. Where these are, man is not sacred. Frederick Douglass (1818-1895) was a social reformer and advocate, abolitionist, orator, writer, minister, and statesman. We thank you for taking the time to watch this community reading of Frederick Douglasss What to the Slave is the Fourth of July? Source: Blight, David. The time was when such could be done. Their conduct was wholly unexceptionable. They showed forbearance; but that they knew its limits. The duty to extirpate and destroy it, is admitted even by our DOCTORS OF DIVINITY. It is a religion for oppressors, tyrants, man-stealers, andthugs. These people were called Tories in the days of your fathers; and the appellation, probably, conveyed the same idea that is meant by a more modern, though a somewhat less euphonious term, which we often find in our papers, applied to some of our old politicians. He rose from the shackles of slavery to become an author, newspaper publisher, and respected abolitionist. You have no right to wear out and waste the hard-earned fame of your fathers to cover your indolence. WebDescription. 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. The arm of commerce has borne away the gates of the strong city. a horrible reptile is coiled up in your nations bosom; the venomous creature is nursing at the tender breast of your youthful republic;for the love of God, tear away, and fling from you the hideous monster, andlet the weight of twenty millions crush and destroy it forever! They saw themselves treated with sovereign indifference, coldness and scorn. Many of you understand them better than I do. 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. 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. It is not the gentle shower, but thunder. 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. 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. WebFrederick Douglass speech What to a Slave is the Fourth of July effectively argues against slavery. To him, your celebration is a sham, your boasted Liberty, an unholy license, your national greatness, swelling vanity. It is the antagonistic force in your government, the only thing that seriously disturbs and endangers yourUnion. I have better employments for my time and strength than such arguments would imply. There, see the old man, with locks thinned and gray. Mr. President, Friends and Fellow Citizens: He who could address this audience without a quailing sensation, has These wretched people are to be sold singly, or in lots, to suit purchasers. Your broad republican domain is hunting ground formen. 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. 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. You have already declared it. 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. 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! But I admit, where all is plain, there is nothing to be argued. But a change has now come over the affairs of mankind. Now, there are certain rules of interpretation, for the proper understanding of all legal instruments. 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. For the present, it is enough to affirm the equal manhood of the Negro race. 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The most accurate AI-powered transcription on the market. 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, They convert the very name of religion into an engine of tyranny, and barbarous cruelty, and serve to confirm more infidels, in this age, than all the infidel writings of Thomas Paine, Voltaire, and Bolingbroke, put together, have done! Your fathers staked their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor, on the cause of their country. That I am here to-day is, to me, a matter of astonishment as well as of gratitude. Create a better, more engaging experience for every student. The flesh-mongers gather up their victims by dozens, and drive them, chained, to the general depot at Baltimore. Speech-to-Text API for pre-recorded audio, powered by the worlds leading speech recognition engine. Is it that slavery is not divine, that God did not establish it, that our doctors of divinity are mistaken? Your cause would be much more likely to succeed. This is the inevitable conclusion, and from it there is no escape. The simple story of it is that, 76 years ago, the people of this country were British subjects. The blessings in which you this day rejoice are not enjoyed in common. 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. They believed in order; but not in the order of tyranny. The drove moves tardily. Who can reason on such a proposition? There is not a man beneath the canopy of heaven, that does not know that slavery is wrong for him. WebFrederick Douglass, July 5, 1852 INTRODUCTION (Exordium) 1. 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. The existence of slavery in this country brands your republicanism as a sham, your humanity as a base pretence, and your Christianity as a lie. He rose from the shackles of slavery to become an author, The din of business, too, is hushed. The minister of American justice is bound by the law to hear butoneside; andthatside, is the side of the oppressor. Convert your audio or video into 99% accurate text by a professional. Easily integrate Rev using our robust APIs to start building your product quickly. To arrest it, to put an end to it, this nation keeps a squadron, at immense cost, on the coast of Africa. "What to the Slave is the 4th of July?" Make your content more accessible to people with disabilities. Like our content? Add English on-screen subtitles for videos. Frederick Douglass: (10:31) They are a trouble to me; I am weary to bear them; and when ye spread forth your hands I will hide mine eyes from you.