Source Analysis - "What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?"

The speech "What to the slave is the Fourth of July?" was delivered by Frederick Douglass on July 5, 1852, in Rochester, New York. In the mid-nineteenth century, Fourth of July orations were typically celebratory speeches that glorified the American Revolution and praised the ideals of liberty and independence. In a period of growing tensions over slavery, Douglass used the occasion to highlight the contradiction of celebrating freedom in a country that enslaved millions of African American people.

Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass

Douglass's first autobiography, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, became an immediate bestseller. More than 5,000 copies were sold in the first months after publication, and six new editions were released between 1845 and 1849 to keep up with demand from readers in the U.S. as well as Great Britain and Ireland. The international reach of Douglass's Narrative went beyond the English-speaking world, with translations into Dutch in 1846 and French in 1848.

Friends and Fellow Citizens: He who could address this audience without a quailing sensation has stronger nerves than I have. I do not remember ever to have appeared as a speaker before any assembly more shrinkingly, nor with greater distrust of my ability than I do this day. A feeling has crept over me, quite unfavorable to the exercise of my limited powers of speech. . . . The little experience I have in addressing public meetings in country schoolhouses, avails me nothing to the present occasion.

The papers and placards say that I am to deliver a Fourth of July oration. This certainly sounds large . . . [and] it is true that I have often had the privilege to speak in this beautiful Hall, and to address many who now honor me with their presence. But neither the familiar faces, nor the perfect gage I think I have of [the venue], seems to free me from embarrassment.

The fact is, ladies and gentlemen, the distance between this platform and the slave plantation, from which I escaped, is considerable. . . . That I am here today is, to me, a matter of astonishment as well as of gratitude. . . . 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 [kindness] I will proceed to lay them before you.

quailing: trembling

shrinkingly: nervously

gage: knowledge

Friends and Fellow Citizens: He who could address this audience without a quailing sensation has stronger nerves than I have. I do not remember ever to have appeared as a speaker before any assembly more shrinkingly, nor with greater distrust of my ability than I do this day. A feeling has crept over me, quite unfavorable to the exercise of my limited powers of speech. . . . The little experience I have in addressing public meetings in country schoolhouses, avails me nothing to the present occasion.

The papers and placards say that I am to deliver a Fourth of July oration. This certainly sounds large . . . [and] it is true that I have often had the privilege to speak in this beautiful Hall, and to address many who now honor me with their presence. But neither the familiar faces, nor the perfect gage I think I have of [the venue], seems to free me from embarrassment.

The fact is, ladies and gentlemen, the distance between this platform and the slave plantation, from which I escaped, is considerable. . . . That I am here today is, to me, a matter of astonishment as well as of gratitude. . . . 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 [kindness] I will proceed to lay them before you.

quailing: trembling

shrinkingly: nervously

gage: knowledge

This . . . is the Fourth of July. It is the birthday of your National Independence and your political freedom . . . The simple story of it is that, 76 years ago, the people of this country were British subjects. The style and title of your "sovereign people" (in which you now glory) was not then born. You were under the British Crown. Your fathers esteemed the English government as the home government; and England as the fatherland. . . .

But your fathers who had not adopted the fashionable idea of [that] day of the infallibility of government and the absolute character of its acts, presumed to differ from the home government . . . [Your fathers] went so far in their excitement as to pronounce the measures of government unjust, unreasonable, and oppressive, and altogether such as ought not to be quietly submitted to. . . . To say now that America was right, and England wrong, is exceedingly easy. . . . It is fashionable to do so; but there was a time when, to pronounce against England and in favor of the colonies, tried men's souls. They who did so were [regarded] in their day [as] plotters of mischief, agitators and rebels, dangerous men. . . .

Your fathers . . . felt themselves the victims of grievous wrongs, wholly incurable in their colonial capacity. With brave men there is always a remedy for oppression. Just here, the idea of a total separation of the colonies from the crown was born! It was a startling idea, much more so than we, at this distance of time, regard it. The timid [people] . . . of that day were, of course, shocked and alarmed by it.

esteemed: respected

infallibility: inability to make mistakes

agitators: protesters

This . . . is the Fourth of July. It is the birthday of your National Independence and your political freedom . . . The simple story of it is that, 76 years ago, the people of this country were British subjects. The style and title of your "sovereign people" (in which you now glory) was not then born. You were under the British Crown. Your fathers esteemed the English government as the home government; and England as the fatherland. . . .

But your fathers who had not adopted the fashionable idea of [that] day of the infallibility of government and the absolute character of its acts, presumed to differ from the home government . . . [Your fathers] went so far in their excitement as to pronounce the measures of government unjust, unreasonable, and oppressive, and altogether such as ought not to be quietly submitted to. . . . To say now that America was right, and England wrong, is exceedingly easy. . . . It is fashionable to do so; but there was a time when, to pronounce against England and in favor of the colonies, tried men's souls. They who did so were [regarded] in their day [as] plotters of mischief, agitators and rebels, dangerous men. . . .

Your fathers . . . felt themselves the victims of grievous wrongs, wholly incurable in their colonial capacity. With brave men there is always a remedy for oppression. Just here, the idea of a total separation of the colonies from the crown was born! It was a startling idea, much more so than we, at this distance of time, regard it. The timid [people] . . . of that day were, of course, shocked and alarmed by it.

esteemed: respected

infallibility: inability to make mistakes

agitators: protesters

This . . . is the Fourth of July. It is the birthday of your National Independence and your political freedom . . . The simple story of it is that, 76 years ago, the people of this country were British subjects. The style and title of your "sovereign people" (in which you now glory) was not then born. You were under the British Crown. Your fathers esteemed the English government as the home government; and England as the fatherland. . . .

But your fathers who had not adopted the fashionable idea of [that] day of the infallibility of government and the absolute character of its acts, presumed to differ from the home government . . . [Your fathers] went so far in their excitement as to pronounce the measures of government unjust, unreasonable, and oppressive, and altogether such as ought not to be quietly submitted to. . . . To say now that America was right, and England wrong, is exceedingly easy. . . . It is fashionable to do so; but there was a time when, to pronounce against England and in favor of the colonies, tried men's souls. They who did so were [regarded] in their day [as] plotters of mischief, agitators and rebels, dangerous men. . . .

Your fathers . . . felt themselves the victims of grievous wrongs, wholly incurable in their colonial capacity. With brave men there is always a remedy for oppression. Just here, the idea of a total separation of the colonies from the crown was born! It was a startling idea, much more so than we, at this distance of time, regard it. The timid [people] . . . of that day were, of course, shocked and alarmed by it.

esteemed: respected

infallibility: inability to make mistakes

agitators: protesters

Fellow citizens . . . allow me to ask, why am I called upon to speak here today? What have I, or those I represent, to do with your national independence? . . . Your high independence only reveals the immeasurable distance between us. The blessings in which you . . . rejoice are not enjoyed in common. . . . You may rejoice, I must mourn. . . . Do you mean, citizens, to mock me, by asking me to speak today?

[The] character and conduct of this nation never looked blacker to me than on this Fourth of July! Whether we turn to the declarations of the past or the professions of the present, the conduct of the nation seems equally hideous and revolting. America is false to the past, false to the present, and solemnly binds herself to be false to the future.

But I fancy I hear some of my audience say . . . that your brother abolitionists fail to make a favorable impression on the public mind. Would you argue more, and denounce less, would you persuade more, and rebuke less, your cause would be much more likely to succeed. But, I submit, where all is plain there is nothing more to be argued. What point in the antislavery creed would you have me argue? On what branch of the subject do the people of this country need light? Must I undertake to prove that the slave is a man? That point is conceded already. Nobody doubts it. . . . Would you have me argue that man is entitled to liberty? That he is the rightful owner of his own body? You have already declared it. . . . At a time like this . . . the conscience of the nation must be roused . . . 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 Fourth of July? 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. . . . 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.

immeasurable: too large to measure

rebuke: express disapproval

conceded: admitted

hypocrisy: pretending to have beliefs or values that one does not truly possess

Fellow citizens . . . allow me to ask, why am I called upon to speak here today? What have I, or those I represent, to do with your national independence? . . . Your high independence only reveals the immeasurable distance between us. The blessings in which you . . . rejoice are not enjoyed in common. . . . You may rejoice, I must mourn. . . . Do you mean, citizens, to mock me, by asking me to speak today?

[The] character and conduct of this nation never looked blacker to me than on this Fourth of July! Whether we turn to the declarations of the past or the professions of the present, the conduct of the nation seems equally hideous and revolting. America is false to the past, false to the present, and solemnly binds herself to be false to the future.

But I fancy I hear some of my audience say . . . that your brother abolitionists fail to make a favorable impression on the public mind. Would you argue more, and denounce less, would you persuade more, and rebuke less, your cause would be much more likely to succeed. But, I submit, where all is plain there is nothing more to be argued. What point in the antislavery creed would you have me argue? On what branch of the subject do the people of this country need light? Must I undertake to prove that the slave is a man? That point is conceded already. Nobody doubts it. . . . Would you have me argue that man is entitled to liberty? That he is the rightful owner of his own body? You have already declared it. . . . At a time like this . . . the conscience of the nation must be roused . . . 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 Fourth of July? 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. . . . 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.

immeasurable: too large to measure

rebuke: express disapproval

conceded: admitted

hypocrisy: pretending to have beliefs or values that one does not truly possess

[The] character and conduct of this nation never looked blacker to me than on this Fourth of July! Whether we turn to the declarations of the past or the professions of the present, the conduct of the nation seems equally hideous and revolting. America is false to the past, false to the present, and solemnly binds herself to be false to the future.

But I fancy I hear some of my audience say . . . that your brother abolitionists fail to make a favorable impression on the public mind. Would you argue more, and denounce less, would you persuade more, and rebuke less, your cause would be much more likely to succeed. But, I submit, where all is plain there is nothing more to be argued. What point in the antislavery creed would you have me argue? On what branch of the subject do the people of this country need light? Must I undertake to prove that the slave is a man? That point is conceded already. Nobody doubts it. . . . Would you have me argue that man is entitled to liberty? That he is the rightful owner of his own body? You have already declared it. . . . At a time like this . . . the conscience of the nation must be roused . . . 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 Fourth of July? 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. . . . 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.

immeasurable: too large to measure

rebuke: express disapproval

conceded: admitted

hypocrisy: pretending to have beliefs or values that one does not truly possess

[The] character and conduct of this nation never looked blacker to me than on this Fourth of July! Whether we turn to the declarations of the past or the professions of the present, the conduct of the nation seems equally hideous and revolting. America is false to the past, false to the present, and solemnly binds herself to be false to the future.

But I fancy I hear some of my audience say . . . that your brother abolitionists fail to make a favorable impression on the public mind. Would you argue more, and denounce less, would you persuade more, and rebuke less, your cause would be much more likely to succeed. But, I submit, where all is plain there is nothing more to be argued. What point in the antislavery creed would you have me argue? On what branch of the subject do the people of this country need light? Must I undertake to prove that the slave is a man? That point is conceded already. Nobody doubts it. . . . Would you have me argue that man is entitled to liberty? That he is the rightful owner of his own body? You have already declared it. . . . At a time like this . . . the conscience of the nation must be roused . . . 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 Fourth of July? 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. . . . 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.

immeasurable: too large to measure

rebuke: express disapproval

conceded: admitted

hypocrisy: pretending to have beliefs or values that one does not truly possess

To me the American slave trade is a terrible reality. When a child, my soul was often pierced with a sense of its horrors. I lived on Philpot Street, Fell's Point, Baltimore, and have watched from the wharves, the slave ships in the Basin . . . with their cargoes of human flesh, waiting for favorable winds to [bring] them down the Chesapeake . . .

Fellow citizens, this murderous traffic is, today, in active operation in this boasted republic. In the solitude of my spirit, I see clouds of dust raised on the highways of the South; I see the bleeding footsteps; I hear the doleful wail of fettered humanity, on the way to the slave-markets, where the victims are to be sold like horses, sheep, and swine, [sold] to the highest bidder. . . . My soul sickens at the sight.

doleful: extremely sad

In the following excerpt, Douglass discusses the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850. The controversial law required that escaped enslaved individuals be captured and returned to their enslavers, even if they had reached a free state where slavery was illegal. Citizens who helped escaped enslaved individuals could be fined or imprisoned. Finally, those captured were denied a right to trial by jury.

Read the excerpt. Then answer the question below.

By an act of the American Congress, not yet two years old, slavery has been nationalized in its most horrible and revolting form . . . New York has become 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. . . . Your broad republican domain is hunting ground for men. Not for thieves and robbers, enemies of society, merely, but for men guilty of no crime. Your lawmakers have commanded all good citizens to engage in this hellish sport.

Fellow citizens! I will not enlarge further on your national inconsistencies. The existence of slavery in this country brands your republicanism as a sham . . . and your Christianity as a lie. It destroys your moral power abroad; it corrupts your politicians at home. It saps the foundation of religion; it makes your name a hissing, and a by-word to a mocking earth. It is the antagonistic force in your government, the only thing that seriously disturbs and endangers your Union. It fetters your progress; it is the enemy of improvement, the deadly foe of education; it fosters pride; it breeds insolence; it promotes vice; it shelters crime; it is a curse to the earth that supports it; and yet, you cling to it . . .

antagonistic: hostile

fetters: restrains

insolence: laziness

vice: immoral behavior

[It is argued] that the right to hold and to hunt slaves is a part of that Constitution framed by the illustrious Fathers of this Republic. . . . But I differ from those who charge this baseness on the framers of the Constitution of the United States. . . . Fellow-citizens! there is no matter in respect to which the people of the North have allowed themselves to be so [mistakenly convinced of] as that of the pro-slavery character of the Constitution. . . . Interpreted as it ought to be interpreted, the Constitution is a glorious liberty document. Read its preamble, consider its purposes. Is slavery among them? . . . let me ask . . . if the Constitution were intended to be, by its framers and adopters, a slaveholding instrument, why neither slavery, slaveholding, nor slave can any where be found in it. . . . Now, take the Constitution according to its plain reading, and I defy the presentation of a single pro-slavery clause in it. On the other hand it will be found to contain principles and purposes, entirely hostile to the existence of slavery.

baseness: wickedness

preamble: introduction

What does the Constitution actually say about slavery?

The original text of the Constitution does not use the word slave or slavery. However, it includes provisions that are clearly related to slavery. For example, in Article I, Section 2, a state's representation in Congress is determined by "adding . . . the whole number of free persons . . . [and] three fifths of all other persons." In this context, "all other persons" was understood to mean enslaved individuals. Given these and other implied references, most abolitionists saw the Constitution as a document that protected slavery, even if it did not explicitly mention slavery.

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. There are forces in operation, which must inevitably work the downfall of slavery . . . I, therefore, leave off where I began, with hope. While drawing encouragement from the Declaration of Independence, the great principles it contains, and the genius of American Institutions, my spirit is also cheered by the obvious tendencies of the age . . .

inevitably: certainly