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Douglass’ words remind us of the importance of vigilance and the need to continue advocating for justice and equality. Reflecting on Independence Day Today Reflecting on Douglass’ speech provides a deeper understanding of what Independence Day means for African Americans. What to the Slave is the Fourth of July, also known as the “Fourth of July Speech” is a public oratory piece Frederick Douglass gave at the Corinthian Hall in Rochester, New York on an invitation by the Ladies’ Anti-Slavery Society on July 5, 1852, to celebrate 76 years of the American independence. On Monday, July 5, 1852, Frederick Douglass gave a speech to the “ Ladies of the Rochester Anti-Slavery Sewing Society, ” which arguably became his most famous public oration. Rather than a celebration of the Independence Day holiday, Douglass asked an obvious, simple and damning question: What, to the slave, is the Fourth of July? Frederick Douglass 1852 speech both extolls principles in the Declaration of Independence (and Constitution) and condemns failure to extend freedoms to enslaved There are still many parallels today with what Frederick Douglass described in his speech to white America delivered on July 5, 1852. The above audio reading by actor Ossie Davis can be used alongside the full text of Frederick Douglass's speech delivered on July 5, 1852 at Corinthian Hall to the Rochester Ladies' Anti-Slavery Society in Rochester, New York. Part One: A Fourth of July Oration This, for the purpose of this celebration, is the 4th of July. It is the birthday of your National Independence, and of your Frederick Douglass was born an enslaved person in Maryland, later escaping into freedom and emerging as one of the leading abolitionist voices in the nineteenth century. In June 1852, he delivered this Independence Day address to the Rochester Ladies’ Anti-Slavery Society. One person who felt that way was Douglass, the famous abolitionist, who was himself born into slavery. When the Ladies Anti-Slavery Society of Rochester, N.Y., invited Douglass to give a July 4 Why would Douglass want to deliver this speech on July fifth instead of the fourth? What is the meaning and significance of the Fourth of July, from the slave’s point of view? Why is slavery a violation of the Founders’ principles from the Declaration of Independence, according to Douglass, and why does he call the Founders “statesmen, patriots and heroes”? Does Douglass believe that 155 years ago this week, Frederick Douglass delivered a famous speech harshly criticizing Independence Day celebrations in a time of slavery. Douglass scholar David Blight, a professor of American Full text of Frederick Douglass's speech delivered in Rochester, NY on July 5, 1852. On 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 orator, often traveling six months out of the year to give lectures on abolition. On 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 orator, often traveling six months out of the year to give lectures on abolition. What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?" What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July? " [1][2] 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 Society. [3] In the address, Douglass states that positive statements about perceived American values, such as liberty, citizenship, and lity in the Declaration of Independence. This appeal to the power and promise of the Declaration was a continuing theme of African Americans’ truggle for civil rights into the 1960s. Douglass’ speeches expressed the moral outrage that powered the abolition movement and made it so threatening to southern slaveholders, but also to anyo On July 5, 1852, Frederick Douglass delivered his powerful speech, “What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?” to the Rochester Ladies’ Anti-Slavery Society at Corinthian Hall in Rochester, New York. In it, he confronted the meaning of Independence Day from the perspective of those still enslaved, asking what freedom could mean in a Why would Douglass want to deliver this speech on July fifth instead of the fourth? What are the meaning and significance of the Fourth of July from the slave’s point of view? Why did Douglass call slavery a violation of the principles of the Declaration of Independence, and why did he call the Founders “statesmen, patriots and heroes”? It is the birthday of your National Independence, and of your political freedom. This, to you, is what the Passover was to the emancipated people of God. It carries your minds back to the clay, and to the act of your great deliverance; and to the signs, and to the wonders, associated with that act that day. On 5th July 1852, Frederick Douglass delivered a fiery speech that made the audience contemplate the celebratory vibe of the Independence Day Event. A speech so persuasive that even the audience started to mourn instead of rejoicing the freedom provided by the Declaration. Final Thoughts & Rating Frederick Douglass’s “What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?” is a deeply moving and extraordinarily impactful speech that transcends time. In it, Douglass artfully captures the contradictions inherent in a nation that professes freedom while allowing millions to suffer in bondage.
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