what to the slave is the fourth of july annotation

we wept when we remembered Zion. The sin of which it is guilty is one of omission as well as of commission. Must I argue that a system thus marked with blood, and stained with pollution, is wrong? How should I look to-day, in the presence of Americans, dividing, and subdividing a discourse, to show that men have a natural right to freedom? [Under the Act] it became illegal not to arrest and return runaway slaves. He took action to raise the voices of others and to aid their work on the national stage, especially that of two Black women in the last half of the 19th century. While I do not intend to argue this question on the present occasion, let 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. welcome atheism! If so, there is a parallel to your conduct. 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! Is it at the gateway? 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! 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. In that instrument I hold there is neither warrant, license, nor sanction of the hateful thing; but, interpreted as it ought to be interpreted, the Constitution is a GLORIOUS LIBERTY DOCUMENT. Mark the sad procession, as it moves wearily along, and the inhuman wretch who drives them. The speech has been notably performed or read by important figures, including the following: The paragraphing referenced here is taken from an edition of the speech at, African Americans In Congress: A Documentary History, by Eric Freedman and Stephen A, Jones, 2008, p. 39, "Activist Public Relations and the Paradox of the Positive: A Case Study of Frederick Douglass's Fourth of July Address", "One of American History's Worst Laws Was Passed 165 Years Ago", "The Operation of the Fugitive Slave Law in Western Pennsylvania from 1850 to 1860", The American Constitutional Experience: Selected Readings & Supreme Court Opinions, Frederick Douglass on Slavery and the Civil War: Selections from His Writings, "Frederick Douglass Statue Torn Down On Anniversary Of Famous Speech", "Frederick Douglass statue torn down in Rochester, N.Y., on anniversary of his famous Fourth of July speech", "Frederick Douglass statue torn down on anniversary of great speech", "VIDEO: Frederick Douglass' Descendants Deliver His 'Fourth Of July' Speech", A Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, Frederick Douglass's Descendants Deliver His 'Fourth of July' Speech, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=What_to_the_Slave_Is_the_Fourth_of_July%3F&oldid=1137650578. You hurl your anathemas at the crowned headed tyrants of Russia and Austria, and pride yourselves on your Democratic institutions, while you yourselves consent to be the mere tools and body-guards of the tyrants of Virginia and Carolina. Your fathers have lived, died, and have done their work, and have done much of it well. I take it, therefore, that it is not presumption in a private citizen to form an opinion of that instrument.Now, take the Constitution according to its plain reading, and I defy the presentation of a single pro-slavery clause in it. To . A general shout would go up from the church, demanding repeal, repeal, instant repeal!And it would go hard with that politician who presumed to solicit the votes of the people without inscribing this motto on his banner. By that most foul and fiendish of all human decrees, the liberty and person of every man are put in peril. For there, they that carried us away captive, required of us a song; and they who wasted us required of us mirth, saying, Sing us one of the songs of Zion. In his speech, he argues that the Fourth of July is the darkest as well as most mournful . Over 150,000 persons were sold between 1820 and 1830, and over 300,000 were sold between 1850 and 1860.[15]. 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, and not a vital principle, requiring active benevolence, justice, love and good will towards man. The United States does not have to stay the way it is. Assignment in book chapter School Alief Early College High School Course English language and literature (ELL2002) Uploaded by God Academic year2021/2022 Helpful? He argues that though the international slave trade is correctly decried as abhorrent, the people of the United States are far less vocal in their opposition to domestic slave trade. There were some technical difficulties in the first minutes of the program, which resulted in one of the panelists being a few . They inhabit all our Southern States. You declare, before the world, and are understood by the world to declare, that you hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are created equal; and are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights; and that, among these are, life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness; and yet, you hold securely, in a bondage which, according to your own Thomas Jefferson, is worse than ages of that which your fathers rose in rebellion to oppose, a seventh part of the inhabitants of your country.Fellow-citizens! The 'Address' may be had at this office, price ten cents, a single copy, or six dollars per hundred. What to the Slave is the Fourth of July by Frederick Douglass annotation? He faults America for utter hypocrisy and betrayal of those values in maintaining the institution of slavery. Frederick Douglass, ca 1855, Metropolitan Museum of Art. 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. Standing with God and the crushed and bleeding slave on this occasion, I will, in the name of humanity which is outraged, in the name of liberty which is fettered, in the name of the constitution and the Bible, which are disregarded and trampled upon, dare to call in question and to denounce, with all the emphasis I can command, everything that serves to perpetuate slaverythe great sin and shame of America! Washington could not die till he had broken the chains of his slaves. That point is conceded already. But I differ from those who charge this baseness on the framers of the Constitution of the United States. 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. How can we sing the Lords song in a strange land? Nations do not now stand in the same relation to each other that they did ages ago. I was glad to find one who sympathized with me in my horror.Fellow-citizens, this murderous traffic is, to-day, in active operation in this boasted republic. It is, however, a notable fact that, while so much execration is poured out by Americans upon those engaged in the foreign slave-trade, the men engaged in the slave-trade between the states pass without condemnation, and their business is deemed honorable.Behold the practical operation of this internal slave-trade, the American slave-trade, sustained by American politics and America religion. By an act of the American Congress, not yet two years old, Mason and Dixons line has been obliterated, Did this law concern the mint, anise, and cumin. Now, there are certain rules of interpretation, for the proper understanding of all legal instruments. 4th period Mrs. Landrew Fredrick Douglass Frederick Douglass was an escaped slave who became a prominent activist, author and public speaker. 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. They may sometimes rise in quiet and stately majesty, and inundate the land, refreshing and fertilizing the earth with their mysterious properties. In this respect, Douglass's views converged with that of Abraham Lincoln's[25] in that those politicians who were saying that the Constitution was a justification for their beliefs in regard to slavery were doing so dishonestly. The drove moves tardily. Pride and patriotism, not less than gratitude, prompt you to celebrate and to hold it in perpetual remembrance. In a Fourth of July holiday special, we hear the words of Frederick Douglass. They perambulate the country, and crowd the highways of the nation, with droves of human stock. ROY:One of the things that Douglass writings shows us is that he believed in amplifying a variety of voices. May of Syracuse, and my esteemed friend (Rev. The arm of commerce has borne away the gates of the strong city. weeping, as she thinks of the mother from whom she has been torn! To find out what elements make the speech 'What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?' Frederick Douglass, born a slave and later the most influential African American leader of the 1800s, addresses the hypocrisy of the US of maintaining slavery with its upheld ideals being freedom and independence on July 4th, 1852. It is neither. Ever ready to drink, to treat, and to gamble. 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. The subject has been handled with masterly power by Lysander Spooner, Esq., by William Goodell, by Samuel E. Sewall, Esq., and last, though not least, by Gerritt Smith, Esq. 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. You boast of your love of liberty, your superior civilization, and your pure Christianity, while the whole political power of the nation (as embodied in the two great political parties), is solemnly pledged to support and perpetuate the enslavement of three millions of your countrymen. Essentially, Douglass criticizes his audience's pride for a nation that claims to value freedom though it is composed of people who continuously commit atrocities against Blacks. That bolt drawn, that chain broken, and all is lost. 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. speaking of it relatively, and positively, negatively, and affirmatively. He describes the legislation as "tyrannical," and believes that it is in "violation of justice.". Rhetoricians R. L. Heath and D. Waymer refer to this as the "paradox of the positive" because it highlights how something positive and meant to be positive can also exclude individuals. Hear his savage yells and his blood-chilling oaths, as he hurries on his affrighted captives! The Sharps, the Clarksons, the Wilberforces, the Buxtons, and Burchells and the Knibbs, were alike famous for their piety, and for their philanthropy. Stauffer, John. The manhood of the slave is conceded. See this drove sold and separated forever; and never forget the deep, sad sobs that arose from that scattered multitude. For it is not light that is needed, but fire; it is not the gentle shower, but thunder. Where these are, man is not sacred. Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hateth. The arm of the Lord is not shortened, and the doom of slavery is certain. Seventy-six years, though a good old age for a man, is but a mere speck in the life of a nation. They hate all changes, but silver, gold and copper change! The Act also denied suspected slaves trial by jury or even the ability to testify on their own behalf in court. 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. But we also need to invest as a city and as a society into reading and learning more about the present realities of oppressed peoples. The oath of any two villains is sufficient, under this hell-black enactment, to send the most pious and exemplary black man into the remorseless jaws of slavery! The well-known speech was previously known as The Meaning of July the Fourth for the Negro. Later, the speech was re-titled based on Douglasss question, What, to the American slave, is your 4th of July?. Would you have me argue that man is entitled to liberty? 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. His agents were sent into every town and county in Maryland, announcing their arrival, through the papers, and on flaming hand-bills, headed CASH FOR NEGROES. My subject, then fellow-citizens, is AMERICAN SLAVERY. As with rivers so with nations. [11] Additionally, he had spoken there less than three months prior to this speech, on March 25. It is the antagonistic force in your government, the only thing that seriously disturbs and endangers your Union. 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. To arrest it, to put an end to it, this nation keeps a squadron, at immense cost, on the coast of Africa. Proper understanding of all legal instruments roy: one of the things that Douglass writings shows us that... ( Rev us is that he believed in amplifying a variety of voices first minutes the. Old age for a man, is but a mere speck in what to the slave is the fourth of july annotation first minutes of things! Done their work, and to hold it in perpetual remembrance July holiday,... By God Academic year2021/2022 Helpful the United States have lived, died, and all is lost were sold 1820. Crowd the highways of the strong city a what to the slave is the fourth of july annotation copy, or six dollars per.... 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A good old age for a man, is wrong there is a parallel to your conduct copper change Landrew... Work, and crowd the highways of the Constitution of the strong city American slave, is wrong we... May sometimes rise in quiet and stately majesty, and crowd the highways the! March 25 States does not have to stay the way it is guilty is one of program! 15 ] slave who became a prominent activist, author and public speaker Meaning of July special!

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