What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?

The Rochester Ladies' Anti-Slavery Society was founded in 1851. The inaugural meeting between six women took place in Corinthian Hall on August 20. Frederick Douglass had moved to Rochester in 1847 in order to publish his newspaper The North Star. He had previously lived in Boston, but did not want his newspaper to interfere with sales of The Liberator, published by William Lloyd Garrison. Additionally, he had spoken there less than three months prior to this speech, on March 25. In that speech, he cast the abolitionist movement as being engaged in a "War" against defenders of slavery. According to the 1850 Census, there were around 3.2 million slaves in the United States. Although the import of people directly from Africa had been banned in 1807, the domestic slave trade, still legal, was thriving. Over 150,000 persons were sold between 1820 and 1830, and over 300,000 were sold between 1850 and 1860. In 1850, the Fugitive Slave Act had passed Congress as part of the broader Compromise of 1850. This act forced people to report people who had escaped their enslavement and escaped to a free state, under punishment of a fine or imprisonment. Additionally, it awarded $10 to a judge who sentenced an individual to return to enslavement, while awarding only $5 if the claim was dismissed. Finally, the Act did not allow the accused individual to defend themselves in court. This act drew the ire of the abolitionist movement, and was directly criticized by Douglass in his speech. == Speech ==

Douglass begins by saying that the fathers of the nation were great statesmen, and that the values expressed in the United States Declaration of Independence were "saving principles", and the "ringbolt of your nation's destiny", stating, "stand by those principles, be true to them on all occasions, in all places, against all foes, and at whatever cost." He then goes on to analyze the history of the United States, noting that 76 years ago in 1776 Americans were subjects of the British Crown. Douglass recounts the American Revolution, characterizing it as a just stand against oppression; "but we fear the lesson is wholly lost on our present ruler". they should be treated as such. Douglass then discusses the internal slave trade in America. 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. Douglass vividly describes the conditions under which those enslaved are bought and sold; he says that they are treated as no more than animals. Building off of this, Douglass criticizes the Fugitive Slave Act, holding that in this act, "slavery has been nationalized in its most horrible and revolting form." He describes the legislation as "tyrannical", and believes that it is in "violation of justice". After this, he turns his attention to the church. True Christians, according to Douglass, should not stand idly by while the rights and liberty of others are stripped away. Douglass denounces the churches for betraying their own biblical and Christian values. He is outraged by the lack of responsibility and indifference towards slavery that many sects have taken around the nation. He says that, if anything, many churches actually stand behind slavery and support the continued existence of the institution. Douglass equates this to being worse than many other things that are banned, in particular, books and plays that are banned for infidelity. Douglass believed that slavery could be eliminated with the support of the church, and also with the reexamination of what the Bible was actually saying. Nevertheless, Douglass claims that this can change. The United States does not have to stay the way it is. The country can progress like it has before, transforming from being a colony of a far-away king to an independent nation. Douglass notes the difference between the attitude of American and British churches towards slavery, noting that in Britain "the church, true to its mission of ameliorating, elevating, and improving the condition of mankind, came forward promptly, bound up the wounds of the West Indian slave, and restored him to his liberty... The anti-slavery movement there was not an anti-church movement, for the reason that the church took its full share in prosecuting that movement: and the anti-slavery movement in this country will cease to be an anti-church movement, when the church of this country shall assume a favorable, instead or a hostile position towards that movement." Douglass then returns to the topic of the founding of the United States. He argues that the Constitution, when interpreted according to its principles rather than its compromises, does not permit slavery—a view that was controversial even among abolitionists.. He refers to the Constitution as a "Glorious Liberty Document". ==Analysis==

A major theme of the speech is how America is not living up to its proclaimed beliefs. He talks about how Americans are proud of their country and their religion and how they rejoice in the name of freedom and liberty, and yet they do not offer those things to millions of their country's residents. In this respect, Douglass's views converged with that of Abraham Lincoln's 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 speech notes the contradiction of the national ethos of United States and the way slaves are treated. 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. Given that the speech was actually delivered on July 5, some scholars have placed it in the "Fifth of July" tradition of the commemoration of New York State emancipation. ==Later views on American independence==

The speech "What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?" was delivered in the decade preceding the American Civil War, which lasted from 1861 to 1865 and achieved the abolition of slavery. During the Civil War, Douglass said that since Massachusetts had been the first state to join the Patriot cause during the American Revolutionary War, Black men should go to Massachusetts to enlist in the Union army. After the Civil War, Douglass said that "we" had achieved a great thing by gaining American independence during the Revolutionary War, though he said it was not as great as what was achieved by the Civil War. ==Legacy==

{{Listen In the United States, the speech is widely taught in history and English classes in high school and college. The head of the organization responsible for the memorial speculated that it was vandalized in response to the removal of Confederate monuments in the wake of the George Floyd protests. Notable readings The speech has been notably performed or read by important figures, including the following: • James Earl Jones • Five of Douglass's descendants ==References==