Frederick Douglass could arguably be the most famous ex-slave in American history. After his escape he wrote three autobiographies about his enslavement, the first published in 1845. He traveled across the north, advocating for abolition and speaking out on the horrors of the institution of slavery. Douglass was more militant than many others who spoke against slavery and in this speech, given to an anti-slavery group on the fourth of July, calls out the hypocrisy of America’s history in a fiery way. For Douglass, the hypocrisy argument as well as a political argument, are used to vehemently attack his country's leaders and institutions. What is Douglass’ message about America? Does he see hope for the future, or does he see a more bleak outlook? It may be worthwhile to consider those in attendance at this speech- how might they react to such a message?
"...The simple story of of this day is that, 76 years ago, the people of this country were British subjects...
Oppression makes a wise man mad. Your fathers were wise men, and if they did not go mad, they became restive under this treatment. They felt themselves the victims of grievous wrongs, wholly incurable in their colonial setting...Pride and patriotism prompt you to celebrate and to hold it in perpetual remembrance. I have said that the Declaration of Independence is the ring-bolt to the chain of your nation's destiny; so, indeed, I regard it... [The signers of the Declaration] loved their country better than their own private interests; and, though this is not the highest form of human excellence, all will concede that it is a rare virtue, and that when it is exhibited, it ought to command respect...
What have I, or those I represent, to do with your national independence?...I say it with a sad sense of the disparity between us. I am not included within the pale of this glorious anniversary! Your high independence only reveals the immeasurable distance between us. The blessings in which you, this day, rejoice, are not enjoyed in common. The rich inheritance of justice, liberty, prosperity and independence, bequeathed by your fathers, is shared by you, not by me...The fourth of July is yours, not mine. You may rejoice, I must mourn. Do you mean, citizens, to mock me, by asking me to speak today?
My subject, then, fellow citizens, is American Slavery.
There are seventy-two 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. When the dogs in your streets, 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 will I argue with you that the slave is a man!
What, to the American slave, is your 4th 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. To him, your celebration is a sham; your boasted liberty, an unholy license; your national greatness, swelling vanity; your shouts of liberty and equality, are, to him, mere bombast, fraud, deception, and hypocrisy- a thin veil to cover up crimes which would disgrace a nation of savages. 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.
The church of this country is not only indifferent to the wrongs of the slave, it actually takes sides with the oppressors. They have taught that man may, properly, be a slave. YOUR HANDS ARE FULL OF BLOOD; cease to do evil, learn to do well...
Fellow citizens! The existence of slavery in this country brands your republicanism as a sham, your humanity as a base pretense, 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 byword to a mocking earth.
Definitions
base pretense: an attempt to make something false appear real
byword: something used as an example
Oppression makes a wise man mad. Your fathers were wise men, and if they did not go mad, they became restive under this treatment. They felt themselves the victims of grievous wrongs, wholly incurable in their colonial setting...Pride and patriotism prompt you to celebrate and to hold it in perpetual remembrance. I have said that the Declaration of Independence is the ring-bolt to the chain of your nation's destiny; so, indeed, I regard it... [The signers of the Declaration] loved their country better than their own private interests; and, though this is not the highest form of human excellence, all will concede that it is a rare virtue, and that when it is exhibited, it ought to command respect...
What have I, or those I represent, to do with your national independence?...I say it with a sad sense of the disparity between us. I am not included within the pale of this glorious anniversary! Your high independence only reveals the immeasurable distance between us. The blessings in which you, this day, rejoice, are not enjoyed in common. The rich inheritance of justice, liberty, prosperity and independence, bequeathed by your fathers, is shared by you, not by me...The fourth of July is yours, not mine. You may rejoice, I must mourn. Do you mean, citizens, to mock me, by asking me to speak today?
My subject, then, fellow citizens, is American Slavery.
There are seventy-two 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. When the dogs in your streets, 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 will I argue with you that the slave is a man!
What, to the American slave, is your 4th 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. To him, your celebration is a sham; your boasted liberty, an unholy license; your national greatness, swelling vanity; your shouts of liberty and equality, are, to him, mere bombast, fraud, deception, and hypocrisy- a thin veil to cover up crimes which would disgrace a nation of savages. 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.
The church of this country is not only indifferent to the wrongs of the slave, it actually takes sides with the oppressors. They have taught that man may, properly, be a slave. YOUR HANDS ARE FULL OF BLOOD; cease to do evil, learn to do well...
Fellow citizens! The existence of slavery in this country brands your republicanism as a sham, your humanity as a base pretense, 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 byword to a mocking earth.
Definitions
base pretense: an attempt to make something false appear real
byword: something used as an example