'Don't get in our way,' Harris urges in speech at Howard University 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! He begins his speech by modestly apologizing for being nervous in front of the crowd and recognizes that he has come a long way since his escape from 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. How can we sing the Lord's song in a strange land? What, am I to argue that it is wrong to make men brutes, to rob them of their liberty, to work them without wages, to keep them ignorant of their relations to their fellow men, to beat them with sticks, to flay their flesh with the lash, to load their limbs with irons, to hunt them with dogs, to sell them at auction, to sunder their families, to knock out their teeth, to burn their flesh, to starve them into obedience and submission to their masters? They were peace men; but they preferred revolution to peaceful submission to bondage. Nor in a tyrants presence cower; This Fourth July is yours, not mine. There is blasphemy in the thought. Frederick Douglass's 4th of July speech still burns with his spirit Jim Wallace, Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of James H Wallace Jr. The rich inheritance of justice, liberty, prosperity and independence, bequeathed by your fathers, is shared by you, not by me. The main message of Douglass's speech is that it is hypocritical to celebrate the Fourth of July as a day of freedom and independence while slaves are not independent nor do they have freedom. It gave me such a surge of hope that the event could bring together such divergent groups. I shall see this day and its popular characteristics from the slave's point of view. In 1881, Douglass published his third autobiography, Life and Times of Frederick Douglass, which took a long view of his life's work, the nation's progress, and the work left to do. What is the main message of Douglass's speech? | Similar Answers 1585 Massachusetts Ave. or is it in the temple? Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our, Digital They 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. At the time of the delivery of this speech, Douglass had been living in Rochester, New York for several years editing a weekly abolitionist newspaper. Interview was lightly edited for clarity and length. We may finally be thinking about creating a commission to study the possibility of reparationsas with all deliberate speed, the American way of tackling a problem takes so much time and patienceand for this we can be thankful. What are some of Frederick Douglass's most famous writings and speeches What is Frederick Douglass's overall claim in The Narrative of the Life Wind, steam, and lightning are its chartered agents. To forget them, to pass lightly over their wrongs, and to chime in with the popular theme, would be treason most scandalous and shocking, and would make me a reproach before God and the world. Th oppressd shall vilely bend the knee, Thoughts expressed on one side of the Atlantic are, distinctly heard on the other.. God speed the day when human blood Each foe. A champion of America's great writers and timeless works, Library of America guides readers in finding and exploring the exceptional writing that reflects the nation's history and culture. This is the greatest anti-slavery speech uttered by an American 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 slavery the great sin and shame of America! The arm of the Lord is not shortened, and the doom of slavery is certain. Frederick Douglass, "What the Black Man Wants" But such is not the state of the case. They may sometimes rise in quiet and stately majesty, and inundate the land, refreshing and fertilizing the earth with their mysterious properties. I am glad, fellow-citizens, that your nation is so young. Are the great principles of political freedom and of natural justice, embodied in that Declaration of Independence, extended to us? I am not that man. As the project scholar, my role is to advise the process as it rolls out, to give a talk that provides contemporary and historical context and to facilitate the community discussion around the speech against the backdrop of other relevant issues. American abolitionist Frederick Douglass, circa 1855. The purpose of the event was to celebrate America's signing of the Declaration of Independence, 76 years before. 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. If so, there is a parallel to your conduct. Douglass repeatedly uses the pronouns you and your (rather than our and ours) throughout this section. Do you mean, citizens, to mock me, by asking me to speak to-day? From poetry, novels, and memoirs to journalism, crime writing, and science fiction, the more than 300 volumes published by Library of America are widely . Write to Olivia B. Waxman at olivia.waxman@time.com. I take it, therefore, that it is not presumption in a private citizen to form an opinion of that instrument. But, I submit, where all is plain there is nothing to be argued. It is the birthday of your National Independence, and of your political freedom. At a time like this, scorching irony, not convincing argument, is needed. What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July? Oh! Cambridge, MA 02138, 2022 The President and Fellows of Harvard College, International Legal Studies & Opportunities, Syllabi, Exam and Course Evaluation Archive, Sign Up for the Harvard Law Today Newsletter, Consumer Information (ABA Required Disclosures). Oceans no longer divide, but link nations together. I am not included within the pale of glorious anniversary! Well, we have all come to understand that while on its face this amendment appeared to outlaw forever slavery and involuntary servitude, its exception for those serving a punishment for crime left open the door for what Douglas Blackmon has called Slavery by Another Name and Ana DuVernays so painfully rendered film, 13th, revealed as continued oppression in the 21st century. This is the inevitable conclusion, and from it there is no escape. Is it that slavery is not divine; that God did not establish it; that our doctors of divinity are mistaken? In Douglasss honor, wed like to share an abridged version of his speech now considered one of the greatest in US history. I have detained my audience entirely too long already. we wept when we remembered Zion. You have already declared it. Douglass' 1845 autobiography, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, described his time as an enslaved worker in Maryland. 3 Lessons From Frederick Douglass About Finding the Courage to Speak Up What is the main message of Douglass's speech? Why does he call his own time degenerate? The above audio (11:35) can be used with the following section of Frederick Douglass's speech. How unlike the politicians of an hour! An edited version of Douglasss speech is provided below. They were statesmen, patriots and heroes, and for the good they did, and the principles they contended for, I will unite with you to honor their memory.. What is the significance of the image of the reptile in the bosom on the nation at the end of this section? Would you argue more, and denounce less; would you persuade more, and rebuke less; your cause would be much more likely to succeed." As with rivers so with nations. In doing so he sets the stage to distinguish the holiday for his audience and establishes the gulf between those in his audience and those who remain in bondage. Friends and citizens, I need not enter further into the causes which led to this anniversary. Uncle Toms Cabin had just been published that spring and was taking the country by storm. 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. 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. Who so stolid and selfish, that would not give his voice to swell the hallelujahs of a nation's jubilee, when the chains of servitude had been torn from his limbs? He point-by-point counters a. They showed forbearance; but that they knew its limits. Frederick Douglass' Fifth of July Speech Asks 'What to the Slave is the
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