Frederick Douglass - Independence Day Speech

The author of this document is Fredrick Douglass. Fredrick Douglass was a former slave of
Edward Lloyd. His master served as governor of Maryland from 1809 to 1811, as a member of
the House of Representatives from 1807 to 1809, and as a senator from 1819 to 1826
(OpenStax 12.3). He would escape slavery in 1838, and become a prominent spokesperson for
the abolitionist movement, giving speeches about his life and experiences while in bondage. He
traveled and gave speeches for William Lloyd Garrison’s American Anti-Slavery Society.
Garrison was from Massachusetts and he considered himself the leader of the abolitionist
movement. He believed colonization perpetuated racism and the sinful practices of other
fellow Americans (OpenStax 13.4). He also found the newspaper, The Liberator, in 1831. This
newspaper was prominent in changing the views of some pro-slavery advocates. This is an
excerpt from his What to the Slave is the Fourth of July, questioning the hypocrisy of slavery.
Douglass intent with this speech on Independence Day commemorating the signing of the
Declaration of Independence. Corinthian Hall in Rochester, New York was where the speech
took place.
He addresses the citizens of America, white people, telling them this is a day for them, a day in
which they can rejoice and be happy, and one in which he mourns. He points out that July 4th
only serves as a reminder the huge gap that separates whites and blacks socially, economically,
and politically. The overall purpose of his speech is to point out how ironic it is to have an
Independence Day, where people can celebrate and be joyous.
Then have an entire race held in bondage at the same time, with no real pathway to freedom
and where injustices and brutality where often tolerated, because it was a way to break
demean, dehumanize, and to dominate the spirit of African American slaves. Douglass espouse
the same messages as the abolitionist in the North who decreed how dehumanizing and
unconstitutional slavery was, and that if you believe in the core principles of American
Democracy, then slavery should cease to exist as it is unconstitutional.
In the excerpt from his speech he goes on to speak about the Fugitive Slave Laws which he
regards as "tyrannical legislation." In the agreement of the Compromise of 1850, it was agreed
upon that a new harsh fugitive slave law would be enacted. The law allowed for slave-hunters
to hold, hunt, and sell men back into slavery. This allowed those who helped slave run away or
did not help in returning the runaway could be prosecuted, imprisoned and/or fined (OpenStax
11.5). Many people from the North felt that the law forced them to act as slavecatchers against
their will. He decrees that the system is corrupt in nature, as the judge that oversees the cases
gets a reward for ruling in favor of the slavery system.
The reward was ten dollars for each victim that got sent back into slavery and five dollars if they
determined the defendant was free (OpenStax 14.1). The judge does not hear the side of the
defendant, the slave, he only listens to the oppressor, additionally the trial was not heard by a
jury. He goes on to state that no other nation would have so much as the moral decency to
enact such a law as unjust, unfair, oppressive and demoralizing as the Fugitive Slave Laws. The
Slave Laws confirmed for many, northerners, the existence of "Slave Power", which is a
disproportionate amount of power concentrated in the hands of elite wealthy slaveholders.
This allowed them to control foreign and domestic policies. It also told poor whites that wealthy
slaveholders would use the federal government to enact their interests while also rejecting the
use of federal power to restrict slavery (OpenStax 14.1).

Douglass also remarks about the slave trade and how it sickens him. He describes how slaves
are introduced to America by being sold to the highest bidder like cattle, being branded by the
master, and being ripped apart from their families, all due to the avarice, whimsy, and lust of
the masters. He calls the American Republic a hunting ground for men, not just any men but
those who did not commit a crime, they just suffered for having more melanin in the skin.

Even free black men, men that had wives and children who looked to them for sustenance, who
had never been subjugated to slavery could be thrust into the system due to the Fugitive Slave
Laws. A powerful statement of his in the excerpt is that black men have no laws, justice,
humanity or religion. I agree with this statement because in early American history, even today,
black men have a lack of identity and harbor self-hate. For slaves trying to run away they would
have to try to reach Canada if they wanted no chance of potentially being sent back into the
pro-slavery south (OpenStax 14.1).
Issues about slavery would continue to cause division within the nation between the
abolitionists, and the newly formed Republican Party that advocated for the expansion of
slavery (OpenStax 14.2). Southern slave holders were prepared to defend the institution of
slavery at all cost, while abolitionists continued to fan the flames of antislavery sentiment.
Southerners argued that they should be able to bring their human chattel with them, and
popular sovereignty should be practiced in all the states not just Utah and New Mexico
(OpenStax 14.2).