Frederick Douglass’ Fiery Fourth Of July Speech

A gifted orator, Douglass wanted more than to convince the crowd of hundreds gathered to celebrate Independence Day about the hypocrisy of slavery. He wanted, as James A. Colaiaco writes in Frederick Douglass and the Fourth of July, “to sting the conscience of America.” Douglass did not mince words. “This Fourth of July is yours, not mine,” he would tell those assembled. “You may rejoice, I must mourn.” And he was just getting warmed up:

"What, to the American slave, is your Fourth 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 sounds of rejoicing are empty and heartless … your shouts of liberty and equality, hollow mockery … a thin veil to cover up crimes which would disgrace a nation of savages."  Continue here....

-- Sean Braswell