Frederick Douglas - “What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?”

We begin the series with Bill McKinney reading Frederick Douglas’s seminal speech from July 5th, 1852, “What to the slave is the fourth of July?”. In 1852 Frederick Douglas was asked to give the Keynote speech for the Rochester Ladies' Anti-Slavery Society. While recognizing the strength of the principles set forth by the Founding Fathers he clearly points out the hypocrisy of the reverence for their ideals while most continue to be complicit with slavery. He reminds us that since the inception of this country people have been excluded from the ideals that we hold so dear as a nation. As America continues to value the freedom of some over others, we continue to debate protest as it connects to the National Anthem as well as the celebration of holidays such as Independence Day. This speech is a powerful reminder that this is not a new or a solved issue.

Full transcript is located here:

https://teachingamericanhistory.org/library/document/what-to-the-slave-is-the-fourth-of-july/