On what branch of the subject do the people of this country need light? This Fourth [of] July is yours, not mine. He continued to challenge inconsistencies in legislation, and in his 1866 essay “Reconstruction,” he expressed his belief that consistency in law and application thereof is necessary for a liberated nation. There is not time now to argue the constitutional question at length — nor have I the ability to discuss it as it ought to be discussed. Slave Is the Fourth of July?” Frederick Douglass sought not only to convince people of the wrongfulness of slavery but also to make abolition more acceptable to Northern whites. At a time like this, scorching irony, not convincing argument, is needed. He’s Not Black. Douglass argues that religion is the center of the problem but also the main solution to it. 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. It has been denounced with burning words, from the high places of the nation, as an execrable traffic. You have already declared it. He is outraged by the lack of responsibility and indifference towards slavery that many sects have taken around the nation. I remember, also, that, as a people, Americans are remarkably familiar with all facts which make in their own favor. Your high independence only reveals the immeasurable distance between us. In that instrument I hold there is neither warrant, license, nor sanction of the hateful thing; but, interpreted as it ought to be interpreted, the Constitution is a GLORIOUS LIBERTY DOCUMENT. that gash on her shoulder tells her to move on. Never reneged, never will. Continuing his tirade against the Christians complicit in the institution of American slavery, Douglass boldly claims that pro-slavery Christians are greater sources of infidelity—or lack of faith—than some of the leading atheist intellectuals. They inhabit all our Southern States. The population was weak and scattered, and the country a wilderness unsubdued. Until that year, day, hour, arrive,          With head, and heart, and hand I'll strive,          To break the rod, and rend the gyve,          The spoiler of his prey deprive--              So witness Heaven! He further says, the constitution, in its words, is plain and intelligible, and is meant for the home-bred, unsophisticated understandings of our fellow-citizens. He muses that perhaps they will argue that abolitionists are actually getting in the way of their own efforts because they do not appeal to the masses. It fetters your progress; it is the enemy of improvement, the deadly foe of education; it fosters pride; it breeds insolence; it promotes vice; it shelters crime; it is a curse to the earth that supports it; and yet, you cling to it, as if it were the sheet anchor of all your hopes. It is neither. First coined by Shakespeare in [Henry V] (https://www.owleyes.org/text/henry-5/read/act-iv-scene-3#root-71845-14), the term “household words” describes words or ideas that laymen understand; they are spoken informally at home and taught thoroughly in schools. As with rivers so with nations. They may sometimes rise in quiet and stately majesty, and inundate the land, refreshing and fertilizing the earth with their mysterious properties. “Resolved, That these united colonies are, and of right, ought to be free and Independent States; that they are absolved from all allegiance to the British Crown; and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain is, and ought to be, dissolved.”. In this version of the speech, section titles are included for thematic breaks in subject matter. Heath and D. Waymer called this topic the "paradox of the positive" because it highlights how something positive and meant to be positive can also exclude individuals. You may rejoice, I must mourn. One of the notable techniques Douglass uses in this speech is extended metaphor, a device in which a single metaphor is drawn upon repeatedly throughout a piece of writing or rhetoric. This is esteemed by some as a national trait — perhaps a national weakness. Washington could not die till he had broken the chains of his slaves. Douglass uses this passage to condemn the actions of Christian hypocrites, which are “an abomination in the sight of God” and demand that they “cease to do evil, learn to do well,” and to that end abolish the institution of slavery. They may also rise in wrath and fury, and bear away, on their angry waves, the accumulated wealth of years of toil and hardship. Within this extended metaphor, Douglass adds power to his ideas by employing visual, auditory, and tactile imagery, which he achieves through the use of adjectives like “dark, flinty, and storm-tossed” and verbs like “drawn,” “broken,” “cling,” and “spar.”. This home government, you know, although a considerable distance from your home, did, in the exercise of its parental prerogatives, impose upon its colonial children, such restraints, burdens and limitations, as, in its mature judgment, it deemed wise, right and proper. At the outset, Douglass establishes his ethos to the audience. To side with the right, against the wrong, with the weak against the strong, and with the oppressed against the oppressor! For black men there are neither law, justice, humanity, not religion. The sunlight that brought life and healing to you, has brought stripes and death to me. Would to God, both for your sakes and ours, that an affirmative answer could be truthfully returned to these questions! The right of the hunter to his prey stands superior to the right of marriage, and to all rights in this republic, the rights of God included! It saps the foundation of religion; it makes your name a hissing, and a by word to a mocking earth. 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; while only two of the same crimes will subject a white man to the like punishment. This simile directly compares slaves to horses, sheep, and pigs, which serves the purpose of illustrating how they were viewed by slave traders: as domestic beasts to be purchased and used. Second, the forces of oppression motivate the wisest people into action, for the wise recognize when an authority or government needs to be fought against or replaced. The sunlight that brought life and healing to you, has brought stripes and death to me. Douglass uses the term to describe the exuberance and joyfulness of Independence Day. What, then, remains to be argued? It is the birthday of your National Independence, and of your political freedom. There are illustrations of it near and remote, ancient and modern. Nevertheless, Douglass’s argument speaks to the overwhelming disparities between black and whites in the Virginian court system. In most cases, it literally means a defensive wall; however, figuratively it connotes protection. In this paragraph, Douglass addresses the economic enormity of American slavery. Is slavery among them? in preference to the gospel, as preached by those Divines! They were great in their day and generation. They, however, gradually flow back to the same old channel, and flow on as serenely as ever. The manhood of the slave is conceded. Of this fundamental work, this day is the anniversary. and am I, therefore, called upon to bring our humble offering to the national altar, and to confess the benefits and express devout gratitude for the blessings resulting from your independence to us? This, however, did not answer the purpose. The “children of Jacob” refers broadly to the Jewish people. The difference between black and white is meaningless under the auspices of heaven. 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; while only two of the same crimes will subject a white man to the like punishment. Standing, there, identified with the American bondman, making his wrongs mine, I do not hesitate to declare, with all my soul, that the character and conduct of this nation never looked blacker to me than on this 4th of July! However, he follows this by saying that despite such methods, they failed to realize their objectives. Jefferson includes most of this passage in the conclusion of the declaration, as it states in the clearest terms the severing of ties between the American colonies and Great Britain. Here, Douglass refers to the Africa Squadron, a unit of the US Navy in operation from 1819 to 1861 which aimed to guard the Western coast of Africa in order to suppress the transatlantic slave trade. there is no matter in respect to which, the people of the North have allowed themselves to be so ruinously imposed upon, as that of the pro-slavery character of the Constitution. BREAKING NEWS! They were great men too — great enough to give fame to a great age. He lays out this arduous process in Chapter Seven of his autobiography [Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave] (https://www.owleyes.org/text/narrative-life/read/chapter-7#root-75209-1/92565). They advocated for the immediate emancipation of all slaves and an end to racial segregation and discrimination. The far off and almost fabulous Pacific rolls in grandeur at our feet. The adjectives “simple, dignified, and sublime” all have positive connotations, and by using them, Douglass appeals to the pride and patriotism of his crowd. This is the inevitable conclusion, and from it there is no escape. Ex-Vice-President Dallas tells us that the constitution is an object to which no American mind can be too attentive, and no American heart too devoted. Nobody doubts it. How unlike the politicians of an hour! This word is used in the Bible to refer to acts of God. The blessings in which you, this day, rejoice, are not enjoyed in common. There is not time now to argue the constitutional question at length—nor have I the ability to discuss it as it ought to be discussed. This scene is an illustration of the community gathering to commemorate the independence of the United States. Modern studies indicate that between 1850 and 1860, 343 African Americans were caught and tried by commissioners, of whom 332 were sent to slavery in the South. For who is there so cold, that a nation’s sympathy could not warm him? 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 denunciations of tyrants, brass fronted impudence; your shouts of liberty and equality, hollow mockery; your prayers and hymns, your sermons and thanksgivings, with all your religious parade, and solemnity, are, to him, mere bombast, fraud, deception, impiety, and hypocrisy — a thin veil to cover up crimes which would disgrace a nation of savages. In order to put an end to it, some of these last have consented that their colored brethren (nominally free) should leave this country, and establish themselves on the western coast of Africa!

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