Frederick Douglas - The meaning of July Fourth for the negro

Frederick Douglas was one of the most respected men of his time. Something that was quite amazing considering that in his life he had never had a formal education, was constantly ignored and belittled, but most of all he was the wrong color in his time for someone being so widely seen in public life. Douglas was born a slave, as a slave Douglas eventually bought his freedom from his master and went north. Once he was in the north Douglas begin demonstrating against slavery and giving speeches. Douglas one of the most important men in the country during this time, he was a key person in abolishing slavery and most importantly he helped to change peoples mind about black men. He helped them believe black men were not savage and were people like you or me. The speech Douglas gave about the Fourth of July was about how even though it is a day celebrated by Americans (white) some Americans (black) could only laugh at the irony of the day. As Douglas says "What to the slave is your Fourth of July? I answer, a day that reveals to him, more than all other days of the year, the gross injustice ad cruelty to which he is constant victim." (Douglas) Clearly this statement shows that Douglas believed that such a holiday celebrating America casting off the tyrannical Great Britain in a great war was the ultimate joke since America became a tyrant in its own right. Douglas, in his speech says much the same sentiment "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 denunciation 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" (Douglas). Obviusly Douglas' strong language is meant to really drive home the point of how even such a wonderful day that stands for things every person can believe in and aspire for there are still the downtrodden who are almost insulted by the irony. In my own opinion this speech did a wonderful job of accomplishing what Douglas set out for it to do. The speech created a strong impression by taking a day day so many people consider to be about the suppressed rising above the suppressors and casting off the tyrants. Such a wonderfully idealistic holiday was a perfect target for Douglas' to prove even such a pure day is another terrible day for a slave. Douglas' speech really hit home with me even after all of these years. That is a testament to the message behind the speech as well as the man who wrote it. Thankfully people like Douglas will always be around some where to help the rest of us through the tough times in society and to keep the country on the straight and narrow path.



Douglas, Fredrick. "The Meaning of July Fourth for the Negro." Glencoe Literature. Comp. Jeffery D. Wilhelm. American Literature ed. Columbus: McGraw Hill, 2009. 337. Print.

Africans in America/Part 4/Frederick Douglass Speech." PBS: Public Broadcasting Service. Web. 15 Feb. 2011. .