What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?

Explore 3 quotes from What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?

It is not light that is needed, but fire; it is not the gentle shower, but thunder. We need the storm, the whirlwind, and the earthquake. The feeling of the nation must be quickened; the conscience of the nation must be roused; the propriety of the nation must be startled; the hypocrisy of the nation must be exposed; and its crimes against God and man must be proclaimed and denounced.

Frederick Douglass

What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?

More information about this quote

Topic

American slavery American Civil War

Speaker

Frederick Douglass

Source

What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?

Medium

Speech

Genre

Political speech

Language

English

Time

1852 1850s 19th century

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Douglass, Frederick. Speech to the Ladies' Anti-Slavery Society. 5 July 1852, Corinthian Hall, Rochester, NY, USA.

Current Citation

Douglass, Frederick. "What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July? An Address." Frederick Douglass: Speeches & Writings, edited by David W. Blight. Library of America, 2022.

What, to the American slave, is your 4th 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.

More information about this quote

Topic

Independence Day

Speaker

Frederick Douglass

Source

What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?

Medium

Speech

Genre

Political speech

Language

English

Time

1852 1850s 19th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Douglass, Frederick. "What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?" Independence Day Celebration. 5 July 1852, Corinthian Hall, Rochester, NY, USA.

Current Citation

Douglass, Frederick. "What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?" Frederick Douglass: Speeches & Writings, edited by David W. Blight. Library of America, 2022.

You profess to believe "that, of one blood, God made all nations of men to dwell on the face of all the earth," and hath commanded all men, everywhere, to love one another; yet you notoriously hate (and glory in your hatred) all men whose skins are not colored like your own!

More information about this quote

Topic

American hypocrisy

Speaker

Frederick Douglass

Source

What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?

Medium

Speech

Genre

Political speech

Language

English

Time

1852 1850s 19th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Douglass, Frederick. "What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?" Independence Day Celebration. 5 July 1852, Corinthian Hall, Rochester, NY, USA.

Current Citation

Douglass, Frederick. "What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?" Frederick Douglass: Speeches & Writings, edited by David W. Blight. Library of America, 2022.