Tensions in the United States during the 1800’s were high. The country was starting to divide due to the pressing issue of slavery. Americans in the northern states wanted to abolish slavery and Americans in the southern states wanted to continue the practice of slavery. During this time period many slaves tried to escape from their owners in search of a better life. Many slaves were captured and either killed or brutally beaten and abused. Few slaves survived to tell their stories and among the few was Frederick Douglass. Douglass escaped slavery via the underground railroad and successfully made it to New York. Upon arrival, Douglass joined the abolitionist movement and worked for the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society. On July 5, 1852 Douglass gave his famous speech to the Rochester Ladies’ Anti-Slavery Society. This speech was and is still very important because it shed a light on why Douglass did not think of Independence Day as everyone else did. Douglass wanted to change the way American’s viewed slavery and wanted to bring about a change in America. In order to understand Frederick Douglass’s “What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?” it is important to understand the racial relations with the North and the South during the 1800’s and how this shaped Douglass’s view of Independence Day. 

In order to better understand Douglass’ speech and his stance on the matter, it is important to a have background on the brutality of slavery. During the time period when Douglass escaped more slaves were starting to rebel from their masters and seek freedom. This process was not easy by any means and slaves that escaped without any trouble were very fortunate. Owners of slaves were often so brutal to their workers that many died from starvation, exhaustion, or trauma. Since Douglass was an escaped slave, when he gave this speech to a room full of white abolitionist women he must have felt scared because he was still technically not free. He states this in his speech saying, “When the dogs in your streets, when the fowls of the air, when the cattle on your hills, when the fish of the sea, and the reptiles that crawl, shall be unable to distinguish the slave from a brute, then will I argue with you that the slave is a man!” (264). Douglass is saying that slaves are so mistreated that they are considered animals and beasts. He uses strong language like fowl to describe the state of slavery. In his speech he talked about how it was ironic and somewhat crazy that these women invited him to speak since Independence Day was about celebrating freedom from England yet there were enslaved men and women in America including him. Douglass must have been nervous to speak and had a lot of courage and bravery to stand up for what he believed in after witnessing terrible acts in the slave trade. 

It is not just important to understand the role of minorities in America at the time but also to understand the issue of enslaved blacks versus freed blacks. Since Douglass was a freed man his speech almost entirely revolves around this topic and his personal experience being a slave as well as freed and the consequences that each came along with. What constitutes a minority is not just a simple definition. Many factors make up the role of a majority and a minority. You usually see a majority and minority divide when you are looking at government issues. In Douglass’s speech he is representing all freed and enslaved men and woman that do not have a voice. Douglass essentially is speaking as a minority to a room full of majorities trying to bring about a change. Douglass starts his speech by bringing praise to the founding of the nation and stating that he is glad our nation is young. Douglass engages the audience by tying in religious aspects that many Americans at the time valued. Douglass says, “There is hope in the thought, and hope is much needed, under the dark clouds which lower above the horizon. The eye of the reformer is met with angry flashes, portending disastrous times; but his heart may well beat lighter at the thought that America is young, and that she is still in the impressible stage of her existence” (257). Douglass gently hints at the issue that surrounds everyone in the room and continues to state that America is so young because he feels that a change could happen. If America was not so young and set in their ideals, then it would have been harder for Douglass to express his concerns and orate to the Americans wishing to abolish slavery. In the article “The Rights of Minorities” by David G. Ritchie, he states that if different groups are not in agreement with an issue then it is best to adopt the ideals of the group with the most common beliefs. This is turn favors the majority group. Douglass is trying to get his word out through personal testimony to convince other abolitionists to speak out and become the majority voice. Ritchie also says that great movements start off with small minorities who have a passion about what they are fighting for which then makes the movement grow (131). If Douglass had just written a speech about the fourth of July many abolitionists would have walked out of the room only thinking about how great America was and not thinking about a change that needed to occur. In Ritchie’s article he concludes saying, “Minorities that grumble at the whole world round them and have no desire and no hope of convincing other people are not a valuable factor in political or social life” (136). I think this really relates to Douglass’ speech because he provides his assertion and then backs it up with his beliefs and how it’s hard to be a minority fighting for the cause.

In Douglass’s speech after he has been positive, he brings up slavery and how it has affected his celebration. He is not able to celebrate Independence Day because he does not have the same rights as everyone else. It is important to understand Douglass’s history before he became free because this has a strong influence on his speech. He says, “Must I undertake to prove that the slave is a man? That point is conceded already. Nobody doubts it. The slaveholders themselves acknowledge it when they punish disobedience on the part of the slave” (263). Douglass then says that any punishment if committed by anyone that is not white will be sentenced to death. Many points of his speech revolve around the mistreatment of slaves on plantations and the fact that they cannot even be owners of their own bodies. Douglass argues consistently that there is no liberty in the practice of slavery for a slave and that slaves are not even treated as humans. In the article “The Return of Runaway Slaves” by Richard Murdoch, he says that even before Frederick Douglass’s era runaway slaves were not granted their freedom and were returned to their owners. Many superior slave owners and government officials would work around the laws and do as they please to retrieve what they though they rightfully owned. Murdoch’s article gives an insight to how runaway slaves were dealt with between the Spanish government and the American government in Florida. From the 1700’s to the 1800’s not much had changes regarding slavery. Slaves were still powerless and the government created more and more laws to keep it that way. In a document sent to the Governor of Florida from the Secretary of State in 1791 in Murdoch’s article it states, “We have received with great satisfaction the notification of the orders of His Catholic Majesty not to permit that persons held in slavery within the United States to introduce themselves as free persons” (108). The idea of runaway slavery is important to understand where Douglass was coming from when he made his assertions in his speech. 

Douglass’s Independence Day speech has lots of historical background in it and shapes his argument. Without understanding that he was a runaway slave and the issues of slavery between the North and the South it would be hard to follow along with Douglass’s opinions. Slavery as a whole was a common theme in Douglass’s speech and a pressing issue that revolved around America at the time and was the historical context of this piece. Element’s in Douglass’s speech help us better understand the culture in why he did not celebrate the Fourth of July as everyone else did.       
