




In “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July” by Frederick Douglass, the speech starts as a condemnation of the attitude of the American society about slavery. The founding fathers of America meant to get rid of slavery and this is proven in the constitution. Douglass states, “The cause of liberty may be stabbed by the men who glory in the deeds of your fathers” (Douglass). He points out slave owners that worship the founding fathers take liberty away from slaves, against the founding fathers desires. Throughout his speech he upholds the founding fathers to all the great achievements the United States has accomplished so far. Douglass's main idea is to preserve the great deeds of the founding fathers, set in the constitution, to have equality amongst all men who live in the United States no matter what color of skin they have. Slavery took effected Douglass in a very personal way and it is reflected in the speech.

Thousands were made off the slave trade in the 19th century and is “sustained by American politics and American religion” (Douglass 374). The slave trade had a terrible effect on the life of Frederick Douglass because when he was a child he would watch “the slave ships in the Basin, anchored from the shore, with their cargoes of human flesh, waiting for favorable winds to waft them down the Chesapeake. There was a grand slave mart kept at the head of Pratt Street. His agents were sent into every town and county in Maryland, announcing their arrival, through the papers, and on flaming “hand-bills,” headed cash for Negroes” (Douglass 380). This made Douglass scared and confused as to how any man could do this to another man. The slaves in the slave trade were treated like animals and they were at the mercy of the highest bidder. The first printed protest against slavery was in October 1889 and it states, “Negroes cannot be bought and sold for money, or detained to be slaves…” (Bradford 267). The protest later goes on to describe the hope that Bradford has with the power of Christianity to bring everyone close to rid the world of all types of slavery.

Why is the immoral idea of slavery questioned? It should never be questioned. Everyone knows that slavery is a black-hearted crime but people are selfish so they continue buying and working slaves to death. Slaves would work until they died or they would set themselves free by “running away was among the most powerful ways that enslaved people resisted their bondage” (Smith 45). Most slaves prayed for liberation in hopes that one day they would be released. Douglass toys with the idea of pointing out the obvious fact that slavery was not made by God and goes so far as blaming ministers for not speaking up about slavery saying, “What, then, remains to be argued? Is it that slavery is not divine; that God did not establish it: that our doctors of divinity are mistaken? There is blasphemy in the thought. That which is inhuman, cannot be divine!” (Douglass 379). He asks rhetorical questions because deep down everyone knows how abysmal slavery is but the ministers have kept silent due to the false believes.

  Douglass furthers his speech by revealing the corruption with the churches and ministers for not speaking out against slavery. He states, “Many of its most eloquent Divines, who stand as the very lights of the church, have shamelessly given the sanction of religion and the Bible to the whole slave system” (Douglass 370). If the church does not speak out about slavery and even gives sanction to the slave system, the church is corrupt as they do not stand for what they preach. Christianity is turned into something pure to a political power to support “the enslavement of three million of your countrymen” (Douglass 371). The church in Douglass's eyes is supposed to "preach unto all, without Exception, and that Negros, Blacks and Taunies are a real part of Mankind, for whom Christ hath shed his precious Blood, and are capable of Salvation..." (Bradford 266). If the church did as they believe and stood up to the atrocious act of slavery, it would never become as popular as it did. Douglass 

The American ideology is democracy and freedom but the Southern ideology is different. Southern ideology views slavery as just a method to make money.  Douglass criticizes the Southern ideology by saying, “I will not enlarge further on your national inconsistencies. The existence of slavery in this country brands your republicanism as a sham, your humanity as a base pretense, and your Christianity as a lie. It destroys your moral power abroad: it corrupts your politicians at home. It saps the foundation of religion; it makes your name a hissing and a bye-word to a mocking earth” (Douglass 376). Douglass feels that the fact that slavery existence stains humanity and corrupts the heart. For him it professes freedom but it does not actually give every person that right, only whites. The American Declaration of Independence says that “all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” With this we can see exactly what the founding fathers wanted. They wanted everyone to be free, including blacks, along with their rights and pursuit of Happiness, which means the life they want to live. But there is a lower class of men and woman, which completely contradicts with what the founding fathers were trying to achieve. 

Douglass wraps up his speech with a hopeful note. He points out that with knowledge the nation can overcome slavery. Slavery existed because of the vast ignorance of the world but with intelligence “penetrating the darkest corners of the globe” (Douglass 377), slavery will be abolished. The nation will become exactly what the founding fathers imagined it to be, where every man is created equal and is treated as such. Douglass closes his speech with a poem by Garrison titled “The Triumph of Freedom”, which stresses the inescapable coming of freedom. With the “Fruits of the Spirit of Christ, which are Love, Mercy, Goodness, and Compassion towards all in Misery…” (Bradford 266) we will over come slavery.




