





Frederick Douglass’ “What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July” speech addressed the issue of slavery and prejudice in the United States of America in 1852. In 1850, only two years before this speech took place, the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 was passed, making it legal to recapture fugitive slaves that fled to free states. Because this law passed, the national divide of ideology augmented between northern abolitionists and southern slave owners in the United States of America at the time. The growth of prejudice and the divide is reflected in Douglass’ speech through his comparisons of tyranny, his citing of the constitution, his mentioning of the horror that is slavery, and the setting of his speech. The passing of the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 two years prior to Frederick Douglass’ “What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July” speech caused Douglass’ speech to take place in New York, to cover the topic of hypocrisy, to lack aggression, and to reference other groups that were subject to tyranny.

The Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, as determined by the Baltimore Democratic Convention, was an amendment that changed the fact that we protected fugitives from justice (1). The law was enacted to allow slave owners to recapture slaves that had run away to free states. The law, much like the people at the time, saw slaves as nothing more than property, and fugitive slaves were simply lost property. While slavery is horrific, the idea of insurance was appealing to the population of slave owners that existed at that time. However, lack of proper enforcement of this law led to great misuse of it. Slave owners and slave catchers abused this law to go into free states and kidnap and enslave free black men. The party searching for the slave was supposed to obtain a warrant before seizing a slave, and after seizure, there was supposed to be a post-seizure hearing for the accused party (Basinger 311). The process rarely worked this way, and blacks were often just taken. The heritage society explains how local officials would be rewarded for capturing a slave, which amplified the amount of innocent black people that were wrongly enslaved immensely (1). The combination of these aspects led to horrific misuse of the law, as well as incentive to misuse the law, and a growing animosity between pro-slavery, and anti-slavery advocates.

Frederick Douglass’ “What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July” speech took place in Rochester, New York, largely due to the fact that he was safe from the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 there. Douglass, an African-American abolitionist, was a slave for a number of years before successfully escaping on his third attempt. At the time he gave the speech, the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 was still very much in effect, making him a likely target from law enforcement for capture and enslavement. He spoke for the Rochester Ladies’ Anti-Slavery Society, which was a perfect venue for him to speak due to the overwhelming abolitionist demographic there. It was a safe place for him. His speech takes on the topic of slavery and prejudice, and he is speaking to an anti-slavery society. Also, New York was a free state, with a large population of abolitionists. If he would have spoken in the south for slavery advocates, it is probable that he would have been captured and enslaved. The Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 kept the racial divide very much alive through its permission of slave catching in free states, which meant that blacks were not safe anywhere. This inspired proponents of racial equality, such as Frederick Douglass, to speak out against this tyranny.

Frederick Douglass recognized the fact that the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, as well as slavery in general, were hypocritical to the freedom the United States guarantees, so he felt he needed to comment on the matter. In the manuscript of his speech in the Carolina Reader, he plainly says that “for revolting barbarity and shameless hypocrisy, America reigns without a rival” (265). Douglass continues his speech by referencing the constitution, which he says does not have a single pro-slavery item in it, the Declaration of independence, which states that “all men are created equal”, and the Revolutionary War, in which blacks and whites fought side by side. When referencing the war, Douglass conveys the argument that both blacks and whites fought for independence, but only whites actually gained it. The Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 permitted the hunting of escaped slaves, and left room for misuse of the law in the form of the enslavement of free black individuals, which meant that no black person was ever truly free. Douglass, as a fugitive slave, lived in constant fear because of this law, and recognized that something needed to be done about it for himself and his people, so he spoke for his cause to try to help his people. Another horrifying factor is the fact that these black men and women were entirely innocent. If the white men and their governing body believed and followed the principle that all men are created equal, that would have to mean that all of these black men and women have done something to deserve their punishment. Unfortunately, this is not the case. The overwhelming hypocrisy between the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, and the documents that govern the United States proved that the two races were anything but equal, and encouraged abolitionists like Frederick Douglass to take a stand, which is exactly what he did in this speech. The hypocrisy between the lack of freedom in the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, and the full-fledged freedom in the Declaration of Independence had all blacks in the United States living in fear, and under tyranny, so Douglass took a stand. 

The Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 also had an effect on the exact words that Douglass said in his speech. From the speech manuscript published in the Carolina Reader, we can see that a key way Douglass expressed the fact that his people’s mistreatment was the fault of the white man was through his constant use of the word “your” (259). Douglass was aware of the fact that he was a target for the enforcers of the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, as he was an escapee, so he knew it was important to get his point across, without generating too much of an uproar, and sparking too much controversy. He used this to describe the freedom gained for “the country”, as well as to describe the extent of his people’s mistreatment. This was one of the only way he could convey the message of “this is your fault” without being too abrasive. Should he have been too abrasive, he would have lost a lot of support for his movement, as well as been punished in some way, such as being kidnapped and enslaved due to the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, due to the fact that someone did not like the comments he was making. By using these subtleties, Douglass was able to get his point across without being attacked by enforcers of the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, while still garnering support for his movement.

Throughout his speech, Frederick Douglass compared the blacks living in the United States at the time to other populations throughout history that were subject to tyranny to give blacks hope. Blacks in the United States of America in the 1850’s were the subject of prejudice, slavery, and abuse. Douglass was aware of this, and was very aware of the fact that blacks were not the first group of people to go through extreme hardships like they were. In the ultimatum of his speech as published in the Carolina Reader, we can see that Douglass makes the comparison to the Jews, who were forced into manual labor, extreme punishment, and general slavery (261). The Jews went through difficult times in Egypt, and were forced to build the pyramids, and other large feats of architecture by hand. They were given the worst of the worst in terms of clothes and food, and if they tried to escape, they were caught, and punished accordingly. The comparison is easy to make, as blacks were subject to slavery, which entailed manual labor for their owners. They were subject to extreme punishment if their owners saw fit, and if they ran away to a free state, they could be recaptured thanks to the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850. Often, after they were recaptured, their owners were not too pleased with them, so they were punished physically. Douglass was able to feed off of this, because he was able to explain that others have experienced such tyranny, and they made it through. Thanks to the comparisons of historical context about oppression to the oppression that blacks were facing at that time, Douglass was able to garner more support for his movement, because he could draw comparisons to other times to allow people to see just how tragic it all was, and it turned out to be an effective method.

The Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 had an impact on Frederick Douglass’ “What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July” speech in a variety of ways. The act had Douglass living in constant fear of enslavement, so he spoke in New York, at a convention that was relatively safe for him. The act directly contradicted the Declaration of Independence by condoning slavery, and corruption, which put Douglass’ people under tyranny, so he needed to discuss the topic in his speech. The fact that Douglass was a fugitive slave also helped him choose his words in his speech. He could not be direct nor abrasive because he would have lost support for his movement, so he directed attacks towards the people in gentle ways. An improved knowledge of the time period in which Douglass spoke allows the reader or listener to understand the significance of all of these things. Each word he said was a life or death matter. At any time, Douglass could have been taken and enslaved, and nobody would know what happened to him, and most people would not pay the situation any mind. Douglass had to cram as much beneficial information into this speech as possible, because due to the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, he was a marked man, and this speech could have been his last. 





