 

The fourth of July means something different to every person. To most people it might mean freedom or taking pride in their country. Others might see it as a day to remember what their ancestors fought for and how lucky they are to live where they live and live how they live. The fourth of July may have had a controversial past, but even so we should all be able to appreciate what we do have, and not what they didn’t in the past.

Not everyone in America has always had the freedom that Americans take pride in when they represent the red, white, and blue through days like the fourth of July. Specifically, African Americans have struggled with the concept of freedom. This is because they have not always exhibited this freedom. 1862 was supposedly the official day that they were freed to just be considered a regular human being which is almost 100 years after the land of the free was created. Fredrick Douglass addresses this best in his writing “What to a Slave is the Fourth of July”. Then after that they were constantly being oppressed by white people, racist, and sometimes the law. This has made the fourth of July a very difficult thing for African Americans to comprehend. This day is the day that the freedoms for most white Americans were gained not for them so should they celebrate it? They technically on this day did not gain any freedoms and were still forced to go work in the fields and nothing changed for them. Abraham Lincoln issued the emancipation proclamation on September 22 1862 so really that is like their fourth of July. So instead of celebrating their freedom on July fourth should they celebrate it on September 22? This is the question that many people find themselves asking, and to some the fourth is a day to remember the unjust part of America and the hardship many people went through in America’s past.

In the writing “What to a Slave is the Fourth of July” it asks the question “Are the great principles of political freedom and of natural justice, embodied in that Declaration of Independence, extended to us?” (262). The answer to the question is that it wasn’t. America was not free for everyone, but only for a specific group of people. African Americans were being treated worse than animals, and then the people treating them terribly took time once a year to celebrate their freedom while they were taking away someone else’s. Another important point the author makes is “your high independence only reveals the immeasurable distance between us” (262). The author right here states that to him this is not a day of celebration, but a day of remembrance for him. This day is just a reminder of America’s unjust and corrupt path that people forget when they have fun celebrating their own freedom. He points out that this day reminds him of how most people take this day for granite and don’t realize how much went into getting the basic rights that we have today, and you do not know what each individual has been through to get where they are today.

In the mid-19th century the fourth of July was still celebrated by many people around America, but the majority of the people celebrating it were white. African Americans had no reason to be celebrating this holiday because many of them were still enslaved and had no freedom to celebrate. The white people had fought for their own freedom and not that of everyone. During this time the majority of slavery was occurring in the south. Many African Americans were free in the north but the majority of them were focusing their efforts on trying to help gain equality for all of the black population. There were abolitionists movements going on at this time period such as the underground railroad, writing books such as Uncle Tom’s Cabin, and protesting to gain freedom. There was also a huge case, the Dredd Scott case, which went through many courts to determine if the individual in it could be free, and enjoy his life like all the other citizens. Fredrick Douglass in his writing states that when he thinks about what the fourth of July is to him he “hear[s] the mournful wail of millions” (263). The fourth of July to him is a day not to celebrate because African Americans did not have any freedoms. Fredrick Douglass describes the situation for African Americans as to “make men brutes, to rob them of their liberty, to work them without wages, to keep them ignorant of their relations to their fellow men, to beat them with sticks, to flay their flesh with the lash, to load their limbs with irons, to hunt them with dogs” (264). White people were out there having a good time showing their pride in their country while African Americans were busy just trying to survive, and not be degraded on a 24/7 basis. African Americans were putting all of their efforts in trying to gain simply freedom in which white people were enjoying so much they had a whole day to celebrate it, but they couldn’t do as much as share it with the equal people around them.

The fourth of July should not be seen though as a day to hold a grudge or anything about our past. How it was celebrated in the past may have been wrong because of the circumstances of the time, but we do not live in the same society as we did back then. The wrongs from when we had slaves are not in our society except maybe on a miniscule scale that is always going to be present no matter what we do. Now whenever you think of the fourth even if your ancestors were slaves you should appreciate what you have, and not what they didn’t. That doesn’t mean that you should just forget about the past completely or that you shouldn’t be upset about it. What you should celebrate though is your amazing opportunity to live in the land of the free now with all of what you do have.

The fourth of the July is a holiday celebrated in America where you take time to look back, and celebrate the day that we finally got our independence from the oppressing government of England. It represents the day an underdog of 13 colonies shocked the world and beat a world power to enjoy a freedom that everyone should have from the day they are born. They did this because they believed the government that they were under was “unjust, unreasonable, and oppressive, and altogether such as ought not to be quietly submitted to” (257). This means they did this because they believed that they were being treated unfairly, and tried to make a better life for themselves and their kids. They believed in freedom for everyman, but then stopped short of African Americans, and became the very thing that they hate. On this day Americans like to show off the colors of the red, white, and blue to represent the pride that they have in their nation. This day symbolizes the freedom that our country has to offer. Such widespread pride though has not always been the case for all Americans because at one point in our history not all Americans were free. Slavery did not allow African Americans to have this basic freedom that others were celebrating. This might have even been a dreaded day because it symbolizes the day that a country was made that enslaved all of them. It was thought that “justice and freedom, lay deep the corner-stone of the national superstructure” (260). The very base of our America which is what is being celebrated is a lie. America was not always about freedom for everyone. Each individual race and gender had to fight for their rights after the nation had supposedly won its freedom, and became the land of the free.  Not everyone has always seen the same thing that this day symbolizes.

The fourth of July is just a matter of perspective for whoever is interpreting the day, and what life experiences they have had. Nowadays the fourth is more relevant because everyone in our country is actually free now so we can all celebrate this freedom. It has not always been this way though because from the day America was born as a country until about the mid-19th century there were people who had no freedom or rights to enjoy. The fourth of July has not always been such a joyful time as it is now in our society. Even so, we should all though take the time to appreciate what we do have for a little bit, and not dwell on the corrupt pasts that all societies have.
