

The Fourth of July is one of the most, if not the most, celebrated holidays in America. Today it is a day of pride for the country as a whole and a day to celebrate the progress that our country has made since it began. It was not always like this though. In 1852, Frederick Douglass delivered his speech “What to a Slave is the Fourth of July.” In this speech, Douglass addresses an audience of abolitionists in New York and gives his opinion on the Fourth of July. He thinks it is an absolute mockery to try and pretend that slaves have anything to celebrate on this holiday because they still have not earned their freedom. John Meador, in his journal “Florida and the Compromise of 1850” talks about how Florida was affected by the compromise of 1850 and shows the foreshadowing of the separation of the North and South. Nakesha Bradley, in her poem “Independence Day”, discusses what the Fourth of July means to her as a Native American and it differs significantly from Douglass’ opinion. 

The Florida Historical Quarterly is an academic journal, published four times a year, to keep a record of Florida history. In 1960, John Meador wrote about the Compromise of 1850 and how it affected Florida. He discusses that one of the main reasons that the ruling on slavery was so crucial for Florida in 1850 because 39,000 of the 87,000 people living in Florida were slaves. The Whigs at the time supported the compromise but the democrats disagreed with it. This lead to very different candidates in the election of 1850 in Florida. At the end of the election Edward Cabell won. Cabell was against many of the main points in the compromise of 1850 and hinted early about seceding from the Union. This relates to what Fredrick Douglass is saying because Frederick Douglass talks about how we need to abolish slavery yet two years before he gave his speech, we made compromises allowing new slaves states to enter the Union. Even ten years before the South seceded from the North, we see that there is already whispers of it, and we can tell that there is going to be a problem. As much as we wanted to keep making compromises to keep the Union together, there was no way that these two different regions could have completely different opinions on slavery and continue to stay as one. The Compromise of 1850 had a major impact of what Douglass’ speech because although this compromise outlawed slavery in California when it became part of the U.S., it also enacted the Fugitive Slave Law, which created incredibly harsh penalties for runaway slaves and said that even if a slave made it to the north, they still were not free. Douglass would disagree with this compromise because in his mind there should not have been any compromises. Unless something called for the absolute freedom of slaves, Douglass would have disagreed with it. Overall, the Compromise of 1850 did not seem very helpful to Douglass or Meador and led to the first hints of succession from the south.

Nakesha Bradley is a Native American writer who frequently writes about her life as a Native American in her work. In her poem, “Independence Day”, she discusses what the Fourth of July means to her as a Native American and it differs significantly from Douglass’ opinion. 

She begins her poem by saying “How we celebrate a holiday not meant for us” (Bradley 2). She continues on to show how the Native Americans celebrate the Fourth of July. This mostly revolves around the unique dancing that occurs. The narrator says “Days like today make me wish I had learned to dance” (Bradley 8-9). She discusses the fancy shawl and jingle dance, which are both traditional Native American dances and says the dances “Tell stories with their feet” (Bradley 11). She continues to discuss how beautiful the dances are and how the dances don’t miss a single beat. The announcer then explains how to “snag” at a Powwow, which essential means how to get a date to a Powwow, which everyone thinks is funny. Everyone seems to be having a good time until a drunk man comes into the fairgrounds. The drunk man makes fun of the dancers and distracts them, throwing them off a step. Then a feather drops and everyone goes silent. The police eventually come and drag away the drunk man. She then says “I know what you are thinking Indians and alcoholism, but I should tell you, the drunk man, was white” (Bradley 24-26). Frederick Douglass and Nakesha Bradley have very differing opinions on the Fourth of July, but can both agree that the holiday is not a celebration for them. Douglass, in his speech “What to a Slave is the Fourth of July”, discusses that he has nothing to celebrate on the Fourth of July because African Americans still have not earned their freedom. He goes on to say that the “Fourth of July is yours, not mine.” In this he is saying that to ask him to celebrate freedom for the white man is an “Inhumane mockery.” Nakesha Bradley certainly seems to agree that the Fourth of July is not a holiday for Native Americans to celebrate. The very first thing she asks in her poem “Independence Day” is “How we celebrate a holiday not meant for us.” Bradley says the Native Americans essentially celebrate their heritage by doing traditional dances and playing traditional music until a white man comes and ruins the celebration. Both authors would certainly agree that the Fourth of July is pretty much exclusively for whites.

This country, as a whole, has evolved an incredible amount since Frederick Douglass’ speech. Even though we had to fight a civil war to free the slaves, Frederick Douglass said we should go to any length to free the slaves. One of the biggest problems in this country today is that we are still incredibly divided between the white community and minorities. Hopefully with a new president we can lessen that divide and continue to progress as a country until everyone has equal rights.
