For hundreds of years in American history slavery was a prominent issue that effected the lives of many people. Reading through the text “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July” by Frederick Douglass one gets a chance to see what Douglass thought about slavery. The beginning of the text is about how Americans celebrate their independence but as it continues, things change. You can see how there is some tension spoken in Douglass’s words and how there is an underlying message. As someone reads this text they may question why Douglass was feeling these certain ways and without any outside knowledge of the time period the reader would be at a loss. They would have to base their understanding of the text simply on little bits of information which could greatly skew the message Douglass was trying to portray. However, by using other articles from the same time period, it gives us more of an understanding to Douglass’s text. Two other articles that would help us with this are “The Everyday Life of Enslaved People in the Antebellum South”, and “The Jordan is a Hard Road to Travel: Hoosiers Responses to Fugitive Slave Cases, 1850-1860”. By looking at the treatment that African Americans had to go through during slavery and legislation such as the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 we can see that Douglass wanted to give this speech to argue that slavery should end.

One certainty about Douglass’s text is that he believed slavery was a horrific act towards African Americans in the United States and it should be ended. Although this is pretty clear, without background information on slavery one may be confused why Douglass was asking this. The article, mentioned above, “The Everyday Life of Enslaved People in the Antebellum South” by Calvin Schermerhorn helps readers understand more. This article gives an immense amount of information on how African Americans were treated in the Antebellum period. In the article, Schermerhorn tells the reader that slaves were starved, raped, and had to deal with illness and disease. He even tells us that the average life expectancy for slaves was merely 30 years (Schermerhorn 34). Schermerhorn gives us lots of examples of what slaves were going through in slavery. One specific story in this article consists of a slave named Eliza who was sold off by one master and into another master who son then raped her (Schermerhorn 33). Unfortunately, this kind of story was very common and it was happening every day in the Antebellum period. By connecting Schermerhorn and Douglass’s texts it is clear why Douglass said the things he said. He wanted slavery to end and Schermerhorn’s article told us why. This is also significant because Douglass’s speech was written in 1852 which was also the time that the article by Schermerhorn was based off of. Knowing just that small amount of information, it backs up what Douglass was trying to say since both articles were written around each other. The information gained from “The Everyday Life of Enslaved People in the Antebellum South” also shows a lot about Douglass’s character. The article by Schermerhorn is horrendous and should make one step back and realize African American’s went through so much. After reading it one would expect anger and rage from all slaves that were treated like that. However, in Douglass’s speech, although he condemns American Independence, he remains calm and respectful. Throughout his article he refers to the audience as his “Fellow Citizens” which poses a question. Why would Douglass do this when many saw him as a lesser version since he was African American. Douglass could have said this because he wanted Whites to know that African Americans were not the lesser version and the horrific treatment they went through should stop now. Throughout his article, Douglass was able to say what he wants to say in a peaceful manner. Knowing that Douglass was able to maintain such elegance in his speech after the hundreds of years of slavery that killed so many African Americans shows us that he truly thought he could make a change. 

Another important historical piece of information that helps the reader understand Douglass’s text even more is the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850. By reading through “The Jordan is a Hard Road to Travel: Hoosiers Responses to Fugitive Slave Cases, 1850-1860” you can see this act was signed into legislation on September 18, 1850 by President Millard Fillmore (Kotlowski 1). It actually was a part of a bigger piece of law, known as the Compromise of 1850 which was made in order to help settle tensions between the Northern and Southern states. Specifically, the Fugitive Slave Act was made to help Southern slave owners. The law placed several Federal officers in each state who had the power to arrest and alleged fugitives, especially runaway slaves (Kotlowski 1). One thing Douglass does in his speech is call attention upon the Constitution of the United States. He tried to show the reader that although this piece of paper was supposed to be the rules of the United States, it was not always followed. This could be seen as a comparison to how even though the Fugitive Slave Act was a legitimate piece of legislation, it did not need to be followed. However, the southern white peoples were in favor of this act because if their slave tried to run away into “free states” like the northern ones, they could easily be sent back down south. Kotlowski tells us that so many slaves were doomed by this law because it offered no hope of freedom. In fact, 91% of the trials of the Fugitive Slave Act in Indiana went against African Americans (Kotlowski 15). If you look at “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July” you know it was written in 1852, only two years after this act was signed into law. Douglass had these two years to see how the act changed the ways of northern states and lessened freedom for slaves even more. He was able to experience firsthand the effects of the Fugitive Slave Act, which explains why he spoke of the things we said. He had clear evidence of what was happening and it drove Douglass to write his speech. Without knowledge of this act, the reader may believe Douglass did not have enough of a reason to ask for such drastic demands. However, by looking at “The Jordan is a Hard Road to Travel: Hoosiers Responses to Fugitive Slave Cases, 1850-1860” you can see that Douglass had many reasons to ask these demands, and should be listened to. 

After reading not only Douglass’s speech, but outside articles, it becomes clear the motives Douglass had behind his argument. Both “The Everyday Life of Enslaved People in the Antebellum South”, and “The Jordan is a Hard Road to Travel: Hoosiers Responses to Fugitive Slave Cases, 1850-1860” give historical context to the time period and tell the reader what was going on during Douglass’s speech. One specific quote that stands out in Douglass’s text is “America is false to the past, false to the present, and solemnly binds herself to be false to the future” (Douglass 263). Douglass is telling the reader that with everything going on in the United States, he saw no hope unless things changed now. When looking at the horrific events behind slavery and the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 it shows us that Douglass used this speech to show that slavery should end.
