“What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?” That’s the revelatory title of a speech that black statesman and abolitionist Frederick Douglass delivered on July 5, 1852, in Rochester, N.Y. Show
It is an oration that students should learn along with the history of how the Continental Congress, meeting on July 2, 1776, in Philadelphia, declared independence from Britain and then on July 4 approved the document stating the reasons for the action. Douglass delivered the speech (read it below) in Corinthian Hall to white members of the Rochester Ladies’ Anti-Slavery Society. He expressed respect for the country’s Founding Fathers, calling them “brave” and “truly great.” He compared the way they were treated by the British before independence to the treatment of slaves and urged them to view slaves as Americans. (You may remember that on Feb. 1, 2017, President Trump made comments to honor Black History Month and spoke about Douglass as if he were still alive: “Frederick Douglass is an example of somebody who’s done an amazing job and is getting recognized more and more, I notice.” Presumably, someone has told Trump by now that Douglass is long gone, although his work is still with us.) The Civil War was less than a decade away when Douglass gave this speech, in which he referred to Independence Day celebrations that took place the previous day:
The speech explains how enslaved Americans viewed the Fourth of July in the mid-19th century, and it continues to resonate today. “It provides a different view of what that moment in history meant to hundreds of thousands of Americans; that black people are forgotten on the Fourth of July in America prior to the Civil War, and the wholesale celebration of it is an indication of the dismissal of a race, and the experiences of an entire race,” William Green, a professor and historian at Augsburg University in Minneapolis, told MinnPost, a nonprofit nonpartisan journalism enterprise.
What developments led to the rise of the cotton Kingdom during the first half of the nineteenth century?The Louisiana Purchase and the annexation of Texas as a slave state helped to expand the Cotton Kingdom. Politically, cotton became the foundation of southern control of the Democratic Party. The widespread use of the cotton gin, invented by Eli Whitney in 1793, made cotton plantations efficient and profitable.
Which is true of African Americans living in both the North and the South?Which is true of free African Americans living in both the North and South? They face discrimination and racism.
What did the grasp of war policy allow the Republicans to do in the South quizlet?What did the "Grasp of War" policy allow the Republicans to do in the South? Established five military districts and five occupying Union armies to enforce the legislation passed by Congress.
Which cotton crops could be grown inland?Unlike the profitable long-staple, sea-island cotton, short staple cotton could be grown inland.
|