Fredrick Douglass

On July 5th 1852, Frederick Douglass, one of history’s outstanding public speakers, carried out a very compelling speech at Corinthian Hall in Rochester, New York. Within that moment of time where the freedom of Americans was being praised and celebrated, he gathered the nation to clear up the tension among slavery and the establishment of the country’s goals. Frederick Douglass’s speech mentions the development of the young nation, the Revolution, and his own life experience. While speaking, his main subject was seen to be American slavery. The “Fourth of July Oration” was a commendable model of Frederick Douglass’s affection and engagement towards the freedom of individuals. Frederick Douglass’s speech left an impact on his audience and continues to change the minds of those who read his speech today. I agree with plenty of dominant thoughts and cases he acknowledged in the “Fourth of July Oration.”

The “Fourth of July Oration” and the gathering that Douglass was attending was constructed to serve an early ceremony for Independence Day. He begins his speech with the subject of America’s independence. Specifics of the nation such as the memories of the Revolution, the model of freedom for all individuals, and religious support were spoken about. Frederick shares his experiences as a child. He believed that the American slave-trade was a horrific event that became real for a majority of individuals. When young, Douglass witnessed the disgust that all slaves had to experience, “my soul was often pierced…” (p. 267) He would watch the slave ships being anchored, ones that held innocent individuals. It was difficult and absolutely absurd for anybody to watch such torture take place and not be able to do a single thing about it. Men, who were fortunate and dressed well would gamble for people’s lives. Children were easily taken from mothers. Slaves’ future lives all depended on who would “win” them and buy them. For Douglass, it was unbearable to observe human beings cry in desperation and pain. Frederick’s mistress was the only person, besides himself, that was able to experience pure dismay; causing them to ache together and understand the terror.

Frederick Douglass asks a very powerful and remarkable question to the audience of “Fourth of July Oration.” He merely asks what is the Fourth of July to an American slave. He simply answers his own question. He believed that the Fourth of July was a day that demonstrated the brutality and the inhuman actions done to the victims of this torture. It was a day that demonstrated the terror more than any other day of the year. It was not a day of glorification, but simply a reminder of wrongdoing. Douglass was positive that there wasn’t any other place on earth that could have been responsible for such dreadful, appalling, and shameful manners, but only the United States of America. He mentions the job of a slave owner and what the slave-trade consists of. He uses the term swine drover. Swine drovers are those who enter Southern states, weapons in hand. They would treat men, women, and children like animals, “reared like swine for the market.” (p. 267) The victims of these swine drovers would be chained and taken from their family. Men were looked upon as horses, while women were analyzed by slave-buyers, specifically American ones. Frederick Douglass merely explains how the slave-trade worked and how individuals were seen as property. He states how it was rare to see such disturbing actions done anywhere else, only the United States. Like a piece of furniture, people were auctioned and bought whenever American buyers found them decent enough to take them as their own.

Frederick Douglass announces his thoughts and opinions about the fugitive slave law within his speech. Black men did not have the opportunity to experience religion, freedom, or anything along the lines of justice. The fugitive slave law was seen to be unholy. Slaves could not have liberty. Douglass mentions how a single slave could have no say in anything. The slaves’ side meant absolutely nothing to those that felt slaves were not human beings. He believed the fugitive slave law was gruesome and those who were religious should realize the same thing and no longer allow the law to continue.

There is a specific idea that Frederick Douglass speaks about throughout the “Fourth of July Oration” that I highly agree with. It contains arguments about how the slave is a man, not a beast, and that the slave should not be degraded in any shape, way, or form. Douglass mentions a specific example stating that there are seventy-two crimes that a black man can commit that will cause him to automatically