These rules are well established. Calculate how much it costs to transcribe, caption, or subtitle your content. Its the news, without the news. You have already declared it. Section 107, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. The anguish of my boyish heart was intense; and I was often consoled, when speaking to my mistress in the morning, to hear her say that the custom was very wicked; that she hated to hear the rattle of the chains, and the heart-rending cries. How unlike the politicians of an hour! a horrible reptile is coiled up in your nations bosom; the venomous creature is nursing at the tender breast of your youthful republic;for the love of God, tear away, and fling from you the hideous monster, andlet the weight of twenty millions crush and destroy it forever! Intelligence is penetrating the darkest corners of the globe. Knowledge was then confined and enjoyed by the privileged few, and the multitude walked on in mental darkness. They acknowledge it when they punish disobedience on the part of the slave. When a sufficient number have been collected here, a ship is chartered, for the purpose of conveying the forlorn crew to Mobile, or to New Orleans. But, your fathers, who had not adopted the fashionable idea of this day, of the infallibility of government, and the absolute character of its acts, presumed to differ from the home government in respect to the wisdom and the justice of some of those burdens and restraints. This 4th of July is yours, not mine. Is that a question for Republicans? You have already declared it. There are seventy-two crimes in the State of Virginia, which, if committed by a black man, (no matter how ignorant he be), subject him to the punishment of death; while only two of the same crimes will subject a white man to the like punishment. When you can point to any such laws, in reference to the beasts of the field, then I may consent to argue the manhood of the slave. I can to-day take up the plaintive lament of a peeled and woe-smitten people! Great streams are not easily turned from channels, worn deep in the course of ages. It is the antagonistic force in your government, the only thing that seriously disturbs and endangers yourUnion. Frederick Douglass speech - PBS Is it not astonishing that, while we are ploughing, planting and reaping, using all kinds of mechanical tools, erecting houses, constructing bridges, building ships, working in metals of brass, iron, copper, silver and gold; that, while we are reading, writing and cyphering, acting as clerks, merchants and secretaries, having among us lawyers, doctors, ministers, poets, authors, editors, orators and teachers; that, while we are engaged in all manner of enterprises common to other men, digging gold in California, capturing the whale in the Pacific, feeding sheep and cattle on the hill-side, living, moving, acting, thinking, planning, living in families as husbands, wives and children, and, above all, confessing and worshipping the Christians God, and looking hopefully for life and immortality beyond the grave, we are called upon to prove that we are men! Standing, there, identified with the American bondman, making his wrongs mine, I do not hesitate to declare, with all my soul, that the character and conduct of this nation never looked blacker to me than on this 4th of July! Suicide Note Revealed After Shocking Death, Mississippi Cops Beat, Waterboarded Handcuffed Black Men, Shot 1 For Dating White Women': Lawyers, Indicted! But I fancy I hear some one of my audience say, it is just in this circumstance that you and your brother abolitionists fail to make a favorable impression on the public mind. This celebration also marks the beginning of another year of your national life; and reminds you that the Republic of America is now 76 years old. This home government, you know, although a considerable distance from your home, did, in the exercise of its parental prerogatives, impose upon its colonial children, such restraints, burdens and limitations, as, in its mature judgment, it deemed wise, right and proper. They inhabit all our Southern States. They convert the very name of religion into an engine of tyranny, and barbarous cruelty, and serve to confirm more infidels, in this age, than all the infidel writings of Thomas Paine, Voltaire, and Bolingbroke, put together, have done! They succeeded; and to-day you reap the fruits of their success. They have taught that man may, properly, be a slave; that the relation of master and slave is ordained of God; that to send back an escaped bondman to his master is clearly the duty of all the followers of the Lord Jesus Christ; and this horrible blasphemy is palmed off upon the world for Christianity. That point is conceded already. It has been denounced with burning words, from the high places of the nation, as an execrable traffic. It is admitted in the fact that Southern statute books are covered with enactments forbidding, under severe fines and penalties, the teaching of the slave to read or to write. There are 72 crimes in the state of Virginia, which if committed by a black man, no matter how ignorant he be, subject him to the punishment of death, while only two of these same crimes will subject a white man to like punishment. A worship that can be conducted by persons who refuse to give shelter to the houseless, to give bread to the hungry, clothing to the naked, and who enjoin obedience to a law forbidding these acts of mercy, is a curse, not a blessing to mankind. Citizens, your fathers made good that resolution. To him, your celebration is a sham, your boasted Liberty, an unholy license, your national greatness, swelling vanity. I will not equivocate; I will not excuse; I will use the severest language I can command; and yet not one word shall escape me that any man, whose judgment is not blinded by prejudice, or who is not at heart a slaveholder, shall not confess to be right and just. I will not enlarge further on your national inconsistencies. A RESTful API to access Revs workforce of fast, high quality transcriptionists and captioners. Frederick Douglass thought that such rationalizations were crap, and he had the right to think so. From the Potomac to the Delaware was a journey of many days. The Bible addresses all such persons as scribes, Pharisees, hypocrites, who pay tithe ofmint, anise,andcumin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy and faith.. But the church of this country is not only indifferent to the wrongs of the slave, it actually takes sides with the oppressors. Frederick Douglass It is admitted in the fact that Southern statute books are covered with enactments forbidding under severe fines and penalties, the teaching of the slave to read and write. Copyright 2023 Interactive One, LLC. At a time like this, scorching irony, not convincing argument, is needed. As the champions of oppressors, the chosen men of American theology have appeared men, honored for their so-called piety, and their real learning. It is not the gentle shower, but thunder. Prayers are made, hymns are sung, and sermons are preached in honor of this day; while the quick martial tramp of a great and multitudinous nation, echoed back by all the hills, valleys and mountains of a vast continent, bespeak the occasion one of thrilling and universal interest a nations jubilee. For there, they that carried us away captive, required of us a song; and they who wasted us required of us mirth, saying, Sing us one of the songs of Zion. The simple story of it is that, 76 years ago, the people of this country were British subjects. Washington could not die till he had broken the chains of his slaves. Did this law concern the mint, anise, and cumin abridge the right to sing psalms, to partake of the sacrament, or to engage in any of the ceremonies of religion, it would be smitten by the thunder of a thousand pulpits. I will use the severest language I can command. Many of its most eloquent Divines. Now, take the Constitution according to its plain reading, and I defy the presentation of a single pro-slavery clause in it. be warned! You were under the British Crown. There is not a nation on the earth guilty of practices, more shocking and bloody, than are the people of these United States, at this very hour. What point in the anti-slavery creed would you have me argue? WebIn this speech, Frederick Douglass reflected on how the outpouring of joy at the conclusion of the Civil War turned to mourning with Lincolns assassination. The most accurate AI-powered transcription on the market. I say it with a sad sense of the disparity between us. To forget them, to pass lightly over their wrongs and to chime in with the popular theme would be treason most sacrilegious and shocking and would make me a reproach before God and the world. Frederick Douglass: (03:37) The country was poor in the munitions of war. The principles contained in that instrument are saving principles. They felt themselves the victims of grievous wrongs, wholly incurable in their colonial capacity. From Boston to London is now a holiday excursion. And am I therefore called upon to bring our humble offering to the national alter and to confess the benefits and express devout gratitude for the blessings resulting from your independence to us? Neither steam nor lightning had then been reduced to order and discipline. All Rights Reserved. You could instruct me in regard to them. A feeling has crept over me, quite unfavorable to the exercise of my limited powers of speech. Your fathers esteemed the English Government as the home government; and England as the fatherland. Frederick Douglass (1818-1895) was a social reformer and advocate, abolitionist, orator, writer, minister, and statesman. Cast one glance, if you please, upon that young mother, whose shoulders are bare to the scorching sun, her briny tears falling on the brow of the babe in her arms. It is the birthday of your National Independence, and of your political freedom. The Best Speech-to-Text Solution for Your Business Learn how Rev fits into your businesses workflow. Here you will see men and women reared like swine for the market. These men were generally well dressed men, and very captivating in their manners. Frederick Douglass delivered 'best Fourth of July speech in had I the ability, and could I reach the nations ear, I would, to-day, pour out a fiery stream of biting ridicule, blasting reproach, whose chains, heavy and grievous yesterday, are, to-day, rendered more intolerable by the jubilee shouts that reach them. It esteems sacrifice above mercy; psalm-singing above right doing; solemn meetings above practical righteousness. There I see the tenderest ties ruthlessly broken, to gratify the lust, caprice and rapacity of the buyers and sellers of men. Let the religious press, the pulpit, the Sunday school, the conference meeting, the great ecclesiastical, missionary, Bible and tract associations of the land array their immense powers against slavery and slave-holding; and the whole system of crime and blood would be scattered to the winds; and that they do not do this involves them in the most awful responsibility of which the mind can conceive. They are a trouble to me; I am weary to bear them; and when ye spread forth your hands I will hide mine eyes from you. WebOn December 3, 1860, Frederick Douglass and a group of fellow abolitionists met at the Tremont Temple Baptist Church in Boston for a discussion centered around the following This is a primary source reading analysis of Frederick Douglass' famous speech. They were great in their day and generation. Fellow-citizens! To side with the right, against the wrong, with the weak against the strong, and with the oppressed against the oppressor! For who is there so cold that a nation sympathy cannot warm him, who so adore it and dead to the claims of gratitude that would not thankfully acknowledge such priceless benefits? For my part, I would say, welcome infidelity! I have better employments for my time and strength than such arguments would imply. There are illustrations of it near and remote, ancient and modern. Frederick Douglass' Descendants Read His Famous Pride and patriotism, not less than gratitude, prompt you to celebrate and to hold it in perpetual remembrance. we wept when we remembered Zion. Frederick Douglass If I do forget, if I do not remember those bleeding children of sorrow this day, may my right hand forget her cunning and may my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth. Ever ready to drink, to treat, and to gamble. They were statesmen, patriots and heroes, and for the good they did, and the principles they contended for, I will unite with you to honor their memory. Discover why Rev is the #1 speech-to-text service in the world. speech That trade has long since been denounced by this government, as piracy. In the deep still darkness of midnight, I have been often aroused by the dead heavy footsteps, and the piteous cries of the chained gangs that passed our door. But, besides general considerations, there were peculiar circumstances which make the advent of this republic an event of special attractiveness. WebDescription. It is not that pure and undefiled religion which is from above, and which is first pure, then peaceable, easy to be entreated, full of mercy and good fruits,without partiality, and without hypocrisy. But a religion which favors the rich against the poor; which exalts the proud above the humble; which divides mankind into two classes, tyrants and slaves; which says to the man in chains,stay there; and to the oppressor,oppress on; it is a religion which may be professed and enjoyed by all the robbers and enslavers of mankind; it makes God a respecter of persons, denies his fatherhood of the race, and tramples in the dust the great truth of the brotherhood of man. I am not included within the pale of this glorious anniversary! But, to proceed. The timid and the prudent (as has been intimated) of that day, were, of course, shocked and alarmed by it. I have said that the Declaration of Independence is the ring-bolt to the chain of your nations destiny; so, indeed, I regard it. Would to God, both for your sakes and ours, that an affirmative answer could be truthfully returned to those questions. Fellow-citizens, I shall not presume to dwell at length on the associations that cluster about this day. in preference to the gospel,as preached by those Divines! I shall see this day and its popular characteristics from the slaves point of view. The hypocrisy of the nation must be exposed and its crimes against God and man must be denounced. To say now that America was right, and England wrong, is exceedingly easy. Her speed had faltered under the weight of her child and her chains! Oppression makes a wise man mad. Transcribe your audio files to find high-impact insights in minutes. Allow me to say, in conclusion, notwithstanding the dark picture I have this day presented of the state of the nation, I do not despair of this country. His agents were sent into every town and county in Maryland, announcing their arrival, through the papers, and on flaming hand-bills, headed CASH FOR NEGROES. Frederick Douglass: (05:02) To him, your celebration is a sham; your boasted liberty, an unholy license; your national greatness, swelling vanity; your sounds of rejoicing are empty and heartless; your denunciations of tyrants, brass fronted impudence; your shouts of liberty and equality, hollow mockery; your prayers and hymns, your sermons and thanksgivings, with all your religious parade, and solemnity, are, to him, mere bombast, fraud, deception, impiety, and hypocrisy a thin veil to cover up crimes which would disgrace a nation of savages. No nation can now shut itself up from the surrounding world, and trot round in the same old path of its fathers without interference. Frederick Douglass In several states, this trade is a chief source of wealth. be warned! The power is co-extensive with the Star-Spangled Banner and American Christianity. The blessings in which you this day rejoice are not enjoyed in common. And the lame man leap as an heart, but such is not the case. Such a declaration of agreement on my part would not be worth much to anybody. When the dogs in your streets, when the fowls of the air, when the cattle on your hills, when the fish of the sea, and the reptiles that crawl, shall be unable to distinguish the slave from a brute, thenwill I argue with you that the slave is a man! This is the inevitable conclusion, and from it there is no escape. The manhood of the slave is conceded. Under Title 17 U.S.C. The feeling of the nation must be quickened. This, for the purpose of this celebration, is the 4th of July. They are plain, common-sense rules, such as you and I, and all of us, can understand and apply, without having passed years in the study of law. I cannot. In speaking of the American church, however, let it be distinctly understood that I mean the great mass of the religious organizations of our land. May he not hope that high lessons of wisdom, of justice and of truth, will yet give direction to her destiny? Would you have me argue that man is entitled to liberty? There was, at that time, a grand slave mart kept at the head of Pratt Street, by Austin Woldfolk. As with rivers so with nations. The point from which I am compelled to view them is not, certainly, the most favorable; and yet I cannot contemplate their great deeds with less than admiration. Try Rev and save time transcribing, captioning, and subtitling. Yet they persevered. These ministers make religion a cold and flinty-hearted thing, having neither principles of right action, nor bowels of compassion. And yet not one word shall escape me that any man whose judgment is not blinded by prejudice or who is not at heart, a slaveholder shall not confess to be right and just. I doubt if there be another nation on the globe, having the brass and the baseness to put such a law on the statute-book. Frederick Douglass: (02:13) A general shout would go up from the church, demanding repeal, repeal, instant repeal! Banners and pennants wave exultingly on the breeze. Such people lived then, had lived before, and will, probably, ever have a place on this planet; and their course, in respect to any great change, (no matter how great the good to be attained, or the wrong to be redressed by it), may be calculated with as much precision as can be the course of the stars. The far off and almost fabulous Pacific rolls in grandeur at our feet. While I do not intend to argue this question on the present occasion, let me ask, if it be not somewhat singular that, if the Constitution were intended to be, by its framers and adopters, a slave-holding instrument, why neither slavery, slaveholding, nor slave can anywhere be found in it. But, such is not the state of the case. If so, there is a parallel to your conduct. The time for such argument is passed. They showed forbearance; but that they knew its limits. Am I to argue that it is wrong 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 ions, to hunt them with dogs, to sell them at auction, to sunder their families, to knock out their teeth, to burn their flesh, to starve them into obedience and submission to their masters? Mr. President, Friends and Fellow Citizens: He who Everybody can say it; the dastard, not less than the noble brave, can flippantly discant on the tyranny of England towards the American Colonies. There is hope in the thought, and hope is much needed, under the dark clouds which lower above the horizon. Who so stolid and selfish, that would not give his voice to swell the hallelujahs of a nations jubilee, when the chains of servitude had been torn from his limbs? Friends and citizens, I need not enter further into the causes which led to this anniversary. I shall see, this day, and its popular characteristics, from the slaves point of view. The drove moves tardily. I will not excuse. Their solid manhood stands out the more as we contrast it with these degenerate times. To arrest it, to put an end to it, this nation keeps a squadron, at immense cost, on the coast of Africa. In a final celebratory post for Black History Month 2023, it is worth returning to the 1883 Douglass Banquet. Under these, and innumerable other disadvantages, your fathers declared for liberty and independence and triumphed. Fellow citizens, above your national tumultuous joy I hear the mournful wail of millions whose chains heavy and grievous yesterday are today rendered more intolerable by the jubilant shouts that reach them. The document is in the form of a Google Docs so it has a translation tool, dictionary, and voice to text. There, see the old man, with locks thinned and gray. The causes which led to the separation of the colonies from the British crown have never lacked for a tongue. How circumspect, exact and proportionate were all their movements! The sin of which it is guilty is one of omission as well as of commission. You live and must die, and you must do your work. I know that apologies of this sort are generally considered flat and unmeaning. On the 2d of July, 1776, the old Continental Congress, to the dismay of the lovers of ease, and the worshipers of property, clothed that dreadful idea with all the authority of national sanction. It is a religion for oppressors, tyrants, man-stealers, andthugs. Fromwhat quarter, I beg to know, has proceeded a fire so deadly upon our ranks, during the last two years, as from the Northern pulpit? Is it not astonishing that while we are plowing, planting and reaping, using all kinds of mechanical tools, erecting houses, constructing bridges, building ships, working in metal of brass, iron, copper, silver, and gold, that while we are reading, writing, and ciphering acting as clerks, merchants, and secretaries, having among us lawyers, doctors, ministers, poets, authors, editors, orators, and teachers that we are engaged in all the enterprises, common to other men, digging gold in California, capturing the whale in the Pacific feeding sheep and cattle on the hillside, living, moving, acting, thinking, planting, living in families as husbands, wives, and children, and above all confessing and worshiping the Christian God and looking hopefully for life and immortality beyond the grave. But I admit, where all is plain, there is nothing to be argued. See, too, that girl of thirteen, weeping, yes! This trade is one of the peculiarities of American institutions. The greatest and best of British statesmen admitted its justice, and the loftiest eloquence of the British Senate came to its support. They were quiet men; but they did not shrink from agitating against oppression. On July 5, 1852, eminent African American abolitionist Frederick Douglass delivered a brilliant speech to nearly six hundred people filling Rochester, New Yorks Corinthian Hall, as organized by the Rochester Ladies Anti-Slavery Sewing Society.