David W. Blight is Sterling Professor of American History at Yale University and the author of Frederick Douglass: Prophet of Freedom, which was awarded the Bancroft Prize, the Francis Parkman Prize, and the Pulitzer Prize. There were then no means of concert and combination, such as exist now. The North Star, January 21, 1848 Many of Douglass claims have been validated by the passage of time. Feeling themselves harshly and unjustly treated by the home government, your fathers, like men of honesty, and men of spirit, earnestly sought redress. The Political Thought of Frederick Douglass: In Pursuit of American Liberty. WebThe Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. To William Lloyd Garrison An Address WebDouglass, Frederick, 1818-1895 Douglass, Frederick, 1818-1895 (Speaker) Douglass, Helen, 1838-1903 (Speaker) Created / Published 1846 - 1894 Headings - United States- After Frederick Douglass passed away, his second wife Helen preserved Cedar Hill as a historic house museum. Douglass lived in an even more brutal era and experienced the worst forms of racial prejudice and American hypocrisy. They loved their country better than their own private interests; and, though this is not the highest form of human excellence, all will concede that it is a rare virtue, and that when it is exhibited, it ought to command respect. All Rights Reserved. He wrote. For it is not light that is needed, but fire; it is not the gentle shower, but thunder. To My American Readers and Friends Amongst Hunter's writings are several pieces intended for a local encyclopedia which detail historic locales and important North Carolina men. Here you will see men and women reared like swine for the market. I have been frequently asked to explain this phase of our national problem [a revival of lynch law in the South]. Discovery Company. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). To William Lloyd Garrison I know that apologies of this sort are generally considered flat and unmeaning. Knowledge was then confined and enjoyed by the privileged few, and the multitude walked on in mental darkness. That I am here to-day is, to me, a matter of astonishment as well as of gratitude. The Negro Exodus from the Gulf States: A Paper I have detained my audience entirely too long already. One is struck with the difference between the attitude of the American church towards the anti-slavery movement, and that occupied by the churches in England towards a similar movement in that country. Frederick Douglass published three autobiographies. Then, I dare to affirm, notwithstanding all I have said before, your fathers stooped, basely stooped. With little experience and with less learning, I have been able to throw my thoughts hastily and imperfectly together; and trusting to your patient and generous indulgence, I will proceed to lay them before you. 2023 Yale University Press. He stated. Your fathers have lived, died, and have done their work, and have done much of it well. Douglass had become an internationally celebrated speaker and newspaper editor. He can bring no witnesses for himself. After the toast provided by former Senator Blanche K. Bruce, Frederick Douglass rose to deliver a remarkable speech, the full text of which was reported in full by the African American newspaper. If any man in this assembly thinks differently from me in this matter, and feels able to disprove my statements, I will gladly confront him at any suitable time and place he may select. It won the Pulitzer Prize in 2019 for History and is accurately described as. 2023 Cable News Network. The Late Election You could instruct me in regard to them. Frederick Douglass Paper, June 2, 1854 He was absolutely alone. By that act, Mason and Dixons line has been obliterated; New York has become as Virginia; and the power to hold, hunt, and sell men, women, and children as slaves remains no longer a mere state institution, but is now an institution of the whole United States. Douglass Monthly, May 1861 And why is it so little-known today? From poetry, novels, and memoirs to journalism, crime writing, and science fiction, the more than 300 volumes published by Library of America are widely recognized as Americas literary canon. The population of the country, at the time, stood at the insignificant number of three millions. Tags: Black History Month, Frederick Douglass, Gilded Age. At an anti-slavery convention, Douglass recounts his story of being raised as a slave publicly for the first time. You discourse eloquently on the dignity of labor; yet, you sustain a system which, in its very essence, casts a stigma upon labor. As to extinction, the prospect in that direction has been greatly clouded by the census just taken, in which it is seen that our increase is ten per cent. What the Black Man Wants. Sign up for NewsOne's email newsletter! Course Book. He also argued that immigration made the US stronger and scorned those who believed White people are the owners of this continent and that it is best not to take on board more passengers than the ship will carry.. New York, New York, February 6, 1863 The North Star, January 26, 1849 The Destiny of Colored Americans Friends and citizens, I need not enter further into the causes which led to this anniversary. What can we say about Frederick Douglas, the nations most formative abolitionist, on a day set aside to remember his impact on American society and his contributions to the racial justice movement? The freedom gained is yours; and you, therefore, may properly celebrate this anniversary. One in five Medal of Honor recipients have been immigrants. You profess to believe that, of one blood, God made all nations of men to dwell on the face of all the earth, and hath commanded all men, everywhere to love one another; yet you notoriously hate, (and glory in your hatred), all men whose skins are not colored like your own. The din of business, too, is hushed. A John Knox would be seen at every church door, and heard from every pulpit, and Fillmore would have no more quarter than was shown by Knox, to the beautiful, but treacherous queen Mary of Scotland. Country, Conscience, and the Anti-Slavery Cause: An Address Corrections? Take the American slave-trade, which, we are told by the papers, is especially prosperous just now. And yet he still believed that we could, and would, do better. WebThis is a list of films produced and distributed by HBO Films. New York, New York, May 11, 1847 Resolved, That these united colonies are, and of right, ought to be free and Independent States; that they are absolved from all allegiance to the British Crown; and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain is, and ought to be, dissolved.. The subject has been handled with masterly power by Lysander Spooner, Esq., by William Goodell, by Samuel E. Sewall, Esq., and last, though not least, by Gerritt Smith, Esq. Great streams are not easily turned from channels, worn deep in the course of ages. He barely knew his mother, who lived on a different plantation and died when he was a young child. For black men there are neither law, justice, humanity, not religion. Frederick Douglass: In Five Speeches offers a new approach to understanding Douglass story, guided entirely by his own words to chart his rise from a passionate young agitator to a composed statesman, and ultimately to a disenchanted but still hopeful older man. This, to you, is what the Passover was to the emancipated people of God. A Trip to Hayti But neither their familiar faces, nor the perfect gage I think I have of Corinthian Hall, seems to free me from embarrassment. The 19th-century leader Frederick Douglass, in an undated portrait. 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. They form the staple of your national poetry and eloquence. They saw themselves treated with sovereign indifference, coldness and scorn. It fetters your progress; it is the enemy of improvement, the deadly foe of education; it fosters pride; it breeds insolence; it promotes vice; it shelters crime; it is a curse to the earth that supports it; and yet, you cling to it, as if it were the sheet anchor of all your hopes. Would to God, both for your sakes and ours, that an affirmative answer could be truthfully returned to these questions! (Charles Brantley), 1859-1912, Du Bois, W. E. B. The first autobiography, The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave, Written by Himself, catapulted him to fame and invigorated the abolitionist movement. If I do not remember thee, let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth.. Oppression makes a wise man mad. New Haven, CT 06511-8909. WebThe Writings and Speeches Subseries includes addresses given by Hunter and others. Boston, Massachusetts, May 30, 1848 They did so in the form of a resolution; and as we seldom hit upon resolutions, drawn up in our day whose transparency is at all equal to this, it may refresh your minds and help my story if I read it. It carries your minds back to the day, and to the act of your great deliverance; and to the signs, and to the wonders, associated with that act, and that day. He had a difficult family life. YOUR HANDS ARE FULL OF BLOOD; cease to do evil, learn to do well; seek judgment; relieve the oppressed; judge for the fatherless; plead for the widow., The American church is guilty, when viewed in connection with what it is doing to uphold slavery; but it is superlatively guilty when viewed in connection with its ability to abolish slavery. Douglass Monthly, September 1861 The following 3 pages are in this category, out of 3 total. Our Reading List in Honor of Frederick Douglass Day 1. But I differ from those who charge this baseness on the framers of the Constitution of the United States. I want a home here not only for the Negro, the mulatto and the Latin races; but I want the Asiatic to find home here in the United States, and feel at home here, both for his sake and for ours, Douglass said. Who can reason on such a proposition? I take it, therefore, that it is not presumption in a private citizen to form an opinion of that instrument. They were great men too great enough to give fame to a great age. What Was Frederick Douglasss Position on Womens Rights? But Ill start by saying this. weeping, as she thinks of the mother from whom she has been torn! You have no right to wear out and waste the hard-earned fame of your fathers to cover your indolence. Do you mean, citizens, to mock me, by asking me to speak to-day? Are the great principles of political freedom and of natural justice, embodied in that Declaration of Independence, extended to us? The arm of the Lord is not shortened, and the doom of slavery is certain. The population was weak and scattered, and the country a wilderness unsubdued. 1411 W Street SE The fiat of the Almighty, Let there be Light, has not yet spent its force. ET, July 4, 2022 . To me the American slave-trade is a terrible reality. I will not enlarge further on your national inconsistencies. This item, and others like it, can be found in Accessible Archives African American Newspapers Collection. All Others: Visit our Yale Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree. When Douglass delivered his famous The Meaning of July Fourth for the Negro address before an audience at Corinthian Hall in Rochester, New York, on July 5, 1852, he was issuing a scathing indictment of American hypocrisy, Washington Post columnist Courtland Milloy reminded readers. Douglass Monthly, January 1862 But, I submit, where all is plain there is nothing to be argued. The Scrapbooks Series is made up of seventeen scrapbooks assembled by Hunter which contain clippings and other items concerning race relations and other social, political, and economic affairs pertaining to African Americans. There is not time now to argue the constitutional question at length nor have I the ability to discuss it as it ought to be discussed. Subscribers can purchase the slipcased edition by signing in to their accounts. They showed forbearance; but that they knew its limits. Seventy-six years, though a good old age for a man, is but a mere speck in the life of a nation. Ex-Senator Benton tells us that the price of men was never higher than now. Accessible Archives provides one of the most valuable genealogical tools I have ever used. If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning. You will not, therefore, be surprised, if in what I have to say I evince no elaborate preparation, nor grace my speech with any high sounding exordium. Speeches include: I Have Come To Tell You Something About Slavery (1841) performed by Denzel Whitaker. R. R. Raymond) on the platform, are shining examples; and let me say further, that upon these men lies the duty to inspire our ranks with high religious faith and zeal, and to cheer us on in the great mission of the slaves redemption from his chains. And while slavery has long been abolished and outlawed, the sentiment behind the address still applies in many unfortunate ways when it comes to the overall Black experience in America. The Proclamation And A Negro Army (1863) performed by Colman Domingo. Inspired by the Hebrew prophets and by the language of Shakespeare and Robert Burns, he developed a unique oratorical and literary style that combined scriptural cadences with fierce irony, moral urgency, and keen insight. Must I undertake to prove that the slave is a man? Must I argue that a system thus marked with blood, and stained with pollution, iswrong? 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 Paper, December 7, 1855 In a final celebratory post for Black History Month 2023, it is worth returning to the 1883 Douglass Banquet. They did not come because its leaders disparaged the poor, incarcerated racial or political minorities, or mocked the handicapped and those whose sexual orientation did not fit in faux religious boxes. Lessons Of The Hour (1894) performed by Jeffrey Wright. Douglass Monthly, August 1863 Washington could not die till he had broken the chains of his slaves. Juneteenth Reading List: 10 Books To Learn More About Black Independence Day, Your email will be shared with newsone.com and subject to its, The Meaning of July Fourth for the Negro address before an audience, at Corinthian Hall in Rochester, New York, on July 5, 1852, he was issuing , a scathing indictment of American hypocrisy, Washington Post columnist Courtland Milloy, . The greatest and best of British statesmen admitted its justice, and the loftiest eloquence of the British Senate came to its support. 688 Pages, 5.50 x 8.25 x 1.36 in, Frederick Douglass published three autobiographies. They cannot remain half slave and half free. Himrods Corner, New York, July 4, 1862 American County Histories: A Unique Research Resource, Part VII: Abraham Lincoln Library Abolitionist Books, Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin with his Essays and Will, Book Directory: Scenes in the Life of Harriet Tubman, The Value of Primary Sources Webinar Slide Deck, The Active Role of Women in the Temperance Movement, When Newspapers Began the Shift to Mass Media, The Civil War and the Formation of the Modern Newspaper, Friendly Guide for Librarians to COP 5 [PDF], Webinar Video: Quantitative Reporting on Digital Collections. What are some of Frederick Douglasss most famous writings and speeches? 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