What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?

In “What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?,” otherwise known as “The Meaning of July Fourth for the Negro,” Frederick Douglass outlines a careful argument against the institution of slavery and more specifically the Fugitive Slave Act. Weaving together ethical, religious, and sociopolitical threads of argument, Douglass points out the ironies of American values, particularly regarding the existence of an economic system based on slavery. Originally drafted and given as a speech in Rochester, New York, on July 5, 1852, the speech has been republished and anthologized many times since.

Douglass had originally been invited to speak on the actual date of the American Independence Day holiday, July 4th, and opted to speak on the day after. His iconic words have been studied, repeated, and reprinted since then by scholars, historians, and the general public. In the speech, Douglass carefully alternates between praising his audience and critiquing America. He reveals his fierce opinions regarding the hypocrisy of a country that espouses freedom and equality yet is comfortable with a whole group of people experiencing extended, unlawful enslavement. Further, Douglass discusses the particular horrors of the Fugitive Slave Act, which made Northern “free” states responsible for enforcing slavery with regard to escaped enslaved people.