The Meaning of July Fourth for the Negro

To us fellow Americans today, the Fourth of July is a time to light off fireworks, hang out with friends, have cook outs, and get bit my mosquitoes in the middle of the night. The Fourth of July is to symbol our freedom and liberty. Fredric Douglass, however was not treated this way, among others of his type. "Why?" you may ask. Well, that is because when this speech was made, black people had hardly any rights, if any. Douglass strongly says his opinions about this situation- as he should.

Are the great principles of political freedom and of natural justice, embodied in that Declaration of Independence, extended to us? (Douglass)

He is saying how in the Declaration of Independence it states freedom. It states that everyone should have freedom, but does everybody? NOPE! African Americans weren't even treated as humans by some people. This whole thing is pretty much a rant on how he, and other fellow African Americans, cannot have a good Fourth of July because they are not given the liberty of what the Fourth of July is even celebrating.
It seems that Douglass was a very angry person (from what I've read) and this is understandable since he, along with others, are being treated extremely unfairly. This does, however, conflict with what Thoreau/transcendentalists believed for the most part. They sound peaceful and chill and basically like modern day hippies ("he [Thoreau] was a tree-hugger more than a century before it became fashionable" (Mannion).) That quote makes me giggle, but it also helps imagine what he was like (and will be a quote that I will remember throughout this unit to help me with it. So be aware: this might not be the last time you see it). Douglass seems very on-edge and upset, especially when the subject of the Fourth of July comes up (touchy subject) which again is understandable; he probably had a much worse life than Thoreau did so he has a little leeway in being pessimistic and angry/upset and not all about "the soul and the earth, man"


Mannion, James. "Henry David Thoreau - Philosophy." Netplaces. Web. 07 Feb. 2012. .

Douglass, Fredric. "Africans in America/Part 4/Frederick Douglass Speech." PBS: Public Broadcasting Service. Web. 07 Feb. 2012. .