The Hypocrisy of American Slavery: Main Idea
The Hypocrisy of American Slavery: Main Idea
Adding Insult to Injury
Frederick Douglass sees the irony in a former slave celebrating the Fourth of July, the anniversary of the declaration of independence from Great Britain, or, as it's more informally known, "Freedom Day."
Okay, so maybe no one actually says "Freedom Day"—but to be fair, that's how people think of it.
Douglass feels like his audience (and the United States as a whole) has some nerve to devote a whole day to celebrating their freedom while at the same time holding slaves. "Really," says Douglass, "you don't have to be a rocket scientist to see how weird this is. How can you celebrate freedom with all this bondage around you? It's like it's not enough that you're holding people as slaves, you have to go and rub your freedom in their faces."
Not cool, America.
Questions
- If Douglass were giving this speech today, would the main idea still apply? Are there any groups in the United States who might feel that the Fourth of July is not for them? Why or why not?
- What does Douglass accomplish by presenting the Fourth of July from a slave's point of view?
- Is Douglass saying that Americans shouldn't celebrate the Fourth of July as long as slavery exists? What evidence do you have for your answer?
- Is it possible, today or in 1852, for Americans to celebrate the Fourth of July with clear consciences, knowing we've done everything possible to fulfill the ideals of founding documents like the Declaration of Independence?
Chew On This
Douglass uses the idea of a national holiday devoted to the celebration of freedom to show that slavery is incompatible with American ideals.
Contrasting the facts of slavery with the ideals of freedom allows Douglass to argue more effectively against slavery in the United States than if he had simply tried to prove that slavery is inhuman.
Quotes
Quote #1
Fellow citizens, pardon me, and allow me to ask, why am I called upon to speak here today? What have I or those I represent to do with your national independence? Are the great principles of political freedom and of natural justice, embodied in that Declaration of Independence, extended to us? And am I, therefore, called upon to bring our humble offering to the national altar, and to confess the benefits, and express devout gratitude for the blessings resulting from your independence to us? (1-4)
Douglass says, "What are you expecting me to say about freedom? You guys know I was a slave, right? And you want me to tell you how great freedom is?"
It's funny (funny weird, not funny haha) because it makes sense that only a former slave would truly appreciate freedom, but Douglass doesn't go that route—a route that would no doubt give his listeners warm, fuzzy feelings about America. He doesn't just think about his own experience—he thinks about the practice of slavery as a whole.
Quote #2
I am not included within the pale of this glorious anniversary! Your high independence only reveals the immeasurable distance between us. The blessings in which you this day rejoice are not enjoyed in common. The rich inheritance of justice, liberty, prosperity, and independence bequeathed by your fathers is shared by you, not by me. The sunlight that brought life and healing to you has brought stripes and death to me. This Fourth of July is yours, not mine. You may rejoice, I must mourn. To drag a man in fetters into the grand illuminated temple of liberty, and call upon him to join you in joyous anthems, were inhuman mockery and sacrilegious irony. (14-21)
The Fourth of July is meaningful only to Americans who enjoy freedom and full citizenship (so: white people). In Douglass' opinion, America hasn't been all that and a bag of chips to Black people so far, and asking him to act like it has is a real jerk move. Douglass goes on to give example after example of ways America has failed Black people, demonstrating how different the white and Black experience is in America. If he gave the speech today, what sorts of examples might he use?
Quote #3
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. (25)
Slavery isn't great on a regular day, but on a day like the Fourth of July? When white people are running around celebrating their freedom? That just makes it worse. Check out the visual and aural imagery Douglass uses here. How does he invite listeners to imagine slavery with their senses?
Quote #4
My subject, then, fellow citizens, is "American Slavery." I shall see this day and its popular characteristics from the slave's point of view. Standing here, 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 Fourth of July. (28-30)
Now we get to the "hypocrisy" of the title. Slavery is bad under any circumstances. But it's extra bad in a nation that pretends to be all about freedom. Douglass repeats this contrast (Fourth of July versus slavery) multiple times throughout the speech. He really hammers it home.
Quote #5
What to the American slave is your Fourth of July? I answer, a day that reveals to him more than all other days of the year, the gross injustice and cruelty to which he is the constant victim. 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 shouts of liberty and equality, hollow mock; 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. (80-82)
"Hey," says Douglass, "you can pretend to be the greatest nation on earth, but slaves have got your number. We know what you're really like, and it's not pretty."
Douglass presents a different version of America from the one we expect on the Fourth of July. What do you think he expects listeners to do based on their new understanding?