Frederick Douglass delivers 'What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?'

Background. The speech was delivered at a meeting organized by the Rochester Ladies' Anti-Slavery Society, founded in 1851. Douglass had previously lectured at Corinthian Hall in the winter of 1850–51. The context included the recent passage of the Fugitive Slave Act in 1850, which drew abolitionist ire. Douglass, an established orator and abolitionist leader, used the platform to address the contradiction between national values and the treatment of enslaved people.

Argument. Douglass argued that positive statements about American values like liberty were offenses to enslaved people who lacked those rights. He criticized the treatment of slaves, including exploitation and torture. He claimed the Constitution was an abolitionist document, not pro-slavery. He sharply criticized religious people who kept silent about slavery, charging ministers with blasphemy for teaching it as sanctioned by religion.

Reception. The speech is often called a July Fourth Oration, but was delivered on July 5, causing confusion about its date. Some scholars place it in the 'Fifth of July' tradition commemorating New York State emancipation. One biographer called it 'perhaps the greatest antislavery oration ever given.' The speech was delivered in the decade preceding the Civil War.