What To The Slave Is The Fourth Of July Essay

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Frederick Douglass is a renowned activist in the black community. Even after his death he continues to have a huge impact on the way black people live their lives today. In 1852 he gave a speech in Rochester New York. The title of this speech was, “What To The Slave is The 4th of July?”. After reading this speech I began to think about how I celebrate July 4th with the rest of America. As an American in the twenty first century I see July 4th as a celebratory holiday. I normally get together with my family, enjoying the time we have together and our freedoms we do have. If I were to go back in time and think about how my ancestors would be celebrating, there is no celebration at all. In my background I am mixed with a lot of different nationalities.…show more content…
I strongly doubt that most of my ancestors were celebrating that the white man was free from Great Britain. You’re probably thinking how does this relate to anything Douglass said in his speech? One of the things Douglass says in his speech is, “The freedom gained is yours; and you, therefore, may properly celebrate this anniversary. The 4th of july is the first great fact in your nation’s history-the very ring-bolt in the chain of your yet undeveloped destiny.” (Douglass, 1027). This quote represents so much in American history to me. I’m not a very patriotic person, I’ve never really cared about politics or the freedom of the Americans. To me it’s just a way for them to be the center of attention. This quote also ties into the title, What To The Slave is The Fourth of July?. Each and every part about the Fourth of July is a day to celebrate white people and their “glorious” freedom. Why would a slave care about the freedom of a white man? To celebrate the fourth of july, shows how cruel the American culture is. This really made me think about holidays differently, how come we don’t have a holiday that celebrates the freedom of the slaves? I think that instead of hiding the issue of slavery people need to talk about it in a
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