Frederick Douglass and the Fourth of July

The American abolitionist Frederick Douglass rose to national prominence after publishing his autobiography in 1845, but perhaps his greatest single short piece of writing was a speech he delivered on July 5, 1852.

Douglass, who was living in Rochester, New York at the time, participated in a local program commemorating the signing of the Declaration of Independence. He delivered an address titled "What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?," a sharp commentary on the promise of freedom in America and how it was being withheld from African Americans.

Historian David Blight, an expert on slave narratives and Douglass, has called the July 5, 1852 speech "abolition's rhetorical masterpiece."

Incidentally, the date of the speech was purposeful. Douglass insisted on not speaking on July 4.

Image: Frederick Douglass, courtesy of New York Public Library Digital Collections