277 Whose Fourth of July?

Ben Franklin's World

Liz Covart

History, Society & Culture

4.4 • 1.6K Ratings

🗓️ 30 June 2020

⏱️ 72 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

On July 5, 1852, Frederick Douglass delivered a speech to an anti-slavery society and he famously asked “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?” In this episode, we explore Douglass’ thoughtful question within the context of Early America: What did the Fourth of July mean for African Americans in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries? To help us investigate this question, we are joined by Martha S. Jones, the Society of Black Alumni Presidential Professor and Professor of History at Johns Hopkins University, and Christopher Bonner, an Assistant Professor of History at the University of Maryland. Show Notes: https://www.benfranklinsworld.com/277 Join Ben Franklin's World! Subscribe and help us bring history right to your ears! Sponsor Links Omohundro Institute Derrick Spires, “Dreams of a Revolution Deferred” Suggested Readings: “Slavery and the American Revolution” Complementary Episodes Episode 018: Danielle Allen, Our Declaration Episode 119: Steve Pincus, The Heart of the Declaration Episode 141: A Declaration in Draft Episode 157: The Revolution’s African American Soldiers Episode 166: Freedom and the American Revolution Episode 245: Celebrating the Fourth Episode 255: Martha S. Jones, Birthright Citizens Listen! Apple Podcasts Spotify Google Podcasts Ben Franklin's World iOS App Ben Franklin's World Android App Helpful Links Join the Ben Franklin's World Facebook Group Ben Franklin’s World Twitter: @BFWorldPodcast Ben Franklin's World Facebook Page Sign-up for the Franklin Gazette Newsletter Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Ben Franklin's world is a production of the
0:02.8	Omaha Institute.
0:04.8	When in the course of human events it becomes necessary for one
0:10.2	people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume
0:15.7	among the powers of the earth the separate and equal station to which the laws of nature and of
0:21.5	nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind
0:26.7	requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
0:31.9	We hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created
0:36.2	equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that
0:41.5	among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
0:46.6	Fellow citizens, I am not wanting in respect for the fathers of this republic.
0:52.4	The signers of the Declaration of Independence were brave men. They were great met. Fellow citizens. Pardon me. Allow me to ask, why am I called upon to speak here today?
1:04.2	What have I, or those I represent, to do with your national independence?
1:09.6	Are the great principles of political freedom and of national justice embodied in the Declaration of Independence
1:16.5	extended to us. What? To the American slave is your 4th of July.
1:23.8	I answer, a day that reveals to him,
1:26.7	more than all other days in the year,
1:29.4	the gross injustice and cruelty to which he is the constant victim.
1:33.7	To him, your celebration is a sham, your boasted liberty,
1:38.7	an unholy license, your national greatness, swelling vanity.
1:43.0	There is not a nation on the earth guilty of practices more shocking and bloody than are the people of the United States
1:51.0	at this very hour. On July 5, 1852, Frederick Douglass delivered a speech to an anti-slavery society
	...

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