July 5 - BlackFacts.com Black History Minute

BlackFacts.com presents the black fact of the day for July 5.

 

Frederick Douglass gave his speech "What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?".

He was an African American abolitionist, orator, newspaper publisher, and author. He became the first Black U.S. marshal.

Douglass was born into slavery on the Eastern Shore of the Chesapeake Bay in Talbot County, Maryland. When he was seven years old, he was sent to his master, Captain Aaron Anthony, at a nearby plantation.

On September 3, 1838, Douglass escaped from slavery. With identification borrowed from a free Black seaman, he traveled to New York City.

He remained an avid reader throughout his adult life. In 1847, he began publishing his own abolitionist newsletter, the North Star. 

He became a powerful orator, often traveling six months out of the year to give lectures on abolition. 

When radical abolitionists, under the motto "No Union with Slaveholders", criticized Douglass's willingness to engage in dialogue with slave owners, he replied: "I would unite with anybody to do right and with nobody to do wrong."

In July 5, 1852, he  delivered his speech at an event commemorating the signing of the Declaration of Independence, held at Corinthian Hall in Rochester, New York.

The speech explores the constitutional and values-based arguments against the continued existence of Slavery in the United States.

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