LAD #17: Frederick Douglass' "Fifth of July" Speech

Summarize:

When Frederick Douglass gave his Fourth of July Speech on the day following the actual holiday, he recounts the offense he feels on account of former slaves and other freed African Americans in response to the 4th of July celebrations of freedom and equality. Douglass compares the enslaved Americans' current fight for freedom to the earlier colonial Americans' fight for independence from Britain. Although the speech begins by praising the founding fathers of America, Douglass is quick to condemn their ignorance of African American rights. This sets the stage for the enslaved Americans' fight for freedom and citizenship. Douglass urges those who already acknowledge the patriots and the fight for American freedom to also acknowledge the African American fight for those same freedoms. Frederick Douglass disassociates with the celebrations of the 4th of July, he calls it a holiday for white men, but not for blacks. However, he closes with a positive sentiment to the anti-slavery efforts, that they will eventually be successful.

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Frederick Douglass' 4th of July Speech
 
 
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Abraham Lincoln 1858 Speech on Slavery and the American Dream
Only a couple years post Frederick Douglass' speech concerning the freedoms of African Americans and how they relate to the American Dream, Abraham Lincoln gave his own speech about how enslaved people deserve the same freedoms that everyone else in America had.

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