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Introduction
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Liberty vs. Slavery
Christianity and the American Church
Ideals vs. Practice
America’s Past, Present, and Future
Summary
Analysis
Douglass turns to discussing the present, which he claims is the primary focus of his speech. He points out that the Founding Fathers have lived their lives and died, and it is now the responsibility of present-day Americans to live their own lives without riding on the coattails of their ancestors’ accomplishments. In doing so, Douglass points out, Americans also erase the less favorable aspects of the Founding Fathers—for example, the fact that Washington owned slaves until his death. Because of this, Douglass laments the fact that Americans proudly call Washington their father, but he concedes that it is accurate.
Douglass’s ambivalence surrounding the Founding Fathers continues to be relevant here as he delves more deeply into his complex feelings surrounding them. Although Douglass admires the Fathers and believes that Americans should take inspiration from their ideals, he simultaneously laments that they follow Washington’s example of owning slaves. His ambivalence highlights the complicated past and present of America, which is home to both profound heroism and terrible atrocities.
Themes
Douglass challenges the audience, asking them why he’s been invited to speak. He asks them what relationship he has with America’s independence, and whether the rights in the Declaration of Independence apply to him and those like him. He wishes that the answer was yes so that he could be unambiguously grateful to America, but laments that this is not the case. Instead, he is not included in the jubilee of the Fourth of July since, as a Black man born into slavery, he has not benefited from America’s freedom. He asserts that the Fourth of July is the audience’s day, but not his; the positive aspects of America that they enjoy are not available to everyone in the nation. Douglas even accuses the audience of mocking him by inviting him to speak and warns that such cruelty can lead to immense divine retribution against the nation.
Douglass’s tone takes a dramatic shift here as the subtle criticisms he’s made towards the audience become explicit. Rather than making a general criticism of slavery, he personalizes his criticism by questioning the audience’s judgement in inviting a former slave to make a Fourth of July speech. He highlights the rift between them and him, since he is alienated from Fourth of July celebrations due to his status as a Black man. By framing his argument in such personal terms, Douglass illustrates how the issue of slavery and freedom is not an abstract issue but an intensely personal one that affects both him and his listeners—even if the latter does not realize it.
Themes
Above the jubilee, Douglass continues, he hears the pained cries of slaves. He declares the true subject of his speech to be not the Fourth of July, but American slavery, and commits to seeing the day from the slave’s point of view. From this perspective, Douglass cannot see America as anything but a hideous, corrupt nation whether he looks at its actions in the present or the past. He denounces slavery, which he calls “the great sin and shame of America,” and commits to rebuking it in the most scathing language he can manage. Despite this declaration, he is confident that his words will be accepted by any person who is not prejudiced or a slaveowner.
Although Douglass hinted at his various arguments throughout the speech’s introduction, it is at this point that he fully states his thesis: that the Fourth of July only serves to highlight the horrific inequity of slavery. Douglass also establishes the tone of his speech, essentially warning the audience that he will not mince words; instead, he will commit to condemning slavery as strongly as possible, even if it makes him come off as harsh.
Themes
Though some people might say that Douglass and his peers should engage in more debate rather than merely expressing anger, Douglass refuses to do so, as he feels that it is insulting to debate the humanity of another person. The way he sees it, the personhood of the slave has already been validated by the fact that they are subject to laws. On this point, Douglass points out that Black people are subject to harsher criminal punishments than white people; for example, Black people can be sentenced to death for seventy-two crimes, while white people can only be executed for two. This, as far as Douglass is concerned, is proof that a slave is a man, since animals are not subject to laws in this way.
Although Douglass claims a refusal to debate the personhood of slaves, he nevertheless does so by presenting a concrete example of how slaves are treated as individuals: unlike animals, slaves are subject to laws. Douglass uses this fact as a springboard to illustrate the injustice baked into the legal system, where Black people face more severe consequences for the same crimes. Thus, Douglass not only proves the legal personhood of slaves but also demonstrates how their status as legal entities is used to further oppress them.
Themes
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Douglass goes on to assert that it is absurd to question the humanity of individuals who use technology, benefit from education, begin businesses, start families, and worship God. He also refuses to debate whether men are entitled to freedom and bodily autonomy, or whether it is wrong to enslave and brutalize other human beings. He believes that all of these facts are self-evident to anyone and that debating them is an insult to his audience’s intelligence as well as a waste of his own time.
In this section, Douglass once again refuses to debate the humanity of slaves but provides support for his argument anyway: just as animals are not subject to laws, they also do not partake in things such as business, marriage, or religion. These facts are so glaringly obvious that Douglass refuses to entertain any alternatives.
Themes
The last argument that Douglass refuses is the divinity of slavery. He states that it is blasphemous to even consider that slavery is divine or that God established it. He asserts that “that which is inhuman, cannot be divine,” and that while others may feel the need to debate it, he cannot do so.
Douglass briefly discusses the intersection of Christian faith and abolitionism. Much like the arguments against the fact that enslaved people are human beings, Douglass takes personal offense at the idea of the divinity of slavery being a matter up for debate. He considers it to be the opposite: slavery is inherently anti-Christian.
Themes
Rather than getting into pointless debates, Douglass states that he has a different approach to discussing slavery: “scorching irony, not convincing argument.” He wishes that he could reach the ear of everyone in the nation in order to subject them to the most scathing criticism he can manage. He wishes to do this not out of spite, but strategically; he feels that the temperament of the nation needs to be intensified in order to rouse individuals into awareness, draw attention to the brutality of slavery, and highlight the hypocrisy ingrained in American ideals.
Although Douglass is committed to a harshly critical tone, it is notable that he does not do so solely out of spite. Instead, he feels that America has become complacent in slavery and therefore needs a strong wake-up call to understand the gravity of what is happening in the country. Thus, much like the Founding Fathers during their revolution, Douglass feels that the stakes are too high to spend time fretting over civility.
Themes
Douglass returns to assessing the Fourth of July from the slave’s point of view. To the slave, he explains, the Fourth of July is an insult that reveals to him just how much freedom he lacks. The Fourth of July’s jubilant celebrations are a mere smokescreen for the true brutality of America, which allows slavery to continue. Douglass goes so far as to claim that America is unparalleled by any other nation in its brutality and hypocrisy.
At this point, Douglass answers the titular question of his speech. He rejects the joy and jubilation that he’s alluded to when discussing the Fourth of July, instead painting the holiday as a tragic symbol for America’s hypocrisy. After all, slaves haven’t benefited from America’s liberation from England, meaning that the Fourth of July does not include them.
Themes
