Anti-American Agenda

The Progressive Agenda has attempted to vilify the Fourth of July. Celebrities and political figures alike have twisted the words of Frederick Douglass – an American hero – to push their goal of “American shame.” What did Douglass really think of America?

Let’s make it a goal to share this entire speech with our fellow Americans

On July 4, former San Francisco 49ers player Colin Kaepernick posted the following quote from abolitionist Frederick Douglass: “What have I, or those I represent, to do with your national independence? This Fourth of July is yours, not mine…There is not a nation on the Earth guilty of practices more shocking and bloody than are the people of these United States at this very hour.”

A Much Needed History Lesson

This quote from Douglass was spoken in Rochester, New York, in 1852. The sentences were part of a much larger speech being delivered by Douglass titled, “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?” Over the years, many on the left have used this speech to condemn the Fourth of July and those who would celebrate American exceptionalism. Are Americans being given the full context of the speech? More yet, are they being given some of the most important parts of it?

Douglass certainly hits home on various subjects throughout this oration. For instance, he states at one point: “You invite to your shores fugitives of oppression from abroad, honor them with banquets, greet them with ovations, cheer them, toast them, salute them, protect them, and pour out your money to them like water; but the fugitives from your own land you advertise, hunt, arrest, shoot, and kill…You can bare your bosom to the storm of British artillery to throw off a three-penny tax on tea; and yet wring the last hard-earned farthing from the grasp of the black laborers of your country.”

Hatred for the Fourth?

It would seem, without reading through the entirety of the speech, as if Douglass was purely emphasizing hate and disdain for America. A closer and more thorough examination, however, reveals quite the opposite. Douglass was born into slavery in Talbot County, Maryland. He witnessed its horror and atrocities firsthand. Douglass acknowledged that America had a guilty past when it came to the issue of slavery, but he did not hate America because of it.

Rather than be like progressives, who blame America for the world’s problems, he simply acknowledged that it was beyond time for all Americans to embrace abolition. How did he aim to achieve this? By pointing to the key components of the American founding. In the same speech, Douglass embraces the founding fathers, the Declaration of Independence, and the Constitution.

Vindicating the Founders

On mentioning the founders, he starts speaking as if he detests them. It is important to remember that some of the founders, including Washington and Jefferson, were personally involved in American slavery; however, these were their personal decisions, and not visions they embraced for Americanism. Both Washington and Jefferson wished greatly to see an end to slavery.

After stating what some of the radical abolitionists thought of the founders, Douglass pulled a complete 180 and expressed his admiration for them. “And instead of being the honest men I have before declared them to be, they were the veriest imposters that ever practiced on mankind. This is the inevitable conclusion, and from it there is no escape. But I differ from those who charge this baseness on the framers of the Constitution of the United States. It is a slander upon their memory, at least, so I believe.”

Vindicating the Constitution and Declaration

It has occasionally been said among the Left that the Constitution is not the liberty document that it has been presented to be. Somewhere within the confines of its prestigious writing, they say, was included the “right” of an individual to own slaves. After all, abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison called the Constitution a “covenant with death and an agreement with Hell.” Frederick Douglass, however, disagreed.

Although certain parts of the Constitution stated circumstances that may pertain to slavery, and the Fugitive Slave Law maintained that escaped slaves must be returned to their masters, it did not specifically condone slavery. Neither did the Constitution encourage it. During his speech, Douglass said, “The subject has been handled…These gentlemen have, as I think, fully vindicated the Constitution from any design to support slavery for an hour…interpreted as it ought to be interpreted, the Constitution is a GLORIOUS LIBERTY DOCUMENT. Read its preamble, consider its purposes. Is slavery among them? Is it at the gateway, is it in the temple? It is neither.”

It Wasn’t What You’ve Been Taught

Douglass later stated, “Now, take the Constitution according to its plain reading, and I defy the presentation of a single pro-slavery clause in it. On the other hand, it will be found to contain principles and purposes entirely hostile to the existence of slavery…While drawing inspiration from the Declaration of Independence, the great principles it contains, and the genius of American institutions, my spirit is also cheered by the obvious tendencies of the age.”

“What to the Slave is the Fourth of July” invokes a great sense of patriotism. It called for Americans to stand fervently against slavery, and today, we can use its inspiration to rally against all types of injustice. Frederick Douglass did not despise America. He loved this country and wished to uphold the true spirit of the founders, the Constitution, and the Declaration of Independence. Let’s make it a goal to share this entire speech with our fellow Americans; not just cropped portions that fit a Progressive agenda.