What to the Slave is the Fourth of July: David A. Anderson as Frederick Douglass

 

 

A Black American’s View on the Fourth of July

 

160 years ago the former slave Frederick Douglass was asked to give a speech  

on the Fourth of July. Douglass refused to speak on July 4, but did deliver a  

powerful speech the day after Independence Day. He asked the audience “What  

to the Slave is the Fourth of July?” “What have I, or those I represent,  

to do with your national independence? Are the great principles of political  

freedom and of natural justice, embodied in that Declaration of Independence,  

extended to us?” “The blessings in which you, this day, rejoice are not  

enjoyed in common. The rich inheritance of justice, liberty, prosperity, and  

independence bequeathed by your fathers is shared by you. Not me. The  

sunlight that brought light and healing to you has brought stripes and death  

to me. The Fourth of July is yours, not mine.”

 

On July 1, 2012 at 2 p.m. at the National Abolition Hall of Fame and Museum  

(NAHOF) to which Frederick Douglass was the first inductee, David A. Anderson  

Ph.D.  Visiting Scholar at Nazareth College of Rochester will present an  

oration of Douglass’ speech asking what Independence Day meant to the  

American slave. A founding member of Akwaaba: the Heritage Associates,  

Anderson is an interpreter of living history through reenactments that evoke  

Frederick Douglass, Austin Steward, unheralded escapees, et al.  Often the  

theme addresses the essential role African American Union soldiers played in  

freeing a people and preserving the Union. He has presented such recreations  

at symposia in North Carolina, Pennsylvania, New York, Ohio, and in other  

venues.

 

Anderson chairs Rochester-Monroe County Freedom Trail Commission, which in  

2003, took the lead in staging, "Men of Color, to Arms!" a conference  

illuminating Frederick Douglass' role in overturning policies barring African  

Americans from the Union Army.  In 2007, with the National Underground  

Railroad Freedom Center in Cincinnati, the Commission co-sponsored the  

Frederick Douglass International Underground Railroad Conference. In June  

2009, Anderson joined other honorees at the National Mall in Washington in  

“Giving Voice: The Power of Words in African American Culture,” an  

exploration of the expressive power of the creative African American oral  

traditions in the shaping of American culture.

 

Douglass spoke at anti-slavery conventions in Peterboro and in the Free  

Church of Peterboro which Gerrit Smith had established. Douglass worked with  

Smith in organizing the 1850 Anti-Fugitive Slave Law Convention in Cazenovia,  

New York. Smith made large and regular donations of money to Douglass in  

order to keep solvent Douglass’ anti-slavery efforts through his newspapers  

The North Star and Frederick Douglass’ Paper. Douglass dedicated the second  

edition of his autobiography to Gerrit Smith whom he considered a great man  

because of his practical efforts to implement universal human rights.  

Douglass’ relationship with Smith was also on a very personal level. He  

visited Peterboro often, bringing with him colleagues and other members of  

his family for extended visits as early as 1835. Following the two o’clock  

program, Norman K. Dann PhD, a Gerrit Smith biographer, will conduct a tour  

of Douglass’ steps at the Gerrit Smith Estate describing the relationship  

between the two men.

 

This program is supported by a grant from the New York Council for the  

Humanities for the Abolition Agitation in New York Sparks War for Liberty and  

Justice for All 2012 NAHOF project.  Admission to the program and to the  

exhibits at the National Abolition Hall of Fame and Museum, 5255 Pleasant  

Valley Road in Peterboro is three dollars and free to students. The National  

Abolition Hall of Fame and Museum is included in the Madison County Cultural  

Heritage Passport with its companion heritage site the Gerrit Smith Estate  

National Historic Landmark. Both sites are open Saturdays and Sundays form 1  

– 5 from May 19 to September 23, by appointment, and for special events.  

For more information info@abolitionhof.org and 315-366-8101

 

 

  Anderson aka Douglass crp br

On July 1, 2012 at 2 p.m. at the National Abolition Hall of Fame and Museum  

(NAHOF) to which Frederick Douglass was the first inductee, David A. Anderson  

Ph.D.  Visiting Scholar at Nazareth College of Rochester will present an  

oration of Douglass’ speech asking what Independence Day means to the  

American slave. A founding member of Akwaaba: the Heritage Associates,  

Anderson is an interpreter of living history through reenactments that evoke  

Frederick Douglass, and other 19th C. personages.

 

   Frederick Douglass

Frederick Douglass (1818-1895) abolitionist, eloquent orator, writer, editor,  

and women’s rights advocate, was the first person inducted into the  

National Abolition Hall of Fame and Museum in 2005. David A. Anderson Ph.D.  

will present an oration of Douglass’ speech asking what Independence Day  

means to the American slave at 2 p.m. July 1, 2012 at the Smithfield  

Community Center, 5255 Pleasant Valley Road in Peterboro.