Wishing all a safe #FourthofJuly! In addition to our Red, White & Blue Pinterest board s.si.edu/38sAYST, we’re sharing excerpts from Frederick Douglass’ 1852 speech: "The Meaning of July Fourth for the Negro." (1/8)
Douglass, a former enslaved man, was well known as an abolitionist, author, orator, and statesman and served as an advisor to five U.S. presidents, including Lincoln during the Civil War. He has appeared on two U.S. postage stamps, issued in 1967 and 1965. ©USPS (2/8) 
Douglass presents a layered portrait of America that resonates deeply on this day. “Fellow Citizens, I am not wanting in respect for the fathers of this republic. They were statesmen, patriots and heroes, and for the good they did, and the principles they contended for… (3/8)
…I will unite with you to honor their memory....Fellow citizens, pardon me, allow me to ask, why am I called upon to speak here to-day? What have I, or those I represent, to do with your national independence? (4/8)
“…Are the great principles of political freedom and of natural justice, embodied in that Declaration of Independence, extended to us?...Your high independence only reveals the immeasurable distance between us.” (5/8)
“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 by me.” (6/8)
“...The feeling of the nation must be quickened; the conscience of the nation must be roused; the propriety of the nation must be startled; the hypocrisy of the nation must be exposed; and its crimes against God and man must be proclaimed and denounced.” (7/8)
“...Allow me to say, in conclusion, notwithstanding the dark picture I have this day presented, of the state of the nation, I do not despair of this country... I, therefore, leave off where I began, with hope.” Learn more about Douglass' speech: nmaahc.si.edu/blog-post/nati… (8/8)
