Primary Sources
As you read each source, practice these four skills:
Frederick Douglass, who had escaped from slavery, was invited to give a Fourth of July speech in Rochester, New York. What he delivered was one of the most powerful indictments of American hypocrisy ever spoken.
What, to the American slave, is your 4th of July? I answer: a day that reveals to him, more than all other days in the year, the gross injustice and cruelty to which he is the constant victim. To him, your celebration is a sham; your boasted liberty, an unholy license; your national greatness, swelling vanity; your sounds of rejoicing are empty and heartless; your denunciations of tyrants, brass fronted impudence; your shouts of liberty and equality, hollow mockery.
How does this speech connect to the Declaration of Independence?
Douglass, Frederick. "What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?" 5 July 1852. University of Rochester Frederick Douglass Project.
Elizabeth Cady Stanton deliberately modeled this document on the Declaration of Independence, changing 'all men are created equal' to 'all men AND WOMEN.' It was signed by 68 women and 32 men.
We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men and women are created equal… The history of mankind is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations on the part of man toward woman, having in direct object the establishment of an absolute tyranny over her. To prove this, let facts be submitted to a candid world.
How does this connect to Abigail Adams's "Remember the Ladies" letter from 72 years earlier?
Stanton, Elizabeth Cady. "Declaration of Sentiments." 1848. National Park Service.
Sojourner Truth, born into slavery in New York, became one of the most powerful speakers of the reform era. At a women's rights convention in Ohio, she challenged the idea that women were too delicate for equal rights. NOTE: This version was recorded 12 years later by someone else and may not be her exact words.
That man over there says that women need to be helped into carriages, and lifted over ditches, and to have the best place everywhere. Nobody ever helps me into carriages, or over mud-puddles, or gives me any best place! And ain't I a woman? I have ploughed and planted, and gathered into barns, and no man could head me! And ain't I a woman? I could work as much and eat as much as a man — when I could get it — and bear the lash as well! And ain't I a woman?
How does Truth's speech complicate the women's rights movement? Whose experiences were being left out?
Truth, Sojourner. "Ain't I a Woman?" As recorded by Frances Dana Gage. 1863.
William Lloyd Garrison launched The Liberator demanding the immediate end of slavery — no compromise, no gradual plan. His first editorial declared his position in unforgettable terms.
I will be as harsh as truth, and as uncompromising as justice. On this subject, I do not wish to think, or to speak, or write, with moderation… I am in earnest — I will not equivocate — I will not excuse — I will not retreat a single inch — AND I WILL BE HEARD.
What does Garrison's language tell you about his personality and strategy? Why might some people — even those who opposed slavery — have found him too extreme?
How does Garrison's approach compare to Douglass's speech?
Garrison, William Lloyd. "To the Public." The Liberator, 1 Jan. 1831.