Slavery Is The Fourth Of July Summary

During an address in Rochester entitled What to the Slave is the Fourth of July, Frederick Douglass described the difference between the true ideas of American democracy and the misconceptions and false justifications that allowed the institution of American slavery to continue to grow. True ideas of democracy allow and celebrate each individual’s freedom and pursuit of happiness. These ideas of democracy were nonexistent on American plantations in the period of slavery. Slaves were not only denied their freedom and legal position, they were subjected to a life of suffering. Douglass’s narrative details his experience with the widespread immorality in the south and gives an insight to possible reasons that this institution was able to grow …show more content…
To argue against an abolitionist, a slaveholder could have simply stated that without the slave trade, the southern economy would fail. However, for the average working man in this era, the slave trade was unaffordable. Slaves were extremely expensive and owned mostly by the wealthiest plantation owners. In his narrative, Douglass describes the extent of one of his master’s wealth and power: “Colonel Lloyd kept from three to four hundred slaves on his home plantation, and owned a large number more on the neighboring farms belonging to him…The overseers of these, and all the rest of the farms, numbering twenty, received advice and direction from the managers of the home plantation. This was the great business place. It was the seat of government for the whole twenty farms” (Douglas, 24). One man controlled over 400 human lives, and his power extended to his family and partners, including Captain Auld, Colonel Lloyd’s son-in law and Douglass’s former master. So, if you were fortunate enough to have been born to or married into a prosperous plantation family, slavery would surely be the blessing that brought you and your family into the upper class of the economy. However, if you were a working class citizen, slavery only solidified the gap between the rich and the poor. The argument that slavery helped the southern economy also fails when considering the prosperity of the northern abolitionist …show more content…
In his Narrative, Douglass remarks on Mr. Covey, an especially volatile and spirit breaking slaveholder: “Added to the natural good qualities of Mr. Covey, he was a professor of religion-a pious soul- a member and a class leader in the Methodist church. All of this added weight to his reputation as a “nigger-breaker” (Douglass, 61). Mr. Covey used religious excuses to condone his actions. Already, this starts to seem like a totally illegitimate excuse, because the whole purpose of religion is to teach others how to be moral and loving, just like God is said to be. However, a religious slaveholder could have used the argument that the black man is “cursed by god” to be subservient. The slaveholder would claim that the white man is simply deemed by God to be higher than the black man. Douglass describes the inconsistency in this belief when he recounts examples of slaveholders having children with their own slaves: “…cruel as the deed may strike any one to be, for a man to sell his own children to human flesh-mongers…for unless he does this, he must not only whip them himself, but must stand by and see one white son tie up his brother, of but few shades darker complexion than himself” (Douglass, 19). If a white slaveholder truly believed that white people were superior, he would never have even considered having a child by his own slave. So, the excuse that slaves are lower than the white man is