Free Republic

Elie Mystal believes that the Constitution is trash because of slavery. No doubt, Mystal believes that the Constitution is pro-slavery. https://www.newsweek.com/elie-mystal-doubles-down-against-haters-after-calling-constitution-trash-1685174Conversely, Frederick Douglass believed that the Constitution is anti-slavery, because of the details of its formation. Here's an idea of what he thinks: The American Constitution and the Slave - Is the Constitution pro-slavery or anti-slavery? - By Frederick Douglass https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PbJ5WdKpMroI know who I agree with. Interestingly, Douglass is super detailed as to why the Constitution is anti-slavery, wheras Mystal just spouts some talking points that only sound cute to a sympathetic crowd. I'm sure, to be fair, that Mystal...

Frederick Douglass defends the Constitution. Many abolitionists in his day had misguided views about the Founding Fathers and the Constitution. Douglass was ready to set them straight.

Preferred title: Should the British Government be dissolved because Queen Elizabeth authorized Sir John Hawkins to import Africans into the West Indies? (title too long) Frederick Douglass is amazing. If you consider yourself a constitutionalist and you aren't reading Douglass you are missing out on true greatness. In 1860, Frederick Douglass tore fellow abolitionists to shreds over the slave trade saying: (source) Mr. Thompson is just 52 years too late in dissolving the Union on account of this clause. He might as well dissolve the British Government, because Queen Elizabeth granted to Sir John Hawkins to import Africans into the...

In his life and times Frederick Douglass was known around the world as an orator, abolitionist, suffragist, and reformist. While living in Washington, DC, where he spent the last quarter-century of his life, he was also known to many as an admirer of William Shakespeare. Today, tens of thousands of people visit the Frederick Douglass National Historic Site each year at Cedar Hill, Douglass’s home in Anacostia, where the library shelves hold volumes of Shakespeare’s complete works and a framed print of Othello and Desdemona hangs above the mantle in the west parlor. Douglass frequently alluded to Shakespeare in his...

Over the past month, statues and depictions of prior presidents, Christopher Columbus, and even religious homages have been subjected to forms of vandalism by many unhinged “activists”. So, it is with little surprise that the latest casualty of the attacks on statues was none other than that of famed abolitionist Frederick Douglass in Maplewood Park. According to Rochester Police, the tearing down of the statue of Douglass took place during the Fourth of July weekend. Police stated that the depiction of Douglass was removed from the base where it was erected, and was found approximately 50 feet from its original...

Prior to the Charlottesville debacle regarding a Confederate general’s statue in summer 2017, I had been researching for some time on the life of Frederick Douglass. Before the uproar over the Robert E. Lee’s likeness in a public park in Old Dominion, I had taken up Douglass scholarship to learn about America’s slave past, the Civil War, and its aftermath, because so much in our current civic discussion has been affected by the historical reality of slavery. I was interested in developing a theatrical work about Douglass’ life, which I believed would entertain the audience, while elevating public discourse about...

"Some want D.C.'s Lincoln statue gone. Others point out: Freed Black Americans paid for it."

Former San Francisco 49ers Player Colin Kaepernick, apparently still riding the endorphin-high triggered by his beating up on a pair of sneakers, has now gone after the whole of American independence. In a now-infamous tweet, Kaepernick quoted Frederick Douglass’ “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?” speech, pairing it with a video showing scenes of slavery, civil-rights era abuses, and apparent police brutality against African Americans. A voice-over features the narration of James Earl Jones reading a portion of the Douglass speech. The video makes the poisonous accusation that American independence does not include black Americans. Kaerpernick posted...

Kaepernick is a fool. Quoting without knowing the full content is a bad idea. There are many now who have already said read the full speech, but for some that just isn't good enough. Many don't have the spare time to sit and read. I can make this more convenient for those of you. Here is the option to listen instead of reading. Download if you like. These are free in the public domain. Here is the full text just in case: https://teachingamericanhistory.org/library/document/what-to-the-slave-is-the-fourth-of-july/

Sen. Ted Cruz responded Thursday night after former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick posted a passage earlier on the Fourth of July from a famous speech by Civil War-era abolitionist Frederick Douglass. The passage Kaepernick cites is from Douglass’ speech, “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?” Douglass delivered to the speech at a meeting of the Rochester Ladies’ Anti-Slavery Society in Rochester, N.Y., on July 5, 1852 – nearly nine years before the Civil War began. But the former San Francisco 49ers signal-caller includes a video montage of a longer version of the speech, accompanied by drawings depicting...

Fellow Citizens, I am not wanting in respect for the fathers of this republic. The signers of the Declaration of Independence were brave men. They were great men too — great enough to give fame to a great age. It does not often happen to a nation to raise, at one time, such a number of truly great men. The point from which I am compelled to view them is not, certainly, the most favorable; and yet I cannot contemplate their great deeds with less than admiration. They were statesmen, patriots and heroes, and for the good they did, and...

Last July, Anthony Hervey, an outspoken black advocate for the Confederate flag, was killed in a car crash. Arlene Barnum, a surviving passenger in the vehicle, told authorities and the media that they had been forced off the road by a carload of "angry young black men" after Hervey, while wearing his Confederate kepi, stopped at a convenience store en route to his home in Oxford, Mississippi. His death was in no small part caused by the gross level of ignorance, organized deceit and anger about the War of 1861. Much of the ignorance stems from the fact that most...

“What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?” Frederick Douglass July 5, 1852 Mr. President, Friends and Fellow Citizens: He who could address this audience without a quailing sensation, has stronger nerves than I have. I do not remember ever to have appeared as a speaker before any assembly more shrinkingly, nor with greater distrust of my ability, than I do this day. A feeling has crept over me, quite unfavorable to the exercise of my limited powers of speech. The task before me is one which requires much previous thought and study for its proper performance. I know...

One thing that neither Barack Obama nor his acolytes in politics and the media lacked was confidence. DAVID BROOKS: So there's a lot of very smart people [around Obama], and it's a testament to Obama's confidence. You know, there was a great quote in a Ryan Lizza piece in the New Yorker about Obama's confidence. And I'm not going to get it exactly right, but he essentially said, "I'm a better speechwriter than my speechwriters. I know more about policy than my policy directors. I think I'm a better political director than my political director." It was a speech of...

The Slavery Party(title reference) The Slavery Party, full text, from a larger untitled speech. May, 1853. MR. PRESIDENT, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN: The resolution upon which I propose to make a few remarks respects the present condition and the future prospects of the whole colored people of the United States. The subject is a great one, and opens ample scope for thought and feeling. I feel a diffidence in undertaking its consideration for two causes: first, my own incompetence to do it justice; and the second is, the peculiar relation subsisting between me and the audience I am to address. Sir,...

Friends and Fellow Citizens: Tarry here for a moment. My words shall be few and simple. The solemn rites of this hour and place call for no lengthened speech. There is in the very air of this resting ground of the unknown dead a silent, subtle, and an all-pervading eloquence, far more touching, impressive, and thrilling, than living lips have ever uttered. Into the measureless depths of every loyal soul it is now whispering lessons of all that is precious, priceless, holiest, and most enduring in human existence. Dark and sad will be the hour to this nation when it...

Friends and Fellow Citizens: Tarry here for a moment. My words shall be few and simple. The solemn rites of this hour and place call for no lengthened speech. There is in the very air of this resting ground of the unknown dead a silent, subtle, and an all-pervading eloquence, far more touching, impressive, and thrilling, than living lips have ever uttered. Into the measureless depths of every loyal soul it is now whispering lessons of all that is precious, priceless, holiest, and most enduring in human existence. Dark and sad will be the hour to this nation when it...

This Marine understands. (Click here to see the video.)Oh, say can you see by the dawn's early light What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming? Whose broad stripes and bright stars thru the perilous fight, O'er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming? And the rocket's red glare, the bombs bursting in air, Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there. Oh, say does that star-spangled banner yet wave O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave? On the shore, dimly seen through the mists of the deep, Where...

A former NAACP executive was charged in Fulton County, Ga., with embezzling $275,000 from the U.S. civil rights organization, NAACP officials say. The Rev. Amos Brown, administrator for the NAACP's Atlanta chapter, said former NAACP official Judith W. Hanson and Hanson's former assistant, Saundra Douglass, are accused of embezzling funds during their time with the Baltimore-based organization, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution said Tuesday. Authorities allege Hanson, who served as the executive director of the NAACP's Atlanta chapter, and Douglass used NAACP funds for personal expenses during a six-year period. The alleged embezzlement was uncovered by an internal investigation of the chapter's...

ORATION, DELIVERED IN CORINTHIAN HALL, ROCHESTER, BY FREDERICK DOUGLASS, JULY 5TH, 1852. Published by Request ROCHESTER: PRINTED BY LEE, MANN & CO., AMERICAN BUILDING. 1852. FREDERICK DOUGLASS ESQ.: Dear Sir-The Ladies of the "Rochester Anti Slavery Sewing Society," desire me to return you their most sincere thanks for the eloquent and able address delivered in Corinthian Hall, on the 5th of July. Anticipating its speedy publication in Pamphlet form, they request that you will furnish them with one hundred copies for distribution: In behalf of the Society, SUSAN F. PORTER, President. ORATION. Mr. President, Friends and Fellow Citizens : HE...