{"id":1963814,"date":"2023-07-04T03:26:02","date_gmt":"2023-07-04T07:26:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/honoring-frederick-douglass-on-the-fourth-of-july-just-makes-sense\/"},"modified":"2023-07-04T03:30:39","modified_gmt":"2023-07-04T07:30:39","slug":"honoring-frederick-douglass-on-the-fourth-of-july-just-makes-sense","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/honoring-frederick-douglass-on-the-fourth-of-july-just-makes-sense\/","title":{"rendered":"Celebrating Frederick Douglass on July 4th is logical."},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">16<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fhonoring-frederick-douglass-on-the-fourth-of-july-just-makes-sense%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1963814&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div class=\"article-content\">\n<p>While Frederick Douglass is obviously not a Founding Father, his life embodied our nation\u2019s highest ideals, and his speeches were delivered to promote these values. And on this day \u2014 the day we commemorate the inception of our nation with the signing of the Declaration of Independence in 1776 \u2014 Douglass is one man that deserves to be associated with the Fourth of July.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>From Slave to Honored Orator<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Born a slave in <a href=\"https:\/\/uncf.org\/pages\/the-life-of-frederick-douglass#:~:text=Frederick%20Augustus%20Washington%20Bailey%2C%20who,famous%20intellectuals%20of%20his%20time.\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">1818<\/a> in Maryland with the given name Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey, Douglass was a strong-willed and intelligent man who, in spite of the laws at the time, learned to read and write. <\/p>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-2-long d-flex justify-content-center\" style=\"margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center; \" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-100404098\">\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-1379703300879-0\" class=\"mb-30\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-e5554e498640d1ba97ca66675e9cf6be fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-2\" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-e5554e498640d1ba97ca66675e9cf6be\"><\/div>\n<p>In <a href=\"https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/biography\/Frederick-Douglass\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">1838<\/a>, he escaped and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/climate-change-activists-dump-cow-manure-near-white-house-chant-bulls-over-bidens-climate-plan\/\" title=\"Climate Change Activists Dump Cow Manure Near White House, Chant \u2018Bulls***\u2019\u00a0 Over Biden\u2019s Climate Plan\">eventually made<\/a> his way to New Bedford, Massachusetts, where he <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nps.gov\/frdo\/learn\/historyculture\/frederickdouglass.htm#:~:text=After%20finding%20employment%20as%20a,across%20the%20North%20and%20Midwest.\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">labored<\/a> and was a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.journals.uchicago.edu\/doi\/abs\/10.2307\/2717283?journalCode=jnh#:~:text=Most%20people%20are%20aware%20that,was%20also%20a%20lay%20preacher.\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">lay preacher<\/a>. Later, he became involved in the abolitionist movement, where he met William Lloyd Garrison, who took Douglass under his wing for a time. <\/p>\n<p>As Douglass\u2019s orator skills grew, so did his fame. However, Douglass and Garrison did not see eye to eye on the issue of slavery, and eventually the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.crf-usa.org\/images\/pdf\/Abolitionists-and-the-Constitution.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">two parted ways<\/a>. <\/p>\n<p>Douglass founded his own abolitionist newspaper called \u201cThe North Star\u201d and would go on to become <em>the<\/em> major force in the movement to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/combat-vet-paralympian-blasts-u-s-soccer-vote-to-allow-kneeling-during-anthem\/\" title=\"Combat Vet, Paralympian Blasts U.S. Soccer Vote To Allow Kneeling During Anthem\">abolish slavery<\/a> in America \u2014 even going so far as to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.whitehousehistory.org\/frederick-douglass-and-abraham-lincoln\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">meet with and advise<\/a> Abraham Lincoln and help recruit black soldiers for the Union army.<\/p>\n<p>His earlier views were obviously denunciatory of slavery and the nation that hypocritically allowed it at its founding and promoted it with the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.battlefields.org\/learn\/primary-sources\/fugitive-slave-act#:~:text=Passed%20on%20September%2018%2C%201850,returning%2C%20and%20trying%20escaped%20slaves.\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">1850 Fugitive Slave Act<\/a>. However, Douglass did not ultimately accept Garrison\u2019s doctrine that the U.S. Constitution was an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/honoring-frederick-douglass-on-the-fourth-of-july-just-makes-sense\/\" title=\"Celebrating Frederick Douglass on July 4th is logical.\">inherently pro-slavery document<\/a>. Instead, he came to appreciate the significance of America\u2019s Founding Fathers and the \u201cself-evident truths\u201d with which they shaped a new nation. <\/p>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-10d09c498f14d7aa7e123e03d5bcc82e fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-6\" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-10d09c498f14d7aa7e123e03d5bcc82e\"><\/div>\n<p>In time he learned to see that when it came to the grave injustices endured by his fellow countryman, it was not the principles that were lacking but the courage of individual Americans to live those principles out.<\/p>\n<p>Thus in 1852, Douglass gave one of his most famous speeches, titled \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.blackpast.org\/african-american-history\/speeches-african-american-history\/1852-frederick-douglass-what-slave-fourth-july\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?<\/a>\u201d Here, he <a href=\"https:\/\/constitutioncenter.org\/interactive-constitution\/podcast\/what-to-the-slave-is-the-fourth-of-july\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">laid<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/constitutioncenter.org\/interactive-constitution\/podcast\/what-to-the-slave-is-the-fourth-of-july\"> out<\/a> in stirring detail how it was a \u201cslander upon [the framers\u2019 memory\u201d to call the Constitution a pro-slavery document. He went on to say that the Founding Fathers were \u201cbrave\u201d and \u201cgreat\u201d men but that:<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote\">\n<p>Their solid manhood stands out the more as we contrast it with these degenerate times. How circumspect, exact and proportionate were all their movements! How unlike the politicians of an hour! Their statesmanship looked beyond the passing moment, and stretched away in strength into the distant future. They seized upon eternal principles, and set a glorious example in their defense. Mark them!<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Interestingly enough, many of today\u2019s racial grievance initiatives like Black Lives Matter or those who believe America\u2019s founding and its founders were racist, patriarchal, or any of the other jaundiced shibboleths used by the left, will sometimes <a href=\"https:\/\/vimeo.com\/434962417\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">cite this speech<\/a> as proof that racism is built into America\u2019s DNA. This is a belief typical of those who have been educated (or conditioned) to filter every aspect of life through the lens of race, class, and sex while harboring a self-imposed sense of alienation from America.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>However, as Peter C. Meyers of the Heritage Foundation <a href=\"https:\/\/www.heritage.org\/political-process\/report\/frederick-douglasss-america-race-justice-and-the-promise-the-founding\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">once noted<\/a>, it is a belief that can only be held by those who have not read Douglass\u2019s speech in context and in its entirety. <\/p>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-8ab4b732dd01f999f017caf1ad89956c fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-10\" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-8ab4b732dd01f999f017caf1ad89956c\"><\/div>\n<p>Meyers notes today\u2019s activists are making the same mistake Garrison made by seeing \u201cAmerica\u2019s betrayals of the ideals of liberty and equality\u201d as \u201cbetrayals <em>in<\/em> the nation\u2019s founding principles rather than betrayals <em>of<\/em> them.\u201d In doing so, those who \u201ccritically\u201d denounce the Constitution and America\u2019s founding, are siding with a man who went so far as to burn a copy of the document, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.masshist.org\/object-of-the-month\/objects\/a-covenant-with-death-and-an-agreement-with-hell-2005-07-01\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">calling it<\/a> a \u201ccovenant with death\u201d and \u201can agreement with hell.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>Fortunately for all of us, history has not been too kind to the memory of Garrison, and we can only hope for a similar outcome with today\u2019s activists.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Pursuing Eternal Principles<\/h2>\n<p>The life of Frederick Douglass shows us that while our nation\u2019s history has and always will have dark periods of which we should rightfully be ashamed, those times will only come about when we fail to live out our nation\u2019s highest ideals. These \u201ceternal\u201d and \u201csaving\u201d principles \u2014 that we are all created equal with certain God-given inalienable rights \u2014 are ones that we should not only be celebrating today; we should endeavor to pursue them each and every day as part of an ongoing goal to \u201cforming a more perfect union\u201d with our fellow citizens and our nation as a whole.<\/p>\n<p>As for those who question or reject those principles, all I can say is that if they were good enough for Douglass (a man who at one time had<em> none<\/em> of the rights we all take for granted now), then they should be good enough for us all. It is an insult to the man\u2019s memory to think that today\u2019s overly educated activists and underinformed slacktivists have endured, let alone accomplished, more than Douglass did. <\/p>\n<p>So on this Fourth of July, in addition to honoring our Founding Fathers and the principles that have made America exceptional among all the other nations, please take a moment to offer a toast or a prayer for Frederick Douglass. He is a true and faithful American \u2014 one whose life is everything this holiday is meant to commemorate.<\/p>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-ae264fb354d4d2a1852428cdbd886698 fdrlst__b89e9-after-post-content\" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-ae264fb354d4d2a1852428cdbd886698\"><\/div>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\">    \t\t\t\t\t   \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>While not a Founding Father, Frederick Douglass exemplified our nation&#8217;s ideals and delivered speeches to promote them. On this day, as we celebrate the signing of the Declaration of Independence in 1776, Douglass stands as a testament to the values that shaped our nation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1909,"featured_media":1963815,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[546],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1963814","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-federalist"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1963814","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1909"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1963814"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1963814\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1963815"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1963814"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1963814"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1963814"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}