What to the Slave is the 4th of July, asked Fredrick Douglass? To Fredrick Douglass, the 4th of July meant that America had not lived up to its promise. What the constitution said to the abolitionist was that: all men were created equal except the slave. To Douglass and the abolitionists that supported him, Independence Day stood as a glaring contradiction to the words in the constitution, words made glowingly obvious to the anti-slavery members when it came to black men. The slaves had taken part in helping to preserve the colonies turned states by fighting in the war of independence for independence that did not necessarily apply to the slaves. That meant that slaves could fight for the American Flag, but because they were not considered citizens, at that time, were not entitled to equal protection under the law.
To Frederick Douglass and those who supported him the constitution's elegant written design and words: all men are created equal, clearly referred only to white men. Black men, even "free black men," really had no protections under the law except where they appeared as the property of a slaveholder. The Dread Scott Decision by the courts would make it clear that slaves, black men, and women were not seen as citizens of the U.S. whose flag the slaves were being asked to honor. A situation that would persist from 1776 up to and into the Civil War.
After reading the book Douglass and Lincoln, by Paul Kendrick and Stephen Kendrick, I realized that if Lincoln had any problem with Frederick Douglass it was that Douglass wanted freedom for his people now! Right then and there while Lincoln on the other hand preferred a more cautious approach when dealing with the abolishment of the slavery problem.
Fredrick Douglass had his wit, intelligence, and experiences with racism that drove him to advocate so forcefully for the end of slavery. Lincoln didn't see himself as a reformer, or even an abolitionist, but he did possess a deep dislike of slavery and a desire to see an end to slavery but Lincoln also realized that the issue of slavery was such an economic and emotional issue that put maximum stress on and already shaky union with pro-slavery states it could fracture that union and lead to Civil War.
As far as Douglass was concerned there was the Presidential candidate Abraham Lincoln that he received positive affirmation from their discussions about ways to institute and embrace the end of slavery, and then the new President-Elect Abraham Lincoln who seemed suddenly more reticent about the slavery issues that drove Frederick Douglass day and night. For Douglass, with the election of Abraham Lincoln, never had the time been so right for a major change in the social-economic makeup of a nation.
Back in 1860 the U.S. existed mostly east of the Mississippi River and in an attempt to expand new additions to the union like Kansas were usually invaded by slavery and anti-slavery factions determined to battle it out over whether a new state became a slave state, or a state free of slavery. After Lincoln's election, the south began dismantling the union of states by session and declaring war on the United States with an attack on Fort Sumter followed by the Civil War. Fredrick Douglass's first attempt to impress upon the new president Abraham Lincoln to allow black troops to join the U.S. military was not well received by Lincoln.
Two or three years into the Civil War Abraham Lincoln would announce the Emancipation Proclamation. The document would earn the disapproval of Frederick Douglass and other abolitionists because while it was a start, freeing only the slaves in confederate areas, it did not set free slaves in friendly northern areas, a fact that further inflamed the confederacy and disappointed the abolitionist.
Frederick Douglass did consider it good news when later Lincoln would allow black American troops to fight for their own freedom and just like in the war for this nation's independence from England black troops would distinguish themselves on the battlefield. The end of the Civil War was a time that represented a successful end to the underground railroad for the white abolitionist and clergy who maintained it and established a new Independence Day for black men and women called Juneteenth.
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