5 Must-Read Independence Day Speeches Vol. 2

Don’t miss more must-read Independence Day speeches from Samuel Adams and Abraham Lincoln in volume one of the series here.  

3. “What to the slave is the 4th of July?” - Frederick Douglass

Contentious and beloved, Frederick Douglass’s 1852 Independence Day address is a nuanced piece that defies simple categorization, often misunderstood and passionately debated by both supporters and critics alike. Douglass navigates between extremes in his sentiments towards America, expressing both deep disillusionment and profound respect for her founding principles. A comprehensive assessment of his speech demands an acknowledgment of these dual perspectives.

Those who claim that the former slave openly admired America and relished in the 4th of July egregiously misstate the facts:

“I am not included within the pale of this glorious anniversary,” Douglass stated frankly. “Your high independence only reveals the immeasurable distance between us. The blessings in which you this day rejoice are not enjoyed in common. The rich inheritance of justice, liberty, prosperity, and independence bequeathed by your fathers is shared by you, not by me. The sunlight that brought life and healing to you has brought stripes and death to me. This Fourth of July is yours, not mine,” he mourned.

“What to the American slave is your Fourth of July? I answer, a day that reveals to him more than all other days of the year, the gross injustice and cruelty to which he is the constant victim,” he continued. “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 shouts of liberty and equality, hollow mock; your prayers and hymns, your sermons and thanksgivings, with all your religious parade and solemnity, are to him mere bombast.”

To whitewash his words in any way would be unfair to history. Frederick Douglass, quite simply, disliked “Independence” Day.

However, those who interpret the speech as implying that America was founded on racism and slavery, also misstate the facts.

For his part, having recently converted from the Garrisonian position that the Constitution was an irredeemably pro-slavery document, Douglass held the Founders in surprisingly high regard. “They were statesmen, patriots and heroes, and for the good they did, and the principles they contended for, I will unite with you to honor their memory,” he said. Famously, he referred to the Constitution as a “GLORIOUS LIBERTY DOCUMENT.”

“Would you have me argue that man is entitled to liberty? That he is the rightful owner of his own body? You have already declared it,” he pointed out, referring to the nation’s founding documents. “The feeling of the nation must be quickened; the conscience of the nation must be roused; the propriety of the nation must be startled; the hypocrisy of the nation must be exposed; and its crimes against God and man must be denounced” [emphasis added].

As I have written elsewhere, the entirety of Douglass’s speech—with all its nuance and seeming contradictions—hinges on one word—hypocrisy. “The word ‘hypocrisy’ suggests that Douglass [was] making a contrast; a contrast between who America was ordained, by God and her Founders, to be, and who she had become in practice. Slavery was not in alignment with America’s founding; it was in direct contradiction. Hence, the hypocrisy.”

4. Calvin Coolidge’s Speech on the 150th Anniversary of the Declaration of Independence

The 4th of July speech to end all 4th of July speeches, Calvin Coolidge’s sesquicentennial magnum opus set the gold standard for Independence Day addresses. What more can one say about this timeless oration other than that “Silent Cal” knew what he was talking about? And that is high praise, indeed!

We must remember that Calvin Coolidge assumed the presidency little more than two years after Woodrow Wilson—a liberal whose progressive views on the Founding seemed diametrically opposed to Coolidge’s. The two men could not have been more different. Wilson wanted the nation to “advance” past an overly rigid interpretation of the Declaration and Constitution; Coolidge aimed to rededicate the nation to the principles contained within both.

Whatever one’s views on Wilson’s and Coolidge’s contrasting governing styles, one cannot help but admire the meticulous level of detail in the latter’s speech. Coolidge took great care to conserve the memory of our Founding, documenting the political, religious, and pragmatic factors behind our Declaration of Independence. The American experiment in liberty had worked; he had no interest in altering the formula. Rather, he wanted to know why it worked.

“It is to pay our tribute of reverence and respect to those who participated in such a mighty event that we annually observe the fourth day of July,” he proclaimed. “Whatever may have been the impression created by the news which went out from this city on that summer day in 1776, there can be no doubt as to the estimate which is now placed upon it. At the end of 150 years the four corners of the earth unite in coming to Philadelphia as to a holy shrine in grateful acknowledgment of a service so great, which a few inspired men here rendered to humanity, that it is still the preeminent support of free government throughout the world.”

For understanding the American Founding, 1776, and the Declaration of Independence, there simply is no better source than President Calvin Coolidge. If you can only read one speech this Independence Day, make it this one.

5. “The American Dream” – Martin Luther King, Jr.

In his endearingly and enduringly hopeful style, Martin Luther King Jr. sheds forgotten light on his world-renowned dream in this Independence Day address. “I have a dream,” he announced in his most famous speech. “It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.” In this speech, two years later, he offered further insight into how his dream for America related to the American dream. Like Douglass before him, he drew inspiration from America’s founding documents to realize both.

“I would like to discuss some of the problems that we confront in the world today, and some of the problems that we confront in our own nation by using as a subject ‘The American Dream,’” he began on 4th of July, 1965. “I choose this subject because America is essentially a dream. It is a dream of a land where men of all races, of all nationalities, and of all creeds, can live together as brothers. The substance of the dream is expressed in these sublime words, ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.’”

That famous line, he noted, “says that each individual has certain inherent rights that are neither derived from or conferred by the state. They are gifts from the hands of the almighty God. Very seldom, if ever, in the history of the world has a socio-political document expressed in such profound, eloquent, and unequivocal language, the dignity and the worth of human personality.” However, “ever since the Founding Fathers of our nation dreamed this dream, America has been something of a schizophrenic personality.”

America, the reverend recounted, had fallen short of its “sublime” creed by denying self-governance to millions of black Americans; thankfully, the impetus—or, as King put it in his “I Have a Dream” speech, “the promissory note”—for righting that wrong remained within the Declaration. Those who (rightfully) bemoan America’s past race record must also remember this: the Founders, for all their imperfections, gave us the tools needed to overcome our national weaknesses. 

While the average constitution lasts approximately 17 years, ours has endured a Civil War, segregation, and a tumultuous civil rights movement, inspiring champions of justice throughout each era. These crusaders for liberty, like King, forced the nation to wrestle with its faults, emerging stronger for it on the other side.

“It is trite but urgently true that if America is to remain a first-class nation, she can no longer have second-class citizens,” he said. “In the final analysis, racial discrimination must be uprooted from our society because it is morally wrong. It must be done because segregation stands against all of the noble precepts of our Judeo-Christian heritage.”

King, Coolidge, and Douglass each helped preserve and advance the Declaration of Independence. As we celebrate our nation’s 248th birthday, their exemplary speeches stand out as testimonies to the unending quest for a more perfect Union.