Oppression makes a wise man mad. your fathers were wise men, and if they did not go mad, they became restive under this treatment. they felt themselves the victims of grievous wrongs, wholly incurable in their colonial capacity. with brave men there is always a remedy for oppression. just here, the idea of a total separation of the colonies from the crown was born! it was a startling idea, much more so, than we, at this distance of time, regard it. the timid and the prudent (as has been intimated) of that day, were, of course, shocked and alarmed by it.

2such people lived then, had lived before, and will, probably, ever have a place on this planet; and their course, in respect to any great change, (no matter how great the good to be attained, or the wrong to be redressed by it), may be calculated with as much precision as can be the course of the stars. they hate all changes, but silver, gold and copper change! of this sort of change they are always strongly in favor.

3these people were called tories in the days of your fathers; and the appellation, probably, conveyed the same idea that is meant by a more modern, though a somewhat less euphonious term, which we often find in our papers, applied to some of our old politicians.

4their opposition to the then dangerous thought was earnest and powerful; but, amid all their terror and affrighted vociferations against it, the alarming and revolutionary idea moved on, and the country with it.

5on the 2nd of july, 1776, the old continental congress, to the dismay of the lovers of ease, and the worshipers of property, clothed that dreadful idea with all the authority of national sanction. they did so in the form of a resolution; and as we seldom hit upon resolutions, drawn up in our day whose transparency is at all equal to this, it may refresh your minds and my story if i read it. “resolved, that these united colonies are, and of right, ought to be free and independent states; that they are absolved from all allegiance to the british crown; and that all political connection between them and the state of great britain is, and ought to be, dissolved.”

6citizens, your fathers made good that resolution. they succeeded; and to-day you reap the fruits of their success. the freedom gained is yours; and you, therefore, may properly celebrate this anniversary. the 4th of july is the first great fact in your nation’s history—the very ring-bolt in the chain of your yet undeveloped destiny.

7pride and patriotism, not less than gratitude, prompt you to celebrate and to hold it in perpetual remembrance. i have said that the declaration of independence is the ring-bolt to the chain of your nation’s destiny; so, indeed, i regard it. the principles contained in that instrument are saving principles. stand by those principles, be true to them on all occasions, in all places, against all foes, and at whatever cost.

question:

frederick douglass--former slave and powerful abolitionist--gave this speech on the fourth of july about how slaves view this quintessential american holiday.

in this portion of the speech, douglass focuses upon the act of declaring independence.

in a paragraph, do the following:

1. identify several of the details douglass uses to support his thesis: that making a big change is always resisted by some people in a society.

2. connect douglass' view of the difficulty of declaring independence to his strong belief in the need to end slavery in america.

i need the big right know i am really bad at this