What Does July 4th Mean in 2024?
In the first of two contrasting reflections on the meaning and lessons of Independence Day, Jeremi explores the principles of justice as articulated by abolitionist Frederick Douglass. In the companion essay to follow on Friday, Zachary will expand to share his perspective on institutional renewal as we honor 248 years of the ‘American Experiment.’
By Jeremi Suri
“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…You may well cherish the memory of such men. They were great in their day and generation. Their solid manhood stands out the more as we contrast it with these degenerate times.”
- Frederick Douglass, 1852
Called upon to commemorate the Fourth of July in 1852, Frederick Douglass turned the day of celebration into a moment for enduring reflection. He praised the principles of liberty and self-government that the drafters of the Declaration of Independence announced to the world, but he condemned the cruelty and injustice that they and their successors sustained out of greed and self-interest. Above all, Douglass reminded listeners that slavery made a lie of democracy, and it made the Fourth of July a day of mourning and continued suffering for millions of people.
“What, to the American slave, is your 4th of July? I answer; a day that reveals to him, more than all other days in the year, the gross injustice and cruelty to which he is the constant victim. 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 denunciation of tyrants, brass fronted impudence; your shouts of liberty and equality, hollow mockery; your prayers and hymns, your sermons and thanksgivings, with all your religious parade and solemnity, are, to Him, mere bombast, fraud, deception, impiety, and hypocrisy -- a thin veil to cover up crimes which would disgrace a nation of savages. There is not a nation on the earth guilty of practices more shocking and bloody than are the people of the United States, at this very hour.”
When the opportunities of democracy are elusive
After a bloody Civil War and a century-and-a-half of civil rights struggles, slavery no longer exists and equal rights are asserted more than ever before in our history. But equality is far from the reality for most citizens. This is true in measures of income, health, education, and even life expectancy – all of which show a widening gap between the prosperous few, the precarious majority, and the suffering many in American society. The same is true for other countries.
This is an old story that echoes Douglass’ time more than many of us wish to admit. For all the opportunities our democracy has created through education, markets, and technology, it has stubbornly held certain groups back. There is no getting around the fact that poor citizens, citizens of color, and women continue to face stiff barriers to their freedom and prosperity. Poor kids commonly attend under-performing schools. African-American and Latino citizens are incarcerated at higher rates, with stiffer penalties, than white citizens. And women earn less than men, on average, for comparable jobs and they do not have the same control over their bodies in many states that men enjoy. Frederick Douglass would recognize these phenomena and see their connection to the systemic inequalities of his own time.
We have made progress and that should be celebrated this July 4th, but that progress is uneven in predictable ways. And it threatens the stability of our democracy, as it did in Douglass’ time. The great abolitionist closed his searing speech with the warning that there are moments when injustice becomes so obvious and egregious that it literally tears society apart. “No nation,” he announced “can now shut itself up from the surrounding world and trot round in the same old path of its fathers without interference.”
Douglass anticipated a civil war less than a decade later caused by the injustices that one party promoted and another failed to correct. He refused, however, to “despair of this country.” Douglass was certain that there were “forces in operation which must inevitably work the downfall of slavery.” He drew encouragement on July 4th from the “great principles” in the Declaration of Independence. Abraham Lincoln did the same eleven years later when he wrote the Gettysburg Address.
Paying heed to Douglass’ reverence for democratic principles
Douglass’ reverence for American principles, his indignation about systemic injustices, and his confidence in necessary change are what we need this July 4th. The last two weeks have battered our democracy, as have the last eight years. All three branches of our government are in turmoil. Core constitutional principles about limitations and peaceful transitions in power are under assault. Racial and religious intolerance are on the rise. And violence spreads at home and abroad.
We cannot ignore these horrors, as Douglass did not allow his audience to ignore the horrors of slavery. They cannot continue if we believe in the principles of our Declaration of Independence – that all people are created equal and entitled to self-government. To stand for high principle requires clear attention to where we fall short, and determined action to restore justice. That is true patriotism. That is the fundamental purpose of our founding documents and their enduring message for us today.
On this July 4th let us redouble our efforts to support difficult reforms for core purposes of principle. Let us awaken our voices for what our country really must be about: freedom for all and tyranny for none; a rejection of hate, selfishness, and lies for a renewed commitment to democracy. Drawing on his reading of the founders and Douglass, Lincoln said it best:
“We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained it must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of memory, stretching from every battlefield and patriot grave to every living heart and hearthstone all over this broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union, when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature.”
Hear these words in your ears, please, as you watch the fireworks and share some quiet prayers with your loved ones.
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Jeremi Suri holds the Mack Brown Distinguished Chair for Leadership in Global Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin. He is a professor in the University's Department of History and the LBJ School of Public Affairs. Professor Suri is the author and editor of eleven books on politics and foreign policy, most recently: Civil War By Other Means: America’s Long and Unfinished Fight for Democracy. His other books include: The Impossible Presidency: The Rise and Fall of America’s Highest Office; Liberty’s Surest Guardian: American Nation-Building from the Founders to Obama; Henry Kissinger and the American Century; and Power and Protest: Global Revolution and the Rise of Détente. His writings appear in the New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, CNN.com, Atlantic, Newsweek, Time, Wired, Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, and other media. Professor Suri is a popular public lecturer and comments frequently on radio and television news. His writing and teaching have received numerous prizes, including the President’s Associates Teaching Excellence Award from the University of Texas and the Pro Bene Meritis Award for Contributions to the Liberal Arts. Professor Suri hosts a weekly podcast, “This is Democracy.”