Reading
Voices of Abolition: Primary Source Excerpts
Directions: Read the following excerpts from prominent figures of the Abolition Movement. In your groups, discuss the questions below each excerpt.
Excerpt 1: Frederick Douglass, "What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?" (1852)
"What, to the American slave, is your Fourth 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 denunciations 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."
Discussion Questions:
- What is the main argument Frederick Douglass is making in this excerpt?
- How does he use the idea of the Fourth of July to make his point?
- What emotions do you think Douglass intended to evoke in his audience?
Excerpt 2: Sojourner Truth, "Ain't I a Woman?" (1851)
"I have ploughed and planted, and gathered into barns, and no man could head me! And ain't I a woman? I could work as much and eat as much as a man—when I could get it—and bear the lash as well! And ain't I a woman? I have borne thirteen children, and seen most all sold off to slavery, and when I cried out with my mother's grief, none but Jesus heard me! And ain't I a woman?"
Discussion Questions:
- What personal experiences does Sojourner Truth use to support her argument?
- What does she imply about the definition of "womanhood" in her time?
- How does this speech connect to both the abolitionist and women's rights movements?
Excerpt 3: William Lloyd Garrison, "To the Public" in The Liberator (1831)
"I am aware that many object to the severity of my language; but is there not cause for severity? I will be as harsh as truth, and as uncompromising as justice. On this subject, I do not wish to think, or speak, or write, with moderation. No! No! Tell a man whose house is on fire to give a moderate alarm; tell him to moderately rescue his wife from the hands of the ravisher; tell the mother to gradually extricate her babe from the fire into which it has fallen,—but urge me not to use moderation in a cause like the present. I am in earnest—I will not equivocate—I will not excuse—I will not retreat a single inch—and I will be heard."
Discussion Questions:
- What is William Lloyd Garrison's stance on using "severe language"? Why does he believe it is necessary?
- What analogies does he use to justify his approach?
- What does this excerpt tell you about the passion and urgency of some abolitionists?
Excerpt 4: Harriet Tubman (quote attributed to her)
"I looked at my hands to see if I was the same person now that I was free. There was such a glory over everything." (Reflecting on her escape)
"I never ran my train off the track and I never lost a passenger." (Referring to her work on the Underground Railroad)
Discussion Questions:
- What do these quotes reveal about Harriet Tubman's personal experience and her role in the Abolition Movement?
- How do her words inspire hope or courage?
