On July 4, 1854, William Lloyd Garrison denounced this slave country, its Constitution and government, in one of U.S. history’s most determined profound dissident speeches, concluding with, perhaps, the greatest and most dramatic ending of any radical pronouncement. The speech makes clear that the struggle against slavery was viewed as part of an international struggle, symbolized by the Revolutions of 1848, for human freedom with constant reference to global movements. Also speaking that sweltering day were Sojourner Truth, Charles Redmond, Abbey Kelly, Lucy Stone, Henry David Thoreau, and Wendell Philips. The annual Fourth of July gathering of the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society held at Farmington, Massachusetts attracted many thousands, and signaled the thorough radicalization of the broader abolitionist movement underwent in the aftermath of 1850’s Fugitive Slave Act and Bleeding Kansas, then underway. The full speech from the original report below.

‘Speech on the Fourth of July’ by William Lloyd Garrison from The Liberator (Boston). Vol. 24 No. 27. July 7, 1854.

THE MEETING AT FRAMINGHAM, On the Fourth of July (Tuesday last) was of almost unprecedented numbers, and ‘great unanimity and enthusiasm. The only drawback on the entire enjoyment of the day arose from the heat of the weather, which was extreme.

As soon as the several trains of railroad cars from Boston, Milford and Worcester had set down their crowded companies, and the numerous carriages from the surrounding towns had brought their large addition to the number, the meeting was called to order, and the following organization speedily agreed to. WILLIAM LLOYD GARRISON was elected President of the day.

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The platform had upon it several mottoes, ‘Virginia’ decorated with the ribbons and insignia of triumph, and ‘Redeem Massachusetts’ hung with the crape of servitude, while above them were two white flags bordered with black, bearing the names of Nebraska’ and Kansas. The American flag hung above the platform, Union down, draped in black.

Mr. Garrison read appropriate passages of Scripture, and an anti-slavery hymn was sung by the whole assembly. Then Dr. Henry O. Stone, in a brief and appropriate speech, welcomed those present to the town, to that beautiful grove, and to the duties and high privileges of the cause they had espoused. He alluded to the mottoes and insignia on the platform, representing Massachusetts as chained to Virginia by links of cotton, and crouching under the slave whip of the latter; and concluded by inviting all discontented with the present position of affairs to stand on the anti-slavery platform.

The President of the day (Mr. Garrison) then addressed the vast assembly as follows:

FRIENDS OF FREEDOM AND HUMANITY:

The history of mankind is a record of the saddest mistakes, the wildest aberrations, the most melancholy inconsistencies, the bloodiest crimes,–mingled with much that is beautiful and good, honorable and just, wise and progressive. Whatever may be the inherent faculties and powers, the future elevation and development, the absolute or possible destiny of our race, whether in the lapse of ages here on earth, or in the sublime career of an immortal existence, (and to these no limit may be set, short of infinity, itself,) still, a retrospect of the past, and an intelligent view of the present condition of the world demonstrate the universal prevalence of ignorance, superstition, misrule and oppression. I will not stop to inquire whether the scriptural and theological account of the origin of man is worthy of literal credence–that he was created pure and perfect by his Maker, but in an evil hour, yielding to temptation, fell into the abyss of total depravity, involving his posterity in one common ruin; or whether, instead of being made a little lower than the angels he was made, (according to certain philosophical and scientific deductions) a little higher than the brute, but with a nature susceptible of the largest growth, and has been slowly but steadily advancing in knowledge and virtue. Enough that, from the earliest period assigned to the appearance of man upon earth, to the present hour, he has been groping in the dark, ignorant of his nature, careless of his destiny, at war with his brother, and distrustful of his God. Enough that, six thousand years after the scriptural creation, and eighteen hundred years after the advent of Christ, of the thousand millions of people occupying our globe, a vast majority are ground down to the dust; without education or moral culture, destitute of necessary food, clothing and shelter; victimized to institutions, hierarchies, governments, autocracies; ruled by rods of iron in the hands of tyrants and usurpers; low in intellect, lower yet in morals; religiously besotted and deceived; incapable of recognizing among themselves a common brotherhood; divided and subdivided into numberless hostile races, tribes, sects, parties and clans, glorifying God neither in their bodies nor spirits, which are his. Enough that no country is happy, no people are free; that no absolute, unchangeable, just and loving God is accepted or comprehended; that every established form of religion is not only hollow and worthless, but inimical to progress and reform; that every existing government is essentially despotic in principle, hostile to freedom of thought and speech, proscriptive of conscience, reckless of the general welfare; that, as yet, the condition of a true, manly life is persecution, ostracism, martyrdom, in some form or other, so that he that ”departeth from evil maketh himself a prey.” This only shows how much remains to be done for mankind, not that we ought to despair; what scope) there is for individual heroism, self-sacrifice, benevolent activity and effort,–not that there is no hope.

To-day, we are called to celebrate the seventy-eighth anniversary of American Independence. In what spirit? with what purpose? to what end? Confining our attention exclusively to the fact, that, on the 4th of July, 1776, it was boldly declared to the world by our revolutionary siree, as self-evident truths, 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’ we have abundant reason for exultation, gratitude, thanksgiving. This was the greatest political event in the annals of time. It was the abolition of all caste, the suppression of all aristocracy, the extinction of all despotism, the full and complete inauguration of individual sovereignty as paramount to whatever in law or in government is detrimental to life or liberty. It was not a declaration of equality of property, bodily strength or beauty, intellectual or moral development, industrial or inventive powers, but equality of RIGHTS–not of one race, but of all races. In it was included every human being–the most benighted as well as the most enlightened, the most degraded as well as the most elevated, the most helpless as well as the most powerful. As the atmosphere was made for the lungs of all, the light of the sun for the eyes of all, the firm-set earth for the abode of all, so these rights were given to all, alike sacred and inalienable. They constitute the charter and shield, the crown and glory of human existence, divested of which, it is folly to talk of human obligations and duties–of immortality and eternal life. The conservatives of our times, who, to-day, are making the most ostentatious demonstrations of their veneration for the Declaration for 1776, are filled with distress and horror at the thought of radicalism, either in Church or State. Blind, selfish, besotted idolators of the past! If that Declaration is worthy of your homage, then you are committed in principle to the most radical political instrument in the world; by which outlawry is pronounced against every oppressive government, and therefore against every existing government on the face of the earth, for they are all oppressive. In its denunciation of injustice and tyranny, in its vindication of human equality and freedom, that Declaration is not American, but universal–not geographical, but world-wide. To that extent it is to be maintained in England, as against the throne and an hereditary aristocracy, and to the subversion of both; in France, as against its perfidious Emperor, and to the establishment of Liberty, Equality, Fraternity, in their broadest signification; in Italy, as against the Pope spiritual and the Pope temporal, to his utter overthrow; in Austria and Russia, as against those twin-monsters of absolutism, Francis Joseph and the Czar, to their eternal dethronement; and in America, as against a blood-cemented Union and a slave-holding and slave-hunting government, to their utter annihilation. Yes, the Declaration of 1776 severs all chains, subverts all dynasties, abrogates all unjust governments. Its practical enforcement will be the redemption of the world. Every man who accepts it as his creed is pledged, as by a solemn oath to God, to oppose whatever stands in the way of its accomplishment, whether at home or abroad; and if he prove false to it in the trial-hour, he is an apostate and traitor of the first rank. Judged by it, every slaveholder is a kidnapper; every slave-hunter, a monster; every defender or apologist of slavery, the enemy of all mankind.

Where is our Declaration to be proclaimed? Wherever a human being is groaning in bondage! On all the gory plantations of our own land! Throughout England, Scotland, Ireland! All over the broad continent of Europe! To the utmost verge of Asis and Africa! Among all peoples, all religions, all tongues! When is it to be proclaimed? Now, at all times, and ever uncompromisingly! Talk not of the unfitness of any people, or of any country, to be free! If despotism has made them unfit for freedom, then freedom will make them unfit for despotism; therefore give them freedom. All mankind are prepared for justice, all desire to be free. Shall tyrants talk of educating their victims to the point of subverting their own reign, or of a bloody rebellion against it? Are they the friends or the enemies of the people? Shall slaveholders and slave-breeders determine the fitness of their slaves for liberty?

But where can our Declaration be proclaimed, and faithfully applied to men and governments, without subjecting the enforcer of it to ridicule, odium, persecution, imprisonment, martyrdom, or lynch law? Begin at home. How many really believe in its truthfulness and rationality here at the North? How many are prepared to denounce the hideous crime of slave holding as a sin against God? How many are avowed abolitionists? And what is an abolitionist but a sincere believer in the Declaration of ’76? How many are at a loss to discover reasons, and frame excuses, and multiply defences, for the conduct of the slaveholders, against its impeachment by the friends of the slave? What has been the history of the anti-slavery struggle at the North for the last twenty-five years, but a history of the personal defamation and ostracism of its advocates, religiously, politically, socially? Have they not been ranked amongst the vilest of the vile, the most dangerous members of the community, heretics and infidels of the most malignant type, filled with the spirit of sedition and all unrighteousness? Have they not been in much patience, in afflictions, in necessities, in distresses, in stripes, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labors, in watchings, in fastings–as deceivers, and yet true; as unknown, and yet well known; as dying, and behold they live; as chastened, and not killed; as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as having nothing, and yet possessing all things’? What has been their treatment at the hands of the Northern church? Excision, ejectment, malignant persecution, utter condemnation. How have they been characterised by the Northern clergy? As disorganizers, schismatics, intent on perverting the word of God and subverting the church of Christ. In what manner have they been described by the Northern press? As those who ought to receive no toleration, anarchists, traitors, and the like! All this at the North, even to this day.

At the South, who can safely avow his belief in the inalienable rights of man, irrespective of complexional caste? What man dare openly tell the slave that he has a God-given right to his freedom at any moment? What of the Southern church? A enge of unclean birds, and the synagogue of Satan. What of the Southern clergy? Vindicating slavery as a divine institution, and branding abolitionism as of the devil. What of the Southern press? Infernal in its spirit and language toward all such as avow their hostility to slavery, and eager to hand them over to the tender mercies of the mob.

The result is, that, whether at the North or the South, a straight-forward, manly, inflexible adherence to the Declaration of Independence is attended with great personal discomfort, loss of social position, political proscription, and religious excommunication; to which is superadded at the South, the infliction of lynch law, either by compelling the friend of impartial liberty to seek safety in flight, or subjecting him to a coat. of tar and feathers, or thrusting him into prison, or hanging him summarily by the neck, or shooting him with a revolver

I know not to what extent freedom of speech may be indulged in England against the government, but I know that no radical opponent of that government can hope to maintain a good reputation, or to thrive in business, or to reach political eminence, or to sustain’ a Christian character, or to escape governmental persecution, if he be faithful to his convictions, efficient in his actions, and indomitable in his purposes. I know that even a limited monarchy is maintained at the expense of human rights, and is more than humanity can bear. I know that an hereditary aristocracy is next to the king’s evil, preposterous in its pretensions, corrupting in its influences, extortionate in its claims, and anti-republican in spirit and by position. I know that the union of Church and State–an established religion–is what no people can tolerate, and be free; is the clearest evidence of a want of religious vitality: is a fraud upon the understanding and an insult to the moral sense of mankind; is the most impious of shams, and the most criminal of alliances. Success, then, to revolution in the United States; success to it in England; success to it in all lands; effected for the good of all, by modes and methods conformable to justice and humanity, by such weapons as tyrants never yet wielded!

What the freedom of continental Europe is, I need not depict at length. It is the freedom of a perfidious and high-handed usurpation, in the person of Louis Napoleon; the freedom of a soul-withering superstition, in the person of Pope Pius Ninth; the freedom of a bloody despotism, in the person of Francis Joseph: the freedom of an iron autocracy, in the person of the Tzar. No people are visible. I do not see a man, erect and indomitable, from the Seine to the Black Sea, from Paris to Constantinople. I see tyrants who rule, and the masses who submit. Not a free school, independent of the government, exists. Every press is in chains. Free speech is a luxury in which none dare to indulge. The bayonet is the symbol of order, and governmental spies constitute the only popular audience. There may be a volcano beneath the surface, silently at work, and ere long destined to burst forth with terrific force; but, at present, the reign of tyranny is as absolute as fate, and the extinction of the people complete. This tells the story of American influence upon the liberties of the world. We have proved recreant to our own faith, false to our own standard, treacherous to the trust committed to our hands; so that, instead of heling to extend the blessings of freedom, we have mightily served the cause of tyranny throughout the world Our flag is red with the blood of our slaves, and marked by their stripes. The bondage which can obtain no foothold on European soil, is our peculiar institution, and its extension and perpetuity are the only subjects of governmental solicitude.

Since the war of the Revolution was declared, we have grown in population from three millions to twenty-five millions. This is an unparalleled growth. But Republic is not made by a teeming population, if so Russia and China might claim to be Republics. Our territorial lines reach from the Atlantic to the Pacific. But extent of territory is not the true criterion of national attainment. The land is filled with material prosperity: we are better fed, better clad, better sheltered, than any other people. But great riches and general prosperity may exist with little virtue and swell

love of liberty, the circumstances being adventitious, and the time of suffering only deferred, not transcended. The love of gain is our most striking characteristic. It is proverbial that the almighty dollar is the object of popular worship. We are proud of our ships, our commerce, our manufactures, and talk of our manifest destiny’ to annex, conquer or crush whatever stands in our way to universal empire. But to this nation, the language of the prophet is strictly and fearfully applicable:

“The pride of thine heart hath deceived thee, thou whose habitation is high; that saith in thine heart, Who shall bring me down to the ground? Though thou exalt thyself as the eagle, and though thou set thy nest among the stars, thence will I bring thee down, saith the Lord. For thy violence against thy brother Jacob, shame shall cover thee, and thou shalt be cut off for ever. Art thou better than populous No, that was situate among the rivers, that had the waters round about it, whose rampart was the sea, and her wall was from the sea? Ethiopia and Egypt were her strength, and it was infinite; Put and Lubim were her helpers. Yet was she carried away, she went into captivity; her young children were dashed in pieces at the top of all the streets; and they cast lots for her honorable men, and all her great men were bound in chains.”

“What constitutes a State?

Not high-raised battlement or labored mound,
Thick wall or moated gate:
Nor cities proud, with spires and turrets crowned.
Not hays and broad-armed ports,
Where, laughing at the storm, rich navies ride;
Not starred and spangled courts,
Where low-bred baseness wafts perfume to pride.
No: MEN, high-minded MEN,
With powers as far above dull brutes endued.
In forest, brake or den,
As beasts excel cold rocks and brambles rude;
MEN who their duties know,
But know their rights, and, knowing, dare maintain,
Prevent the long-aimed blow,
And crush the tyrant while they rend the chain:
These constitute a State.”

Alas! our greed is insatiable, our rapacity boundless, our disregard of justice profligate to the last degree. We have degenerated in regard to our reverence for the higher law of God, for what is morally obligatory, for the cause of liberty. Theoretically, the government is of the people, and for their good, but in fact, it is in the hands of party demagogues, who cajole and flatter, entreat and threaten, lie and deceive, and who are themselves the tools and vassals of the Slave Power, ready to do its bidding, no matter what the crime or the peril may be. The forms of a republic are yet left to us, but corruption is general, and mal-administration the order of the day. Constitutional restraints are as cobwebs; the representatives are the betrayers of the people; the most high-handed acts of usurpation are submitted to with slavish servility; the revenues of the government are turned against popular liberty, and wielded to one end-the security of slave property and the acquisition of slave territory. The condition required of every man holding office under the government is a ready acquiescence in whatever the Slave Power may dictate. He must consent to have every feeling of humanity, every sentiment of justice, crushed out of his heart, or for him there is neither place nor profit. The sentiments of Washington, Patrick Henry, Thomas Jefferson, adverse to slavery, are now. branded as the wildest fallacies, and punished as the most dangerous heresies. On the floor of the American Senate, the Declaration of Independence has been scouted as a tissue of lies and absurdities!!! A proposition has also been presented to that body, to recall from the African coast our naval force, located there to suppress the piratical slave traffic, and as preliminary to the opening of that traffic as a part of the legitimate commerce of the United States! The boldest and most astounding plans are openly avowed for the unlimited annexation of foreign territory for slaveholding purposes. Cuba, Hayti, Mexico, South America, Brazil, the Sandwich Islands, &c. &c., all are designed for ultimate absorption by the Slave Power, which scorns the moral sentiment of the world, and defies the retribution of Heaven.

Such is our condition, such are our prospects, as a people, on the 4th of July, 1854!

Mr. Garrison said he should now proceed to perform an action which would be the testimony of his own soul to all present, of the estimation in which he held the pro-slavery laws and deeds of the nation. Producing a copy of the Fugitive Slave Law, he set fire to it, and it burnt to ashes. Using an old and well-known phrase, he said, “And let all the people say, Amen;” and a unanimous cheer and shout of Amen burst from the vast audience. In like manner, Mr. Garrison burned the decision of Edward G. Loring in the case of Anthony Burns, and the late charge of Judge Benjamin R. Curtis to the United States Grand Jury in reference to the treasonable’ assault upon the Court House for the rescue of the fugitive-the multitude ratifying the fiery immolation with shouts of applause. Then holding up the U.S. Constitution, he branded it as the source and parent of all the other atrocities, “a covenant with death, and an agreement with hell,” and consumed it to ashes on the spot, exclaiming, “So perish all compromises with tyranny! And let all the people say, Amen!”

A tremendous shout of Amen! went up to heaven in ratification of the deed, mingled with a few hisses and wrathful exclamations from some who were evidently in a rowdyish state of mind, but who were at once cowed by the popular feeling.

The Liberator was founded by abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison in 1831 and was published regularly for the next 35 years. The foremost anti-slavery paper in U.S. history, though the circulation never rose much above 3000, was widely read and discussed. Its position of immediate emancipation and non-resistance placed it in the vanguard of the struggle against slavery. It’s pages are an invaluable record of one of history’s most profound struggles for human freedom.

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