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June 20, 2025

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5 News Notes

Community Reading: Frederick Douglass’s “What to the Slave is the 4th of July?”

July 6, 2022 by Spy Desk

The Frederick Douglass Honor Society is pleased to announce their annual community reading of Frederick Douglass’s historic address “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?” on Saturday, July 9, starting at 11 a.m. in front the Talbot County Court House, 11 North Washington Street, Easton, Maryland.

Frederick Douglass was thirty-four years old when he delivered this riveting and concise speech at the newly constructed Corinthian Hall in Rochester, New York. On July 5, he stood in front of six hundred abolitionists, all invited by the Rochester Ladies’ Anti-Slavery Society, in 1852, nine years before the start of the Civil War.

“What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?” was written at a point in time when the country was strongly debating the matters of slavery. Throughout Frederick Douglass’s speech he spoke about the contradictions between the reality of slavery and the contentions of a just society defined in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. Just one day following the country’s celebration of freedom, Douglass implored his audience to contemplate the endless oppression of the enslaved.

“The rich inheritance of justice, liberty, prosperity and independence, bequeathed by your fathers, is shared by you, not by me, “Douglass said. “The sunlight that brought life and healing to you, has brought stripes and death to me. This Fourth of July is yours, not mine. You may rejoice, I must morn.” The Fourth of July, he said, “is a day that reveals to him, more than all other days in the year, the gross injustice and cruelty to which he is a constant victim.”

A newspaper noted that when Douglass finished his stirring speech and was seated, “there was a universal applause”. His words stimulated deep thoughts, showed falseness, and addressed a call to action, “Not light is needed, but fire; it is not the gentle shower, but thunder. We need the storm, the whirlwind, and the earthquake.” His speech received such an overwhelming validation that over seven hundred copies were sold for fifty cents each or $6 for one hundred copies.

“It is an honor to host more than fifty members of our community, as we read “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?”. More than two hundred years after his birth, Frederick Douglass’s words continue to resonate through our daily challenges and continuous fight for freedom for all people. Elizabeth Cady Stanton wrote in 1895, “Frederick Douglass is not dead! His grand character will long be an object lesson in our national history; his lofty sentiments of liberty, justice and equality… must influence and inspire many coming generations!”, said Brenda Wooden, President, Frederick Douglass Honor Society. The Community Reading is free and open to the public.

The Frederick Douglass Honor Society is dedicated to developing programs that continue the Douglass legacy of human rights, education, personal growth and involvement of citizens. For more information about the Community Reading or the organization, please visit us on the Frederick Douglass Honor Society Facebook Page or online at www.FrederickDouglassHonorSociety.com.

The Spy Newspapers may periodically employ the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the clarity and accuracy of our content.

Filed Under: 5 News Notes Tagged With: frederick douglass, local news

Frederick Douglass Podcast Series is Released During Black History Month

February 13, 2021 by Spy Desk

Carlisle’s Chesapeake announces the podcast series about Maryland-born freed slave Frederick Douglass just dropped at https://podcasts.carlisleschesapeake.com/episodes and via Apple and Google podcast apps, in celebration of Black History Month and Douglass’s birthdate. He was born 203 years ago on February 14 in Talbot County, Maryland, to an enslaved mother who named him Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey. He was part of the sixth generation of Baileys in Talbot County – a lineage that continues today.

The “Frederick Douglass Series by Carlisle’s Chesapeake” is sponsored by Talbot County Department of Economic Development and Tourism and will be 15 episodes in total. Ten episodes have been produced to date and the first highlights the work of Dr. Mark Leone, professor of anthropology at the University of Maryland, College Park. He was invited by the Tilghman family to excavate the slave quarters of the Wye House Greenhouse. His findings there and on The Hill, one of the oldest free African American neighborhoods in the United States still in existence today, lay the groundwork for the series.

The series also includes:

  • Professor Dale Glenwood Green, a descendant by marriage to Douglass and a professor of architecture at Morgan State University shares his research of The Hill.
  • Tarence Bailey, Sr., the fifth great-nephew of Douglass, who tells how his family, captured in West Africa, journeyed to Barbados and then up the Chesapeake Bay in the 1600s.
  • Dr. Bernard Demczuk, professor of African American History and Culture, University District of Columbia, tells the story of how Unionville, a town just outside of Easton, was formed after 18 African Americans fought in the Civil War and returned to Talbot County.
  • Ann Coughlin, an Irish woman from Cork, recounts Douglass’s first trip across the Atlantic Ocean to flee from his owner after his first auto-biography discloses his whereabouts and location in Massachusetts with his wife and children.
  • Steve Luxenberg, author of the book, “Separate the Story of Plessy V. Ferguson, and America’s Journey from Slavery to Segregation” and associate editor of the Washington Post, explains the stories of Douglass’s railroad and boat trips where he was segregated from fellow passengers while traveling the anti-slavery speaking circuit.

Talbot County celebrated the 200 anniversary of native son, née Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey, in 2018. The following year Talbot County dedicated a park on the banks of the Tuckahoe River, Douglass’s birthplace, to him.

For further information contact: Carlisle Hashim of Towson, MD-based Carlisle Communications and Carlisle’s Chesapeake at [email protected].

Frederick Douglas portrait photo credit: https://frederickdouglassbirthplace.org

The Spy Newspapers may periodically employ the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the clarity and accuracy of our content.

Filed Under: 9 Brevities Tagged With: frederick douglass, local news

Community Meeting Set for Oct. 24 for Frederick Douglass Park on the Tuckahoe

October 22, 2020 by Spy Desk

Stakeholders invited to meet consultants and offer ideas

The Advisory Committee for the Frederick Douglass Park on the Tuckahoe invites all who are interested in the life and legacy of Frederick Douglass to attend a community meeting from 11 a.m.-1 p.m. Oct. 24 at the park on Lewistown Road. Those who cannot attend in person may participate via Zoom.

“Last year, we applied for and received a grant from the Maryland Heritage Areas Authority to create a master plan and an interpretive plan for the Frederick Douglass Park on the Tuckahoe,” Preston Peper, Talbot County parks and recreation director, said in a statement. “We’ve been working with our team of consultants for several months to gather information and set the stage for public input.

“If you’re interested in this project, this is a meeting you don’t want to miss,” Peper said. “We want to hear your opinions, your thoughts, and your dreams for the Frederick Douglass Park on the Tuckahoe. This is your opportunity to be heard.”

Park Background

The official groundbreaking for the County-owned park was held on February 14, 2018, which was the 200th birthday of Talbot County native son Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey, who later chose the name Frederick Douglass.

The sign at the entrance to the Frederick Douglass Park on the Tuckahoe.

The park covers 107 acres on the Tuckahoe Creek just south of the town of Queen Anne in the northeast corner of Talbot County. A 66.96-acre parcel was purchased in 2006 with $1.8 million from Maryland Department of Natural Resources Program Open Space. The family of George C. and Naomi H. Moore donated another 40.2 acres of wetlands adjacent to this parcel in 2011.

The MHAA grant encourages Talbot County to engage members of the community and develop a plan for developing the infrastructure for a recreational park. In addition, it will identify places to tell the story of Frederick Douglass and to give more information about the Tuckahoe watershed and landscape.

In his first book, “The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass,” Douglass writes, “I was born in Tuckahoe, near Hillsborough, and about twelve miles from Easton, in Talbot County, Maryland.” The Frederick Douglass Park on the Tuckahoe is located just upstream from the farm where Douglass was born in 1818.

Planning the Park

In September 2019, the Park Advisory Committee selected an interdisciplinary team of design professionals to design a plan for the park. LSG Landscape Architecture, The Design Minds, and Michael Marshall Design lead the dynamic and talented team. Other members include Clark-Azar Engineering, The Ottery Group, and Environmental Systems Analysis, Inc.

The winning team was selected for its interpretive design focus, multidisciplinary approach, and collective design strength. They are working together to create a destination that will connect contemporary visitors to a rich and vital heritage.

As part of the planning process, the team committed to a series of community meetings to generate input. The October 24 meeting is another opportunity for the community to hear from the consultants and to offer their own ideas for developing the park.

“Our goal is to create experiences that connect Frederick Douglass and his legacy with people today,” Michael Lesperance of The Design Minds said in a statement. “The best way we can do that is by listening to members of the community, to learn what matters to them. We want to know what about Douglass inspires people in Talbot County, and what they want the world to know about this remarkable American.”

Talbot County Council President Corey Pack could not agree more.

“The meeting on October 24 is a tremendous opportunity for the public to provide input on the future plans for the Frederick
Douglass Park on the Tuckahoe,” Pack said. “We hope citizens will join us and share their comments. Community input is essential to the development of plans for this park.”

The Park Advisory Committee

The work of the consultants is being managed by the Frederick Douglass Park on the Tuckahoe Advisory Committee. Late in 2018, the Talbot County Council appointed the committee, which consists of community leaders, in addition to county and state employees.

Kenneth Morris Jr., the great-great-great grandson of Frederick Douglass, is among those serving on the committee. Morris is the co-founder and president of the Atlanta-based nonprofit Frederick Douglass Family Initiatives (FDFI). Morris also serves as the chairman of the 16-member Frederick Douglass Bicentennial Commission established by Congress.

Others on the committee include: Dale Glenwood Green, professor of Architecture and Historic Preservation at Morgan State University; County Manager Andy Hollis; Talbot County Parks Board representative Kim Kearns; local history researcher and preservationist Priscilla Bond Morris; Corey Pack, president of the Talbot County Council; Parks and Recreation Director
Preston Peper; Marci Ross, assistant director of tourism development for the Maryland Office of Tourism; Queen Anne town representative Mark Turner; and Cassandra Vanhooser, director of economic development and tourism for Talbot County.

In September, the county council appointed Harriette Lowery to fill her husband Eric’s position on the advisory committee after
his untimely death this year.

A link to the Zoom meeting can be found at talbotparks.org. Registration is required. For more information about this and other park projects, call the Talbot County Department of Parks and Recreation at 410-770-8050.

The Spy Newspapers may periodically employ the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the clarity and accuracy of our content.

Filed Under: 2 News Homepage Tagged With: community, frederick douglass, meeting, park, tuckahoe

Life, Legacy of Frederick Douglass Honored

September 2, 2020 by John Griep

State and local officials honored the life and legacy of Frederick Douglass as they unveiled outdoor exhibits at the park on the Tuckahoe River named for him.

The Tuesday morning event at the Frederick Douglass Park on the Tuckahoe also launched Maryland’s second annual recognition of International Underground Railroad Month.

While the event focused on Douglass and Underground Railroad Month, current events in America were not ignored, including the monument honoring Confederates on the county’s courthouse grounds and ongoing demonstrations across the nation seeking equal justice for all.

Lt. Gov. Boyd K. Rutherford speaks Tuesday at the Frederick Douglass Park on the Tuckahoe. Photo courtesy of the Executive Office of the Governor.

“Maryland has a proud history, but also a complicated history,” Lt. Gov. Boyd K. Rutherford said. “After all it is the birthplace of great figures such as Harriet Tubman, who is synonymous with the Underground Railroad, and of course Frederick Douglass, for whom this park is named.

“But we know that in the course of history that these great figures in our history are famous because of what they had to endure and overcome,” he said. “They both were slaves here on the Eastern Shore and although they endured almost unimaginable challenges and trauma in their lifetime, they never gave up on gaining their freedom and helping others to do the same.

“And while Marylanders today can be proud of the role that our state undoubtedly has played in extending liberty and freedom to all Americans, we cannot ignore the fact that during this time in our nation’s history we were, in this state, a divided state,” Rutherford said. “While Maryland never seceded from the Union officially, there was plenty of Confederate sympathy in and around our state. In fact, not so far from here, there is a statue that unfortunately remains celebrating a group of Confederate soldiers in Maryland.

“Now while I have always been very vocal in my belief that we should not ignore history or run away from our past we must acknowledge the pain that still exists today and we must use our history as an opportunity that we now have… to have that long overdue conversation on race and to do a better job of accurately reflecting our history, particularly when it comes to the Civil War, the struggles of African-Americans in our state, and past attempts at reconciliation.

“Recognizing the significance of the Underground Railroad and dedicating this month to appreciating the significance of that era in teaching our younger generations, and not so young generations as well, is a wonderful and important step in that direction. But it is just one step.

“I will repeat that we do need to have that long 0ver-due conversation. And it will be difficult, there’s no question about that, but it needs to be had.

“Just as important, however, is recognizing the wrongness of those who sought to destroy our Union and the evil injustice against their fellow countrymen that fueled their actions,” Rutherford said. “I implore all of us, all Marylanders, all Americans, to look deeply within ourselves to acknowledge the work that is yet to be done that must be done so that our nation may finely be able to live up to the ideals of our founding and ensure liberty and justice for every American.”

Guests speak with Lt. Gov. Boyd K. Rutherford, who is flanked by Sen. Addie Eckardt and Jeannie Haddaway-Riccio, Maryland’s DNR secretary. Photo courtesy of the Executive Office of the Governor.

Rutherford presented a governor’s citation recognizing September as International Underground Railroad Month in Maryland.

Kenneth B. Morris Jr., a great-great-great-great-grandson of Douglass and president of the Frederick Douglass Family Initiatives, spoke in a pre-recorded video. Morris also is a great-great-great-grandson of Booker T. Washington.

The Frederick Douglass Family Initiatives is “an abolitionist and anti-racist organization with a mission to build strong children and end systems of exploitation and oppression,” Morris said.

He said Douglass would not have been surprised by the unequal impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on people of color nor by the deaths of George Floyd and many other Blacks “at the hands of those who have sworn to protect and serve us.

“Douglass saw enough in his lifetime. He saw mountains of injustice,” Morris said. “He saw so much injustice to know that repeatedly responding with surprise or confusion or disgust means that you’re not paying attention or ignoring what’s right in front of you.

“Knowing that injustice is there in front of you, what will you do?” he asked. Douglass would have recommended that people “agitate.”

“When incident after incident form patterns that tell a straightforward story, we have to listen,” Morris said. “(When) outcomes in health, education, criminal justice, housing, in every aspect of society tell a story, we have to listen, plan, and act.”

He cited an 1881 article in which Douglass said “that few evils are less accessible to the force of reason or more tenacious of life and power than a longstanding prejudice. He considered racism a moral disorder that distorts perception according to its own diseased imagination.

“If racism is indeed a kind of disease, an epidemic in this country, then what are the remedies we have to address it?” Morris asked. “Douglass said, ‘Slavery is indeed gone, but its shadow still lingers over the country and poisons more or less the moral atmosphere of all sections of the Republic.”

Douglass would have expressed his rage and anger over current events through words.

“If anyone ever understood the real power of words, it was Frederick Douglass. In fact, he risked his life to read and write…. My great ancestor used his voice, his pen, and his vote to effect change.

“This is an important election year and we need to use our voice, our keyboard, and our vote. We need to hold our elected officials accountable at the local, state, and federal level. We must demand that they take action to identify and eliminate policies that hold up systemic racism.

“I’ve been inspired by the peaceful protests. I’m encouraged by the diversity in age and race of the protesters,” Morris said. “All around the world people are declaring that black lives matter. And for those of you who are wondering, this is not a political statement. Yes, some leaders will politicize it, but it’s a statement about asserting the inherent value of our humanity. You either believe that all black lives matter or you don’t.

“One hundred and fifty years from now, when our descendants look back on this moment in time, what will they say about their great-great-great-grandparents? Will you have been on the right or wrong side of history?

“Frederick Douglass was on the right side of history. And this is why we honor him 202 years after his birth a stone’s throw away from where you sit today,” Morris said.

Corey W. Pack, president of the Talbot County Council, noted Douglass’ work for social justice. In addition to being an abolitionist, Douglass also supported women’s suffrage.

“While gathered here to recognize and pay tribute to Frederick Douglass, Talbot County’s most famous native son, as well as to celebrate the launch of International Underground Railroad Month, it is important to both recognize and celebrate the legacy left by Frederick Douglass, who exemplified courage and self-determination to free himself from bondage, illiteracy, and poverty to become a world renowned anti-slave activist and supporter of social justice, which still many cry out for today,” Corey W. Pack, president of the Talbot County Council, said.

Morris and Pack also paid homage to Eric Lowery, the longtime president of the Frederick Douglass Honor Society, who died earlier this year.

Program Open Space funds were used to buy the land for the park and adjacent wetlands were donated, providing more than 100 acres of open space along the Tuckahoe River.

Friends in Faith sing Tuesday at the Frederick Douglass Park on the Tuckahoe. Photo courtesy of the Executive Office of the Governor.

Professor Dale Glenwood Green of Morgan State University presided over the program. Green has been involved with research concerning the Hill neighborhood in Easton, believed to be the oldest settlement of free blacks in the U.S.

Rev. Clarence A. Wayman of Morgan State University Memorial Chapel gave the opening and closing prayers. Wayman has familial connections to Talbot County, where several ancestors also served as pastors.

Friends in Faith entertained guests with several songs and Dfc. John E. Coleman of the Talbot County Sheriff’s Office sang the National Anthem.

The park is located at 13213 Lewistown Road near the town of Queen Anne.

This video is about 9 minutes long.

The Spy Newspapers may periodically employ the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the clarity and accuracy of our content.

Filed Under: 2 News Homepage Tagged With: Corey Pack, exhibits, frederick douglass, kenneth b. morris jr., lt. gov. boyd rutherford, park, Talbot County

Outdoor Exhibits Unveiled at Frederick Douglass Park on the Tuckahoe

September 1, 2020 by John Griep

Not far from the birthplace of famed abolitionist Frederick Douglass — Talbot County’s most honored native son — state and local officials gathered Tuesday morning to unveil interpretive panels about his life at the park named for him.

The event also kicked off Maryland’s commemoration of International Underground Railroad Month.

Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey was born enslaved along the Tuckahoe River in Talbot County. In 1838, at age 20, he escaped from Baltimore to freedom in the north and became an internationally renowned abolitionist, writer, orator and statesman.

Professor Dale Glenwood Green of Morgan State University presided over the event, which featured remarks from Lt. Gov. Boyd K. Rutherford and a video address from Kenneth B. Morris Jr., a great-great-great-great-grandson of Douglass and president of the Frederick Douglass Family Initiatives.

About 50 people were invited to the private event at the Frederick Douglass Park on the Tuckahoe. The park, located at 13213 Lewistown Road near Queen Anne, opened February 14, 2018 on Douglass’s 200th birthday.

The new outdoor exhibits will provide visitors with information about Douglass’s life story, the significance of the site, and travel information to other sites around the state and county associated with Douglass. The exhibits are part of ongoing developments of the park.

This video is about 3 minutes long. A more complete story will publish on Wednesday.

The Spy Newspapers may periodically employ the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the clarity and accuracy of our content.

Filed Under: 2 News Homepage Tagged With: exhibits, frederick douglass, park, Talbot County, tuckahoe river

Callahan Takes Issue with Pack Comments

August 26, 2020 by John Griep

This video is about five minutes long.

The county council’s vice president took issue Tuesday with comments the council president made Sunday night on a podcast discussion about the Confederate statue on the courthouse grounds.

“If there’s opportunities where the president of the council is taking care of remarks and stuff on a radio station and doing comments, I’d really appreciate that you give us, some of the council, the respect when there’s a very, very important day next Tuesday that means a lot to all of us when it comes to Frederick Douglass and you sorta bashed us a little bit.

“And I really didn’t appreciate that so I’d really, really would like you to, if you have something to say to us, just call me okay and voice your flustration,” Callahan said as his voice thickened with emotion. “I know you did it in flustration, but it was very, very disrespectful to us.”

Pack said he appreciated Callahan’s comments, which were directed at Pack’s remarks about the private Sept. 1 unveiling of plaques at the Douglass Park on the Tuckahoe. The private ceremony will be followed by the opening of the park to the public.

“Of course we all know, Frederick Douglass was an abolitionist, he fought against slavery, I think he fought against everything that the Talbot Boys statue stands for,” Pack said Tuesday. “I guess you’re referring to my comments about that particular event.”

Speaking Sunday night on the “A Miner Detail” podcast episode discussing the Confederate statue, Pack noted that the three council members who voted against removal likely would make an appearance for the park unveiling, which will feature Lt. Gov. Boyd Rutherford and Douglass descendants.

“You’re going to have those same council members who voted against taking down that statue, right, they’re going to come up there September the first and pose for every picture around the lieutenant governor regarding the Frederick Douglass unveiling of those (plaques) in honor of, in honor, and get this, the second annual Underground Railroad Month as we kick it off here in Talbot County on Sept. 1,” Pack said Sunday.

“You’re going to have those same council members come up, throw their arms around the lieutenant governor at the park on the Tuckahoe. How disingenuous is that? You vote two weeks ago not to take down this statue that’s a symbol of slavery and racism but yet you’re going to run up there for a photo op on Sept. 1,” he said on the podcast.

Responding Tuesday to Callahan’s comments, Pack said the council needed to have a discussion about what members say versus what they do.

Earlier in the meeting, he noted, Dr. Fredia Wadley, the county’s health officer, had given a report on COVID-19. The county council subsequently passed an emergency declaration that did not include several measures requested by Dr. Wadley.

“You can’t bring the health officer here in front of us to give a report but at the same time pass an emergency declaration that tears out everything that the health officer asked us to do,” he said. “I’m speaking about what we’re saying and what we’re doing.

As the meeting was held, demonstrators gathered outside the council chambers to chant, bang drums and blow air horns in peaceful protest against the council vote.

During public comments at the end of the meeting, Henry Herr, a longtime proponent for the statue’s removal, was the only caller.

“I’m obviously a little upset about the vote that happened last week and there’s obviously a lot of vocal opposition going on tonight and obviously will continue,” Herr said. “I can’t say that I’m surprised (by the vote), but the fact that there was mention stated that a vote shouldn’t be taken on something like this because of COVID while members on this council are voting not to follow the health officer’s guidelines for COVID seems a little hypocritical.”

Herr also said Councilwoman Laura Price had falsely claimed that there were no private funds for the statue’s removal when he had offered to pay for its removal on multiple occasions. Others also have publicly pledged to donate for the removal costs.

“If you want to vote on something, please at least state the facts that you don’t want the statue to come down, not that it can’t be paid for by private citizens that have already come forward multiple times ….,” he said.

The Spy Newspapers may periodically employ the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the clarity and accuracy of our content.

Filed Under: 2 News Homepage Tagged With: chuck callahan, confederate, Corey Pack, council, frederick douglass, monument, removal, Talbot

Frederick Douglass Honor Society Sponsors Community Reading of Frederick Douglass Speech

June 26, 2020 by Spy Desk

Painting of the Frederick Douglass statue on the Talbot County Courthouse Green by Maggi Sarfaty.

The Frederick Douglass Honor Society is sponsoring a community reading of “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?” a speech by Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey Douglass on Saturday, July 4, 2020 at 11 a.m. on the Talbot County Courthouse Green in Easton. More than 40 community members will take part in this community reading.

“What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?”, the question Frederick Douglass posed to a gathering of 500 to 600 abolitionists in Rochester, N.Y., on July 5, 1852, awakened the conscience of the nation. Douglass’s speech is as much a piercing accounting of national hypocrisy on what he referred to as a day of “tumultuous joy” as it is a call to action. This speech, receiving an overwhelming endorsement, sold over 700 copies, and would be remembered as one of most poignant addresses by Douglass, a former slave turned statesman.

For further information, visit FrederickDouglassHonorSociety.com.

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Filed Under: 5 News Notes Tagged With: frederick douglass, local news, The Talbot Spy

Douglass: On the Cause of the Civil War and Honoring Rebel Soldiers

June 15, 2020 by John Griep

As Talbot County again debates the propriety of maintaining a statue on the grounds of the county courthouse to soldiers who fought for the Confederate States of America, it may be illustrative to read the words of Frederick Douglass concerning the cause of the war and whether rebel soldiers deserved the same honors as Union veterans and war dead.

Douglass, arguably the greatest native of Talbot County, was born a slave and escaped north to became a world-renowned orator and statesman and a leading abolitionist.

In speeches during and after the Civil War, Douglass made it clear that slavery was the reason for the rebellion of southern states against the United States of America.

In a lecture delivered repeatedly in the winter of 1863-1864, Douglass said:

“We are now wading into the third year of conflict with a fierce and sanguinary rebellion, one which, at the beginning of it, we were hopefully assured by one of our most sagacious and trusted political prophets would be ended in less than ninety days; a rebellion which, in its worst features, stands alone among rebellions a solitary and ghastly horror, without a parallel in the history of any nation, ancient or modern; a rebellion inspired by no love of liberty and by no hatred of oppression, as most other rebellions have been, and therefore utterly indefensible upon any moral or social grounds; a rebellion which openly and shamelessly sets at defiance the world’s judgment of right and wrong, appeals from light to darkness, from intelligence to ignorance, from the ever-increasing prospects and blessings of a high and glorious civilization to the cold and withering blasts of a naked barbarism; a rebellion which even at this unfinished stage of it counts the number of its slain not by thousands nor by tens of thousands, but by hundreds of thousands; a rebellion which in the destruction of human life and property has rivaled the earthquake, the whirlwind and the pestilence that waketh in darkness and wasteth at noonday.

It has planted agony at a million hearthstones, thronged our streets with the weeds of mourning, filled our land with mere stumps of men, ridged our soil with two hundred thousand rudely formed graves and mantled it all over with the shadow of death. A rebellion which, while it has arrested the wheels of peaceful industry and checked the flow of commerce, has piled up a debt heavier than a mountain of gold to weigh down the necks of our children’s children. There is no end to the mischief wrought. It has brought ruin at home, contempt abroad, has cooled our friends, heated our enemies and endangered our existence as nation.

Frederick Douglass

“Now, for what is all this desolation, ruin, shame suffering and sorrow? Can anybody want the answer? Can anybody be ignorant of the answer? It has been given a thousand times from this and other platforms. We all know it is slavery. Less than a half a million of Southern slaveholders — holding in bondage four million slaves — finding themselves outvoted in the effort to get possession of the United States government, in order to serve the interests of slavery, have madly resorted to the sword — have undertaken to accomplish by bullets what they failed to accomplish by ballots. That is the answer.”

— From www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/1864-frederick-douglass-mission-war

During the Decoration Day ceremony on May 30, 1871, at Arlington National Cemetery, Douglass continued to remind the nation that the war had been fought over slavery. He also made clear his thoughts that rebel soldiers — who had fought for slavery — should not receive the same honors as Union soldiers — who had fought for their nation and for liberty and justice.

Honoring the “Unknown Loyal Dead” buried at the cemetery, Douglass said:

Those unknown heroes whose whitened bones have been piously gathered here, and whose green graves we now strew with sweet and beautiful flowers, choice emblems alike of pure hearts and brave spirits, reached, in their glorious career that last highest point of nobleness beyond which human power cannot go. They died for their country.

No loftier tribute can be paid to the most illustrious of all the benefactors of mankind than we pay to these unrecognized soldiers when we write above their graves this shining epitaph.

When the dark and vengeful spirit of slavery, always ambitious, preferring to rule in hell than to serve in heaven, fired the Southern heart and stirred all the malign elements of discord, when our great Republic, the hope of freedom and self-government throughout the world, had reached the point of supreme peril, when the Union of these states was torn and rent asunder at the center, and the armies of a gigantic rebellion came forth with broad blades and bloody hands to destroy the very foundations of American society, the unknown braves who flung themselves into the yawning chasm, where cannon roared and bullets whistled, fought and fell. They died for their country.

We are sometimes asked, in the name of patriotism, to forget the merits of this fearful struggle, and to remember with equal admiration those who struck at the nation’s life and those who struck to save it, those who fought for slavery and those who fought for liberty and justice.

I am no minister of malice. I would not strike the fallen. I would not repel the repentant; but may my “right hand forget her cunning and my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth,” if I forget the difference between the parties to that terrible, protracted, and bloody conflict.

If we ought to forget a war which has filled our land with widows and orphans; which has made stumps of men of the very flower of our youth; which has sent them on the journey of life armless, legless, maimed and mutilated; which has piled up a debt heavier than a mountain of gold, swept uncounted thousands of men into bloody graves and planted agony at a million hearthstones — I say, if this war is to be forgotten, I ask, in the name of all things sacred, what shall men remember?

The essence and significance of our devotions here to-day are not to be found in the fact that the men whose remains fill these graves were brave in battle. If we met simply to show our sense of bravery, we should find enough on both sides to kindle admiration. In the raging storm of fire and blood, in the fierce torrent of shot and shell, of sword and bayonet, whether on foot or on horse, unflinching courage marked the rebel not less than the loyal soldier.

But we are not here to applaud manly courage, save as it has been displayed in a noble cause. We must never forget that victory to the rebellion meant death to the republic. We must never forget that the loyal soldiers who rest beneath this sod flung themselves between the nation and the nation’s destroyers. If today we have a country not boiling in an agony of blood, like France, if now we have a united country, no longer cursed by the hell-black system of human bondage, if the American name is no longer a by-word and a hissing to a mocking earth, if the star-spangled banner floats only over free American citizens in every quarter of the land, and our country has before it a long and glorious career of justice, liberty, and civilization, we are indebted to the unselfish devotion of the noble army who rest in these honored graves all around us.

— Text of Douglass speech from Philip S. Foner and Yuval Taylor, “Frederick Douglass: Selected Speeches and Writings.”

Douglass also warned of the “Lost Cause” mythology developed after the war that the rebels had been fighting for states’ rights, not to preserve slavery. And he challenged the laudatory obituaries about General Robert E. Lee in 1870 and opposed any monuments honoring Lee or supporting the Lost Cause interpretation.

In 1989, historian David Blight wrote this about Douglass:

In the midst of Reconstruction, Douglass began to realize the potential power of the Lost Cause sentiment. Indignant at the universal amnesty afforded ex-Confederates, and appalled by the national veneration of Robert E. Lee, Douglass attacked the emerging Lost Cause.

“The spirit of secession is stronger today than ever …,” Douglass warned in 1871. “It is now a deeply rooted, devoutly cherished sentiment, inseparably identified with the ‘lost cause,’ which the half measures of the Government towards the traitors have helped to cultivate and strengthen.”

He was disgusted by the outpouring of admiration for Lee in the wake of the general’s death in 1870.

“Is it not about time that this bombastic laudation of the rebel chief should cease?” Douglass wrote. “We can scarcely take up a newspaper . . . that is not filled with nauseating flatteries of the late Robert E. Lee.”

At this early stage in the debate over the memory of the war, Douglass had no interest in honoring the former enemy.

“It would seem from this,” he asserted, “that the soldier who kills the most men in battle, even in a bad cause, is the greatest Christian, and entitled to the highest place in heaven.” …

As for proposed monuments to Lee, Douglass considered them an insult to his people and to the Union. He feared that such monument building would only “reawaken the confederacy.”

Moreover, in a remark that would prove more ironic with time, Douglass declared in 1870 that “monuments to the Lost Cause will prove monuments of folly.”

As the Lost Cause myth sank deeper into southern and national consciousness, Douglass would find that he was losing ground in the battle for the memory of the Civil War.

— Taken from https://blogs.dickinson.edu/hist-288pinsker/files/2012/01/Blight-article.pdf

In 1894, in one of his last public speeches, Douglass continued to make the case that the American public should not forget that the rebels fought to preserve slavery and waged war against the nation.

“Fellow citizens: I am not indifferent to the claims of a generous forgetfulness, but whatever else I may forget, I shall never forget the difference between those who fought for liberty and those who fought for slavery; between those who fought to save the Republic and those who fought to destroy it.”

Among those debating the issue today, some still continue to believe that a major cause of the war was states’ rights, and not slavery. This view was expounded by Southerners after their decisive loss as part of the “Lost Cause” mythology of the war that included a romanticized view of the Old South and slavery itself. (For a synopsis of the Lost Cause ideology, see en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lost_Cause_of_the_Confederacy#:~:text=The%20Lost%20Cause%20narratives%20typically,superior%20military%20skill%20and%20courage)

Among those spreading the revised narrative after the war was Alexander Stephens, the vice president of the Confederate States of America.

Yet Stephens — just a few weeks before rebel troops started the war by firing on American soldiers at Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor, S.C. — made it absolutely clear that he agreed with Douglass: The cause of the war was slavery and the Confederate states were founded on the idea of white supremacy.

In what became known as the Cornerstone Speech, Stephens — after highlighting what he cited as several improvements in the Confederate constitution over the U.S. Constitution — said:

The new constitution has put at rest, forever, all the agitating questions relating to our peculiar institution — African slavery as it exists amongst us — the proper status of the negro in our form of civilization. This was the immediate cause of the late rupture and present revolution. Jefferson in his forecast, had anticipated this, as the “rock upon which the old Union would split.” He was right. What was conjecture with him, is now a realized fact. But whether he fully comprehended the great truth upon which that rock stood and stands, may be doubted. The prevailing ideas entertained by him and most of the leading statesmen at the time of the formation of the old constitution, were that the enslavement of the African was in violation of the laws of nature; that it was wrong in principle, socially, morally, and politically. It was an evil they knew not well how to deal with, but the general opinion of the men of that day was that, somehow or other in the order of Providence, the institution would be evanescent and pass away. This idea, though not incorporated in the constitution, was the prevailing idea at that time. The constitution, it is true, secured every essential guarantee to the institution while it should last, and hence no argument can be justly urged against the constitutional guarantees thus secured, because of the common sentiment of the day. Those ideas, however, were fundamentally wrong. They rested upon the assumption of the equality of races. This was an error. It was a sandy foundation, and the government built upon it fell when the “storm came and the wind blew.”

Our new government is founded upon exactly the opposite idea; its foundations are laid, its corner-stone rests upon the great truth, that the negro is not equal to the white man; that slavery — subordination to the superior race — is his natural and normal condition. [Applause.] This, our new government, is the first, in the history of the world, based upon this great physical, philosophical, and moral truth.

— Excerpt from https://www.owleyes.org/text/the-cornerstone-speech/read/text-of-stephenss-speech#root-38

The Spy Newspapers may periodically employ the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the clarity and accuracy of our content.

Filed Under: Archives Tagged With: frederick douglass, lost cause, slavery, talbot boys, Talbot County

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