Independence Daze: A History of July Fourth
In the early days of our nation, July Fourth wasn’t an official holiday at all. In fact, it wasn’t until 1938 that it became a paid day-off. So how did the Fourth become the holiest day on our secular calendar? Historian Pauline Maier offers some answers, and explains how radically the meaning of the Declaration [...]
The Meaning of July Fourth for a Negro
In 1852, Frederick Douglass was invited to give a July Fourth address at the Rochester Ladies Antislavery Association. Douglass did craft a speech, but insisted on delivering it on the fifth of July, an unofficial day of protest among black Americans. The words Douglass spoke on that day, read here by actor Fred Morsell, are [...]
