Whose Fourth of July?

On July 5, 1852, Frederick Douglass delivered a speech to the Rochester, New York Ladies’ Anti-Slavery Society and he famously asked “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?”

In this episode of Ben Franklin’s World, we explore Douglass’ thoughtful question within the context of Early America: What did the Fourth of July mean for African Americans in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries?

To help us investigate this question, we are joined by Martha S. Jones, the Society of Black Alumni Presidential Professor and Professor of History at Johns Hopkins University, and Christopher Bonner, an Assistant Professor of History at the University of Maryland.

You can listen to the podcast here.

Ben Franklin’s World is an award-winning podcast. It’s for people who love history and for those who want to know more about the historical people and events that have impacted and shaped our world. Each episode features an interview with a historian who shares their unique insights into our early American past. It is a production of the Omohundro Institute.

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