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Whose Fourth of July?

July 1, 2020 by Liz Covart Leave a Comment

ben_franklins_worldOn 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.

You are seeing this podcast courtesy of The New York Almanack. For a full list of this week’s podcasts click HERE. 

And while you’re here – we receive no public money but we rely on small contributions from readers like you.  Make a contribution now at our fundraising page at https://rally.org/f/4LBVKo9zYjO or send a check to: New York History Blog, 7269 State Route 9, Chestertown, NY 12817.

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Filed Under: Adirondacks & NNY, Capital-Saratoga, History, Hudson Valley - Catskills, Mohawk Valley, New York City, Western NY Tagged With: Benjamin Franklin, Black History, Fourth of July, Frederick Douglass, Podcasts, Political History

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