What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?

When abolitionist and former slave Frederick Douglass was invited to speak as part of the Independence Day festivities in his adopted hometown of Rochester, New York, he took the opportunity to rage at the injustice of slavery.  The resulting speech is often considered his greatest and one of the important speeches of the 19th century.  Listen as actor Morgan Freeman reads excerpts as part of the project that teamed the History Channel with social activist Howard Zinn.  I use a number of these clips, including this one, in my AP US History classes each year.

In addition, Douglass's powerful Narrative, published in 1845, is one of the three books I assign in AP US History class.  The others are Candice Millard's Destiny of the Republic and Warriors Don't Cry, Melba Pattillio Beales' memoir of the integration of Little Rock's Central High School in 1957.

All of my posts about abolition can be found here.
All of my posts about slavery can be found here.