Peterborough is one of 12 towns taking part in the Black Heritage Trail of New Hampshire’s annual Frederick Douglass Community Reading Friday, July 1, at noon, at Teixeira Park on Union Street.
In “What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?” — otherwise known as “The Meaning of JulyFourth for the Negro – Frederick Douglass outlined an argument against the institution of slavery and the Fugitive Slave Act. He had originally been invited to speak on Independence Day holiday, July 4, 1852, and opted to speak on the day after. He spoke in Rochester, N,Y, July 5, a version of which he published as a booklet.
Douglass had been invited to speak about what the Fourth of July means for America’s Black population, and while the first part of his speech praised what the founding fathers did for this country, his speech soon developed into a condemnation of the attitude of American society toward slavery.
For the past several years on July 3, the BHTNH has collaborated with community leaders around New Hampshire to bring people together to read Douglass’s speech and to reflect on its meaning.
For information on the Peterborough reading, contact Sonya Martino at sonya@blackheritagetrailnh.org.