Fifth of July (New York)

Last updated

Frederick Douglass ca. 1847-52, when he delivered "What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?" on July 5 in Rochester. Frederick Douglass by Samuel J Miller, 1847-52.png
Frederick Douglass ca. 1847–52, when he delivered "What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?" on July 5 in Rochester.

The Fifth of July is a historic celebration of an Emancipation Day in New York, marking the culmination of the state's 1827 abolition of slavery after a gradual legislative process. State law passed under Governor Daniel D. Tompkins a decade earlier had designated Independence Day, the Fourth of July, as when abolition would take effect, but the danger of racist violence led African Americans to celebrate on the following day instead.

Contents

These celebrations continued on July 5 for years in New York, although in a reduced fashion after 1834, with the effect of both the anti-abolitionist riots and the British Slavery Abolition Act. The tradition largely merged into August 1 British abolition anniversary celebrations, though it was noted as late as 1859. The holiday was revived and recognized by the state for the first time in 2020, as an Abolition Commemoration Day observed on the second Monday in July.

History

African Americans in New York had made preparations from at least March 1827, reported in the newly established Freedom's Journal. Nathaniel Paul at Albany led a meeting that "Resolved, That whereas the 4th day of July is the day that the National Independence of this country is recognized by white citizens, we deem it proper to celebrate the 5th". [1]

On July 4, 1827, New York's black churches held services of prayer and thanksgiving. William Hamilton gave a speech at the Mother AME Zion Church (then in its original home of Church and Leonard Street), the site of the largest celebration. He discussed the historic context of the event and the 1741 incident as examples of the troubled past, celebrated the emancipation law as a redemption, and proclaimed that "no more shall negro and slave be synonymous." [2] Attendees at the events dispersed quietly, fearful that whites in their own Independence Day revels would pick fights. [2]

The largest celebration in New York City on July 5, 1827 saw 2,000–4,000 celebrants gather at St. John's Park, led by marshal Samuel Hardenburgh. [3] Numerous groups participated; the first in the parade line was the New York African Society for Mutual Relief. From the park, they paraded to Zion Church and then to City Hall on Broadway where they met Mayor William Paulding Jr. [4] [2] Nathaniel Paul spoke at Albany on the same day in 1827. [1] There was internal community debate about how visible public celebrations should be. [5] Henry Highland Garnet and James McCune Smith recollected participating in the first celebration in New York City in their youths, the latter recalling diverse African diaspora celebrants, including from the Caribbean and Africa.

The seventh annual observance was documented in an 1833 anonymous travelogue by an Englishman, believed to be the Liverpool merchant James Boardman. [6]

In June 1834, the National Convention of Free People of Colour held at Chatham Street Chapel-Theatre passed a resolution against July 5 parades, preferring private community events held on July 4 for reasons of safety. [7] [8] The following month, racially integrated celebrations at the same venue on July 7 (which were already disrupted from July 4) were attacked in an incident that sparked the New York anti-abolitionist riots.

Legacy

Announcement of the Frederick Douglass speech dated for July 5th, 1852 Announcement of Frederick Douglass speech, 1852.jpg
Announcement of the Frederick Douglass speech dated for July 5th, 1852

The New York black community continued to reserve the Fourth of July for a bitter reflection on the gap between America's promise and its reality, and the Fifth of July for their own personal celebration. [2] Celebrations declined after 1834. [9] The tradition remained relevant, but largely merged into local commemorations of the August 1 Emancipation Day in the British Empire, first observed in New York in 1838 as part of a growing national embrace among African Americans. [7]

Frederick Douglass, also a regular of August 1 celebrations, [7] gave a July 5, 1852 oration in Rochester on "What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?", a seminal text seen by some scholars as embodying a distinctive "Fifth of July" conception of patriotism. [10] [11] The speech did not explicitly reference the custom of July 5 observances, however. Later mentions include a dedicated event in Auburn in 1856, and a note about a declining but still extant tradition by William Cooper Nell in 1859. [9]

An 1836 play in London by William Leman Rede starred Manhattan-born blackface performer Thomas D. Rice as his stereotypical "Jim Crow" character, and focused on a mockery of Fifth of July celebrations. [12] Literary critics have speculated that the 1851 novel Moby-Dick 's relatively realistic depiction of African American dance in the character of Pip was inspired by Fifth of July and related parades held near author Herman Melville's childhood home. [13]

The New York branches of the Association for the Study of African American Life and History supported "Abolition Commemoration Day" as a state holiday on the second Monday in July, and it was recognized by the state legislature along with Juneteenth in 2020. [14] [15]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Emancipation Proclamation</span> 1862 executive order by U.S. President Abraham Lincoln freeing slaves in the South

The Emancipation Proclamation, officially Proclamation 95, was a presidential proclamation and executive order issued by United States President Abraham Lincoln on January 1, 1863, during the American Civil War. The Proclamation changed the legal status of more than 3.5 million enslaved African Americans in the secessionist Confederate states from enslaved to free. As soon as slaves escaped the control of their enslavers, either by fleeing to Union lines or through the advance of federal troops, they were permanently free. In addition, the Proclamation allowed for former slaves to "be received into the armed service of the United States". The Emancipation Proclamation was part of the longer end of slavery in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Abolitionism</span> Movement to end slavery

Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the movement to end slavery and liberate enslaved people around the world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Juneteenth</span> US holiday commemorating African-American emancipation

Juneteenth is a federal holiday commemorating the end of slavery in the United States. Its name is a portmanteau of "June" and "nineteenth", as it is celebrated on the anniversary of June 19, 1865, when in the wake of the American Civil War, Major General Gordon Granger ordered the final enforcement of the Emancipation Proclamation in Texas. Originating in Galveston, Juneteenth has since been observed annually in various parts of the United States, often broadly celebrating African-American culture.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pan-African flag</span> Flag using the Pan-African colours

The Pan-African flag is a tri-color flag consisting of three equal horizontal bands of red, black, and green. The Universal Negro Improvement Association and African Communities League (UNIA-ACL) formally adopted it on August 13, 1920, in Article 39 of the Declaration of the Rights of the Negro Peoples of the World, during its month-long convention at Madison Square Garden in New York City. Variations of the flag can and have been used in various countries and territories in the Americas to represent Garveyist ideologies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New England Anti-Slavery Society</span> American abolitionist organization

The New England Anti-Slavery Society (1831–1837) was formed by William Lloyd Garrison, editor of The Liberator, in 1831. The Liberator was its official publication.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Public holidays in France</span>

There are 11 official public holidays in France. The Alsace region and the Moselle department observe 2 additional days. These holidays do not shift when they fall during a week-end, which means that the average number of observed public holidays falling on weekdays is 8.7 and ranges from 7 to 10. Most Asian countries and all North American countries observe between 2 and 10 more public holidays per year on weekdays.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Emancipation Day</span> Holiday to celebrate emancipation of enslaved people

Emancipation Day is observed in many former European colonies in the Caribbean and areas of the United States on various dates to commemorate the emancipation of slaves of African descent.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Slavery Abolition Act 1833</span> Law which abolished slavery in most of the British Empire

The Slavery Abolition Act 1833 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which provided for the gradual abolition of slavery in most parts of the British Empire. It was passed by Earl Grey's reforming administration and expanded the jurisdiction of the Slave Trade Act 1807 and made the purchase or ownership of slaves illegal within the British Empire, with the exception of "the Territories in the Possession of the East India Company", Ceylon, and Saint Helena. The Act was repealed in 1998 as a part of wider rationalisation of English statute law; however, later anti-slavery legislation remains in force.

Beginning July 7, 1834, New York City was torn by a huge antiabolitionist riot that lasted for nearly a week until it was put down by military force. "At times the rioters controlled whole sections of the city while they attacked the homes, businesses, and churches of abolitionist leaders and ransacked black neighborhoods."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">George Washington Carver Museum and Cultural Center</span> United States historic place

The George Washington Carver Museum and Cultural Center is a museum and cultural center in east Austin, Texas, housed in the former George Washington Carver branch of the Austin Public Library. Named in honor of George Washington Carver, the facility has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 2005.

The New-York Manumission Society was an American organization founded in 1785 by U.S. Founding Father John Jay, among others, to promote the gradual abolition of slavery and manumission of slaves of African descent within the state of New York. The organization was made up entirely of white men, most of whom were wealthy and held influential positions in society. Throughout its history, which ended in 1849 after the abolition of slavery in New York, the society battled against the slave trade, and for the eventual emancipation of all the slaves in the state. It founded the African Free School for the poor and orphaned children of slaves and free people of color.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Timeline of abolition of slavery and serfdom</span>

The abolition of slavery occurred at different times in different countries. It frequently occurred sequentially in more than one stage – for example, as abolition of the trade in slaves in a specific country, and then as abolition of slavery throughout empires. Each step was usually the result of a separate law or action. This timeline shows abolition laws or actions listed chronologically. It also covers the abolition of serfdom.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of slavery in New York (state)</span>

The importation of enslaved Africans to what became New York began as part of the Dutch slave trade. The Dutch West India Company imported eleven African slaves to New Amsterdam in 1626, with the first slave auction held in New Amsterdam in 1655. With the second-highest proportion of any city in the colonies, more than 42% of New York City households held slaves by 1703, often as domestic servants and laborers. Others worked as artisans or in shipping and various trades in the city. Slaves were also used in farming on Long Island and in the Hudson Valley, as well as the Mohawk Valley region.

The Colored National Convention of 1855 was a colored convention event held on October 16, 17, and 18 at Franklin Hall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It consisted of delegates from Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Canada.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Abolitionism in the United States</span> Movement to end slavery in the United States

In the United States, abolitionism, the movement that sought to end slavery in the country, was active from the late colonial era until the American Civil War, the end of which brought about the abolition of American slavery through the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution.

Negro Election Day is a festival that began during 1741 in several towns of New England as part of the local election of the black representative of that community. The festival incorporated aspects of West African culture and ritualistic celebrations such as traditional dancing, African feasting, and parades.

Nathaniel Paul was a Baptist minister and abolitionist who worked in Albany, New York, Wilberforce Colony in Canada, and traveled to the United Kingdom to raise support to aid African Americans.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">End of slavery in the United States</span> Review of the topic

From the late-18th to the mid-19th century, various states of the United States of America allowed the enslavement of human beings, most of whom had been transported from Africa during the Atlantic slave trade or were their descendants. The institution of slavery was established in North America in the 16th century under Spanish colonization, British colonization, French colonization, and Dutch colonization.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of slavery in the United States by state</span>

Following the creation of the United States in 1776 and the ratification of the U.S. Constitution in 1789, the legal status of slavery was generally a matter for individual U.S. state legislatures and judiciaries As such, slavery flourished in some states, and withered on the vine in others. On the whole, the former Thirteen Colonies abolished slavery relatively slowly, with Northern states often using gradual emancipation systems in which freedom would be granted after so many years of life or service.

References

  1. 1 2 Levine, Robert S. (October 17, 2014). "Fifth of July: Nathaniel Paul and the Construction of Black Nationalism". In Carretta, Vincent; Gould, Philip (eds.). Genius in Bondage: Literature of the Early Black Atlantic. University Press of Kentucky. pp. 242–60. ISBN   978-0-8131-5946-1.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Burrows, Edwin G. and Wallace, Mike (1999). Gotham: A History of New York City to 1898 . New York: Oxford University Press. p. 546–547. ISBN   0-195-11634-8.
  3. ↑ "New-York, July 13" (PDF). Freedom's Journal . Vol. I, no. 18. July 13, 1827. p. 71. Archived from the original (PDF) on February 11, 2015.
  4. ↑ Mirrer, Louise; Horton, James Oliver; Rabinowitz, Richard (July 3, 2005). "Opinion | Happy Fifth of July, New York!". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331. Archived from the original on July 2, 2022. Retrieved July 2, 2022.
  5. ↑ Harris, Leslie M. (August 1, 2004). In the Shadow of Slavery: African Americans in New York City, 1626–1863. University of Chicago Press. pp. 122–128. ISBN   978-0-226-31775-5. Archived from the original on July 5, 2023. Retrieved July 5, 2022.
  6. ↑ Boardman, James; world, Citizen of the (1833). America, and the Americans ... Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown, Green, & Longman. ISBN   978-0-608-43808-5.
  7. 1 2 3 Kachun, Mitch; Kachun, Mitchell Alan (March 1, 2006). Festivals of Freedom: Memory and Meaning in African American Emancipation Celebrations, 1808-1915. Liverpool University Press. pp. 53–56. ISBN   978-1-55849-528-9.
  8. ↑ Convention for the Improvement of the Free People of Color, Fourth Annual (1834 : New York (1834). "Minutes of the Fourth Annual Convention for the Improvement of the Free People of Colour, in the United States; held by adjournments in the Asbury Church, New York, from the 2nd to the 12th of June, inclusive, 1834". Bell, Howard H., ed. (1969) Minutes and Proceedings of the National Negro Conventions, 1830–1864. New York: Arno Press. Archived from the original on May 14, 2023. Retrieved May 14, 2023.
  9. 1 2 Gravely, William B. (Winter 1982). "The Dialectic of Double-Consciousness in Black American Freedom Celebrations, 1808-1863". The Journal of Negro History. 67 (4): 302–317. doi:10.2307/2717532. ISSN   0022-2992. JSTOR   2717532. S2CID   149884386.
  10. ↑ Mirrer, Louise; Horton, James Oliver; Rabinowitz, Richard (July 3, 2005). "Opinion | Happy Fifth of July, New York!". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331. Archived from the original on July 2, 2022. Retrieved May 14, 2023.
  11. ↑ Britton-Purdy, Jedediah (July 1, 2022). "Opinion | Democrats Need Patriotism Now More Than Ever". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331. Archived from the original on July 2, 2022. Retrieved July 2, 2022.
  12. ↑ Richards, Jeffrey H.; Nathans, Heather S. (2014). The Oxford Handbook of American Drama. OUP USA. p. 85. ISBN   978-0-19-973149-7.
  13. ↑ Stuckey, Sterling (2009). African Culture and Melville's Art: The Creative Process in Benito Cereno and Moby-Dick. Oxford University Press, USA. pp. 22–25. ISBN   978-0-19-537270-0.
  14. ↑ AmNews Staff Reports (July 30, 2020). "Assembly passes legislation recognizing Abolition Commemoration Day and Juneteenth in New York State". New York Amsterdam News. Archived from the original on July 3, 2022. Retrieved July 3, 2022.
  15. ↑ "NY Legislature passes Juneteenth emancipation holiday". Daily Sentinel. July 24, 2020. Archived from the original on July 5, 2023. Retrieved July 3, 2022.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.