In 1787, George Washington served as chair of the Constitutional Convention, presiding over 55 delegates from the 13 colonies. The Articles of Confederation had not worked out. Nobody was happy. The Revolution had not been as liberating as many had hoped. As presiding officer, sitting on a small, slightly raised stage, Washington occupied a grand, beautifully carved chair visible from the floor. On its back was carved the image of a half-sun rising.
Or was it setting?
Over the course of the Philadelphia convention, the 81-year-old Benjamin Franklin pondered that question. The direction of the Revolution’s Sun was not always clear. In the end, Franklin concluded that our Sun was on the rise even though, as he departed the gathering at Constitutional Hall on its final day, he maintained some uncertainty as to whether it would continue to do so.
Fifty years later, Frederick Douglass, an escaped slave, moved to Lynn, Massachusetts. It was a small city. On its edges were the restless neighborhoods called “Nahant” and “Swampscott.” He was an extraordinary man. The wife of his enslaver had started him on the road to reading until her husband forbade her to continue. But he was hooked. He continued to educate himself, often seeking help from befriended white kids in the process. By the time he escaped slavery, in 1838 at the age of 20, he was fully literate with the King James Bible as his central source of wisdom. His Sun was rising.
It was in Lynn that he wrote his autobiography. He befriended Wendell Phillips, a young abolitionist attorney active in Boston, who had a summer place in Nahant. He associated with abolitionist societies and became well-known as a speaker, a persuader, a communicator, an example of what an intelligent young man of whatever race could do. To many, he was a threat. As he became well-known, he became more fearful of being captured and returned to his “owners.” The abolitionists put him on a ship to England, where he continued his work to end slavery. Supporters there raised enough money to buy his freedom, making him a free man … of sorts. There were few truly free Black men in America at that time … if any.
In 1852, he was invited to speak in Rochester, New York, on the subject of “What, to the Slave, Is the Fourth of July?” That speech will soon be performed on Thursday, July 2, at 4 p.m. in the air-conditioned auditorium of Swampscott High School. Last year, it was performed in the shadow of a Monument to veterans of a Civil War yet to come, a monument by and to residents of those Lynn neighborhoods, Nahant, and Swampscott who had died fighting slavery.
Massachusetts was one of the first states to abolish and outlaw slavery. Its Supreme Judicial Court had ruled that slavery was unconstitutional and incompatible with the clause in the Massachusetts State Constitution of 1780… “all men are born free and equal.” It was a wonderful start, but it would be a long time before women would be fully included in that concept.
For some of us, it is the very essence of our democratic republic that progress is not only possible…it is required. It’s built into our amendable Constitution. Unfortunately, progress is not inevitable. We citizens must take it upon ourselves to work at it.
Frederick Douglass was a remarkable man, with a remarkable mind and spirit. I wonder what he would think now if he were here today? Could that 34-year-old man have imagined a gathering in an air-conditioned hall to remember him and recite his words?
In our Commonwealth, its free citizens elected a Black man of the Democratic Party, Deval Patrick, as governor of Massachusetts. Not once, but twice.
In our Commonwealth, its free citizens elected a Black man of the Republican Party as its Senator from Massachusetts in Washington, Edward Brooke. Not once, but twice.
As we listen to the words of Frederick Douglass in the cool comfort of Swampscott High School on July 2nd, we might well wonder if he thought a man of color would sit in the Massachusetts Governor’s office on Beacon Hill or would represent us in the halls of the United States Senate in Washington, D.C. One wonders what he might have thought about a gay woman sitting in the Governor’s office right now.
And, ultimately, could he have foreseen Barack Obama raising his right hand, taking the oath of office as the President of the United States? Not once, but twice?
And what would he have thought upon learning that the first words of his famous speech would be recited by the first woman of color to be elected to statewide office in Massachusetts history…Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell.
Did the election of Attorney General Campbell take too long?
Possibly. Probably. But it happened.
Good change doesn’t happen overnight. It doesn’t follow a strict, straight road. There are potholes, dangerous curves, oncoming traffic, and sharp corners along that rocky route. But good change HAS happened…and Frederick Douglass would have much to be happy about…as do we.
America has evolved. It has improved. And it’s done so because we worked at it. The seeds of a fully just society were planted in the Constitution. They have been nurtured and grown over time. That’s what Amendments are for. In the 21st century, let them bloom. Protect them from harm.
Our Fourth of July this year should encourage us all to value, to protect, to defend, and to nourish that which we have achieved. Our job is not done.
Thank you for being here, Frederick Douglass. Thank you for your returning spirit.
Welcome back, sir!
Jim Walsh is a writer who lives in Nahant.