0:02

See thirteen originals.

0:13

He had been born into enslavement in Maryland

0:16

before escaping north to freedom.

0:18

And now on the fifth of July

0:20

eighteen fifty two, at the beautiful Carinthian

0:22

Hall in Rochester, New York, Frederick

0:25

Douglas rose with thirty pages of

0:27

texts to speak to his age and

0:29

to the ages.

0:32

I do not despair of this country.

0:36

There are forces in operation which must

0:38

inevitably work the downhole of slavery.

0:42

While drawing encouragement from the declaration

0:44

of independence, the great principles

0:47

it contains and the genius of American

0:49

institutions, My

0:51

spirit is always cheered by the

0:53

obvious tendencies of the age.

0:57

Nations do not stand in the same relation

0:59

to each other that they did ages ago.

1:02

Wall cities and empires have become

1:05

un fashionable. Intelligence

1:08

is penetrating the darkest corners of the

1:10

globe. Oceans no

1:12

longer divide what link makes

1:14

together, thoughts expressed on one

1:16

side of the Atlantic are distinctly

1:19

heard on the other. The

1:21

far off in almost that you a specific

1:24

roles in grandeur at our

1:26

feet,

1:27

celestial empire. The

1:29

mystery of ages is being solved.

1:32

theiate of the almighty let

1:35

there be light has

1:37

not yet spent its force. I'm

1:45

John Meacham, and this is it was

1:47

said episode eight

1:50

What to the slave is the fourth of

1:52

July.

2:04

It

2:04

was a grim hour for black Americans.

2:08

Two

2:08

years before, the compromise

2:10

of eighteen fifty had brought California into

2:12

the union as a free state. but

2:14

the price of admission was a strengthened

2:16

fugitive slave law which deployed

2:18

the power of the federal government to capture

2:21

and to return those who like

2:23

Douglas. salt freedom. And

2:26

the prospect of slavery extending into

2:28

the western territories by popular sovereignty,

2:31

A reality that would theoretically come

2:33

to pass in eighteen fifty four was

2:35

a live possibility. Meanwhile,

2:38

there was a ferocious debate among abolitionists

2:41

over whether the union was worth preserving,

2:44

whether the constitution was fundamentally

2:46

pro or anti slavery.

2:52

Into this moment, stepped Frederick Douglas.

2:55

The Frederick Douglas

2:57

of July eighteen fifty

3:00

two in Rochester, New York

3:02

was still a a young man. He'd

3:05

been editor of his own newspaper now

3:07

for five years. He

3:09

spent a lot of time out on the circuit as

3:11

an itinerant, abolitionist speaker.

3:14

He's also had all but a nervous

3:16

break down in the previous year or

3:19

two because he could barely feed

3:21

his family. He now has five

3:23

children at home in Rochester. His

3:26

only means of income are that

3:28

newspaper and his

3:30

work on the speaking circuit, which didn't

3:32

pay very well. This is

3:34

the professor of history at E. O. university

3:37

David Blight, author of the Pulitzer

3:39

Prize winning Profit of Freedom, a

3:41

biography of Douglas. He

3:44

had reached a degree of fame as

3:46

an orator, but he was undergoing at

3:48

that moment a profound, personal,

3:51

and theological transformation. He

3:54

was breaking away from William Lloyd Garrison,

3:56

his mentor in the Evolution

3:59

movement.

3:59

especially on certain

4:02

strategies such as how

4:04

to use the constitution against slavery.

4:07

whether violence was

4:09

in any way a viable

4:12

possibility for abolitionists. He's

4:15

a radical abolitionist at this point. He's

4:17

not inside any kind of power. He's

4:19

an outsider. But he gets

4:21

invited to deliver a fourth

4:23

of July address by his

4:25

friends in Rochester by the ladies

4:27

anti slavery society of

4:29

Rochester. And when

4:31

Douglas gets his invitation, he must

4:33

have sat there with the, what a moment I've

4:35

been given here, and I'm gonna

4:37

make the best of it.

4:40

Orator, editor, and abolitionist.

4:44

He opened his oration at Rochester with

4:46

words of humility.

4:49

he you could address this audience

4:51

without a quailing sensation has

4:54

stronger nerves than I have. I

4:57

do not remember ever to have

4:59

appeared as a speaker before

5:01

any assembly more shrinkingly.

5:05

nor with greater distrust of my ability

5:07

than I do this day. Should

5:09

I seem at ease, my

5:12

appearance would much misrepresent me.

5:14

The little experience

5:16

I had had in addressing public

5:18

meetings in country school

5:20

houses avails me

5:22

nothing. on the presentation.

5:25

It

5:27

was a familiar rhetorical device,

5:30

lower expectations, that one then

5:32

aims to exceed. And

5:34

Douglas succeeded them to a nearly unimaginable

5:37

degree. There

5:39

is a letter in which Douglas tells us

5:41

that he worked as hard as anything

5:43

he'd ever done, at least it was oratory,

5:46

on that fourth of July speech. He says

5:48

he worked for three weeks on it. And,

5:50

of course, it shows. What

5:52

he delivered that day was from a

5:54

script which he carried to the

5:56

lectern with him. And

5:58

our man was also a marketer. He

6:00

already had it printed up in a pamphlet

6:02

form. ready to take

6:04

on the road when it was

6:06

over. He knew he had something special here.

6:08

He knew he had a critique of

6:11

America itself that

6:14

he could take on the road. And indeed,

6:16

what he delivered that day

6:18

is the rhetorical masterpiece of

6:20

the American abolition movement.

6:25

For

6:25

his words in Rochester would live on,

6:27

even to our own day. That's

6:30

because what he said was inescapably true,

6:33

that the United States of America

6:35

had been founded on an ideal

6:38

that had not been fully realized.

6:41

It

6:41

is Douglas' way of demanding

6:44

that the country live up to its

6:47

creeds. And I I

6:49

suspect that's why it

6:51

has such power and resonance

6:53

still today. because it takes

6:55

America's crudes and

6:57

it says the crudes are fine.

6:59

The principles are fine.

7:00

It's always the practices. that

7:03

never quite measure up. And

7:05

there are very few rhetorical performances

7:08

that demonstrated that quite like Douglas'

7:10

fourth of July speech.

7:14

As

7:14

Abraham Lincoln once remarked, people

7:17

don't like being told that there's a difference

7:19

between the almighty and themselves. Audiences

7:22

may notionally believe that they are open to

7:24

persuasion, but in fact,

7:26

most of us are confident in our convictions.

7:29

Most of us are more interested in hearing

7:31

our views affirmed than in entertaining

7:34

challenges to our patterns of thought.

7:36

and most of us believe it's the other

7:38

side that needs to reconsider the

7:40

things they hold dear. Douglas

7:44

understood this aspect of human nature,

7:46

And therefore, he grounded his appeal at

7:48

Carinthian Hall in the things that

7:50

he knew his audience already appreciated.

7:53

The greatness, of the American

7:55

experiment. For

7:57

paragraph after paragraph, minute

7:59

after

7:59

minute, Douglas

8:00

composed a hymn of praise to the

8:03

United States and to its founding

8:05

intentions.

8:08

This

8:08

for the purpose of this celebration is

8:11

the fourth

8:11

of July. It is the

8:13

birthday of your national independence

8:17

and of your political

8:19

freedom. This

8:21

to you is what the passover

8:23

was to the emancipated people of

8:25

god. It carries your

8:27

minds back to the day and to be act

8:30

of your great deliverance and

8:32

to the signs and to the wonders

8:35

associated with that act and

8:37

that day

8:39

The

8:40

opening part is about

8:43

six pages or so where he

8:45

sets the audience at ease.

8:47

He talks about the genius of your fathers.

8:49

He calls the fourth of July

8:52

the American Passover. he

8:54

appeals to deeply biblical traditions

8:57

as well as to this great secular

8:59

tradition of the declaration of

9:01

independence. He honors Thomas Jeffers With

9:03

brief

9:05

men, there is always a remedy

9:08

for oppression. Just

9:09

hear the idea of a total separation

9:12

of the colonies the crown was

9:14

born. Citizens,

9:16

your father's made good debt

9:18

resolution,

9:19

basic sea it. And today, you

9:22

reap the fruits of their success.

9:24

The

9:24

freedom gained is yours. And

9:27

you therefore may properly celebrate

9:30

this versary. The

9:31

fourth of July is the first great

9:34

fact in your nation's history.

9:36

The very ring vault in the chain

9:38

of your undeveloped destiny.

9:40

Pride and patriotism,

9:42

not blessed and gratitude, prompt

9:44

you to celebrate and to hold it

9:46

in perpetual remembers. I

9:50

have said that the declaration of

9:52

independence is the ring bolt to the

9:54

chain of your nation's destiny.

9:56

So indeed, I regard it.

9:58

The principles

9:59

contained in that instrument are

10:02

saving principles. Stand

10:04

by those principles. be true

10:06

to them on all occasions in

10:09

all places against all

10:10

thralls and at whatever

10:12

cost.

10:15

and then

10:16

came the pivot. The moment

10:19

where a great speech does its most

10:21

difficult work. So

10:23

far, there had been nothing especially controversial

10:25

about Douglas' words. They

10:27

had in fact been an eloquent but

10:30

fairly conventional evocation of

10:32

American virtue you. About

10:33

six pages in comes

10:36

the shift to the second

10:38

movement of this duration. and

10:40

it's as though the hammer comes

10:42

down. Fellow

10:44

citizen is. Pardon

10:46

me? Allow

10:48

me to ask why am I called

10:50

upon to speak here today. What

10:53

have I or those I

10:55

represent to do with your national

10:57

independent? Are the

10:59

great principles of political freedom and

11:01

of natural justice embodied

11:03

in that declaration of independence extended

11:05

to us I am

11:07

not included within the pale of this

11:09

glorious anniversary. Your

11:12

high

11:12

independence only reveals the

11:14

a measurable distance between

11:17

us. The

11:18

blessings in which you this day rejoice

11:20

are not enjoyed in

11:22

common. the rich

11:24

inheritance of justice, liberty,

11:27

prosperity, and independence bequeathed

11:29

by your fathers is shared by you, not

11:31

by me. The

11:33

sunlight that brought life and healing

11:35

to you has brought

11:37

stripes and death to me. This

11:40

fourth of July is yours, not

11:42

mine. you may rejoice

11:44

I must move.

11:46

It, of

11:48

course, is an exploration and

11:52

revelation of American hypocrisy,

11:54

but it takes his

11:57

audience inside

11:59

the depth of

12:00

the complicity

12:01

of even those

12:03

who are sympathetic with his cause.

12:05

And that was a very sympathetic audience

12:08

he had that day. the Ladies Antislavery

12:10

Society of Rochester and their

12:12

friends. You

12:14

declare before the world and

12:16

or understood by the world to declare that

12:19

you hold these truths to

12:21

be self evident, that all men are

12:23

created equal and are endowed by

12:25

their creator with certain inalienable

12:27

rights and that among these are

12:29

life, liberty, and the pursuit of

12:31

happiness and yet you hold

12:34

securely in bondage which

12:36

according to your own Thomas Jefferson

12:38

is worse than ages of

12:40

that your father's rose in rebellion to

12:42

oppose a seventh part

12:44

of the inhabitants of your country.

12:47

to drag a man in fetters into the grand

12:49

illuminated temple of liberty

12:51

and call

12:52

upon him to join you and joyous

12:55

anthem. where in human

12:57

mockery and sacrilegious irony,

12:59

do you mean citizens to mock

13:01

me by

13:02

asking me to speak today?

13:05

Douglas

13:07

was now playing the role of a prophet, of

13:09

a human agent speaking of the will

13:11

of the divine in relation to human

13:14

affairs. David Blight has

13:16

written that the idea of prophecy is

13:18

unsettling to the modern secular

13:20

imagination, but the rhetoric

13:22

spiritual and historical traditions on

13:24

which Douglas drew so deeply, envisioned

13:27

the prophet as a messenger of

13:29

God's warnings and wisdom.

13:33

Hear him now.

13:36

Fellow

13:36

citizens above your national tumultuous

13:39

joy. I hear the

13:41

mournful well of millions whose

13:44

chains heavy and grievous yesterday

13:46

are. Today rendered more intolerable

13:48

by the jubilee shouts that reach says.

13:51

If I do forget, if

13:53

I do not faithfully remember those

13:56

bleeding children of sorrow this day,

13:58

may

13:58

my right hand

13:59

forget her cunning and may

14:02

my tongue cleave to the roof of my

14:04

mouth. To forget

14:06

them, to pass lightly over their

14:08

wrongs and to chime in with the

14:10

popular theme would be trees and

14:12

most scandalous and

14:13

shocking. and

14:14

would make me a reproach before

14:16

god and the world. My

14:19

subject in fellow citizens is

14:22

American slavery. I

14:24

shall see this day and its

14:26

popular characteristics from the slave's

14:28

point of view.

14:30

Standing. there, identified

14:32

with the American bond when making

14:35

his wrongs mind, I do not

14:37

hesitate to clear with all

14:39

my soul that the character and

14:41

conduct of this nation never

14:43

looked blacker to me than on

14:45

this fourth of July.

14:53

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else

16:01

There were

16:07

many

16:07

sources of Douglas' rhetorical style.

16:11

he spoke in the tradition of the Puritan

16:13

sermons that summoned the sinful to

16:15

repentance. He understood the

16:17

art of preaching of the Black Church, with

16:19

his emphasis on endurance and on

16:21

deliverance. Whether

16:23

we turn to the declarations of the past

16:25

or to the professions of the

16:27

present, the conduct of the nation

16:29

seems equally hideous

16:32

and revolting. America

16:34

is forced to the past. foster

16:37

the present and solemnly

16:40

binds herself to be false to

16:42

the future. standing

16:44

with God. Then the crushed

16:46

and bleeding slave on this

16:48

occasion, I will in the name of

16:50

humanity, which is outranged in the name of

16:52

liberty, which is centered in the name

16:54

of the

16:54

constitution and the bible, which

16:57

are disregarded and trampled upon.

16:59

dare to call and question and to

17:01

denounce with all the emphasis I

17:03

can

17:03

command everything that serves

17:06

to perpetuate slavery, to

17:08

great sin and shame of America.

17:10

And

17:11

there was something

17:14

musical

17:14

about Douglas' rhetoric.

17:16

Recalling life on the Lloyd plantation

17:19

in Eastern Maryland where he spent part of

17:21

his youth. Douglas remembered that

17:23

the enslaved would make the dense old

17:25

woods for miles around reverberate

17:27

with their wild songs,

17:29

revealing it once the highest joy

17:31

and the deepest sadness.

17:33

The sounds from those

17:36

forests haunted Douglas. He

17:39

recalled, the mere recurrence to those

17:41

songs even now afflicts me.

17:43

And while I am writing these lines, an expression of

17:45

feeling has already found its way down

17:47

my cheek. To those songs,

17:49

I traced my first glimmering conception,

17:52

of the dehumanizing character of

17:56

slavery. As Douglas plotted

17:58

his escape, he and his compatriots you

18:00

recalled sometimes let

18:02

their hopes get the better of their judgment. Reflecting

18:04

on the master from whom he

18:06

broke away Douglas Road,

18:08

I am the more inclined to think that he

18:10

suspected us because prudent as

18:12

we were as I now look back,

18:14

I can see that we did many silly

18:16

things very well calculated to

18:18

awaken suspicion. Douglas

18:22

continued. We were at times remarkably

18:24

buoyant, singing hymns and making

18:27

joyous explanations, almost as triumphant in

18:29

their tone as if we had reached a land

18:31

of freedom and safety.

18:44

A keen observer might have detected

18:46

in our repeated singing of Okeana,

18:49

sweet canine. I am bound for the

18:51

land of something more than a

18:53

hope of reaching heaven. We

18:55

meant to reach the

18:57

north and the north was

18:59

Arcanon. I thought I heard them

19:01

say there were lions in the way I

19:03

don't expect to stay much longer here.

19:06

Run to Jesus shun the

19:08

danger. I don't expect to stay

19:10

much longer here, was a favored

19:12

air, and had a double meaning.

19:14

In the lips of some, it meant

19:16

the expectation of speedy summons to the world of

19:19

spirits. But in the lips of our

19:21

company, it simply meant a

19:23

speedy pilgrimage toward a

19:25

free state. and deliverance from

19:27

all the evils and dangers

19:29

of slavery.

19:32

The double meaning of which Douglas

19:34

wrote is also called masking.

19:36

The tradition in an African American

19:38

music of apparently singing about one

19:40

thing while in fact singing about

19:43

another. To sing of deliverance from sin, for instance,

19:45

was also to sing of deliverance from

19:47

slavery and from discrimination

19:49

without provoking a white

19:52

backlash. swing low sweet

19:54

chariot is a classic example. The

19:56

chariot isn't just about going to heaven

19:58

beyond the skies. but

20:01

to a freedom beyond the Mason Dixon line.

20:09

On Monday, August tenth eighteen sixty four,

20:12

Douglas, who was actively recruiting black

20:14

men for the union army, called on

20:16

the president at the White House to

20:18

discuss these matters. After escaping

20:20

from slavery in Maryland, Douglas was

20:23

understandably wary of heading south

20:25

from his base in Rochester. For

20:27

twenty five years, you know that when I got as

20:29

far south as Philadelphia, I felt that

20:31

I was rubbing against my prison wall

20:34

and could not go any further.

20:36

he recalled. But this

20:39

time on, he went.

20:41

Once in Washington, he

20:43

and senator Samuel c Pomeroy of

20:46

Kansas went the White House, making their way through the usual

20:48

crowds on the staircases and in

20:50

the empty rooms. Douglas

20:53

was the only dark spot

20:55

among the white faces he

20:57

recalled. I expected to have to wait

20:59

at least half a day. I had heard

21:01

of men waiting a week. But

21:03

in two minutes after I sent in my

21:05

card, the messenger came out

21:07

and respectfully invited mister

21:09

Douglas in. Lincoln was

21:11

seated in a low armchair,

21:13

paper strewn about the room.

21:15

As usual, his legs were stretched out.

21:18

His feet Douglas later joked in

21:20

different parts of the room. The

21:22

president rose to greet his guest.

21:25

Douglas began to explain who he was,

21:27

but Lincoln cut him off.

21:29

Mister Douglas, I know you, I have

21:31

read about you, and mister Seward has

21:33

told me about you. Lincoln

21:35

said, extending a hand.

21:37

I will tell you how

21:39

he received me just as you have seen

21:41

one gentleman receive another.

21:43

With a hand and a voice well

21:45

balanced between a kind cordiality and

21:47

a respectful reserve. Douglas

21:50

later told the American anti slavery

21:53

society. I tell you

21:55

I felt big there.

21:58

Douglas did not flinch in the presence

21:59

of power. I

22:01

told him that he had been somewhat slow in proclaiming

22:03

equal protection to our colored soldiers

22:05

and prisoners. And he said

22:07

that the country needed talking up

22:09

to that point. Douglas recalled.

22:12

He knew that the colored man throughout

22:14

this country was a despised man,

22:16

a hated man. and he knew that if

22:18

he at first came out with such a

22:21

proclamation, all the hatred which is poured

22:23

on the head of the negro race.

22:25

would be visited on his administration.

22:27

After meeting with the

22:30

president, Douglas was

22:32

imbued with the belief that the true

22:34

course to the Blackman's freedom and

22:36

citizenship was over

22:38

the battlefield.

22:40

The union of Lincoln was not

22:43

perfect, but to Douglas, the union of

22:45

Lincoln was worth the war.

22:47

In December eighteen

22:49

sixty three, Douglas said, we

22:51

are fighting for something incomparably better

22:54

than the old union. We are fighting for

22:56

unity, unity of

22:58

idea, unity of sentiment, unity

23:00

of object, unity of

23:03

institutions, in which there shall be

23:05

no north, no south, no east,

23:07

no west, no black, no

23:09

white, but a solidarity of

23:11

the nation. making every

23:13

slave free and every free

23:15

man a voter. The

23:18

words

23:18

were characteristically eloquent.

23:20

but to Douglas,

23:21

they were more than words.

23:24

Listening to Lincoln, looking him

23:26

in the eye, taking his

23:28

measure, Frederick Douglas decided to trust

23:30

the president of the United States.

23:32

On this, Douglas was willing

23:34

to stake the lives of his sons who

23:36

were in uniform and the lives

23:38

of his people. Out of the

23:41

darkness of war, Douglas Wageard would

23:43

come the light of liberty. However,

23:46

dim the light then seemed.

23:49

At Rochester, Douglas

23:51

asserted the basic humanity of

23:53

black people and called for the

23:55

declaration of independence as embrace of

23:57

natural rights for all to be

23:59

logically

23:59

extended to those in slavery. he

24:03

did so vividly.

24:14

Okay. The kids are already asking what's for

24:17

dinner, but breaking news,

24:19

empty fridge. That's okay. I'll

24:21

Instacart. Let's add some organic asparagus

24:23

and some farm fresh chicken. Easy.

24:25

Wait. Is the oldest vegetarian this week or

24:27

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24:29

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24:31

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24:33

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24:50

Officially one hour until your favorite

24:52

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24:54

delivered through Instacart. Okay. Let's

24:57

get some popcorn seltzer,

24:59

chocolate covered almonds, and wait,

25:01

did they release the

25:03

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25:05

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25:20

Chella sits.

25:27

the I

25:29

will not enlarge further on your national

25:32

inconsistencies. The existence

25:34

of slavery in this country brands

25:36

your Republicanism as a sham,

25:39

your humanity as a base pretense,

25:41

and your Christianity as

25:43

a lot. It destroys your

25:45

moral power abroad. It

25:47

corrupts your politicians at

25:49

home. It saps the

25:51

foundation of religion. It makes your

25:53

name a hissing and a by word

25:55

to a mocking Earth. Oh,

25:58

be warned

25:59

A horrible reptile is coiled

26:02

up in your nation's bosom.

26:04

The venomous creature is nursing at

26:06

the tender rest of your youthful

26:09

Republic. for the

26:10

love of god tear away and

26:13

fleeing from you the hideous monster

26:15

and let the weight

26:16

of twenty millions crushed

26:18

and it forever?

26:20

Well, I think

26:22

on

26:22

Douglas' mind, in eighteen fifty

26:25

two, is

26:26

this idea of as this union

26:29

is growing and America is

26:32

growing, is it going to be

26:33

a Republic of

26:35

slavery or a public of freedom.

26:37

And Douglas is

26:39

more certain than even some of his

26:41

staunchest white allies that it

26:43

can't be a mixture of both.

26:46

This is the author and professor of history at the University

26:48

of Texas to Neil Joseph.

26:50

And he's actually been

26:52

through an evolution among

26:56

predominantly white abolitionists. Initially,

26:58

he's very, very grateful

27:00

for

27:00

their aid. But over

27:01

time, he comes to look

27:04

upon these white liberals

27:07

as not being

27:09

as committed to the

27:11

struggle for black citizenship and

27:13

dignity as they often proclaim. He really

27:16

believes that the only path

27:19

forward is a Republic of

27:21

Freedom. that abolishes

27:23

slavery forever and ever. So

27:25

when he gets up there in eighteen

27:27

fifty two, he's a man

27:29

who's not exactly losing

27:32

his religion of abolitionism, but

27:34

he sort of gained a

27:37

new version or denomination of

27:39

that abolitionist religion.

27:42

Then came the final section of the

27:44

speech. One in which

27:46

Douglas pointed the way forward through the

27:48

sin and the strife of the

27:50

middle section of indictment for

27:52

Douglas believed in the anti slavery

27:55

nature of the constitution.

27:57

interpret it as

27:58

it ought to be

27:59

interpreted. The constitution is a

28:02

glorious liberty document.

28:04

Read his prayer. consider

28:06

its purposes. It's

28:07

slavery among them. Let

28:10

me ask if the constitution

28:12

were intended to be by its framers

28:14

and adopters a slave holding instrument.

28:17

Why be the slavery?slave holding nor

28:20

slave can anywhere be found

28:22

in it? He's firmly

28:24

convinced that the keys

28:26

to liberation reside

28:29

within the foundational

28:31

principles of the Republic. He

28:33

converges with Lincoln in terms

28:35

of looking upon American

28:38

democracy in the founding documents as

28:40

this sacred fountainhead that just needs to be

28:43

further developed.

28:45

He argued that

28:47

America possessed the means of

28:49

redemption. not through tearing down the

28:51

institutions of the republic, but

28:53

through the conscientious deployment of

28:55

the means of reform.

28:57

Now take

28:58

the constitution according to its plain

29:01

reading, and I

29:01

defied the presentation of a single

29:04

pro slavery clause in it. On

29:06

the other hand, it will be

29:08

found to contain principles and purposes

29:11

entirely hostile to the

29:13

existence of slavery.

29:15

Frederick Douglas' voice articulating the

29:18

feelings of innumerable others,

29:20

ultimately prevailed. It

29:22

did take presidential action

29:24

to make things official, A Lincoln to free the

29:26

slaves, a Woodrow Wilson

29:28

designed the women's suffrage amendment, a

29:30

Linden Johnson to abolish

29:32

Jim Crow. But

29:34

without the voices from

29:36

afar, there would have been no

29:38

chorus of liberty. The

29:41

reformers work of resistance long,

29:44

hard, almost unimaginably difficult

29:47

work led to progress, and

29:49

a broader understanding of

29:51

who was in concluded in the

29:53

phrase we, the people.

29:57

Godspeed the hour, the glorious

29:59

hour,

29:59

when none on earth shall

30:03

exercise a lordly power, nor

30:05

in a tyrant's presence,

30:07

power, but all

30:08

to manhood, statutory

30:10

by

30:11

equal birth.

30:12

That hour will come to

30:14

each, to all. And

30:17

from his prison hours to throw, go forth.

30:19

until

30:20

that year day hour of

30:23

arrive with head and

30:25

heart and hand

30:25

all straws. to

30:28

break the rod and render God, the

30:31

spoiler

30:31

of his pray to pride, so

30:34

witness ever. and

30:36

never from my chosen

30:38

post. Whatever the

30:39

peril of the cost

30:41

be driven. Here

30:51

ended

30:51

the lesson.

31:00

On the

31:04

next

31:05

episode of it was said

31:08

season two. Franklin d Roosevelt asked congress for a

31:10

declaration of war against Japan

31:12

following the attack on Pearl Harbor.

31:14

A date Roosevelt said,

31:17

which will live in infancy.

31:24

Thank

31:29

you for listening to it was said season

31:31

two, a creation and

31:33

production of c thirteen originals a

31:35

cadence thirteen studio in

31:37

association with the history channel.

31:39

Executive produced by me, John Meacham,

31:41

and Chris Corcoran of Cadence

31:44

thirteen. written and narrated by me, John

31:46

Meacham, production led by

31:48

Margot Gray.edited, mixed,

31:51

and mastered by Chris

31:53

Basil, Production

31:54

Coordination Research Support

31:56

and Consultation by Lloyd

31:59

Lockridge, Bill

31:59

Schultz, Sean Cherry, and

32:02

Bob Tabadore, Marketing PR

32:05

sales operations and business affairs

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consultation by Eli Lara and

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Jesse Katz of the History

32:28

Channel Our theme song is I can

32:30

almost see you by Hammock.

32:33

Our closing credits theme song is

32:35

Light by Michael Kewon

32:37

Luca. Cadence thirteen

32:39

is an Odyssey company.

32:45

We're

32:49

miles apart.

32:51

That's

32:52

safe to dream.

33:37

Goodbye. All

33:40

on.

34:07

my kids have gone. They've gone.