July 5, 1852, Frederick Douglass gave one of the most remembered homages to the Declaration of Independence — America’s pronouncement of freedom. At the invitation of the Rochester Ladies’ Anti-Slavery Society, Douglass asked a searing question: What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?

Though he spoke to a small crowd of approximately 600 people, in due time his audiences would be millions across generations of Americans.

It is notable that this monumental address was given after the Declaration’s anniversary that year. In 1852, Douglass remarked the Fourth was “the birthday of your National Independence, and of your political freedom ... This Fourth [of] July is yours, not mine. You may rejoice, I must mourn.”

He lamented the fact that the Declaration, in 1852, did not seem to be for everyone.

Utah’s own history shares a similar sentiment and can, to some degree, relate. Just a couple years prior its petition for statehood was denied, in part due to religious difference.

Two hundred and fifty years later we are still challenged by the spirit of Douglass’s question: Is the Declaration for all of us?

Most Americans know Douglass as a formerly enslaved man who became one of the 19th century’s most influential political actors. His voice of moral clarity helped force a nation to come to terms with its unjust practices. Not only did he criticize the South for practicing slavery, but he condemned the North for its complicity. He pointed to the federal government’s compliance — and at times facilitation — of slavery, such as the D.C. slave trade and the Fugitive Slave Act, which allowed federal marshals to capture alleged fugitives and send them to bondage. Indeed, the reasons for Douglass’s lamentations on what otherwise should have been a joyous day were quite clear, as many of his brothers and sisters remained in bondage in the South.

Yet few know that Douglass was a profound constitutional thinker, someone who believed the Constitution, properly interpreted, would ultimately undermine slavery. And the past was key. Of the signers of the Declaration, Douglass identified them as “brave men” who “seized upon eternal principles, and set a glorious example in their defense.” Many of these same men held slaves, including the drafter of the Declaration, Thomas Jefferson. Douglass was not ignorant of these facts. The important point for Douglass was they looked beyond their moment: “justice, liberty and humanity were ‘final;’ not slavery and oppression.” It was his contemporaries, Douglass argued, that were “false to the past, false to the present, and solemnly [bound themselves] to be false to the future.”

The Constitution was the means for achieving justice and equality. Douglass emphatically depicted the Constitution as a “GLORIOUS LIBERTY DOCUMENT.” The Constitution was the fundamental law of the Union, and its purposes were directly linked to that of the Declaration. Douglass pointed to the Preamble, which had as its principal aims securing justice and the blessing of liberty — Douglass identified “certain rules of interpretation” that led this conclusion. These rules were accessible to all citizens, and it was their duty, even, to understand the Constitution and see it for what it promised. Only then could they prevent “slander” on the memory of the founders and protect themselves from being “ruinously imposed upon.”

Douglass condemned a nation that upheld slavery, but he never abandoned its founding ideals. The Declaration’s pronouncement (and the Constitution’s promise) of liberty, justice and equality were sound, even if America’s practices were not. Those pushing slavery were imposing a new Constitution on the people, and Douglass was compelled to mourn because the American people were failing to seize the principles they inherited. But Douglass did not despair — the Constitution gave him hope.

His hope, ultimately, was in a promise of an idea and the power it has in uniting a people. A similar sentiment might be observed in Utah’s own history, which is rooted in a people seeking a place to belong. Douglass’s challenge was for America to focus on the ideas they inherited. What mattered was whether they could abide the Declaration’s creed, that all were created equal and had natural rights. That was the only criteria for proper belonging in the American fold.

So, on the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, we can ask ourselves the same question prompted by Douglass’s historic speech: Is the Fourth ours?

Douglass today would emphatically answer: Yes, it is.

Slavery has ended and — with the Reconstruction Amendments — America has more directly committed herself to the equal rights of all.

And, as it relates to Utah, it was admitted into the Union a few decades later, and religious freedom remains a standing promise in American life.

The better question to ask, then, is whether we are living up to what the Declaration demands of us today. In today’s debates over equality, citizenship and belonging, we are continually tested on whether our practices will live up to our ideals.

The Fourth of July is ours; not because America is perfect, but because its promise calls us to act. The true question, as Douglass knew, is not whether we celebrate. It is whether we live up to what we celebrate.

Bradley Rebeiro is Associate Professor of Law at BYU Law School and author of “Until the Last Yoke is Broken: The Constitutional Vision of Frederick Douglass” (Harvard University Press, September 2026) — already #1 in Legal History on Amazon’s new-release lists.

The Salt Lake Tribune is committed to creating a space where Utahns can share ideas, perspectives and solutions that move our state forward. We rely on your insight to do this. Find out how to share your opinion here, and email us at voices@sltrib.com.