John Brown was charged with murder, insurrection and treason after the raid on Harpers Ferry. After being found guilty and while awaiting his sentencing, he was asked if there was any reason he should not be given the death sentence. He responded with this speech.

“What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?” was a speech given by abolitionist and former slave Frederick Douglass on July 5, 1852, in Rochester, N.Y., at an event commemorating American independence.