BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:-//InvisionCommunity Events 5.0.18//EN METHOD:PUBLISH CALSCALE:GREGORIAN REFRESH-INTERVAL:PT15M X-PUBLISHED-TTL:PT15M X-WR-CALNAME:RMCommunityCalendar NAME:RMCommunityCalendar BEGIN:VTIMEZONE TZID:Europe/London TZURL:https://tzurl.org/zoneinfo/Europe/London X-LIC-LOCATION:Europe/London BEGIN:DAYLIGHT TZOFFSETFROM:+0000 TZOFFSETTO:+0100 TZNAME:BST DTSTART:20250330T020000Z RRULE:FREQ=YEARLY;BYMONTH=3;BYDAY=-1SU END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:+0100 TZOFFSETTO:+0000 TZNAME:GMT DTSTART:20251026T020000Z RRULE:FREQ=YEARLY;BYMONTH=10;BYDAY=-1SU END:STANDARD END:VTIMEZONE BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Frederick Douglass : Our Composite Nation DTSTAMP:20250724T023605Z SEQUENCE:0 UID:418-7-c3fe8195a3dde498d013e477e2142422@aalbc.com ORGANIZER;CN="richardmurray":noreply@aalbc.com DESCRIPTION:\n Frederick Douglass : Our Composite Nation 1867 Parker Fra ternity Course\, Boston\n\n\n\n TEXT\n\n\n\n https://aalbc.com/tc/blogs/en try/357-frederick-douglass-our-composite-nation/\n\n\n\n OR\n\n\n\n As nat ions are among the largest and the most complete divisions into which soci ety is formed\, the grandest aggregations of organized human power\; as th ey raise to observation and distinction the world’s greatest men\, and c all into requisition the highest order of talent and ability for their gui dance\, preservation and success\, they are ever among the most attractive \, instructive and useful subjects of thought\, to those just entering upo n the duties and activities of life.\n\nThe simple organization of a peopl e into a National body\, composite or otherwise\, is of itself and impress ive fact. As an original proceeding\, it marks the point of departure of a people\, from the darkness and chaos of unbridled barbarism\, to the whol esome restraints of public law and society. It implies a willing surrender and subjection of individual aims and ends\, often narrow and selfish\, t o the broader and better ones that arise out of society as a whole. It is both a sign and a result of civilization.\n\nA knowledge of the character\ , resources and proceedings of other nations\, affords us the means of com parison and criticism\, without which progress would be feeble\, tardy\, a nd perhaps\, impossible. It is by comparing one nation with another\, and one learning from another\, each competing with all\, and all competing wi th each\, that hurtful errors are exposed\, great social truths discovered \, and the wheels of civilization whirled onward.\n\nI am especially to sp eak to you of the character and mission of the United States\, with specia l reference to the question whether we are the better or the worse for bei ng composed of different races of men. I propose to consider first\, what we are\, second\, what we are likely to be\, and\, thirdly\, what we ought to be.\n\nWithout undue vanity or unjust depreciation of others\, we may claim to be\, in many respects\, the most fortunate of nations. We stand i n relation to all others\, as youth to age. Other nations have had their d ay of greatness and glory\; we are yet to have our day\, and that day is c oming. The dawn is already upon us. It is bright and full of promise. Othe r nations have reached their culminating point. We are at the beginning of our ascent. They have apparently exhausted the conditions essential to th eir further growth and extension\, while we are abundant in all the materi al essential to further national growth and greatness.\n\nThe resources of European statesmanship are now sorely taxed to maintain their nationaliti es at their ancient height of greatness and power.\n\nAmerican statesmansh ip\, worthy of the name\, is now taxing its energies to frame measures to meet the demands of constantly increasing expansion of power\, responsibil ity and duty.\n\nWithout fault or merit on either side\, theirs or ours\, the balance is largely in our favor. Like the grand old forests\, renewed and enriched from decaying trunks once full of life and beauty\, but now m oss-covered\, oozy and crumbling\, we are destined to grow and flourish wh ile they decline and fade.\n\nThis is one view of American position and de stiny. It is proper to notice that it is not the only view. Different opin ions and conflicting judgments meet us here\, as elsewhere.\n\nIt is thoug ht by many\, and said by some\, that this Republic has already seen its be st days\; that the historian may now write the story of its decline and fa ll.\n\nTwo classes of men are just now especially afflicted with such fore bodings. The first are those who are croakers by nature—the men who have a taste for funerals\, and especially National funerals. They never see t he bright side of anything and probably never will. Like the raven in the lines of Edgar A. Poe they have learned two words\, and these are “never more.” They usually begin by telling us what we never shall see. Their little speeches are about as follows: You will never see such Statesmen in the councils of the nation as Clay\, Calhoun and Webster. You will never see the South morally reconstructed and our once happy people again united . You will never see the Government harmonious and successful while in the hands of different races. You will never make the negro work without a ma ster\, or make him an intelligent voter\, or a good and useful citizen. Th e last never is generally the parent of all the other little nevers that f ollow.\n\nDuring the late contest for the Union\, the air was full of neve rs\, every one of which was contradicted and put to shame by the result\, and I doubt not that most of those we now hear in our troubled air\, will meet the same fate.\n\nIt is probably well for us that some of our gloomy prophets are limited in their powers\, to prediction. Could they command t he destructive bolt\, as readily as they command the destructive world\, i t is hard to say what might happen to the country. They might fulfill thei r own gloomy prophesies. Of course it is easy to see why certain other cla sses on men speak hopelessly concerning us.\n\nA Government founded upon j ustice\, and recognizing the equal rights of all men\; claiming higher aut hority for existence\, or sanction for its laws\, that nature\, reason\, a nd the regularly ascertained will of the people\; steadily refusing to put its sword and purse in the service of any religious creed or family is a standing offense to most of the Governments of the world\, and to some nar row and bigoted people among ourselves.\n\nTo those who doubt and deny the preponderance of good over evil in human nature\; who think the few are m ade to rule\, and many to serve\; who put rank above brotherhood\, and rac e above humanity\; who attach more importance to ancient forms than to the living realities of the present\; who worship power in whatever hands it may be lodged and by whatever means it may have been obtained\; our Govern ment is a mountain of sin\, and\, what is worse\, its [sic] seems confirme d in its transgressions.\n\nOne of the latest and most potent European pro phets\, one who has felt himself called upon for a special deliverance con cerning us and our destiny as a nation\, was the late Thomas Carlyle. He d escribed us as rushing to ruin\, not only with determined purpose\, but wi th desperate velocity.\n\nHow long we have been on this high road to ruin\ , and when we may expect to reach the terrible end our gloomy prophet\, en veloped in the fogs of London\, has not been pleased to tell us.\n\nWarnin gs and advice are not to be despised\, from any quarter\, and especially n ot from one so eminent as Mr. Carlyle\; and yet Americans will find it har d to heed even men like him\, if there be any in the world like him\, whil e the animus is so apparent\, bitter and perverse.\n\nA man to whom despot ism is Savior and Liberty the destroyer of society\,—who\, during the la st twenty years of his life\, in every contest between liberty and oppress ion\, uniformly and promptly took sides with the oppressor\; who regarded every extension of the right of suffrage\, even to white men in his own co untry\, as shooting Niagara\; who gloats over deeds of cruelty\, and talke d of applying to the backs of men the beneficent whip\, to the great delig ht of many\, the slave drivers of America in particular\, could have littl e sympathy with our Emancipated and progressive Republic\, or with the tri umphs of liberty anywhere.\n\nBut the American people can easily stand the utterances of such a man. They however have a right to be impatient and i ndignant at those among ourselves who turn the most hopeful portents into omens of disaster\, and make themselves the ministers of despair when they should be those of hope\, and help cheer on the country in the new and gr and career of justice upon which it has now so nobly and bravely entered. Of errors and defects we certainly have not less than our full share\, eno ugh to keep the reformer awake\, the statesman busy\, and the country in a pretty lively state of agitation for some time to come. Perfection is an object to be aimed at by all\, but it is not an attribute of any form of G overnment. Neutrality is the law for all. Something different\, something better\, or something worse may come\, but so far as respects our present system and form of Government\, and the altitude we occupy\, we need not s hrink from comparison with any nation of our times. We are today the best fed\, the best clothed\, the best sheltered and the best instructed people in t he world.\n\nThere was a time when even brave men might look fearful ly at the destiny of the Republic. When our country was involved in a tang led network of contradictions\; when vast and irreconcilable social forces fiercely disputed for ascendancy and control\; when a heavy curse rested upon our very soil\, defying alike the wisdom and the virtue of the people to remove it\; when our professions were loudly mocked by our practice an d our name was a reproach and a by word to a mocking earth\; when our good ship of state\, freighted with the best hopes of the oppressed of all nat ions\, was furiously hurled against the hard and flinty rocks of derision\ , and every cord\, bolt\, beam and bend in her body quivered beneath the s hock\, there was some apology for doubt and despair. But that day has happ ily passed away. The storm has been weathered\, and portents are nearly al l in our favor.\n\nThere are clouds\, wind\, smoke and dust and noise\, ov er head and around\, and there always will be\; but no genuine thunder\, w ith destructive bolt\, menaces from any quarter of the sky.\n\nThe real tr ouble with us was never our system or form of Government\, or the principl es underlying it\; but the peculiar composition of our people\, the relati ons existing between them and the compromising spirit which controlled the ruling power of the country.\n\nWe have for along time hesitated to adopt and may yet refuse to adopt\, and carry out\, the only principle which ca n solve that difficulty and give peace\, strength and security to the Repu blic\, and that is the principle of absolute equality.\n\nWe are a country of all extremes—\, ends and opposites\; the most conspicuous example of composite nationality in the world. Our people defy all the ethnological and logical classifications. In races we range all the way from black to w hite\, with intermediate shades which\, as in the apocalyptic vision\, no man can name a number.\n\nIn regard to creeds and faiths\, the condition i s no better\, and no worse. Differences both as to race and to religion ar e evidently more likely to increase than to diminish.\n\nWe stand between the populous shores of two great oceans. Our land is capable of supporting one fifth of all the globe. Here\, labor is abundant and here labor is be tter remunerated than any where else. All moral\, social and geographical causes\, conspire to bring to us the peoples of all other over populated c ountries.\n\nEurope and Africa are already here\, and the Indian was here before either. He stands today between the two extremes of black and white \, too proud to claim fraternity with either\, and yet too weak to withsta nd the power of either. Heretofore the policy of our government has been g overned by race pride\, rather than by wisdom. Until recently\, neither th e Indian nor the negro has been treated as a part of the body politic. No attempt has been made to inspire either with a sentiment of patriotism\, b ut the hearts of both races have been diligently sown with the dangerous s eeds of discontent and hatred.\n\nThe policy of keeping the Indians to the mselves\, has kept the tomahawk and scalping knife busy upon our borders\, and has cost us largely in blood and treasure. Our treatment of the negro has slacked humanity\, and filled the country with agitation and ill-feel ing and brought the nation to the verge of ruin.\n\nBefore the relations o f these two races are satisfactorily settled\, and in spite of all opposit ion\, a new race is making its appearance within our borders\, and claimin g attention. It is estimated that not less than one hundred thousand China men\, are now within the limits of the United States. Several years ago ev ery vessel\, large or small\, of steam or sail\, bound to our Pacific coas t and hailing from the Flowery kingdom\, added to the number and strength of this new element of our population.\n\nMen differ widely as to the magn itude of this potential Chinese immigration. The fact that by the late tre aty with China\, we bind ourselves to receive immigrants from that country only as the subjects of the Emperor\, and by the construction\, at least\ , are bound not to [naturalize] them\, and the further fact that Chinamen themselves have a superstitious devotion to their country and an aversion to permanent location in any other\, contracting even to have their bones carried back\, should they die abroad\, and from the fact that many have r eturned to China\, and the still more stubborn [fact] that resistance to t heir coming has increased rather than diminished\, it is inferred that we shall never have a large Chinese population in America. This however is no t my opinion.\n\nIt may be admitted that these reasons\, and others\, may check and moderate the tide of immigration\; but it is absurd to think tha t they will do more than this. Counting their number now\, by the thousand s\, the time is not remote when they will count them by the millions. The Emperor’s hold upon the Chinamen may be strong\, but the Chinaman’s ho ld upon himself is stronger.\n\nTreaties against naturalization\, like all other treaties\, are limited by circumstances. As to the superstitious at tachment of the Chinese to China\, that\, like all other superstitions\, w ill dissolve in the light and heat of truth and experience. The Chinaman m ay be a bigot\, but it does not follow that he will continue to be one\, t omorrow. He is a man\, and will be very likely to act like a man. He will not be long in finding out that a country which is good enough to live in\ , is good enough to die in\; and that a soil that was good enough to hold his body while alive\, will be good enough to hold his bones when he is de ad.\n\nThose who doubt a large immigration\, should remember that the past furnishes no criterion as a basis of calculation. We live under new and i mproved conditions of migration\, and these conditions are constantly impr oving. America is no longer an obscure and inaccessible country. Our ships are in every sea\, our commerce in every port\, our language is heard all around the globe\, steam and lightning have revolutionized the whole doma in of human thought. Changed all geographical relations\, make a day of th e present seem equal to a thousand years of the past\, and the continent t hat Columbus only conjectured four centuries ago is now the centre of the world.\n\nI believe that Chinese immigration on a large scale will yet be our irrepressible fact. The spirit of race pride will not always prevail. The reasons for this opinion are obvious\; China is a vastly overcrowded c ountry. Her people press against each other like cattle in a rail car. Man y live upon the water\, and have laid out streets upon the waves. Men\, li ke bees\, want elbow room. When the hive is overcrowded\, the bees will sw arm\, and will be likely to take up their abode where they find the best p rospect for honey. In matters of this sort\, men are very much like bees. Hunger will not be quietly endured\, even in the celestial empire\, when i t is once generally known that there is bread enough and to spare in Ameri ca. What Satan said of Job is true of the Chinaman\, as well as of other m en\, “All that a man hath will he give for his life.” They will come h ere to live where they know the means of living are in abundance.\n\nThe s ame mighty forces which have swept our shores the overflowing populations of Europe\; which have reduced the people of Ireland three millions below its normal standard\; will operate in a similar manner upon the hungry pop ulation of China and other parts of Asia. Home has its charms\, and native land has its charms\, but hunger\, oppression\, and destitution\, will de solve these charms and send men in search of new countries and new homes.\ n\nNot only is there a Chinese motive behind this probable immigration\, b ut there is also an American motive which will play its part\, one which w ill be all the more active and energetic because there is in it an element of pride\, of bitterness\, and revenge.\n\nSouthern gentlemen who led in the late rebellion\, have not parted with their convictions at this point\ , any more than at others. They want to be independent of the negro. They believed in slavery and they believe in it still. They believed in an aris tocratic class and they believe in it still\, and though they have lost sl avery\, one element essential to such a class\, they still have two import ant conditions to the reconstruction of that class. They have intelligence and they have land. Of these\, the land is the more important. They cling to it with all the tenacity of a cherished superstition. They will neithe r sell to the negro\, nor let the carpet baggers have it in peace\, but ar e determined to hold it for themselves and their children forever. They ha ve not yet learned that when a principle is gone\, the incident must go al so\; that what was wise and proper under slavery\, is foolish and mischiev ous in a state of general liberty\; that the old bottles are worthless whe n the new wine has come\; but they have found that land is a doubtful bene fit where there are no hands to it.\n\nHence these gentlemen have turned t heir attention to the Celestial Empire. They would rather have laborers wh o will work for nothing\; but as they cannot get the negroes on these term s\, they want Chinamen who\, they hope\, will work for next to nothing.\n\ nCompanies and associations may be formed to promote this Mongolian invasi on. The loss of the negro is to gain them\, the Chinese\; and if the thing works well\, abolition\, in their opinion\, will have proved itself to be another blessing in disguise. To the statesman it will mean Southern inde pendence. To the pulpit it will be the hand of Providence\, and bring abou t the time of the universal dominion of the Christian religion. To all but the Chinaman and the negro\, it will mean wealth\, ease and luxury.\n\nBu t alas\, for all the selfish inventions and dreams of men! The Chinaman wi ll not long be willing to wear the cast off shoes of the negro\, and if he refuses\, there will be trouble again. The negro worked and took his pay in religion and the lash. The Chinaman is a different article and will wan t the cash. He may\, like the negro\, accept Christianity\, but unlike the negro he will not care to pay for it in labor under the lash. He had the golden rule in substance\, five hundred years before the coming of Christ\ , and has notions of justice that are not to be confused or bewildered by any of our “Cursed be Canaan” religion.\n\nNevertheless\, the experime nt will be tried. So far as getting the Chinese into our country is concer ned\, it will yet be a success. This elephant will be drawn by our Souther n brethren\, though they will hardly know in the end what to do with him.\ n\nAppreciation of the value of Chinamen as laborers will\, I apprehend\, become general in this country. The North was never indifferent to Souther n influence and example\, and it will not be so in this instance.\n\nThe C hinese in themselves have first rate recommendations. They are industrious \, docile\, cleanly\, frugal\; they are dexterious of hand\, patient of to il\, marvelously gifted in the power of imitation\, and have but few wants . Those who have carefully observed their habits in California\, say they can subsist upon what would be almost starvation to others.\n\nThe conclus ion of the whole will be that they will want to come to us\, and as we bec ome more liberal\, we shall want them to come\, and what we want will norm ally be done.\n\nThey will no longer halt upon the shores of California. T hey will borrow no longer in her exhausted and deserted gold mines where t hey have gathered wealth from bareness\, taking what others left. They wil l turn their backs not only upon the Celestial Empire\, but upon the golde n shores of the Pacific\, and the wide waste of waters whose majestic wave s spoke to them of home and country. They will withdraw their eyes from th e glowing west and fix them upon the rising sun. They will cross the mount ains\, cross the plains\, descend our rivers\, penetrate to the heart of t he country and fix their homes with us forever.\n\nAssuming then that this immigration already has a foothold and will continue for many years to co me\, we have a new element in our national composition which is likely to exercise a large influence upon the thought and the action of the whole na tion.\n\nThe old question as to what shall be done with [the] negro will h ave to give place to the greater question\, “what shall be done with the Mongolian” and perhaps we shall see raised one even still greater quest ion\, namely\, what will the Mongolian do with both the negro and the whit es?\n\nAlready has the matter taken this shape in California and on the Pa cific Coast generally. Already has California assumed a bitterly unfriendl y attitude toward the Chinamen. Already has she driven them from her altar s of justice. Already has she stamped them as outcasts and handed them ove r to popular contempt and vulgar jest. Already are they the constant victi ms of cruel harshness and brutal violence. Already have our Celtic brother s\, never slow to execute the behests of popular prejudice against the wea k and defenseless\, recognized in the heads of these people\, fit targets for their shilalahs. Already\, too\, are their associations formed in avow ed hostility to the Chinese.\n\nIn all this there is\, of course\, nothing strange. Repugnance to the presence and influence of foreigners is an anc ient feeling among men. It is peculiar to no particularly race or nation. It is met with not only in the conduct of one nation toward another\, but in the conduct of the inhabitants of different parts of the same country\, some times of the same city\, and even of the same village. “Lands inte rsected by a narrow frith\, abhor each other. Mountains interposed\, make enemies of nations.” To the Hindoo\, every man not twice born\, is Mleek a. To the Greek\, every man not speaking Greek\, is a barbarian. To the Je w\, every one not circumcised\, is a gentile. To the Mahometan\, every man not believing in the prophet\, is a kaffe. I need not repeat here the mul titude of reproachful epithets expressive of the same sentiment among ours elves. All who are not to the manor born\, have been made to feel the lash and sting of these reproachful names.\n\nFor this feeling there are many apologies\, for there was never yet an error\, however flagrant and hurtfu l\, for which some plausible defense could not be framed. Chattel slavery\ , king craft\, priest craft\, pious frauds\, intolerance\, persecution\, s uicide\, assassination\, repudiation\, and a thousand other errors and cri mes\, have all had their defenses and apologies.\n\nPrejudice of race and color has been equally upheld. The two best arguments in its defense are\, first\, the worthlessness of the class against which it was directed\; an d\, second\; that he feeling itself is entirely natural.\n\nThe way to ove rcome the first argument is\, to work for the elevation of those deemed wo rthless\, and thus make them worthy of regard and they will soon become wo rthy and not worthless. As to the natural argument it may be said\, that n ature has many sides. Many things are in a certain sense natural\, which a re neither wise nor best. It is natural to walk\, but shall men therefore refuse to ride? It is natural to ride on horseback\, shall men therefore r efuse steam and rail? Civilization is itself a constant war upon some forc es in nature\; shall we therefore abandon civilization and go back to sava ge life?\n\nNature has two voices\, the one is high\, the other low\; one is in sweet accord with reason and justice\, and the other apparently at w ar with both. The more men really know of the essential nature of things\, and on of the true relation of mankind\, the freer they are from prejudic es of every kind. The child is afraid of the giant form of his own shadow. This is natural\, but he will part with his fears when he is older and wi ser. So ignorance is full of prejudice\, but it will disappear with enligh tenment. But I pass on.\n\nI have said that the Chinese will come\, and ha ve given some reasons why we may expect them in very large numbers in no v ery distant future. Do you ask\, if I favor such immigration\, I answer I would. Would you have them naturalized\, and have them invested with all t he rights of American citizenship? I would. Would you allow them to vote? I would. Would you allow them to hold office? I would.\n\nBut are there no t reasons against all this? Is there not such a law or principle as that o f self-preservation? Does not every race owe something to itself? Should i t not attend to the dictates of common sense? Should not a superior race p rotect itself from contact with inferior ones? Are not the white people th e owners of this continent? Have they not the right to say\, what kind of people shall be allowed to come here and settle? Is there not such a thing as being more generous than wise? In the effort to promote civilization m ay we not corrupt and destroy what we have? Is it best to take on board mo re passengers than the ship will carry?\n\nTo all of this and more I have one among many answers\, together satisfactory to me\, though I cannot pro mise that it will be so to you.\n\nI submit that this question of Chinese immigration should be settled upon higher principles than those of a cold and selfish expediency.\n\nThere are such things in the world as human rig hts. They rest upon no conventional foundation\, but are external\, univer sal\, and indestructible. Among these\, is the right of locomotion\; the r ight of migration\; the right which belongs to no particular race\, but be longs alike to all and to all alike. It is the right you assert by staying here\, and your fathers asserted by coming here. It is this great right t hat I assert for the Chinese and Japanese\, and for all other varieties of men equally with yourselves\, now and forever. I know of no rights of rac e superior to the rights of humanity\, and when there is a supposed confli ct between human and national rights\, it is safe to go to the side of hum anity. I have great respect for the blue eyed and light haired races of Am erica. They are a mighty people. In any struggle for the good things of th is world they need have no fear. They have no need to doubt that they will get their full share.\n\nBut I reject the arrogant and scornful theory by which they would limit migratory rights\, or any other essential human ri ghts to themselves\, and which would make them the owners of this great co ntinent to the exclusion of all other races of men.\n\nI want a home here not only for the negro\, the mulatto and the Latin races\; but I want the Asiatic to find a home here in the United States\, and feel at home here\, both for his sake and for ours. Right wrongs no man. If respect is had to majorities\, the fact that only one fifth of the population of the globe is white\, the other four fifths are colored\, ought to have some weight a nd influence in disposing of this and similar questions. It would be a sad reflection upon the laws of nature and upon the idea of justice\, to say nothing of a common Creator\, if four fifths of mankind were deprived of t he rights of migration to make room for the one fifth. If the white race m ay exclude all other races from this continent\, it may rightfully do the same in respect to all other lands\, islands\, capes and continents\, and thus have all the world to itself. Thus what would seem to belong to the w hole\, would become the property only of a part. So much for what is right \, now let us see what is wise.\n\nAnd here I hold that a liberal and brot herly welcome to all who are likely to come to the United states\, is the only wise policy which this nation can adopt.\n\nIt has been thoughtfully observed\, that every nation\, owing to its peculiar character and composi tion\, has a definite mission in the world. What that mission is\, and wha t policy is best adapted to assist in its fulfillment\, is the business of its people and its statesmen to know\, and knowing\, to make a noble use of said knowledge.\n\nI need to stop here to name or describe the missions of other and more ancient nationalities. Ours seems plain and unmistakabl e. Our geographical position\, our relation to the outside world\, our fun damental principles of Government\, world embracing in their scope and cha racter\, our vast resources\, requiring all manner of labor to develop the m\, and our already existing composite population\, all conspire to one gr and end\, and that is to make us the make perfect national illustration of the unit and dignity of the human family\, that the world has ever seen.\ n\nIn whatever else other nations may have been great and grand\, our grea tness and grandeur will be found in the faithful application of the princi ple of perfect civil equality to the people of all races and of all creeds \, and to men of no creeds. We are not only bound to this position by our organic structure and by our revolutionary antecedents\, but by the genius of our people. Gathered here\, from all quarters of the globe by a common aspiration for rational liberty as against caste\, divine right Governmen ts and privileged classes\, it would be unwise to be found fighting agains t ourselves and among ourselves\; it would be madness to set up any one ra ce above another\, or one religion above another\, or proscribe any on acc ount of race color or creed.\n\nThe apprehension that we shall be swamped or swallowed up by Mongolian civilization\; that the Caucasian race may no t be able to hold their own against that vast incoming population\, does n ot seem entitled to much respect. Though they come as the waves come\, we shall be stronger if we receive them as friends and give them a reason for loving our country and our institutions. They will find here a deeply roo ted\, indigenous\, growing civilization\, augmented by an ever increasing stream of immigration from Europe\; and possession is nine points of the l aw in this case\, as well as in others. They will come as strangers\, we a re at home. They will come to us\, not we to them. They will come in their weakness\, we shall meet them in our strength. They will come as individu als\, we will meet them in multitudes\, and with all the advantages of org anization. Chinese children are in American schools in San Francisco\, non e of our children are in Chinese schools\, and probably never will be\, th ough in some things they might well teach us valuable lessons. Contact wit h these yellow children of The Celestial Empire would convince us that the points of human difference\, great as they\, upon first sight\, seem\, ar e as nothing compared with the points of human agreement. Such contact wou ld remove mountains of prejudice.\n\nIt is said that it is not good for ma n to be alone. This is true not only in the sense in which our woman’s r ights friends so zealously and wisely teach\, but it is true as to nations .\n\nThe voice of civilization speaks an unmistakable language against the isolation of families\, nations and races\, and pleads for composite nati onality as essential to her triumphs.\n\nThose races of men which have mai ntained the most separate and distinct existence for the longest periods o f time\; which have had the least intercourse with other races of men\, ar e a standing confirmation of the folly of isolation. The very soil of the national mind becomes\, in such cases\, barren\, and can only be resuscita ted by assistance from without.\n\nLook at England\, whose mighty power is now felt\, and for centuries has been felt\, all around the world. It is worthy of special remark\, that precisely those parts of that proud Island which have received the largest and most diverse populations\, are today\ , the parts most distinguished for industry\, enterprise\, invention and g eneral enlightenment. In Wales\, and in the Highlands of Scotland\, the bo ast is made of their pure blood and that they were never conquered\, but n o man can contemplate them without wishing they had been conquered.\n\nThe y are far in the rear of every other part of the English realm in all the comforts and conveniences of life\, as well as in mental and physical deve lopment. Neither law nor learning descends to us from the mountains of Wal es or from the Highlands of Scotland. The ancient Briton whom Julius Caesa r would not have a slave\, is not to be compared with the round\, burly\, a[m]plitudinous Englishman in many of the qualities of desirable manhood.\ n\nThe theory that each race of men has come special faculty\, some peculi ar gift or quality of mind or heart\, needed to the perfection and happine ss of the whole is a broad and beneficent theory\, and besides its benefic ence\, has in its support\, the voice of experience. Nobody doubts this th eory when applied to animals and plants\, and no one can show that it is n ot equally true when applied to races.\n\nAll great qualities are never fo und in any one man or in any one race. The whole of humanity\, like the wh ole of everything else\, is ever greater than a part. Men only know themse lves by knowing others\, and contact is essential to this knowledge. In on e race we perceive the predominance of imagination\; in another\, like Chi nese\, we remark its total absence. In one people\, we have the reasoning faculty\, in another\, for music\; in another\, exists courage\; in anothe r\, great physical vigor\; and so on through the whole list of human quali ties. All are needed to temper\, modify\, round and complete.\n\nNot the l east among the arguments whose consideration should dispose to welcome amo ng us the peoples of all countries\, nationalities and color\, is the fact that all races and varieties of men are improvable. This is the grand dis tinguishing attribute of humanity and separates man from all other animals . If it could be shown that any particular race of men are literally incap able of improvement\, we might hesitate to welcome them here. But no such men are anywhere to be found\, and if there were\, it is not likely that t hey would ever trouble us with their presence.\n\nThe fact that the Chines e and other nations desire to come and do come\, is a proof of their capac ity for improvement and of their fitness to come.\n\nWe should take counci l of both nature and art in the consideration of this question. When the a rchitect intends a grand structure\, he makes the foundation broad and str ong. We should imitate this prudence in laying the foundation of the futur e Republic. There is a law of harmony in departments of nature. The oak is in the acorn. The career and destiny of individual men are enfolded in th e elements of which they are composed. The same is true of a nation. It wi ll be something or it will be nothing. It will be great\, or it will be sm all\, according to its own essential qualities. As these are rich and vari ed\, or poor and simple\, slender and feeble\, broad and strong\, so will be the life and destiny of the nation itself.\n\nThe stream cannot rise hi gher than its source. The ship cannot sail faster than the wind. The fligh t of the arrow depends upon the strength and elasticity of the bow\; and a s with these\, so with a nation.\n\nIf we would reach a degree of civiliza tion higher and grander than any yet attained\, we should welcome to our a mple continent all nations\, kindreds [sic] tongues and peoples\; and as f ast as they learn our language and comprehend the duties of citizenship\, we should incorporate them into the American body politic. The outspread w ings of the American eagle are broad enough to shelter all who are likely to come.\n\nAs a matter of selfish policy\, leaving right and humanity out of the question\, we cannot wisely pursue any other course. Other Governm ents mainly depend for security upon the sword\; our depends mainly upon t he friendship of its people. In all matters\,—in time of peace\, in time of war\, and at all times\,—it makes its appeal to all the people\, and to all classes of the people. Its strength lies in their friendship and c heerful support in every time of need\, and that policy is a mad one which would reduce the number of its friends by excluding those who would come\ , or by alienating those who are already here.\n\nOur Republic is itself a strong argument in favor of composite nationality. It is no disparagement to Americans of English descent\, to affirm that much of the wealth\, lei sure\, culture\, refinement and civilization of the country are due to the arm of the negro and the muscle of the Irishman. Without these and the we alth created by their sturdy toil\, English civilization had still lingere d this side of the Alleghanies [sic]\, and the wolf still be howling on th eir summits.\n\nTo no class of our population are we more indebted to valu able qualities of head\, heart and hand than the German. Say what we will of their lager\, their smoke and their metaphysics they have brought to us a fresh\, vigorous and child-like nature\; a boundless facility in the ac quisition of knowledge\; a subtle and far reaching intellect\, and a fearl ess love of truth. Though remarkable for patient and laborious thought the true German is a joyous child of freedom\, fond of manly sports\, a lover of music\, and a happy man generally. Though he never forgets that he is a German\, he never fails to remember that he is an American.\n\nA Frenchm an comes here to make money\, and that is about all that need be said of h im. He is only a Frenchman. He neither learns our language nor loves our c ountry. His hand is on our pocket and his eye on Paris. He gets what he wa nts and like a sensible Frenchman\, returns to France to spend it.\n\nNow let me answer briefly some objections to the general scope of my arguments . I am told that science is against me\; that races are not all of one ori gin\, and that the unity theory of human origin has been exploded. I admit that this is a question that has two sides. It is impossible to trace the threads of human history sufficiently near their starting point to know m uch about the origin of races.\n\nIn disposing of this question whether we shall welcome or repel immigration from China\, Japan\, or elsewhere\, we may leave the differences among the theological doctors to be settled by themselves.\n\nWhether man originated at one time and one or another place \; whether there was one Adam or five\, or five hundred\, does not affect the question.\n\nThe grand right of migration and the great wisdom of inco rporating foreign elements into our body politic\, are founded not upon an y genealogical or archeological theory\, however learned\, but upon the br oad fact of a common human nature.\n\nMan is man\, the world over. This fa ct is affirmed and admitted in any effort to deny it. The sentiments we ex hibit\, whether love or hate\, confidence or fear\, respect or contempt\, will always imply a like humanity.\n\nA smile or a tear has not nationalit y\; joy and sorrow speak alike to all nations\, and they\, above all the c onfusion of tongues\, proclaim the brotherhood of man.\n\nIt is objected t o the Chinaman that he is secretive and treacherous\, and will not tell th e truth when he thinks it for his interest to tell a lie.\n\nThere may be truth in all this\; it sounds very much like the account of man’s heart given in the creeds. If he will not tell the truth except when it is for h is interest to do so\, let us make it for this interest to tell the truth We can do it by applying to him the same principle of justice that we appl y ourselves.\n\nBut I doubt if the Chinese are more untruthful than other people. At this point I have one certain test\,—mankind are not held tog ether by lies. Trust is the foundation of society. Where there is no truth \, there can be no trust\, and where there is no trust there can be no soc iety. Where there is society\, there is trust\, and where there is trust\, there is something upon which it is supported. Now a people who have conf ided in each other for five thousand years\; who have extended their empir e in all direction till it embraces on e fifth of the population of the gl ove\; who hold important commercial relations with all nations\; who are n ow entering into treaty stipulations with ourselves\, and with all the gre at European powers\, cannot be a nation of cheats and liars\, but must hav e some respect for veracity. The very existence of China for so long a per iod\, and her progress in civilization\, are proofs of her truthfulness. B ut it is said that the Chinese is a heathen\, and that he will introduce h is heathen rights and superstitions here. This is the last objection which should come from those who profess the all conquering power of the Christ ian religion. If that religion cannot stand contact with the Chinese\, rel igion or no religion\, so much the worse for those who have adopted it. It is the Chinaman\, not the Christian\, who should be alarmed for his faith . He exposes that faith to great dangers by exposing it to the freer air o f America. But shall we send missionaries to the heathen and yet deny the heathen the right to come to us? I think that a few honest believers in th e teachings of Confucius would be well employed in expounding his doctrine s among us.\n\nThe next objection to the Chinese is that he cannot be indu ced to swear by the Bible. This is to me one of his best recommendations. The American people will swear by anything in the heavens above or in the earth beneath. We are a nation of swearers. We swear by a book whose most authoritative command is to swear not at all.\n\nIt is not of so much impo rtance what a man swears by\, as what he swears to\, and if the Chinaman i s so true to his convictions that he cannot be tempted or even coerced int o so popular a custom as swearing by the Bible\, he gives good evidence of his integrity and his veracity.\n\nLet the Chinaman come\; he will help t o augment the national wealth. He will help to develop our boundless resou rces\; he will help to pay off our national debt. He will help to lighten the burden of national taxation. He will give us the benefit of his skill as a manufacturer and tiller of the soil\, in which he is unsurpassed.\n\n Even the matter of religious liberty\, which has cost the world more tears \, more blood and more agony\, than any other interest\, will be helped by his presence. I know of no church\, however tolerant\; of no priesthood\, however enlightened\, which could be safely trusted with the tremendous p ower which universal conformity would confer. We should welcome all men of every shade of religious opinion\, as among the best means of checking th e arrogance and intolerance which are the almost inevitable concomitants o f general conformity. Religious liberty always flourishes best amid the cl ash and competition of rival religious creeds.\n\nTo the minds of superfic ial men\, the fusion of different races has already brought disaster and r uin upon the country. The poor negro has been charged with all our woes. I n the haste of these men they forgot that our trouble was not ethnographic al\, but moral\; that it was not a difference of complexion\, but a differ ence of conviction. It was not the Ethiopian as a man\, but the Ethiopian as a slave and a covetted [sic] article of merchandise\, that gave us trou ble.\n\nI close these remarks as I began. If our action shall be in accord ance with the principles of justice\, liberty\, and perfect human equality \, no eloquence can adequately portray the greatness and grandeur of the f uture of the Republic.\n\nWe shall spread the network of our science and c ivilization over all who seek their shelter whether from Asia\, Africa\, o r the Isles of the sea. We shall mold them all\, each after his kind\, int o Americans\; Indian and Celt\; negro and Saxon\; Latin and Teuton\; Mongo lian and Caucasian\; Jew and Gentile\; all shall here bow to the same law\ , speak the same language\, support the same Government\, enjoy the same l iberty\, vibrate with the same national enthusiasm\, and seek the same nat ional ends.\n\n\n\n Referral\n\n\n\n https://www.blackpast.org/african-ame rican-history/1867-frederick-douglass-describes-composite-nation/\n\n\n\n  \n\n\n\n PDF images of original speech\n\n\n\n https://nyhs-prod.cdn.pri smic.io/nyhs-prod/071a94b5-388a-4546-b798-7439b35e2061_Composite+Nation_Co mposite+Nation+Speech.docx.pdf\n\n\n\n  \n\n\n\n  \n\n\n\n COMMENTARY\n\ n\n\n  \n\n\n\n 02112026\n\n\n\n  \n\n\n\n Citation\n\n\n\n https://aalb c.com/tc/topic/12457-frederick-douglass-our-composite-nation-take-a-read  /#findComment-80088\n\n\n\n osted just now\n\n\n\n @ProfD\n\n\n\n   18 hours ago\, ProfD said:\n\n\n\n IMO\, as a melting pot\, the USA warts & amp\; all is the composite nation Frederick Douglass envisioned.\n\n\n\n  \n\n\n\n I concur 100% I will only add he envisioned plus worked very ha rd for.  I call frederick douglass a black integrationist but to be more honest\, he was a zealous integrationist. \n\n\n\n You said warts and all \, but that is part of what makes Frederick Douglass in my opinion\, the m ost important black integrationist\, over W.E.B. Dubois when younger who w as alive with Douglass but most blacks cite as more important even though Dubois was financed by white jews  and douglass was not [douglass was fin anced by white abolitionists\, whites who wanted to end black enslavement to whites but not white jews who wanted to use blacks for various fiscal o r government reasons\, which is why W.E.B>\; dubois when older was a sta unch rematriate/back to africa ]\, MLK jr \, douglas's spiritual son who h as a federal holiday\, or barack obama \, douglass spiritual grandson who became the first\, and currently only\, black president. \n\n\n\n W.E.B. Dubois when younger+ MLK jr + Obama for me have one great failing in prose compared to Douglass \, they don't honestly submit in their prose the ugl iness of integration. Whereas Frederick Douglass in his composite nation s peech essentially\, admits integration in the future will be terrible or b etter f-ed up. He was alive\, like WE.B. Dubois\,  to see Jim Crow grow e arly in tremendous black bloodshed\, but in composite nation he predicted Jim Crow would be a long thing\, which it was 1865 to 1980 but he also adm itted the far flung future will be bad\, ala the post jim crow \, 1980 to today. \n\n\n\n Whereas W.E.B. dubois when younger and MLK jr. and Obama or many\, i argue most absent a count\,  black integrationist mention opp ortunities and capabilities\, Douglass  admitted the future will not be f ull of opportunity but only challenges. The black blame for black conditio n many black integrationist speak of Douglass doesn't go into. \n\n\n\n S o I concur to you 100%. And largely because Douglass saw the white warts a s much larger or more powerful or more entrapping than his consophies/ tho se who think alike or with him\, during his lifetime or after.  \n\n\n\n The neverending multicolored spaghetti in a pot\, [the usa really isn't a melting pot\, the integrationist goal is the melting pot\, the condition from 1492 to today is a neverending flow of multicolored spaghetti in a po t to small ] is desired by Douglass not because it will be great for black people\, but because it will be great for human individuals. That is also another key element in Douglass's prose that I find absent in W.E.B. DUbo is when younger and MLK jr. and Barrack Obama. Douglass was booed by black people speaking the composite nation speech because he didn't lie about i ntegrations reality. Black communal betterment against the non black isn't served by integration. Black segregationist [ Booker t washington or exod usters]  Black Nationalist [ Jean Jacques Dessalines or Nkrumah] Black re matriast [ Marcus Garvey ] strategies are all better suited for black comm unal betterment over black integration. Douglass didn't suggest the lie th at W.E.B. Dubois when young\, MLK jr\, Obama suggest . The lie being integ ration is better for the black community\, it isn't. IT is better for blac k individuals. But\, Douglass's point was that far down the road\, if all individuals can be in that positive composite environment\, then the human community will be better. It is a delicate philosophical position. It isn 't that Douglass is anti black\, as much as Douglass sees all sub populace s in humanity needing to be harmed/lessened/weakened to get to where the U SA can be good for any human being. I think he foresaw that one day\, whit es will have to face a big lose\, white jews will have to face a big lose\ , men will have to face a big lose\, because those populaces communal stre ngth has to give way to a human communal strength. \n\n\n\n I don't favor implementing Douglass's philosophy\, but I argue\, while he is pro statia n\, very pro statin\, he applies an honesty to the integration in the usa \, that I don't really see in well known black people\, but even among the fiscally common black integrationists. \n\n\n\n  \n\n\n\n 02112026\n\n\ n\n  \n\n\n\n Citation\n\n\n\n https://aalbc.com/tc/topic/12457-frederick -douglass-our-composite-nation-take-a-read /#findComment-80090\n\n\n\n Po sted just now\n\n\n\n @ProfD \n\n\n\n   4 hours ago\, ProfD said:\n\ n\n\n  I believe Douglass would be pleasantly surprised by the opportunit ies Black folks have been able to take advantage of despite the challenges under the system of racism white supremacy.\n\n\n\n  \n\n\n\n i am certa in he would be happy\, he was happy at black individual financial success during his life. But would he be surprised at black financial individual s uccess today? I don't think so at all. Again\, the usa has always had circ a 1492 to 2026 financially successful black individuals\, meaning blacs wh o own businesses in a white dominated community\, ala integration or why t he usa has always been integrated. But in the colonial period the usa was born from or the usa itself\, neither ever had a black populace that contr olled or governed itself. Now in defense\, Douglass and black integrationi sts goal isn't a black populace that is a community or governs itself\, bl ack integrationist goal by default is to have black individuals have oppor tunity in an integrated environment\, which is what has been going on sinc e 1865 in the usa. \n\n\n\n So I argue\, douglass wouldn't be surprised c ause nothing has elementally changed. Between 1865 and today no difference exist in terms of presence. Black elected officials\, black business owne rs\, white enemies of black people existed in 1865 and exist now in the un ited states of america. Now you can argue percentages\, but Frederick Doug lass whole point is that was inevitable. \n\n\n\n   4 hours ago\, Pro fD said:\n\n\n\n In the absence of a revolution to overthrow it\, the big gest challenge especially for Black statesmen remains navigating the water s of racism white supremacy.\n\n\n\n The subtlety that douglass had in com prehending the  integration he supported so few black integrationist afte r him  seem to comprehend. \n\n\n\n What you call a system of white supr emacy douglass called the USA.  From douglass own language the challenge isn't dealing with white supremacy but dealing with whites. In that way\, Douglass/ MLK jr/ Obama are like minded. I think W.E.B. Dubois when younge r saw a system of white supremacy as you do\, and when he was older \, it showed how dysfunctional an black integrationist who then speaks of living in a system of white supremacy is. \n\n\n\n if you are black and embrace the usa today\, then you are an integrationist.\n\n\n\n I argue positive/ engaged Black segregation for the majority of black people in the usa or j ust the majority of descended of enslaved\, which is what the exodusters+ booker t washington wanted... is close to impossible today in the usa. The financial situation of the black populace/ the heritage in the usa in 202 6 /the bureaucracy of the usa government/ the internal demographics [espec ially geographic displacement]of the black populace in the usa today\, mak e positive black segregation like said folks wanted... very^INF  challeng ing. In very small groups you see examples of positive black segregation i n the usa today\, but none of that can be applied to the larger populace.  \n\n\n\n Black nationalism is more challenging than Black segregation in the usa\, for the majority\, but black people/individuals or very small g roups have always left the usa and made small examples outside the usa. \ n\n\n\n Black rematriation/ black to africa is more challenging than black nationalism in the usa for the majority. But\, black people/individuals o r very small groups have always left the usa to africa and succeeded. \n\ n\n\n So I said that to say\, the majority black populace in the usa today is integrationist\, and outside some radical event in the future\, it wil l remain on that path\, set by Douglass. \n\n\n\n But\, what is black int egration in the usa ? Black integration in the usa is black people living positively aside the non black. So Douglass correctly asserted the challen ge for black integrationist  isn't navigating white supremacy\, cause bla ck integrationists have to oppose black supremacy\, which is what douglass did\,  the challenge for the black integrationist is navigating white pe ople under the legal system of the usa\, with all of its dysfunctions or w hite warts built over time\, that will require and can be changed legally. .. in time. \n\n DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250209 RRULE:FREQ=YEARLY;INTERVAL=1 END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR