Abstract
Antebellum free blacks created a commemorative platform to instill alternative values that embraced universal human liberty, thus reinforcing their meaning of freedom. This public address platform was the first and the largest of its kind in America. In lieu of participating in the fourth of July celebrations, Blacks participated in annual commemorations of emancipation in the British West Indies from 1834 until the end of the Civil War. This essay demonstrates that through this event, African Americans courted diverse audiences in the United States that crossed race, gender, class, and age. This essay further demonstrates that the First of August orations embraced hope, an ever‐present theme with universal appeal in commemorative rhetoric of African Americans.
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