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THE SIGNIFICANCE OF EMANCIPATION IN THE WEST
INDIES: AN ADDRESS DELIVERED IN CANANDAIGUA,
NEW YORK. ON 3 AUGUST 1857

Two Speeches, By Frederick Douglass; One on West India Emancipation, Delivered at
Canandaigua, Aug. 4th, and the Other on the Dred Scott Decision. Delivered in New York,
on the Occasion of the Anniversary of the American Abolition Society, May, 1857
(Rochester, 1857), 3—24. Other texts in Frederick Douglass' Paper, 7 August 1857;
Speech File, reel 14, frames 168—80, reel 32, frames 475—86, 499—510, FD Papers, DLC;
Foner, Life and Writings, 2: 426—39, misdated 4 August 1857.

At Canandaigua, New York, on 3 August 1857, Douglass delivered a “First
of August” speech commemorating the anniversary of the emancipation of
British West Indian slaves in 1834. A largely black crowd of over one thou-
sand participated in the festivities at the Ontario County Agricultural Soci-
ety’s fairgrounds. At the amphitheater, where the public speeches were deliv-
ered, Douglass shared the rostrum with Henry Highland Garnet, Jermain
Wesley Loguen, Lucy N. Colman, and Austin Steward, who presided. A
reporter for the Rochester Daily Democrat described Douglass’s address as
“able and earnest—the highest style of eloquence.” Douglass later published
his text as part of the pamphletTwo Speeches, By Frederick Douglass , which
incorrectly dates the delivery as 4 August. Rochester Daily Democrat, 4
August 1857.