# BFW Revisited: Whose Fourth of July? Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/ben-franklin-s-world-320219/bfw-revisited-whose-fourth-of-july-2 Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/ben-franklin-s-world-320219/bfw-revisited-whose-fourth-of-july-2.md Podcast: [Ben Franklin's World](https://stenobird.com/podcast/ben-franklin-s-world-320219) Published: 2026-04-28T09:00:00+00:00 Episode link: http://www.benfranklinsworld.com Audio file: https://episodes.captivate.fm/episode/f388d63f-3dcd-4df3-bbcc-da4bdc0b9af5.mp3 Processing state: not_requested JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/ben-franklin-s-world-320219/episodes/bfw-revisited-whose-fourth-of-july-2 Duration seconds: 4359 ## Resource On July 5, 1852, Frederick Douglass stood before the Rochester Ladies' Anti-Slavery Society and asked one of the most searing questions in American history: "What, to the slave, is the Fourth of July?" To answer Douglass's question, we have to go back to the Revolution itself; to the choices Black Americans made in wartime, to the ways they read, used, and interrogated the Declaration of Independence, and to the alternative celebrations they created when the Fourth of July felt like someone else's holiday. Historians Christopher Bonner and Martha S. Jones help us explore what the Fourth of July meant for African Americans in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, and how their experiences with the Fourth contributed to the larger history of the nation's founding. Christopher's Website | Book Martha's Website | Book Show Notes: https://www.benfranklinsworld.com/277 RECOMMENDED NEXT EPISODES 🎧 Episode 157: The Revolution's African American Soldiers 🎧 Episode 166: Freedom and the American Revolution 🎧 Episode 245: Celebrating the Fourth of July 🎧 Episode 255: Birthright Citizens 🎧 Episode 434: The Frank Brothers, Freeborn Black Soldiers in the American Revolution 🎧 Episode 439: When the Declaration of Independence Was News SUPPORT OUR WORK 🎁 Make a Donation to Ben Franklin’s World REQUEST A TOPIC πŸ“¨ Topic Request Form πŸ“« liz@benfranklinsworld.com WHEN YOU'RE READY πŸ—žοΈ BFW Gazette Newsletter πŸ‘©β€πŸ’» Join the BFW Listener Community 🌍 Join the History Explorers Club TAKE THE QUIZ 🧭 Discover How You Explore History (under 2 minutes) πŸ‘‰ https://www.benfranklinsworld.com/quiz LISTEN 🎧 🍎 Apple Podcasts πŸ’š Spotify 🎢 Amazon Music πŸ›œ Pandora CONNECT πŸ¦‹ Liz on Bluesky πŸ‘©β€πŸ’» Liz on LinkedIn πŸ›œ Liz’s Website SAY THANKS πŸ’œ Leave a review on Apple Podcasts πŸ’š Leave a rating on Spotify * Bo… ## Actions - request_transcript: `POST https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/ben-franklin-s-world-320219/episodes/bfw-revisited-whose-fourth-of-july-2/transcription-requests` β€” Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode. - read_markdown: `GET https://stenobird.com/podcast/ben-franklin-s-world-320219/bfw-revisited-whose-fourth-of-july-2.md` β€” Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource. A page view does not enqueue transcription. Agents should invoke `request_transcript` explicitly when they need this episode processed. ## Transcript Full transcripts are not published on public pages unless there is a clear rights basis.