Traditional fouth of July speeches focused on the achivements and legacy of the American reveloution, however Fredrick Douglass’s speech sheds light on the rights white Americans enjoy and the oppression of slaves. He wanted the people to know that he was asked to speak and not that he was delighted to do so. His speech was meant to show people that slaves had no reason to celebrate. Slaves weren’t free and the independence that the rest of the country was elated about and celebrating didn’t apply to them. Although the audience that he was speaking in front of was a group of abolitionist, and was on his side, he wanted them to step up more for what they believed in. I believe that Fredrick Douglass hoped to shed light on a historical celebration, while expressing the reasons why slaves shouldn’t or aren’t in jubilee. Fredrick Douglass was successful in getting his point across, which basically is the Fourth of July was a bad reminder of cruelty that Americans attempt to hide with celebration. He’s asking for change, what has been done cant be erased, and he hopes that the cruelty and injustice that is taking place now wont carry into the future of this country. Douglass’s tone in this speech was of humility and gratitude, he was humbled to the Rochester Ladies Anti-slavery Society for choosing him to speak for their independence ceremony. He also was sarcastic, and had many rhetorical questions in his dialect. He used “you” “me” “us” and “them” to stress the fact that this holiday has a double meaning , for African American’s its considered a day of mourning and for the white Americans it’s a day of