In the speech, “What to the slave, Is the Fourth of July?”, which was presented by Frederick Douglass on July 5, 1852, Douglass condemns the hypocrisy of American society when they asked him to speak about the meaning of the Fourth of July and their freedom when a majority of the African American population remained in slavery. Considering that Douglass was a black man who escaped slavery, he found it ironic that they asked him to speak about this topic, but he still took the opportunity to establish his reasons on why the slaves should receive their freedom. In his speech, Frederick Douglass is trying to persuade the people who are pro-slavery to change their minds. In the introduction, Douglass starts off the speech by apologizing for being nervous and says, “apologies of this sort are generally considered flat and unmeaning.” He tells his audience this to show that he is being sincere and to establish trust between him and the congregation. He also states, “The little experience I have had in addressing …show more content…
But when he asks the question, “why am I called upon to speak here today? Are the great principles of political freedom and of natural justice, embodied in that Declaration of Independence, extended to us?” By asking these questions, Douglass is able to get a negative reaction out of them toward slavery and the treatments of African Americans. He also tells the audience, “This Fourth of July is yours, not mine. You may rejoice, I must mourn. To drag a man in fetters into the grand illuminated temple of liberty, and call upon him to join you in joyous anthems, were inhuman mockery and sacrilegious irony.” When saying this, he is able to compare how different the Fourth of July is for Blacks. Douglass says it’s mockery to have him even speak of this topic because American independence is a