"What, to the American slave, is your Fourth
Evaluate the reasoning Douglass uses in the
of July? I answer; : day that reveals to him,
passage by determining whether the conclusion is
valid or invalid.
more than all other days in the year, the gross
injustice and cruelty to which he is the
constant victim. To him, your celebration is
sham; your boasted liberty, an unholy license;
your national greatness, swelling vanity; your
sounds of rejoicing are empty and heartless;
your denunciation of tyrants, brass-fronted
impudence; your shouts of liberty and
equality, hollow mockery."