Fredrick Douglass on the Declaration of
Independence
Fredrick Douglass
1 On July 5, 1852, Douglass gave a speech at an event
commemorating the signing of the Declaration of Independence, held
at Rochester's Corinthian Hall. It was biting oratory, in which the
speaker told his audience, "This Fourth of July is yours, not mine. You
may rejoice, I must mourn." And he asked them, "Do you mean,
citizens, to mock me, by asking me to speak to-day?"
2 Within the now-famous address is what historian Philip S. Foner has
called "probably the most moving passage in all of Douglass
speeches."
3 What, to the American slave, is your 4th of July? I answer: a day that
reveals to him, 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 a 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
shout of liberty and equality, hollow mockery, your prayers and hymns,
your sermons and thanks-givings, with all your religious parade and
solemnity, are to him, mere bombast, fraud, deception, impiety, and
hypocrisy-a thin veil to cover up crimes which would disgrace a nation
of savages. There is not a nation on the earth guilty of practices more
shocking and bloody than are the people of the United States, at this
very hour
What, to the American slave, is your 4th of July? I answer a day that
reveals to him, more than all other days in the year, the gross injustice
and cruelty to which he is the constant victim
Which of the four dictionary definitions for the word reveals is LEAST
effective as it applies in this sentence?
*
x
x
x
A
B
C
D
to divulge what was confidential
to expose or uncover
to lay open to view
to enlighten
2
O
C