Question

“Fellow-Citizens – Pardon me, and allow me to ask, why am I called upon to speak here to-day? What have I, or those I represent, to do with your national independence? Are the great principles of political freedom and of natural justice, embodied in that Declaration of Independence, extended to us? and am I, therefore, called upon to bring our humble offering to the national altar, and to confess the benefits, and express devout gratitude for the blessings, resulting from your independence to us? “Would to God, both for your sakes and ours, that an affirmative answer could be truthfully returned to these questions! . . . “But, such is not the state of the case. I say it with a sad sense of the disparity between us. I am not included within the pale of this glorious anniversary! Your high independence only reveals the immeasurable distance between us. The blessings in which you this day rejoice, are not enjoyed in common. The rich inheritance of justice, liberty, prosperity, and independence, bequeathed by your fathers, is shared by you, not by me. The sunlight that brought life and healing to you, has brought stripes and death to me. 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. Do you mean, citizens, to mock me, by asking me to speak to-day?” Why does Frederick Douglass call into question the relevance of the Fourth of July for African Americans in 1852? Group of answer choices Douglass argued that African Americans should celebrate the date that northern blacks achieved freedom. He claims that African Americans should focus not on past success but rather on future goals. Douglass opposed America’s victory during the American Revolution. He argues that the same liberties that were being celebrated on the Fourth of July were not extended to him or his people.

Answer 1

Last option Frederick Douglass calls into question the relevance of the Fourth of July for African Americans in 1852 because he argues that the same liberties celebrated during this national holiday were not extended to him or his people.

What was Douglass's point of view

He emphasizes the significant disparity between the freedoms, justice, and prosperity enjoyed by the white Americans celebrating the Fourth of July and the continued subjugation, injustice, and lack of liberties experienced by African Americans.

Douglass expresses his sorrow at being excluded from the benefits of American independence, highlighting the stark contrast between the joyous celebrations of freedom and the harsh realities faced by African Americans, who were still enslaved and denied their inherent rights.