Summary
Continuing his string of arguments, Douglass shows how American ideology proves the slave's liberty, condemns the abuse of men, and renders inhumanity incongruous to divine invention. He then dismisses engaging in these arguments, saying that it is not propriety and logic needed to abolish slavery, but disruption and bitter irony.
Douglass asks his audience what the Fourth of July means to the American slave. He answers his own question, saying that the holiday is the epitome of hypocrisy, and so is the United States as a nation.
Addressing the American Slave Trade, Douglass points out the hypocrisy of condemning the global trade while enabling the internal buying and selling of slaves. He paints a vivid and disturbing portrait of slave auctions before admitting that these images keep him awake at night, as they are all too familiar to him even as a free man. But, Douglass argues, the state of American evil is worsened by the recent passing of the Fugitive Slave Act. This divisive and inhuman law, Douglass says, would not have been enacted by any other nation in the world.
Analysis
Because Douglass does not immediately let on that he plans to speak about slavery, the crux of his argument comes at around the halfway point. At this point, Douglass not only establishes his primary question—what does the Fourth of the July mean to a slave?—but also provides the answer, which happens to be the central point of his entire speech: American hypocrisy. Indeed, after refuting a series of "logical" arguments about slavery in quick succession, Douglass shows how the continued existence of slavery in the United States is fundamentally at odds with everything for which the nation purports to stand. His tone here is impassioned, polemical, and mocking; his reliance on modesty and self-deprecating views give way to a direct accusations lodged toward his audience. "What, to the American slave, is your 4th of July?" he asks. "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" (72). It is important to note that Douglass was speaking to an audience full of abolitionists who presumably shared his sentiments about slavery. However, Douglass is not simply calling for the abolition of slavery on moral grounds; here, he makes clear that his goal is to dismantle people's belief in American exceptionalism—even fellow abolitionists—who continue to celebrate Independence Day amidst the suffering of enslaved people.
As Douglass moves into concrete examples of how America has failed to enact its founding principles, he paints a disturbing and heart-wrenching picture of the internal slave trade. Noting once again the hypocrisy inherent to condemning the global slave trade while allowing the national slave trade to proceed, Douglass appeals to his audience's emotions when describing the real and visceral suffering of slaves being bought and sold at auction. Notably, however, his argument does not stop at cultivating horrific images for his audience. Instead, he argues that the country has brought upon itself even more shame through its legislative decisions. Here, Douglass leaves no room for the perception that abuse perpetrated against slaves comes from individuals with evil agendas. Instead, by alluding to the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850—which made it illegal for northerners to aid slaves' escape or for northern officials to refuse to send escaped slaves back to the south—Douglass shows how the suffering of slaves is systemic, thereby implicating his audience in the perpetuation of that suffering. By showcasing how the laws of the country as a whole perpetuate the existence of slavery, Douglass suggests to his audience of abolitionists that they, too, are complicit.
