LAD # 16

On Independence Day in 1852 Frederick Douglass was asked to give a speech. He started off by stating that although it was an independence day for whites, many African Americans around them were still bound to involuntary servitude. Douglass questions the very white men who asked him to speak, wondering if they have called upon him to simply make fun of the fact that his own race does not have the same freedoms as the whites. He then argues that for some one to celebrate this day was treason, due to the fact that a large number of blacks were still in servitude. He expressed his anger towards the fact that even though blacks participate in the same life activities, including religion, they were not given the same rights as them. Douglass calls Independence Day a “sham” and that god would see this day in no other way. He says it’s the white men who are savages for enslaving blacks. Douglass then concludes by stating the US is the most savage nation that ever existed in the world.