LAD #16 Frederick Douglas's "5th of July" Speech

Summary of Frederick Douglas's "Fifth of July" Speech, Rochester, NY, 1852:

Frederick Douglas was asked to speak on the 4th of July at Corinthian Hall in Rochester New York on the question "What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?" (he actually gave his speech a day later). Instead of issuing a joyous speech about liberty, he declares that while the white man may celebrate his independence, the Fourth of July is merely a mockery for Blacks, who have been brutally oppressed by the very people who celebrate "equality". Douglas declares that for this reason the Fourth of July is an even darker day than any other to the Black slave. Also, he declares that he will with all his power denounce slavery, but will only do so in ways that are right and just. Finally, he claims that the dark actions of American slavery are the vilest inhuman history.