Which line from "What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?” supports Douglass’s claim that the Fourth of July is not a cause wort
hy of celebration by all? Fellow Citizens, I am not wanting in respect for the fathers of this republic. The signers of the Declaration of Independence were brave men. They were great men, too great enough to give frame to a great age. Would to God, both for your sakes and ours, that an affirmative answer could be truthfully returned to these questions! Then would my task be light, and my burden easy and delightful. Fellow-citizens, above your national, tumultuous joy, I hear the mournful wail of millions! whose chains, heavy and grievous yesterday, are, to-day, rendered more intolerable by the jubilee shouts that reach them. But, I submit, where all is plain there is nothing to be argued. What point in the anti-slavery creed would you have me argue? On what branch of the subject do the people of this country need light?
It is this line: "<span>Fellow-citizens, above your national, tumultuous joy, I hear the mournful wail of millions! whose chains, heavy and grievous yesterday, are, to-day, rendered more intolerable by the jubilee shouts that reach them."
Douglass admits that the Independence Day is an important date when a great thing happened for all Americans. But he thinks it is inappropriate to celebrate a nationwide holiday when there are millions of members of this nation who are not free and able to celebrate. This festivity makes those people feel even worse.</span>
