Question

Refer to Explorations in Literature for a complete version of this speech.

Answer 1

Answer: He thinks America is the most hypocritical and barbaric country in the world due to slavery.

In "What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?" Douglass argues that the United States is the most hypocritical and barbaric country in the world because of how it maintains and protects slavery. Douglass believes that it is barbaric how the United States claims to defend freedom, justice and equality, and yet keeps a whole class of people enslaved. He states that this is the reason why slaves cannot possibly celebrate the Fourth of July. The rights that they are meant to be celebrating are not actually granted to them.

Answer 2

The statement that best represents Douglass' viewpoint is that He believes America is the most hypocritical and barbaric country in the world due to slavery.

Douglass believes this because the Americans celebrated freedom each year while millions of Americans were not, in fact, free. The United States was founded on the idea that no man should have immense power over another, but people were being owned and treated like property during the era of slavery. Douglass also mentions how the things going on in the United States are more violent and appalling than anywhere else in the World.  <span />