In his famous speech from 1852, later named "What to A Slave is The Fourth of July" Douglass uses this special date to express his views on the position of slaves in America at the time.
Comparing the fight of the Americans for their independance and against unjust treatment by the British to the situation of black community in the USA some seventy years later, he asks for understanding and support in the pursuit of those same values Americans fought for in the Revolution.
He also uses this argument to criticize respect of this values (freedom and rights) by white US citizens, while, at the same time restraining black people for obtaining them, using well chosen words and clever arguments to emphasize this hypocrisy.
