Delivered in Rochester in 1852, Douglass first questions why he had been asked to speak at all, wondering what the or the blacks he represented had to do with the Declaration of Independence when they were not given the rights stated within it. He then goes on to say that the celebration of Independence Day only serves to further the distance between the two races, since they celebrate the blessings which they did not give to the slaves and blacks. He then questions if the people were mocking him by asking him to speak.
Douglass then speaks of the "mournful wail of millions" and that he cannot ignore them, the American slaves. He says that in their eyes, the nation never looked worse nor more false as the day the people celebrated rights that they refused to give to anyone not of their race. He says how surprising it is that African Americans have to prove themselves to be men while they are pursuing jobs and dreaming of the same life just as any other American, but without wages and without liberty and without personal safety.
He closes by summarizing what the 4th of July is to an American slave: a day that reminds him of the injustice he is served. Douglass accuses the Americans at this time to be committing the worst injustice history has ever known.
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