Question

from \what to the slave is the fourth of july?\ frederick douglass (1852)
what, to the american slave, is your fourth of july? i answer: a day that reveals to him, more than all other days in the year, the gross injustice and cruelty to which he is the constant victim. to him, your celebration is a sham; your boasted liberty, an unholy license; your national greatness, swelling vanity; your sounds of rejoicing are empty and heartless; your denunciation of tyrants, brass - fronted impudence; your shouts of liberty and equality, hollow mockery; your prayers and hymns, your sermons and thanksgivings, with all your religious parade and solemnity, mere bombast, fraud, deception, impiety, and hypocrisy - a thin veil to cover up crimes which would disgrace a nation of savages.
based on this excerpt from frederick douglass’s speech titled, what to the slave is the fourth of july?, why does he feel slave owners do not have the right to celebrate independence day?

• they would not allow their slaves to take part in any of the celebrations.

• they celebrated prayers and hymns instead of american freedoms.

• they were celebrating their freedom, but taking the freedom of others.

• they wanted to celebrate america, but not be called \americans.\

Explanation:

Douglass argues that the Fourth of July is a sham for slave owners because they celebrate their own liberty and independence while simultaneously denying those very freedoms to enslaved people, making their celebration hypocritical and unjust. The excerpt emphasizes that their calls for liberty and equality are a "hollow mockery" as they perpetuate injustice against enslaved people.

Answer:

They were celebrating their freedom, but taking the freedom of others.