Abolition and Women’s Rights Movements, Part 1 — Quiz

Question 6 • Language Arts 11

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 worthy of celebration by all?

Answer

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?

Explanation

Douglass contrasts the nation’s joyful Fourth of July celebrations with the suffering of enslaved people. He says he hears “the mournful wail of millions” whose chains feel even more intolerable amid the jubilee shouts. This directly supports the claim that the holiday is not a cause for celebration for everyone, so the correct choice is the line beginning “Fellow-citizens, above your national, tumultuous joy.”

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