Question

what to the slave is the fourth of july?
an address delivered in rochester, new york, on july 5, 1852
by frederick douglass
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. it does not often happen to a nation to raise, at one time, such a number of truly great men. the point from which i am compelled to view them is not, certainly, the most favorable, and yet i cannot contemplate their great deeds with less than admiration. they were statesmen, patriots and heroes, and for the good they did, and the principles they contended for, i will unite with you to honor their memory....
...fellow - citizens, pardon me, allow me to ask, why am i called upon to speak here today? what have i, or those i represent, to do with your national independence? are the great principles of political freedom and of natural justice, embodied in that declaration of independence, extended to us? and am i, therefore, called upon to bring our humble offering to the national altar, and to confess the benefits and express devout gratitude for the blessings resulting from your independence to us?
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. for who is there so cold, that a nations sympathy could not warm him? who so obdurate and dead to the claims of gratitude, that would not thankfully acknowledge such priceless benefits? who so stolid and selfish, that would not give his voice to swell the hallelujahs of a nations jubilee, when the chains of servitude had been torn from his limbs? i am not that man. in a case like that, the dumb might eloquently speak, and the lame man leap as an hart.
but such is not the state of the case. i say it with a sad sense of the disparity between us. i am not included within the pale of glorious anniversary! your high independence only reveals the immeasurable distance between us. the blessings in which you, this day, rejoice, are not enjoyed in common. the rich inheritance of justice, liberty, prosperity and independence, bequeathed by your fathers, is shared by you, not by me. the sunlight that brought light and healing to you, has brought stripes and death to me. this fourth july is yours, not mine. you may rejoice, i must mourn. to drag a man in fetters into the grand illuminated temple of liberty, and call upon him to join you in joyous anthems, were inhuman mockery and sacrilegious irony. do you mean, citizens, to mock me, by asking me to speak to - day? if so, there is a parallel to your conduct. and let me warn you that it is dangerous to copy the example of a nation whose crimes, towering up to heaven, were thrown down by the breath of the almighty, burying that nation in irrevocable ruin! i can - to - day take up the plaintive lament of a peeled and woe - smitten people!
how does what to the slave is the fourth of july? relate to the declaration of independence?
douglasss speech objects to several points made within the declaration of independence.
douglasss speech quotes the declaration of independence liberally and uses it to support every claim.
douglasss speech proclaims that the treatment of black people directly contradicts the declaration of independence.
douglasss speech served as the basis for the declaration of independence, which was written soon after his speech was given

Explanation:

Douglass's speech critiques the hypocrisy of celebrating independence while Black people are enslaved. He points out that the principles of the Declaration of Independence (like freedom and justice) are not extended to Black people. He uses the Declaration's own words (quoting it) to show this contradiction. For example, he questions why Black people, who are not given the rights of independence (like political freedom and natural justice as in the Declaration), are called to celebrate it. His speech doesn't "object to several points" in a general negative way (he uses the Declaration's logic against the status - quo), and the Declaration was written long before his speech (1776 vs 1852).

Answer:

Douglass's speech proclaims that the treatment of Black people directly contradicts the Declaration of Independence.