Douglas and 4th of July

Douglas says throughout the speech that he doesn't think that 4th of July is a day of freedom for African Americans, and it isn't. They weren't free on that day. It technically shouldn't even be a holiday for them. So when Frederick Douglas was asked to speak on this day it is kind of offensive. Asking a former slave to speak about a day that was a great day for all white people, and definitely not for African Americans.

Douglas is appealing to pathos in his speech, because you can definitely tell from reading it that he was passionate while he was giving it. This is very important in being a good speaker, which Douglas was known for. He appeals to the emotion of the audience by explainingn why it isn't a day of freedom for African Americans. I would say that he appeals to pathos more than ethos or logos. He doesn't appeal to logos very much, but he doesn't need to in this speech, and back when he gave it, it would have been really hard to come up with statistics and data to support his argument.