Question

What assessment did Frederick Douglass give the declaration of the independence

Answer 1

Frederick Douglass gave a critical assessment of the Declaration of Independence. He believed that the principles of liberty and equality outlined in the document were not being applied to African Americans who were still enslaved. Douglass argued that the Founding Fathers' hypocrisy in not extending these rights to all people negated the ideals of freedom and justice expressed in the Declaration. He famously said, "What, to the American slave, is your Fourth of July?... 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."