"What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?" is a speech delivered by Frederick Douglass in 1852. In it, Douglass critiques the hypocrisy of celebrating American freedom and independence while slavery persists. He challenges the audience to recognize the irony of celebrating liberty while denying it to millions of enslaved individuals. Douglass calls for justice, emphasizing the need for true equality and freedom for all Americans, including African Americans who were enslaved at the time. His speech remains a powerful critique of racial injustice and a call to live up to the principles of freedom and equality espoused in the Declaration of Independence.