Answer Expert Verified. It is this line: “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.”

“What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?” is a speech given by Frederick Douglass in 1852, it was addressed the Rochester Ladies’ Anti-Slavery Society, here Douglass shows that several American values were an offense to the enslaved people such as freedom and citizenship, these American values were not being honored …

Terms in this set (26) In his Fourth of July speech, why does Douglass say to his audience that “The Fourth of July is yours, not mine”? He contends that the liberty affirmed by the holiday has been denied to African Americans such as himself.

Answer: The line from “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?” which supports Douglas’ claim that the Fourth of July is not a cause worthy of celebration by all is: O “Fellow-citizens, above your national, tumultuous joy, I hear the mournful wail of millions!

Why does Frederick Douglass say to his audience that “The Fourth of July is yours, not mine”? He believes African Americans are excluded from public holidays celebrations. He contends that the liberty affirmed by the holiday has been denied to African Americans.