This Fourth [of] July is yours, not mine. You may rejoice, I must mourn.
This is one of Douglass's main points. Meaning that even many people are jubilant, and are celebratory of their freedom, for slaves and many black people, the Fourth is a time that they are reminded of their circumstances that they are under, certainly not freedom.
What point in the anti-slavery creed would you have me argue? On what branch of the subject do the people of this country need light? Must I undertake to prove that the slave is a man? That point is conceded already. Nobody doubts it. The slaveholders themselves acknowledge it in the enactment of laws for their government. They acknowledge it when they punish disobedience on the part of the slave. There are seventy-two crimes in the State of Virginia, which, if committed by a black man, (no matter how ignorant he be), subject him to the punishment of death; while only two of the same crimes will subject a white man to the like punishment. What is this but the acknowledgement that the slave is a moral, intellectual and responsible being?
Douglass makes his point that slaves and black men are treated unfairly. 72 crimes in the same state are punishable by death for a black man, though only 2 of the same for a white man. This is a violation of a persons intellectual capabilities and rights.
There, see the old man, with locks thinned and gray. Cast one glance, if you please, upon that young mother, whose shoulders are bare to the scorching sun, her briny tears falling on the brow of the babe in her arms. See, too, that girl of thirteen, weeping, yes! weeping, as she thinks of the mother from whom she has been torn! The drove moves tardily. Heat and sorrow have nearly consumed their strength; suddenly you hear a quick snap, like the discharge of a rifle; the fetters clank, and the chain rattles simultaneously; your ears are saluted with a scream, that seems to have torn its way to the center of your soul!
Douglass utilizes very strong language here in describing the horrible conditions that slaves go through. This humanize the slaves and perhaps even helps persuade people in the abolitionist cause.
I am glad, fellow-citizens, that your nation is so young
Note how he talks to "you" (the citizens of the nation) even though he is a citizen himself.
pretended Legislation:
This is the violation of the British constitution (legislation). Basically just legislation that is not within the parameters of the founding documents.
He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harrass our people, and eat out their substance.
Is this now relatable with president Trump and his immigration policies? Particularly with DACA
that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed.
This is interesting because it's making the point that even though we have issues, we choose not to fix them because we've learned to live with it. But to what extent can we?
whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.
As if the Indians are any less cruel in the long run than Americans, in regards to the way one treats another.