When Frederick Douglass escaped from slavery, one of the things he took with him was his copy of The Columbian Orator, a textbook that taught, among other things, those classical rhetorical skills that marked a well-educated speaker in early America. For the most part, "The Hypocrisy of American Slavery" follows the classical form that would have been familiar to Douglass' listeners.

How It Breaks Down

Exordium (Opening) (Sentences 1-11)

Douglass addresses his listeners and wonders aloud why he, a former slave, has been asked to speak at a celebration of liberty. He can't figure it out.

Narratio (Statement of the Case) (Sentences 12-27)

Douglass concludes that he cannot properly celebrate the Fourth of July because it is meaningful only to those Americans who have always been free. To him, it seems like a mockery of those Americans held in chains to celebrate freedom while they are still suffering in bondage.

Divisio/Partitio (Thesis) (Sentences 28-30)

Douglass tells his audience he intends to speak on "American Slavery," not on liberty. He intends to show why, while slaveholding is always bad, celebrating a nation's freedom while slavery still exists in that nation is a super tone-deaf thing to do.

Confirmatio (Presentation of Arguments) and Confutatio (Refutation of Opponent) (Sentences 31-74)

In classical oratory, these two sections are sometimes split, but Douglass presents his points and then refutes opposing arguments one by one. He argues that slavery is un-American, that abolitionists could be doing more, that slaves are people, that slaves have a right to liberty, and that slavery is a moral wrong.

(Interestingly, he argues all these points by saying they are such no-brainers that he's not going to argue them.)

Conclusio/Peroratio (Conclusion) (Sentences 75-84)

Douglass claims that the irony he's used in his speech is necessary because argument clearly doesn't work on Americans. He compares the celebration of liberty with the practice of slavery and concludes that any nation that can do that doesn't deserve to be called civilized. It ends on a real down note for a party…which is exactly what Douglass intends.