Sarcastic, Angry

Douglass is mad as a hornet. Why in the name of all the hoop skirts in America would these people ask him to talk about American liberty? Check out what he lays down early on:

To drag a man in fetters into the grand illuminated temple of liberty, and call upon him to join you in joyous anthems, were inhuman mockery and sacrilegious irony. Do you mean, citizens, to mock me, by asking me to speak today? If so, there is a parallel to your conduct. And let me warn you, that it is dangerous to copy the example of a nation (Babylon) whose crimes, towering up to heaven, were thrown down by the breath of the Almighty, burying that nation in irrecoverable ruin. (21-24)

"Wow, you guys are either really big jerks or really big dummies to think that a former slave wants to help you celebrate your freedom while slavery still exists," says Douglass. "Not cool, guys. Not cool."

So, Douglass lets them know he's pretty mad. But most of his speech is dedicated to sarcasm about these dumb arguments he has to make against slavery. Really? He has to argue that slavery is bad? Can Americans not see that by themselves?

He concludes that argument doesn't work, so he's going to go ironic on y'all—in the literary sense:

At a time like this, scorching irony, not convincing argument, is needed. Oh! had I the ability, and could I reach the nation's ear, I would today pour out a fiery stream of biting ridicule, blasting reproach, withering sarcasm, and stern rebuke. (75-76)

In short, Douglass is mad, and he's smart enough to use his words to shame the people and the situation that have made him that way.