 He had agreed to speak, but on one condition, that his speech not be delivered on July 4th, but on July 5th, 1852, the 25th anniversary of New York State's full abolition of slavery. Whatever the expectations of his audience on that 76th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, Douglass used the occasion not to celebrate the nation's triumphs, but to remind all of its continuing enslavement of millions of people.