at the time, james earl jones was introduced by howard zinn. howard zinn: frederick douglass, once a slave, became a brilliant and powerful leader of the anti-slavery movement. in 1852, he was asked to speak in celebration of the fourth of july. frederick douglass: [read by james earl jones] fellow citizens, pardon me, allow me to ask, why am i called upon to speak here to-day? what have i, or those i represent, to do with your national independence? are the great principles of political freedom and of natural justice, embodied in that declaration of independence, extended to us? and am i, therefore, called upon to bring our humble offering to the national altar, and to confess the benefits and express devout gratitude for the blessings resulting from your independence to us? i am not included within the pale of this glorious anniversary! your high independence only reveals the immeasurable distance between us. the blessings in which you this day rejoice are not enjoyed in common. the rich inheritance of justice, liberty, prosperity, and indepe

again with the topic of independence day according to historian howard zinn the revolutionary war is considered one of america's holy wars not religious but meaning it's beyond reproach it's sacrosanct and you can't criticize it without the collective american psyche coming to life and bitch slapping you with a toby keith platinum album. why is that here now to explain is our senior historian john if o'donnell. was why why can't we say anything bad about the american revolution because there's nothing bad to say. the war for independence was pure it's like a baby snow leopard living in the himalayan mountains of tibet or a kindergarten student with a brand new backpack. or a really good cocaine. your you know the revolutionary war wasn't pure war i'm glad the colonists escaped the tyranny of britain i'm glad that happened but it did mean and dependence for everyone right codified slavery in the law and at the time of the constitution only six percent of the people in america could vote yeah yeah but it was still a pretty great war all in all what about all of the killing and how else