What issue was the speaker looking to change in “what was the Fourth of July to

The claim that Douglass is making in his speech is to abolish slave trade or the practice of slavery in the United States.

Also, in the Republic, there was a defined difference between the rich and poor. They even had their own names: the rich were known as Patricians, and the poor were Plebeians. The reason for this was that there were certain positions that only Patricians or only Plebeians could hold. However, after the Republic was destroyed by Julius and Augustus Caesar, this didn't really matter anymore.