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American Speeches: Political Oratory from the Revolution to the Civil War

Edited by Ted Widmer

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“These speeches are part of our national heritage, just as much as our Constitution and the Bill of Rights. They should be studied and celebrated!” — President Bill Clinton

Overview
Table of Contents
Contributors

Overview

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Public speeches have profoundly shaped American history and culture, transforming not only our politics but also our language and our sense of national identity. This volume (the first of an unprecedented two-volume collection) gathers the unabridged texts of 45 eloquent and dramatic American speeches delivered by 32 American public figures between 1761 and 1865, beginning with James Otis’s denunciation of unrestrained searches by British customs officials—hailed by John Adams as the beginning of the American Revolution—and ending with Abraham Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Address. Rich in literary allusions, vivid imagery, and emotional appeals, political oratory flourished during this period in Congress and at campaign rallies, public meetings, and reform conventions, and reached a wider audience through newspapers and pamphlets.

Included are Patrick Henry’s “liberty or death” speech, George Washington’s appeal to mutinous army officers, and Henry Lee’s eulogy of Washington. Speeches by John Randolph and Henry Clay capture the political passions of the early republic, while three addresses by Daniel Webster—his first Bunker Hill oration, his second reply to Hayne, and his controversial endorsement of the Compromise of 1850—demonstrate the eloquence that made him the most renowned orator of his time.

American speeches by figures that did not hold office are included as well: union leader Ely Moore attacking economic aristocracy; woman’s rights speeches by Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Sojourner Truth; Henry Highland Garnet’s incendiary call for slave rebellion; Frederick Douglass’s scathing “What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?” John C. Calhoun’s defense of slavery, Charles Sumner’s “The Crime Against Kansas,” Alexander Stephens’ “Corner-Stone” speech, and several speeches by Abraham Lincoln reflect the sectional conflicts that culminated in the Civil War.

Each volume contains biographical and explanatory notes, and an index.

Ted Widmer, editor, is the Beatrice and Julio Mario Santo Domingo Director and Librarian of the John Carter Brown Library at Brown University and the author of Martin Van Buren in The American Presidents Series and of Young America: The Flowering of Democracy in New York City. He was director of speechwriting at the National Security Council and a senior advisor to President Clinton from 1997 to 2001.

This Library of America series edition is printed on acid-free paper and features Smyth-sewn binding, a full cloth cover, and a ribbon marker.

Project support for this volume was provided by The Achelis Foundation and The Bodman Foundation.

American Speeches: Political Oratory from the Revolution to the Civil War is kept in print by a gift from The Berkley Foundation to the Guardians of American Letters Fund.
Table of Contents

James Otis: Argument Against Writs of Assistance
John Hancock: Oration on the Boston Massacre
Patrick Henry: Speech in the Virginia Convention
George Washington: Speech to Officers of the Continental Army
Benjamin Franklin: Speech at the Conclusion of the Constitutional Convention
Patrick Henry: Speech in Virginia Ratifying Convention
George Washington: First Inaugural Address
Red Jacket: Reply to President Washington
Henry Lee: Eulogy on George Washington
Thomas Jefferson: First Inaugural Address
Alexander Hamilton: Remarks on the Repeal of the Judiciary Act
John Randolph: Speech in Congress Against Non-Importation
Henry Clay: Speech in Congress on the War of 1812
Daniel Webster: Address at the Laying of the Cornerstone of the Bunker Hill Monument
William Wirt: Eulogy on John Adams and Thomas Jefferson
Frances Wright: Fourth of July Address
Andrew Jackson: First Inaugural Address
Daniel Webster: Second Reply to Hayne
Andrew Jackson: Second Inaugural Address
Ely Moore: Address to the General Trades’ Union
Thomas Hart Benton: Speech in the Senate on Expunging the Censure of President Jackson
John C. Calhoun: Speech in the Senate on Antislavery Petitions
Wendell Phillips: The Murder of Lovejoy
Angelina Grimké Weld: Antislavery Speech at Pennsylvania Hall
Henry Highland Garnet: Address to the Slaves of the United States of America
Abraham Lincoln: Speech in Congress on the War with Mexico
Elizabeth Cady Stanton: Address to Woman’s Rights Convention
Theodore Parker: The Political Destination of America and the Signs of the Times
Henry Clay: Speech in the Senate on Compromise Resolutions
John C. Calhoun: Speech in the Senate on Compromise Resolutions
Daniel Webster: Speech in the Senate on Compromise Resolutions
Sojourner Truth: Speech to Woman’s Rights Convention
Frederick Douglass: What to the Slave Is the 4th of July?
Charles Sumner: The Crime Against Kansas
Abraham Lincoln: “House Divided” Speech
William Seward: The Irrepressible Conflict
Carl Schurz: True Americanism
John Brown: Speech to the Court
Abraham Lincoln: Address at Cooper Institute
Jefferson Davis: Farewell Address in the Senate
Abraham Lincoln: Speech at Independence Hall
Abraham Lincoln: First Inaugural Address
Alexander Stephens: “Corner-Stone” Speech
Abraham Lincoln: Address at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania
Abraham Lincoln: Second Inaugural Address
Contributors

Thomas Hart Benton
John Brown
John C. Calhoun
Henry Clay
Jefferson Davis
Frederick Douglass
Benjamin Franklin
Henry Highland Garnet
Alexander Hamilton
John Hancock
Patrick Henry
Andrew Jackson
Thomas Jefferson
Henry Lee
Abraham Lincoln
Ely Moore
James Otis
Theodore Parker
Wendell Phillips
John Randolph
Red Jacket
Carl Schurz
William Seward
Elizabeth Cady Stanton
Alexander Stephens
Charles Sumner
Sojourner Truth
George Washington
Daniel Webster
Angelina Grimké Weld
William Wirt
Frances Wright

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ISBN: 978-1-93108297-6 810 pages

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N° 166 Library of America Series

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