Item description for american speeches revolution to civil war 2006 library of america 166 new sealed

american speeches political oratory from the revolution to the civil war 2006 library of america 166 nonfiction american history essays book new sealed

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

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.