Words that Changed America; Great Speeches that Inspired, Challenged, Healed, and Enlightened

by Edited by Alex Barnett

• ISBN13: 9781585748402
• ISBN10: 1585748404
• Format: Trade Book
• Copyright: 2003-04-01
• Publisher: Lyons Press

Summary

At every pivotal moment in American history there has been a great speech. Speeches inspired the Revolution and healed the wounds of the Civil War. Speeches abolished slavery, won women the right to vote, and sent millions of Americans into wars overseas. At their best, speeches can frame the issues of the day and inspire the nation to great acts. WORDS THAT CHANGED AMERICA brings together 100 of the most influential and important speeches in our history. Unlike most speech collections, which proceed chronologically, this volume organizes great speeches thematically to highlight and explore the perennial debates and core principles of our country. In the chapter titled "Revolution," Patrick Henry demands liberty or death in 1775; Elizabeth Cady Stanton declares the self-evident truth that "all men and women" are created equal in 1848; and Martin Luther King describes his dream in 1963. In "Free Speech," Elijah Lovejoy, an Abolitionist publisher, defends the freedom of the press in 1837--days before a pro-slavery mob will kill him for exercising it. Eugene Debs gives the defiant "Canton, Ohio Speech" opposing WWI, for which he is jailed. In "America's Place in the World," George Washington warns Americans in his 1796 Farewell Address against entangling alliances with Europe. Woodrow Wilson declares war on Germany in 1917. Franklin D. Roosevelt draws America further into WWII with his "Arsenal of Democracy" speech. John F. Kennedy announces his commitment to human rights (and opposition to Communism) in his bold 1961 Inaugural Address. And Ronald Reagan stands at the Berlin Wall in 1987 and dares Mikhail Gorbachev to tear it down. Rounding out speeches of clear historical importance are selections chosen for their depth, spirit, and humor. Eli Wiesel describes the dangers of indifference. Lou Gehrig, stricken with the disease that now bears his name, bids farewell to Yankees fans. And Mark Twain ponders the weather in New England. The result is a vivid, engaging history of America, drawn in the words of the men and women who shaped it.

Author Biography

ALEX BARNETT is a book editor and freelance writer. He is the editor of The Quotable American (page 137). He grew up in New York City and graduated from Williams College. A cruising sailor, inveterate traveler, and student of Americana, he lives in Princeton, New Jersey.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	vii
Introduction	viii
Part One: The Consent of the Governed
Declarations of the Stamp Act Congress, October 2, 1765	2	(3)
Liberty or Death, March 23, 1775	5	(4)
Patrick Henry
Common Sense, January 1776	9	(7)
Thomas Paine
The Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1776	16	(5)
Thomas Jefferson
Speech to His Officers at Newburgh, New York, March 15, 1783	21	(4)
George Washington
First Inaugural Address, March 4, 1801	25	(5)
Thomas Jefferson
Tecumseh, Sleep Not Longer, September 1811	30	(3)
A Call to Rebellion, August 15, 1843	33	(4)
Henry Highland Garnet
Keynote Address at Seneca Falls, July 19, 1848	37	(4)
Elizabeth Cady Stanton
Are Women Persons?, 1873	41	(3)
Susan B. Anthony
Part Two: A More Perfect Union
The Commerce between Master and Slave, 1782	44	(2)
Thomas Jefferson
Closing Speech at the Constitutional Convention, September 17, 1787	46	(3)
Benjamin Franklin
Speech in Favor of the Federal Constitution, June 6, 1788	49	(4)
James Madison
Farewell Address, September 19, 1796	53	(4)
George Washington
Second Reply to Hayne, January 26, 1830	57	(9)
Daniel Webster
Proclamation Regarding Nullification, December 10, 1832	66	(4)
Andrew Jackson
Message to the Seminoles, February 16, 1835	70	(2)
Andrew Jackson
To the Public, January 1, 1831	72	(3)
William Lloyd Garrison
Speech at Pennsylvania Hall, May 16, 1838	75	(5)
Angelina Grimke
What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?, July 5, 1852	80	(9)
Frederick Douglass
The Compromise of 1850, February 5 and 6, 1850	89	(4)
Henry Clay
Speech on the Repeal of the Missouri Compromise, October 16, 1854	93	(4)
Abraham Lincoln
Address to the Court, November 2, 1859	97	(2)
John Brown
Cooper Institute Address, February 27, 1860	99	(3)
Abraham Lincoln
Farewell Speech to the Senate, January 21, 1861	102	(5)
Jefferson Davis
Gettysburg Address, November 19, 1863	107	(2)
Abraham Lincoln
Memorial Day Address, May 30, 1884	109	(5)
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.
Second Inaugural Address, March 4, 1865	114	(2)
Abraham Lincoln
Appeal to Congress for Impartial Suffrage, January, 1867	116	(5)
Frederick Douglass
Chief Joseph of the Nez Perce, Upon Surrendering to the U.S. Army, October 5, 1877	121	(1)
Atlanta Exposition Address, September 18, 1895	122	(4)
Booker T. Washington
Speech at Harpers Ferry, August 16, 1906	126	(4)
W.E.B. Du Bois
Lynching: Our National Crime, April, 1909	130	(2)
Ida B. Wells-Barnett
The Fundamental Principle of a Republic, June 21, 1915	132	(2)
Anna Howard Shaw
I Have a Dream, August 28, 1963	134	(6)
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Part Three: Freedom of Speech
An Apology for Printers, June 10, 1731	140	(3)
Benjamin Franklin
In Defense of Zenger, August 4, 1735	143	(3)
Andrew Hamilton
The First Amendment, 1791	146	(1)
The Sedition Act, 1798	147	(1)
Last Public Speech, November 3, 1837	148	(3)
Elijah Lovejoy
The Death of Lovejoy, December 8, 1837	151	(3)
Wendell Phillips
A Plea for Free Speech in Boston, December 10, 1860	154	(3)
Frederick Douglass
The Sedition Act, 1918	157	(2)
Address to the Jury, July 9, 1917	159	(6)
Emma Goldman
Free Speech in Wartime, October 6, 1917	165	(5)
Robert La Follette
Speech at Canton, Ohio, June 16, 1918	170	(6)
Eugene Debs
A Moral Necessity for Birth Control	176	(4)
Margaret Sanger
Speech at Wheeling, West Virginia, February 9, 1950	180	(3)
Joseph McCarthy
A Declaration Of Conscience, June 1, 1950	183	(4)
Margaret Chase Smith
Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure v. Massachusetts, March 21, 1966	187	(5)
The Pentagon Papers, 1971	192	(4)
Part Four: America and the World
General Orders, July 2, 1776	196	(2)
George Washington
You Cannot Conquer America, November 18, 1777	198	(2)
William Pitt
Farewell Address, September 19, 1796	200	(4)
George Washington
She Goes Not Abroad, July 4, 1821	204	(2)
John Quincy Adams
The Strenuous Life, April 10, 1899	206	(8)
Theodore Roosevelt
The Flag of Empire, August 8, 1900	214	(5)
William Jennings Bryan
War Message, April 2, 1917	219	(5)
Woodrow Wilson
The League of Nations, September 25, 1919	224	(6)
Woodrow Wilson
Against the League of Nations, August 12, 1919	230	(3)
Henry Cabot Lodge, Sr.
Dunkirk, June 4, 1940	233	(7)
Winston Churchill
The Four Freedoms, January 6, 1941	240	(7)
Franklin D. Roosevelt
War Message, December 8, 1941	247	(2)
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Orders of the Day, June 6, 1944	249	(2)
Dwight D. Eisenhower
Hiroshima Statement, August 6, 1945	251	(4)
Harry S. Truman
The Iron Curtain, March 5, 1946	255	(5)
Winston Churchill
Commencement Address at Harvard University, June 5, 1947	260	(4)
George C. Marshall
What We Are Doing in Korea, April 16, 1951	264	(5)
Harry S. Truman
Atoms for Peace, December 8, 1953	269	(4)
Dwight D. Eisenhower
Farewell Address, January 17, 1961	273	(4)
Dwight D. Eisenhower
Inaugural Address, January 20, 1961	277	(4)
John F. Kennedy
The Cuban Missile Crisis, October 22, 1962	281	(5)
John F. Kennedy
The Gulf of Tonkin Incident, August 4, 1964	286	(3)
Lyndon Johnson
Vietnamization, November 3, 1969	289	(7)
Richard Nixon
Testimony before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, April 22, 1971	296	(4)
John Kerry
Triumph over Evil, June 8, 1982	300	(6)
Ronald Reagan
Tear Down This Wall, June 12, 1987	306	(4)
Ronald Reagan
Desert Storm, January 16, 1991	310	(5)
George H.W. Bush
Freedom and Fear, September 20, 2001	315	(6)
George W. Bush
Selected Sources	321	(2)
Index of Speakers	323