Words That Changed America Great Speeches

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.

ALEX BARNETT is a book editor and freelance writer. He is the editor of The Quotable American (page XXX). 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.

ACKOWLEDGMENTS

VII

INTRODUCTION

VIII

PART ONE: THE CONSENT OF THE GOVERNED

Declarations of the Stamp Act Congress, October 2, 1765

2

(3)

Patrick Henry, Liberty or Death, March 23, 1775

5

(4)

Thomas Paine, Common Sense, January 1776

9

(7)

Thomas Jefferson, The Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1776

16

(5)

George Washington, Speech to His Officers at Newburgh, New York, March 15, 1783

21

(4)

Thomas Jefferson, First Inaugural Address, March 4, 1801

25

(5)

Tecumseh, Sleep Not Longer, September 1811

30

(3)

Henry Highland Garnet, A Call to Rebellion, August 15, 1843

33

(4)

Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Keynote Address at Seneca Falls, July 19, 1848

37

(4)

Susan B. Anthony, Are Women Persons?, 1873

41

(3)

PART TWO: A MORE PERFECT UNION

Thomas Jefferson, The Commerce between Master and Slave, 1782

44

(2)

Benjamin Franklin, Closing Speech at the Constitutional Convention, September 17, 1787

46

(3)

James Madison, Speech in Favor of the Federal Constitution, June 6, 1788

49

(4)

George Washington, Farewell Address, September 19, 1796

53

(4)

Daniel Webster, Second Reply to Hayne, January 26, 1830

57

(9)

Andrew Jackson, Proclamation Regarding Nullification, December 10, 1832

66

(4)

Andrew Jackson, Message to the Seminoles, February 16, 1835

70

(2)

William Lloyd Garrison, To the Public, January 1, 1831

72

(3)

Angelina Grimke, Speech at Pennsylvania Hall, May 16, 1838

75

(5)

Frederick Douglass, What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?, July 5, 1852

80

(9)

Henry Clay, The Compromise of 1850, February 5 and 6, 1850

89

(4)

Abraham Lincoln, Speech on the Repeal of the Missouri Compromise, October 16, 1854

93

(4)

John Brown, Address to the Court, November 2, 1859

97

(2)

Abraham Lincoln, Cooper Institute Address, February 27, 1860

99

(3)

Jefferson Davis, Farewell Speech to the Senate, January 21, 1861

102

(5)

Abraham Lincoln, Gettysburg Address, November 19, 1863

107

(2)

Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., Memorial Day Address, May 30, 1884

109

(5)

Abraham Lincoln, Second Inaugural Address, March 4, 1865

114

(2)

Frederick Douglass, Appeal to Congress for Impartial Suffrage, January, 1867

116

(5)

Chief Joseph of the Nez Percé, Upon Surrendering to the U.S. Army, October 5, 1877

121

(1)

Booker T. Washington, Atlanta Exposition Address, September 18, 1895

122

(4)

W.E.B. Du Bois, Speech at Harpers Ferry, August 16, 1906

126

(4)

Ida B. Wells-Barnett, Lynching: Our National Crime, April, 1909

130

(2)

Anna Howard Shaw, The Fundamental Principle of a Republic, June 21, 1915

132

(2)

Martin Luther King, Jr., I Have a Dream, August 28, 1963

134

(6)

PART THREE: FREEDOM OF SPEECH

Benjamin Franklin, An Apology for Printers, June 10, 1731

140

(3)

Andrew Hamilton, In Defense of Zenger, August 4, 1735

143

(3)

The First Amendment, 1791

146

(1)

The Sedition Act, 1798

147

(1)

Elijah Lovejoy, Last Public Speech, November 3, 1837

148

(3)

Wendell Phillips, The Death of Lovejoy, December 8, 1837

151

(3)

Frederick Douglass, A Plea for Free Speech in Boston, December 10, 1860

154

(3)

The Sedition Act, 1918

157

(2)

Emma Goldman, Address to the Jury, July 9, 1917

159

(6)

Robert La Follette, Free Speech in Wartime, October 6, 1917

165

(5)

Eugene Debs, Speech at Canton, Ohio, June 16, 1918

170

(6)

Margaret Sanger, A Moral Necessity for Birth Control

176

(4)

Joseph McCarthy, Speech at Wheeling, West Virginia, February 9, 1950

180

(3)

Margaret Chase Smith, A Declaration Of Conscience, June 1, 1950

183

(4)

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

George Washington, General Orders, July 2, 1776

196

(2)

William Pitt, You Cannot Conquer America, November 18, 1777

198

(2)

George Washington, Farewell Address, September 19, 1796

200

(4)

John Quincy Adams, She Goes Not Abroad, July 4, 1821

204

(2)

Theodore Roosevelt, The Strenuous Life, April 10, 1899

206

(8)

William Jennings Bryan, The Flag of Empire, August 8, 1900

214

(5)

Woodrow Wilson, War Message, April 2, 1917

219

(5)

Woodrow Wilson, The League of Nations, September 25, 1919

224

(6)

Henry Cabot Lodge, Sr., Against the League of Nations, August 12, 1919

230

(3)

Winston Churchill, Dunkirk, June 4, 1940

233

(7)

Franklin D. Roosevelt, The Four Freedoms, January 6, 1941

240

(7)

Franklin D. Roosevelt, War Message, December 8, 1941

247

(2)

Dwight D. Eisenhower, Orders of the Day, June 6, 1944

249

(2)

Harry S. Truman, Hiroshima Statement, August 6, 1945

251

(4)

Winston Churchill, The Iron Curtain, March 5, 1946

255

(5)

George C. Marshall, Commencement Address at Harvard University, June 5, 1947

260

(4)

Harry S. Truman, What We Are Doing in Korea, April 16, 1951

264

(5)

Dwight D. Eisenhower, Atoms for Peace, December 8, 1953

269

(4)

Dwight D. Eisenhower, Farewell Address, January 17, 1961

273

(4)

John F. Kennedy, Inaugural Address, January 20, 1961

277

(4)

John E Kennedy, The Cuban Missile Crisis, October 22, 1962

281

(5)

Lyndon Johnson, The Gulf of Tonkin Incident, August 4, 1964

286

(3)

Richard Nixon, Vietnamization, November 3, 1969

289

(7)

John Kerry, Testimony before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, April 22, 1971

296

(4)

Ronald Reagan, Triumph over Evil, June 8, 1982

300

(6)

Ronald Reagan, Tear Down This Wall, June 12, 1987

306

(4)

George H.W. Bush, Desert Storm, January 16, 1991

310

(5)

George W. Bush, Freedom and Fear, September 20, 2001

315

(6)

SELECTED SOURCES

321

(2)

INDEX OF SPEAKERS

323

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Words That Changed America Great Speeches That Inspired, Challenged, Healed, And Enlightened

Summary

Author Biography

Table of Contents

Supplemental Materials