American Debates and Speeches

Sojourner Truth swept her audiences off their feet with her roaring calls for change. She demanded that both women and African Americans be free. Traveling around the country, she spoke out against slavery, calling for emancipation for enslaved people, and asked her listeners to give women the right to vote. Truth was a charismatic and intelligent leader who helped to change America into a more free and equal society. Readers will get to follow her journey and be changed by her message, which still rings true today.

The year is 1775. America is a grand experiment. Colonists are writing anonymous pamphlets about their hopes for this new country. British redcoats walk the streets. Enslaved African American women and men work on tobacco and sugar plantations. A young lawyer named Patrick Henry sings out in a courthouse, "Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death." Henry's words become the rally cry for the American Revolution. This poetic speech will ignite a country to fight for its freedom and rebel against oppressive King George. Militias are formed and shots are fired at Lexington. Readers will view the events of the war that began America.

Imagine a time when people, using secret pen names, wrote exhilarating argumentative essays. Imagine wanting to find out what people like "Brutus" and "Cato" would argue. The revolution was over, and Americans were trying to decide how their new democratic government should be structured. Should the federal government have a great deal of power or should power be left to the individual states? Readers will get to follow along as the federalists and anti-federalists argue a new country into creation and create one of the most defining American documents: the Constitution.

Today we think of candidates debating before being elected. It is a normal part of the election process. However, before Abraham Lincoln and Illinois senator Stephen Douglas, debates did not occur. Their debates were later published in a book, and Americans could read each candidate's thoughts on slavery. Lincoln wanted to end slavery but Douglas wanted each state to decide for itself if slavery should exist. The ensuing debates pinpoint a critical time in American history. Were people going to vote to allow this inhumane institution to continue or would they agree with Lincoln and abolish it?

Tall, awkward Abraham Lincoln delivered the Gettysburg Address in just four minutes. It was only 272 words. Even after the tragic deaths of thousands of Union soldiers, Lincoln imagines a united country. His words spoke not just to the living audience, but also to future Americans. The brilliance of this speech is its poetic brevity and Lincoln's ability to mark the beginning of America with the Declaration of Independence, not the Constitution. This book traces the history of this great speech, giving readers a sense of both the historical context and the person who wrote these enduring words.