Deconstructing Powerful Speeches
14 total works
Frederick Douglass: What to the Slave Is the 4th of July?
by Rebecca Sjonger
Published 31 August 2020
“Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will.” The prophetic words of abolitionist, writer, and social reformer Frederick Douglass live on in his speeches and books of autobiography. This speech, delivered on July 5, 1852 was an address to the Rochester Ladies’ Anti-Slavery Society. Douglass grew up enslaved and deprived of rights and liberty and argued that the American values of freedom and liberty for some, but not all, was an injustice to all humans.
A Shawnee warrior and chief, Tecumseh was widely admired as a skilled orator who wanted to unite Indigenous groups in the United States and Canada to prevent the loss of their territory and way of life. This thought-provoking book features his memorable speech in 1810 at Vincennes, to Indiana Governor Harrison to revoke a treaty that took Indigenous lands, and to Indigenous peoples to resist the takeover of their territories. Readers are introduced to the social and political circumstances of the time and an anlysis of text highlights Tecumseh's skill in persuasive writing.
Brief and inspiring, the Gettysburg Address is one of the best-known and most revered speeches in American history. Given on the battlefield at Gettysburg by US President Abraham Lincoln, the speech reaffirms the cause of liberty at a crucial turning point in the Civil War. Readers are introduced to the social and political circumstances of the time, the significance of the bloody battle at Gettysburg, and Lincoln's masterful skill at writing memorable speeches.
James Baldwin was an author, social critic, and activist known for his deep understanding of race and class in the United States. This book introduces readers to his speech from a 1965 debate at Cambridge University in which he argues for racial equality in the civil rights era. The social and political circumstances of the era are discussed as well as Baldwin's persuasive argument that, despite contributing to the making of the United States, African Americans are not allowed to fully participate in the American Dream.
In an era when women worldwide had few rights and could not vote, Susan B. Anthony risked her freedom and reputation by advocating for womenÕs suffrage in the United States. This engaging title analyzes her 1873 speech On WomenÕs Right to Vote, and its simple, but powerful, assertion that women are "persons." Additional material encourages readers to compare this speech to works by Sojourner Truth, as well as more modern womenÕs rights advocates.