“Give me liberty, or give me death!” “A house divided against itself cannot stand.” “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” “Ask not what your country can do for you—ask what you can do for your country.” From the years before its founding to contemporary times the United States of America has been a nation gifted with eloquent speakers whose impassioned oratory has been instrumental in calling attention to national values and motivating its people to express the beliefs which define it.
Classic American Speeches collects over fifty speeches spanning more than two centuries that are an index to America’s history and the many rights and causes its citizens have fought for and defended. Their speakers are soldiers and statesmen, politicians and presidents, laymen and laywomen, all of whom represent the best and brightest orators of their times and who knew the best ways to engage their audience—we, the people of the United States. Among the speeches included:
- George Washington’s Farewell Address to the People of the United States
- Frederick Douglass’s “What to the Slave is the 4th of July”
- Elizabeth Cady Stanton’s Address to the Legislature of the State of New York (on women’s suffrage)
- Abraham Lincoln’s Gettyburg Address
- Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s Joint Address in Congress Leading to a Declaration of War Against Japan
- Dwight D. Eisenhower’s Farewell Address
- John F. Kennedy’s Report to the American People on Civil Rights
- Lyndon Baines’ Johnson’s “The Great Society” Speech
- Ronald Reagan’s Remarks on East-West Relations at the Brandenburg Gate
- Barack Obama’s First Inaugural Address
