American Eloquence, Volume III

American Eloquence, Volume III

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Title: American Eloquence, Volume III. (of 4) Studies In American Political History (1897)
Author: Various
Release Date: March 17, 2005 [EBook #15393]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK AMERICAN ELOQUENCE, III. ***

Produced by David Widger

AMERICAN ELOQUENCE
STUDIES IN AMERICAN POLITICAL HISTORY

Edited with Introduction by Alexander Johnston
Reedited by James Albert Woodburn

Volume III. (of 4)
V. --THE ANTI-SLAVERY STRUGGLE (Continued from Vol. II.) VI.--SECESSION.

CONTENTS.
INTRODUCTION
SALMON PORTLAND CHASE On The Kansas-Nebraska Bill --United States Senate, February 3, 1854.
EDWARD EVERETT On The Kansas-Nebraska Bill --United States Senate, February 8, 1854.
STEPHEN ARNOLD DOUGLAS On The Kansas-Nebraska Bill --United States Senate, March 3, 1854.
CHARLES SUMNER On The Crime Against Kansas --United States Senate, May 20, 1856.
PRESTON S. BROOKS On The Sumner Assault --House Of Representatives, July 14, 1856.
JUDAH P. BENJAMIN On The Property Doctrine And Slavery In The Territories --United States Senate, March 11, 1858.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN On The Dred Scott Decision --Springfield, Ills., June 26, 1857.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN On His Nomination To The United States Senate --At The Republican State Convention, June 16,1858.
THE LINCOLN-DOUGLAS DEBATE DOUGLAS In Reply To Lincoln--Freeport, Ills., August 27, 1858.
WILLIAM H. SEWARD On The Irrepressible Conflict--Rochester, N. Y., October 25, 1858.
VI.-SECESSION.
JOHN PARKER HALE On Secession; Moderate Republican Opinion --United States Senate, December 5, 1860.
ALFRED IVERSON On Secession; Secessionist Opinion --United States Senate, December 5, 1860.
BENJAMIN WADE On Secession, And The State Of The Union; Radical Republican Opinion--United States Senate, December 17, 1860.
JOHN JORDON CRITTENDEN On The Crittenden Compromise; Border State Unionist Opinion--United States Senate, December 18, 1860.
ROBERT TOOMBS On Secession; Secessionist Opinion --United States Senate, January 7, 1861.
SAMUEL SULLIVAN COX On Secession; Douglas Democratic Opinion --House Of Representatives, January 14, 1861.
JEFFERSON DAVIS On Withdrawal From The Union; Secessionist Opinion --United States Senate, January 21, 1861.

LIST OF PORTRAITS
WILLIAM H. SEWARD -- Frontispiece From a photograph.
SALMON P. CHASE -- From a daguerreotype, engraved by F. E. JONES.
EDWARD EVERETT -- From a painting by R. M. STAIGG.
STEPHEN A. DOUGLASS -- From a steel engraving.
JEFFERSON DAVIS -- From a photograph.

INTRODUCTION TO THE REVISED VOLUME.
The third volume of the American Eloquence is devoted to the continuation of the slavery controversy and to the progress of the secession movement which culminated in civil war.
To the speeches of the former edition of the volume have been added: Everett on the Nebraska bill; Benjamin on the Property Doctrine and Slavery in the Territories; Lincoln on the Dred Scott Decision; Wade on Secession and the State of the Union; Crittenden on the Crittenden Compromise; and Jefferson Davis's notable speech in which he took leave of the United State Senate, in January, 1861.
Judged by its political consequences no piece of legislation in American history is of greater historical importance than the Kansas-Nebraska bill. By that act the Missouri Compromise was repealed and the final conflict entered upon with the slave power. In addition to the speeches of Douglas and Chase, representing the best word on the opposing sides of the famous Nebraska controversy, the new volume includes the notable contribution by Edward Everett to the Congressional debates on that subject. Besides being an orator of high rank and of literary renown, Everett represented a distinct body of political opinion. As a conservative Whig he voiced the sentiment of the great body of the followers of Webster and Clay who had helped to establish the Compromise of 1850 and who wished to leave that settlement undisturbed. The student of the Congressional struggles of 1854 will be led by a speech like that of Everett to appreciate that moderate and conservative spirit toward slavery which would not persist in any anti-slavery action having a tendency to disturb the harmony of the Union. That this conservative opinion looked upon the repeal of the Missouri Compromise as an act of aggression in the interest of slavery is indicated by Everett's speech, and this gives the speech its historic significance.
Judah P. Benjamin may be said to have been the ablest legal defender of slavery in public life during the decade of 1850-60. His speech on the right of property in slaves and the right of slavery to national protection in the territories was probably the ablest on that side of the controversy. Lincoln's speech on the Dred Scott Decision has been substituted for one by John C. Breckinridge on the same subject; this will serve to bring into his true proportions this great leader of the combined anti-slavery forces. No voice, in the beginnings of secession and disunion, could better reflect the positive and uncompromising Republicanism of the Northwest than that of Wade.