Masterpieces of Negro Eloquence

Masterpieces of Negro Eloquence,
by Various

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Title: Masterpieces of Negro Eloquence The Best Speeches Delivered
by the Negro from the days of Slavery to the Present Time
Author: Various
Editor: Alice Moore Dunbar-Nelson
Release Date: August 4, 2007 [EBook #22240]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
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[Illustration: Frederick Douglass]

MASTERPIECES OF NEGRO ELOQUENCE
THE BEST SPEECHES DELIVERED BY THE NEGRO FROM THE
DAYS OF SLAVERY TO THE PRESENT TIME
EDITED BY
ALICE MOORE DUNBAR
Copyright, 1914, by ROBERT JOHN NELSON
Printed in the United States of America
TO THE BOYS AND GIRLS OF THE NEGRO RACE, THIS BOOK IS
DEDICATED, WITH THE HOPE THAT IT MAY HELP INSPIRE
THEM WITH A BELIEF IN THEIR OWN POSSIBILITIES

PREFACE
It seems eminently fitting and proper in this year, the fiftieth
anniversary of the Proclamation of Emancipation that the Negro should
give pause and look around him at the things which he has done, those
which he might have done, and those which he intends to do. We pause,
just at the beginning of another half century, taking stock of past
achievements, present conditions, future possibilities.
In considering the literary work of the Negro, his pre-eminence in the
field of oratory is striking. Since the early nineteenth century until the
present time, he is found giving eloquent voice to the story of his
wrongs and his proscriptions. Crude though the earlier efforts may be,
there is a certain grim eloquence in them that is touching, there must be,
because of the intensity of feeling behind the words.
Therefore, it seems appropriate in putting forth a volume
commemorating the birth of the Negro into manhood, to collect some
few of the speeches he made to help win his manhood, his place in the
economy of the nation, his right to stand with his face to the sun. The

present volume does not aim to be a complete collection of Negro
Eloquence; it does not even aim to present the best that the Negro has
done on the platform, it merely aims to present to the public some few
of the best speeches made within the past hundred years. Much of the
best is lost; much of it is hidden away in forgotten places. We have not
always appreciated our own work sufficiently to preserve it, and thus
much valuable material is wasted. Sometimes it has been difficult to
obtain good speeches from those who are living because of their innate
modesty, either in not desiring to appear in print, or in having thought
so little of their efforts as to have lost them.
The Editor is conscious that many names not in the table of contents
will suggest themselves to the most casual reader, but the omissions are
not intentional nor yet of ignorance always, but due to the difficulty of
procuring the matter in time for the publication of the volume before
the golden year shall have closed.
In collecting and arranging the matter, for the volume, I am deeply
indebted first to the living contributors who were so gracious and
generous in their responses to the request for their help, and to the
relatives of those who have passed into silence, for the loan of valuable
books and manuscripts. I cannot adequately express my gratitude to Mr.
John E. Bruce and Mr. Arthur A. Schomburg, President and Secretary
of the Negro Society for Historical Research, for advice, suggestion,
and best of all, for help in lending priceless books and manuscripts and
for aid in copying therefrom.
Again, we repeat, this volume is not a complete anthology; not the final
word in Negro eloquence of to-day, nor yet a collection of all the best;
it is merely a suggestion, a guide-post, pointing the way to a fuller
work, a slight memorial of the birth-year of the race.
THE EDITOR.
October, 1913.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

PAGE
PRINCE SAUNDERS The People of Hayti and a Plan of Emigration
13
JAMES MCCUNE SMITH Toussaint L'Ouverture and the Haytian
Revolution 19
HILARY TEAGUE Liberia: Its Struggles and Its Promises 33
FREDERICK DOUGLASS What to the Slave is the Fourth of July 41
On the Unveiling of the Lincoln Monument 133
CHARLES H. LANGSTON Should Colored Men be Subject to the
Pains and Penalties of the Fugitive Slave Law? 49
RICHARD T. GREENER Young Men