Reading List

Table of Contents

ISBN:

0486411249

Format:

Paperback, 64 pages

Publish Date:

June, 2000

Publisher:

33

Other Format(s):

none

Here are timeless words and thoughts that changed the world. The documents in this comprehensive collection formed the foundation of that bold new experiment in government that was the American democratic republic. Stirring, inspirational, and with influence spanning the years and the globe, they range from Patrick Henry’s immortal “Give me liberty or give me death” speech delivered at the outset of the American Revolution to Abraham Lincoln’s soul-inspiring Second Inaugural Address of 1865. Also included, of course, is the preeminent jewel of American documents, the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson’s masterpiece which, while making the case for rejecting the rule of King George III, manages to throw down the gauntlet for human equality and freedom, for all times and all places. In this handy compilation you likewise will find: the Constitution of the United States, the Monroe Doctrine (the basis of much of America’s foreign policy), George Washington’s First Inaugural Address, his legendary Farewell Address, Thomas Jefferson’s First Inaugural Address, William Lloyd Garrison’s “The Liberator,” Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation, the Gettysburg Address, and basically every other major document of the American experiment and experience from our formative decades as a nation.

Here is the living, breathing soul of the American nation, the words that formed us, the ideals our forebears fought and died for, and which we continue to uphold. They are words that still ring true today, ideas that still define our highest aspirations as a nation. The fact that they remain relevant to the human condition merely underscores the brilliance of those who thought these thoughts, and put them into words, and backed these words with history-altering deeds.