Category: Historical Documents

Gettysburg Address – 1863

The Gettysburg Address by Abraham Lincoln November 19, 1863 This address, said to have been written by President Lincoln on the back of an envelope while he was on a train en route to give the speech, is regarded by ...
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Paul Revere’s Ride – 1863

The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow 1807-1882 Written April 19, 1860; first published in 1863 as part of "Tales of a Wayside Inn" Listen my children and you shall hearOf the midnight ride of Paul Revere,On ...
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Abraham Lincoln First Inaugural Address – 1861

Abraham Lincoln First Inaugural Address March 4, 1861 Fellow-Citizens of the United States: In compliance with a custom as old as the Government itself, I appear before you to address you briefly and to take in your presence the oath ...
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Lincoln’s Farewell Address in Springfield – 1861

Lincoln's Farewell Address in Springfield by Abraham Lincoln February 11, 1861 This speech, given by Abraham Lincoln as he departed Springfield, Illinois, to go to Washington to become president of the United States. A thousand citizens gathered to see Lincoln ...
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Death of John Brown – 1859

The Death of John Brown by Frank Lloyd Garrison (1805 - 1879) 1859 This speech, by one of the nation's most famous and influential abolitionists, best known as the editor of the abolitionist newspaper The Liberator, and president of the ...
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John Brown’s Speech to the Court at his Trial – 1859

John Brown's Speech to the Court at his Trial by John Brown (1800-59) November 2, 1859 This was John Brown's last speech during his trial by by the Commonwealth of Virginia in Charles Town, Virginia (now part of West Virginia) ...
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A House Divided Against Itself Cannot Stand – 1858

"A House Divided Against Itself Cannot Stand" Abraham Lincoln June 1858 Lincoln delivered this famous speech, noted for the phrase "a house divided against itself cannot stand," when accepting the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate from Illinois in June of ...
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Charge of the Light Brigade, by Alfred, Lord Tennyson

The Charge Of The Light Brigade by Alfred, Lord Tennyson1809-1892 This poem was written to memorialize a suicidal charge by light cavalry over open terrain by British forces in the Battle of Balaclava (Ukraine) in the Crimean War (1854-56). 247 ...
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Underground Railroad – 1850

The Underground Railroad by Levi Coffin 1850 Levi Coffin was a key leader of the Underground Railroad, and claimed to have helped an average of 100 escaping slaves in his own home in Cincinnati every year for 33 years. The ...
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Fugitive Slave Act – 1850

Fugitive Slave Act 1850 The Fugitive Slave Act was part of the group of laws referred to as the "Compromise of 1850." In this compromise, the antislavery advocates gained the admission of California as a free state, and the prohibition ...
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