American Debates and Speeches

The United States of America is a nation formed from
ideas: Democracy, Freedom, and Equality. These core American ideals were greatly
shaped by the courageous speeches, essays, and debates of early Americans. This
includes Sojourner Truth's thunderous call for the abolition of slavery and
suffrage for women, Abraham Lincoln's poetic Gettysburg Address, and Patrick
Henry's dire and revolutionary exclamation for liberty. Through captivating
images and engaging sidebars, readers will understand the contextual
significance of these influential documents and be able to connect them to
modern forms of activism.

• Presents readers with primary texts to examine,
as well as the context needed to better understand the importance of these
texts

• Features transcriptions of or from the texts on which each volume
focuses

• Historical photographs, paintings, and other primary source images
give readers a glimpse into the past

• The texts correlate to the History
dimension of the C3 Framework for Social Studies state standards, in particular
its focus on historical sources and evidence