Liberty Further Extended: Or Free Thoughts on the Illegality of Slave- Keeping
In this 1776 sermon, Haynes offers an abolitionist argument that reveals the incompatibility of American independence—a push rooted in key principles like liberty, equality, the pursuit of happiness, and the consent of the governed—with the institution of slavery.
An Address . . . Celebrating the Declaration of Independence
On July 4, 1821, then-Secretary of State John Quincy Adams, future President and son of John Adams, was invited to deliver a speech to the U.S. House of Representatives celebrating the 45th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.
Appeal to the Coloured Citizens of the World
David Walker was born a free African American in North Carolina. He later moved to Boston and became a part of the vibrant African American community there—joining the anti-slavery movement and writing for the nation’s first newspaper owned and operated by African Americans.
Seneca Falls Declaration
To draw attention to the inequalities and oppressive laws facing women in pre-Civil War America, Stanton drafted a “Declaration of Sentiments,” which was later signed by 68 women and 32 men.
What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?
In June 1852, Frederick Douglass delivered this Independence Day address to the Rochester Ladies’ Anti-Slavery Society. It became one of Douglass’s most famous speeches—criticizing the chasm between America’s Founding principles and the institution of slavery.
Gettysburg Address
On November 19, 1863, Abraham Lincoln delivered one of the most famous speeches in American history: the Gettysburg Address
How Enfranchisement Stops Lynching
In this 1910 article in Original Rights Magazine, Wells used the language and principles of the Declaration of Independence to continue the fight for Black enfranchisement, which, she explained, would create the political pressure necessary to fight against lynchings.
Speech on the 150th Anniversary of the Declaration of Independence
On July 5, 1926, President Calvin Coolidge delivered this speech in Philadelphia to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.
We Are Americans
In the midst of the Great Depression, the Steel Workers Organizing Committee pushed to create a labor union representing the interests of steel workers. As part of this effort, four thousand steel workers gathered in Homestead, Pennsylvania, site of the famous 1892 Homestead Strike against the Carnegie Steel Company, in the summer of 1936.
I Have a Dream
On August 28, 1963, approximately 250,000 people gathered outside of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., for the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. At this historic march, civil rights activist and Baptist minister Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered one of the most famous speeches in American history—his “I Have a Dream Speech.”