Description
Book SynopsisPresents 84 selections, most of which are notable examples of oratory on such subjects as nationalism, religious faith, individual liberty, freedom, and slavery. This book includes pieces by Washington, Franklin, Milton, Socrates, and Cicero, as well as heroic poetry and dramatic dialogues.
Trade Review"Frederick Douglass validated his manhood by giving Edward Covey, his surrogate slave master, a good whipping. What inspired his fists was not only manly rage, but liberating knowledgeknowledge gained in part from his reading of
The Columbian Orator. I read it now and the words still inspire and inflame." -- Ossie Davis
"The
Columbian Orator was of profound importance to the shaping of the African American canon, through The Narrative of Frederick Douglass. David Blight has done historians and literary critics a profound service by so expertly editing this germinal text. A must read for scholars of American and African American studies." -- Henry Louis Gates, Jr.,Harvard University
"Thousands of young readers in 19th century America learned about eloquence and liberty from the stirring speeches, plays, and poems in
The Columbian Orator. When one reads it todayeven better, reads it aloudits eloquence speaks to us all." -- Sydney Nathans,Duke University
