This course is the first of a series of four that will consider some of the key speeches in American history. Beginning with John Winthrop’s sermon on the founding of Massachusetts Bay colony, “A Model of Christian Charity,” this course will go on to examine two key orations from the War for Independence, Patrick Henry’s “Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death” and Washington’s “Farewell Address”; two from the young nation, Lyman Beecher’s “Plea for the West” and the “Declaration of Sentiments” of the Seneca Falls women’s rights convention; and two from the eve of the Civil War, Frederick Douglass’s “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July” and James Hammond’s “Mudsill Speech.” We will ask how the speeches contrast with each other, how they were shaped by the occasion on which they were delivered, how they helped influence future events, and why they can serve as landmarks in the development of US history. 

The texts of the speeches will be delivered to class participants by email attachment. 

Subject: history 

James Bratt is professor of history emeritus at Calvin University where he taught for 30 years, specializing in American cultural and religious history. He previously taught the same subjects in the department of religious studies at the University of Pittsburgh. He is the recipient of three Fulbright grants, including one to teach at Xiamen University in China, and has taught world religions for two voyages on the Semester at Sea.