greykit.essays — #essay
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1859
[european-tradition]
On Liberty
Mill's defence of individual liberty against the tyranny of the majority — the harm principle and the freedom of thought, discussion, and individuality.
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1854
[american-civic]
Walden
Thoreau's account of two years living simply at Walden Pond — a meditation on self-reliance and deliberate life.
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1849
[american-civic]
Civil Disobedience
Thoreau's argument that the individual must not lend himself to the injustice he condemns — the founding text of civil disobedience.
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1841
[american-civic]
Essays: First Series
Emerson's first series of essays — Self-Reliance, Compensation, The Over-Soul, Circles, and more — the core of American Transcendentalism.
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1787-10-27
[american-founding]
The Federalist Papers
The eighty-five essays by "Publius" arguing for ratification of the United States Constitution.
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1776-12-23
[american-founding]
The American Crisis
Paine's thirteen wartime Crisis papers (and A Crisis Extraordinary) — "These are the times that try men's souls.
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1729
[sources-of-liberty]
A Modest Proposal
Swift's savage satire proposing that the Irish poor sell their children as food — the most famous satirical essay in English.