greykit.essays — #liberty
-
1865-03-04
[american-civic]
Second Inaugural Address
Lincoln's somber second inaugural, weighing the war as divine judgment on slavery — "With malice toward none, with charity for all.
-
1863-11-19
[american-civic]
The Gettysburg Address
Lincoln's 272-word dedication at Gettysburg — "that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.
-
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.
-
1854
[american-civic]
Slavery in Massachusetts
Thoreau's furious response to the Fugitive Slave Law and Massachusetts's complicity in returning a man to bondage.
-
1854
[american-civic]
Walden
Thoreau's account of two years living simply at Walden Pond — a meditation on self-reliance and deliberate life.
-
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.
-
1845
[american-civic]
Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass
Douglass's account of his life in slavery and his escape to freedom — the most influential of the American slave narratives.
-
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.
-
1796-09-19
[american-founding]
Washington's Farewell Address
Washington's valedictory letter to the American people, warning against party faction, sectionalism, and permanent foreign alliances.
-
1791-12-15
[american-founding]
The Bill of Rights
The first ten amendments to the Constitution, guaranteeing fundamental civil rights.
-
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.
-
1776-07-04
[american-founding]
The Declaration of Independence
The thirteen colonies' unanimous declaration dissolving allegiance to the British Crown.
-
1776-01-10
[american-founding]
Common Sense
Paine's incendiary case for American independence and against monarchy and hereditary rule.
-
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.
-
1689
[sources-of-liberty]
Second Treatise of Government
Locke's foundational argument for government by consent, natural rights, and the right of revolution — the deepest source of the American founding.