greykit.essays — #self-government
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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.
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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.
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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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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.
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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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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.
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1791-12-15
[american-founding]
The Bill of Rights
The first ten amendments to the Constitution, guaranteeing fundamental civil rights.
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1776-07-04
[american-founding]
The Declaration of Independence
The thirteen colonies' unanimous declaration dissolving allegiance to the British Crown.
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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.