Professor Lucas E. Morel reviews the life and views of Martin Luther King, Jr., focusing on the March on Washington and King's "I Have a Dream" speech. This lecture continues from the lecture Martin Luther King, Jr., Part One.
For the lecture, scroll down to the third seminar of Wednesday, August 4. Readings, available for download, accompany the lecture.
An older version of this lecture can be found here.
Professor Lucas E. Morel reviews the life and views of Martin Luther King, Jr., examining his views of race relations, his religious beliefs, and his definition of civil disobedience, as suggested in his writings and speeches. This lecture continues in the lecture Martin Luther King, Jr., Part Two.
For the lecture, scroll down to the second seminar of Wednesday, August 4. Readings, available for download, accompany the lecture.
An older version of this lecture can be found here.
With more than 375 documents related to United States history from the colonial period to the present, this site provides important historical documents and speeches. "Essays" contains more than 35 writings on various aspects of United States history. "Biographies" offers more than 200 biographies of historical figures related to American history, ranging from 350 words to 2,000 words in length. "Presidents" contains documents pertaining to each United States president, including inaugurations and State of the Union addresses.
Documents and essays are hyperlinked to four editions of the booklet An Outline of American History (1954, 1963, 1990, and 1994), a publication distributed abroad by the United States Information Service, along with similar volumes on American economy, government, literature, and geography. The site provides basic primary sources for American history survey courses.
Historian Harold Holzer compares Lincoln's 1861 Address at Independence Hall and Obama's Race Speech at the Constitution Center.
To listen to this lecture, select "Historian Harold Holzer compares Lincoln's Address at Independence Hall and Obama's Race Speech at the Constitution Center" under "Supplemental Materials" in the right sidebar.
Historian Harold Holzer compares Abraham Lincoln's 1860 Cooper Union Speech and Barack Obama's 2008 Race Speech at the Constitution Center.
To listen to this lecture, select "Historian Harold Holzer compares Lincoln's Cooper Union Speech and Obama's Race Speech at the Constitution Center" from the sidebar on the right side of the page.
Eighth-grade American history educator Eric Langhorst introduces an online interactive version of the Gettysburg Address offered by the Smithsonian, suggesting it for use in the classroom.
David Herbert Donald, Charles Warren Professor of American History and Professor of American Civilization Emeritus at Harvard University, talks about the qualities and experience that made Abraham Lincoln both an exceptional and an unlikely national leader.
John F. Kennedy Library Director Tom Putnam discusses JFK's draft of a speech delivered at the dedication of the Robert Frost Library. Putnam points out alterations Kennedy made from Arthur M. Schlesinger's original draft and plays a brief excerpt from the speech.
To view this clip, scroll to "Tom Putnam," and select "Play."
Library of Congress historian Marvin Kranz very briefly examines a hand-annotated copy of Theodore Roosevelt's first inaugural address, commenting on the rarity of the creation of such drafts in the modern computer age.
Library of Congress historian Marvin Kranz discusses the currency debate addressed in Ulysses S. Grant's first inaugural address, explaining what the controversy over whether money should be "soft" or "hard" meant.