Democratic Thinker
Weekly Story – A Reasonable Creature
Weekly Story
Excerpted from the Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin.
So Convenient a Thing.
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IBELIEVE I have omitted mentioning that in my first voyage from Boston, being becalmed off Block Island,...
Daniel Webster—Ichabod
Daniel Webster—January 18, 1782 – October 24, 1852
Why did all manly gifts in Webster fail?
He wrote on Nature’s grandest brow, For Sale.
—Emerson.
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Ichabod.
THIS poem was the...
Story of The Great Seal of the United States
Weekly Story
Naval Officer George Henry Preble documents the development of the Great Seal of the United States of America.
Dr. Franklin proposed for the device...
Magna Charta, Epilogue
Background of the American Revolution
The barons force King John to sign the Magna Charta, June 15, 1215. Troubles await.
The ravenous and barbarous mercenaries, incited...
Stand By the Flag
Stand By The Flag.
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I.
STAND by the Flag!—its stars, like meteors gleaming,
Have lighted Arctic icebergs, Southern seas,
And shone responsive to the stormy beaming
Of old Arcturus...
Judge No Man
Considerations by the Way
An Fourteenth Century philosopher comments on good and evil.
We shall not presume to anticipate the judgment of our fellow-citizens throughout the...
At Port Royal
At Port Royal.
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THE tent-lights glimmer on the land,
The ship-lights on the sea;
The night-wind smooths with drifting sand
Our track on lone Tybee.
At last our grating...
Grant’s Tomb—Dedicated April 27, 1897
Grant’s Tomb—Dedicated April 27, 1897.
Schofield, on Grant.
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THE subject of this volume being limited to events of which I have had personal knowledge, and it...
Thomas à Kempis: On Religious Exercises
Considerations by the Way
A medieval philosopher illustrates a fundamental principle.
For man proposes, but God disposes; for man’s way is not in himself.
CHAPTER XIX.—On Religious...
American Life: Military Laboratory, Arms and Supplies
American Life
Military Laboratory, of Philadelphia, lists military arms and supplies available to the public in the new republic. Clayton Cramer notes that all these...
The Battle of Lexington
The American Revolution
Isiah Thomas, for the Massachusetts Spy, publishes an account of the Battle of Lexington.
We have pleasure to say, that notwithstanding the highest...
Encounter Between Generals Nelson and Davis
Weekly Story
A dispute between General Jefferson C. Davis and his superior, General William “Bull” Nelson, ends badly.
General Nelson—roughly and angrily—“About twenty-five hundred! About twenty-five...
Jefferson—Isaac Hall Tiffany (April 4, 1819)
American Correspondence
In 1819 Thomas Jefferson replies to Isaac Hall Tiffany—a student of Aaron Burr—residing at Schoharie Bridge.
Of Liberty, then, I would say, that in...
Robert E. Lee—Mary Custis Lee (1856)
Correspondence
Robert E. Lee writes to his wife from his post on the frontier.
In this enlightened age there are few, I believe, but will acknowledge...
A Political Reverie
A Political Reverie.
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As fairy forms, the elfin airy train,
And sylphs, sometimes molest the learned brain,
Delusive dreams the matron’s bosom swell,
And, ancient maids, the fancied...
Mercy Otis Warren—John Adams (1775)
American Correspondence
Shortly after the start of the Second Continental Congress, Mercy Otis Warren writes to John Adams.
I am more and more convinced, of the...
Of the High and Mighty
Considerations by the Way
An ancient philosopher illustrates a fundamental principle.
We shall not presume to anticipate the judgment of our fellow-citizens throughout the Union on...
The San Francisco Riots
Weekly Story
In 1877, at labor meeting in San Francisco, workers decide to join in the national rioting.
A Citizens’ Executive Committee was organized, under the...
Debate: Army Appropriations Bill (1878)—Part V
American Debate
Following the nation-wide riots in 1877, Congress debates appropriating money for the Army. Rep. William Kimmel (D., Maryland) argues for funding the militia,...
Debate: Army Appropriations Bill (1878)—Part IV
American Debate
Following the nation-wide riots in 1877, Congress debates appropriating money for the Army. Rep. William Kimmel (D., Maryland) argues for funding the militia,...