Search the Political Rhetoric Archive

PRA is a searchable collection of speeches, newsprint editorials, letters, government documents, and fragments of speech/text primarily arranged by historical event.

Choose an era to see its topics.

On the Irrepressible Conflict by William Henry Seward

Reply to William Henry Seward by Jefferson Davis

Speech at Hartford Connecticut by Abraham Lincoln

Address at Cooper Institute by Abraham Lincoln

"The Cloud in the Distance No Bigger then a Man's Hand - The First Battle of the 'Irrepressible Conflict.'" Editorial.

What the Black Man Wants by Frederick Douglas

First Inaugural Address by William J. Clinton

First Inaugural Address by William McKinley

Inaugural Address by William Howard Taft

The Emancipation Proclamation

Lincoln-Douglas Debate Two (Freeport); Douglas's Opening Remarks

Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation by Abraham Lincoln

Lincoln-Douglas Debate Three (Jonesboro); Lincoln Opening Remarks

Second Inaugural Address by William J. Clinton

Inaugural Address by William Henry Harrison

Second Inaugural Address by William McKinley

Lincoln-Douglas Debates Seven (Alton); Douglas Rebuttal

"Is it a Fraud?" Editorial.

Lincoln-Douglas Debates Four (Charleston); Douglas Opening Remarks

Letter to Varina Howell Davis by Jefferson Davis