The Columbian Orator: Containing a Variety of Original and Selected Pieces Together With Rules Calculated to Improve Youth and Others in the Ornamental and Useful Art of Eloquence

1st Published in 1798 by Caleb Bingham, A.M. Author of The American Preceptor, Young Lady's Accidence, &c.

"Cato cultivated Eloquence as a necessary mean for defending the rights of the people, and for enforcing good counsels." - ROLLIN.

Description: “Beginning with an essay on effective public speaking, the book then presents 84 carefully selected political essays, oratory, poems, and dramatic dialogue, including classical orations to contemporary addresses. Subjects include human rights, nationalism, religious faith, mythology, history, folklore, individual liberty, freedom, and slavery. Notable speeches by Washington, Milton, Franklin, Socrates, Pitts, and Cicero helped shape the young American mind for over a half century as it was read by virtually every American schoolboy in the first half of the 19th century. It's also a historical look of English common law and Empire law in a changing world and the world of the new republic (USA.)"

The book has been and continues to inspire great speakers and those seeking to master oratory, speech, language, and argumentation though clarity, critical thinking, and conviction. Enduring words and orations inspire, effect change and educate. The book inspired a generation of Abolitionists - Frederick Douglass, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Harriet Beecher Stow - and influenced Abraham Lincoln.

This book continues to remain essential reading for student and speaker development of anyone wishing to harness the power of words.

"Every opportunity I got, I used to read this book." – Frederick Douglass

Frederick Douglass reportedly owned just this one book, read it frequently, and was moved by (among others) “Dialogue Between a Master and Slave". This dialogue presents the argument both for and against slavery, resulting with the slave being emancipated with wishes for prosperity. The Columbian Orator helped empower Douglass in finding his voice and humanity in the face of oppression.

Public Domain: This work is in the public domain in the United States of America. This particular publication is a manually typed (not AI, not a scan of a published book, etc.) reproduction of Caleb Bingham's 10th Edition. This reproduction is optimized for ePub readers.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Caleb Bingham (1757–1817) was an educator and textbook author of late 18th-century New England. He spent much of his career in Boston, Massachusetts as a publisher and bookseller, and was educated at Dartmouth College and valedictorian of his class of 1782.

One of his most popular works was The Columbian Orator, originally published in 1797, an anthology which contained rules on oratory, but consisted primarily of texts for reading and recitation. The selections (from about three dozen writers) include poems, essays, short dialogues, and extracts from famous speeches. The content reflects a substantial concern with the moral education of youth and the preparation of citizens in the young Republic.