Portal:Early modern speeches
The early modern era is the period 1631-1899, predated by the Renaissance and followed by the modern era.
17th century
- Dissolution of the Long Parliament, by Oliver Cromwell (20 April 1653)
- Sanquhar Declaration, by Richard Cameron, 1680
Early 18th century
- Speech against the Union, by John Hamilton, 2nd Lord Belhaven and Stenton (November 1706)
- Against Repealling the Triennial Act, by Archibald Hutcheson (April 1716)
- Speech against the bill for laying a tax on Papists, by Thomas Lutwyche (6 May 1723)
- The marriage of the Prince of Wales, by Pitt the Elder (29 April 1736)
- The Standing Army, by William Pitt the Elder (4 February 1738)
- Speech Against his Removal from Office, by Sir Robert Walpole (February 1741)
- Battle of Prestonpans Speech, by John Cope (21 September 1745)
- Battle of the Plains of Abraham Speech, by James Wolfe (13 September 1759)
- Speech against the Stamp Act, by William Pitt the Elder (14 January 1766)
1770s
- The case of John Wilkes, by William Pitt the Elder (9 January 1770)
- The State of the Nation, by William Pitt the Elder (22 January 1770)
- The Defence of Weaker States, by William Pitt the Elder (22 January 1770)
- He is a Member of Parliament – Edmund Burke (3 November 1774)
- The Wounds given to the Constitution – John Wilkes (22 February 1775)
- Speech on Conciliation with America, by Edmund Burke (22 March 1775)
- Give me liberty or give me death, by Patrick Henry (23 March 1775)
- Speech on the Rebellion in the American Colonies, by George III (27 October 1775)
- On Coercive Measures in America, by John Wilkes (1775)
- The Conquest of the Americans, by John Wilkes (1777)
1780s
- A Free People, by Henry Grattan (16 April 1782)
- Newburg address, by George Washington (15 March 1783)
- Resignation as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army, by George Washington (23 December 1783)
- On State Representation, by Benjamin Franklin (28 June 1787)
- Disapproving and accepting the Constitution, by Benjamin Franklin (17 September 1787)
- Shall Liberty or Empire Be Sought?, by Patrick Henry (5 June 1788)
- The Speech of William Wilberforce,... on the Question of the Abolition of the Slave Trade, by William Wilberforce (12 May 1789)
1790s
- Farewell Address, by George Washington (17 September 1796)
- XYZ Address, by John Adams (16 May 1797)
1800s
- Overtures of Peace with France, by William Pitt the Younger (3 February 1800)
- On refusal to negotiate with France, by Charles James Fox, (3 February 1800)
- Grant to the Emperor of Germany, by Richard Brinsley Sheridan (17 February 1800)
- Speech from the Dock, by Robert Emmet (20 September 1803)
- Proclamation after the Battle of Austerlitz, by Napoleon Bonaparte, December 3, 1805.
- The Burr Conspiracy, by Thomas Jefferson (22 January 1807)
1810s
- War Message to Congress, by James Madison (1 June 1812)
1820s
- Plymouth Oration, by Daniel Webster (22 December 1820)
- Memoir on Slavery!, by José Bonifácio; trad. William Walton (1823)
- The Bunker Hill Monument, by Daniel Webster (17 June 1825)
- Adams and Jefferson, by Daniel Webster (2 August 1826)
- Address on the King's Message Respecting Portugal, by George Canning (12 December 1826)
- Catholic Emancipation, by Duke of Wellington (2 April 1829)
1830s
- Second Reply to Hayne, by Daniel Webster (27 January 1830)
- The Dangers which Menace States, by Robert Peel (3 March 1831)
- Belgium and payments to Russia, by Robert Peel (16 July 1832)
- The Russian loan and Holland, by Robert Peel (20 July 1832)
- Government of India, by Thomas Babington Macaulay (10 July 1833)
- Inaugural Address, by Joseph Ritner (1835)
- Dissolution of Parliament, by Robert Peel (24 February 1835)
- Finality Speech, by Lord John Russell (20 November 1837)
1840s
- Copyright Law, by Thomas Babington Macaulay (5 February, 1841)
- The working classes and the corn laws, by Richard Cobden (24 February 1842)
- Second Speech on Copyright Law, by Thomas Babington Macaulay (6 April 1842)
- The Gates of Somnauth, by Thomas Babington Macaulay (9 March 1843)
- The Great Nation of Futurity, by John L. O'Sullivan (1845)
- Repeal of the Corn Laws, by Duke of Wellington (28 May 1846)
- The Sword Speech, by Thomas Francis Meagher (20 July 1846)
- The Annexation of Cracow, by Lord John Russell, (4 March 1847)
- Speech from the Dock, by Thomas Francis Meagher (1848)
- The Polish Question, by Viscount Palmerston, (1 March 1848)
- On extending the franchise, by Richard Cobden, (6 July 1848)
1850s
- Seventh of March Speech, by Daniel Webster (7 March 1850)
- Don Pacifico Speech, by Viscount Palmerston (25 June 1850)
- Ain't I a Woman?, by Sojourner Truth (1851)
- The Dignity and Importance of History, by Daniel Webster (23 February 1852)
- What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?, by Frederick Douglass (5 July 1852)
- The Crime against Kansas, by Charles Sumner (19-20 May, 1856)
- On his assault on Charles Sumner, by Preston Brooks (14 July 1856)
- China and the Attack on Canton, by Richard Cobden (26 February 1857)
- A House Divided, by Abraham Lincoln (16 June 1858)
- On the Irrepressible Conflict, by William H. Seward (25 October 1858)
- On the English Foreign Policy, by John Bright (29 October 1858)
- John Brown's Speech to the Court at his Trial, by John Brown (2 November 1859)
1860s
- Cooper Union Speech, by Abraham Lincoln (1860)
- To Arms, by Giuseppe Garibaldi (1860)
- Secession is the Height of Madness, Folly, and Wickedness, by Alexander Stephens (1861)
- E.S. Dargan on Secession, by E. S. Dargan (11 January 1861)
- Inaugural Address, by Jefferson Davis (18 February 1861)
- Cornerstone Speech, by Alexander Stephens (1861)
- The Ultimate Triumph of Just Principles (1861)
- Seizure of the Alexandra, by Richard Cobden (24 April 1863)
- Gettysburg Oration, by Edward Everett (19 November 1863)
- Gettysburg Address, by Abraham Lincoln (19 November 1863)
- Foreign Affairs, by Richard Cobden (24 November 1863)
- Denmark and Germany, by Benjamin Disraeli (4 July 1864)
- Final Public Address, by Abraham Lincoln (1865)
- The Lesson of the Hour, by Edward James Young (1865)
- Austria and Prussia, by Lord Edward Stanley (20 July 1866)
- Prohibition, by Alexander Tilloch Galt (1867)
- Speech In Favor of Capital Punishment, by John Stuart Mill (21 April 1868)
- Local taxation and poor law administration in great cities, by William Rathbone (22 June 1869)
1870s
- Universal Religion, by Keshub Chandra Sen (1870)
- La Liberté speech, by Karl Marx (1872)
- Suez Canal Speech, by Benjamin Disraeli (21 February 1872)
- The Maintenance of Empire, by Benjamin Disraeli (1872)
- Conservative Principles, by Benjamin Disraeli (3 April 1873)
- On Women's Rights to Vote, by Susan B Anthony (1873)
- The Past, Present and Future Trade of the Cape Colonies with Central Africa by Emil Holub (1879)
1880s
- The Duties of American Citizenship, by Theodore Roosevelt (1883)
- Trust the People, by Lord Randolph Churchill (16 April 1884)
- On the Death of General Gordon, by Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury (20 July 1885)
- The address of the president of the American Bar Association at their eighth annual meeting, by John W. Stevenson (19 August 1885)
- Irish Home Rule Speech, by William Ewart Gladstone (7 June 1886)
- The Benefits of Reading, by Arthur Balfour, 1st Earl of Balfour (December 1887)
- The Channel Tunnel, by William Ewart Gladstone (27 June 1888)
1890s
- The Future Policy of the Liberal Party, by William Ewart Gladstone (2 October 1891)
- Principal Speech Against Unconditional Repeal, by William Jennings Bryan (16 August 1893)
- Welcome Address, The World Parliament of Religions, Chicago, by Swami Vivekananda (11 September 1893)
- Memorial Day Address, by William Jennings Bryan (30 May, 1894)
- Lessons of the Hour, by Frederick Douglass (1894)
- Atlanta Compromise, by Booker T. Washington (18 September 1895)
- Cross of Gold Speech, by William Jennings Bryan (9 July 1896)
- A Tribute to Robert Burns, by Archibald Primrose, 5th Earl of Rosebery (21 July 1896)
- The True Conception of Empire, by Joseph Chamberlain (31 March 1897)
- The Strenuous Life, by Theodore Roosevelt (10 April 1899)