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The Cornerstone Speech, also known as the Cornerstone Address, was an oration given by Alexander H. Stephens, acting Vice President of the Confederate States of America, at the Athenaeum in Savannah, Georgia, on March 21, 1861.
In his March 21, 1861, Cornerstone Speech, Confederate Vice President Alexander H. Stephens presents what he believes are the reasons for what he termed was a "revolution." This revolution resulted in the American Civil War.
Aug 18, 2017 · At half past seven o’clock on Thursday evening, the largest audience ever assembled at the Athenaeum was in the house, waiting most impatiently for the appearance of the orator of the evening, Hon. A. H. Stephens, Vice President of the Confederate States of America.
Nov 9, 2009 · In what became known as the “Cornerstone Speech,” Stephens argued that the new Confederate government was based upon “the great truth that the negro is not equal to the white man.”
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Alexander Hamilton Stephens, vice president of the Confederate States of America, gave this speech on March 21, 1861 to justify secession. Stephens' speech declared that disagreements over the enslavement of Africans was the "immediate cause" of secession.
In this speech, Alexander H. Stephens justifies the Confederacy’s secession, arguing that the “cornerstone” of the Confederacy is the maintenance of the institution of slavery and the belief in the inferiority of African Americans.
Shortly after, he gave a speech on the streets of Savannah called the "Cornerstone Speech." During this speech, Stephens highlighted what he believed to be the reasons for succession as well as his hopes for the Confederacy and its new constitution. By November 1861, he had been appointed to serve as the Vice President of the Confederacy. 2
Text of Stephens's Speech Owl Eyes is an improved reading and annotating experience for classrooms, book clubs, and literature lovers. Find full texts with expert analysis in our extensive library.
Alexander H. Stephens’ “Cornerstone Speech” From Henry Cleveland, Alexander H. Stephens, in Public and Private: With Letters and Speeches, Before, During, and Since the War (Philadelphia, 1886), pp. 717-729. March 21, 1861, Savannah, Georgia.
One of the most famous political speeches of the secession period is the so-called "Cornerstone speech," delivered (extemporaneously) by Confederate Vice President Alexander Stephens on March 21, 1861, in Savannah, Georgia.
