Transcriber’s Note
The punctuation and spelling from the original text have been faithfully preserved. Only obvioustypographical errors have been corrected.
Engd. by H.B. Hall, from the original Painting byStuart.KEY-NOTES
OF
AMERICAN LIBERTY;
COMPRISING
THE MOST IMPORTANT SPEECHES, PROCLAMATIONS, AND
ACTS OF CONGRESS, FROM THE FOUNDATION
OF THE GOVERNMENT TO THE
PRESENT TIME.
WITH A
HISTORY OF THE FLAG,
BY A DISTINGUISHED HISTORIAN.
Illustrated.
NEW YORK:
E.B. TREAT & CO.
654 BROADWAY.
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS: R.C. TREAT and C.W. LILLEY.
B.C. BAKER, DETROIT, MICH. L.C. BRAINARD, ST. LOUIS, MO.
A.O. BRIGGS, CLEVELAND, O. M. PITMAN & CO., BOSTON, MASS.
A.L. TALCOTT, PITTSBURG, PA.
Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1866, by
E.B. TREAT.
In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States for the Southern
District of New York.
MACDONALD & STONE, PRINTERS AND STEREOTYPERS, 43 CENTRE STREET, N.Y.
PREFACE.
This book appeals to the patriotic sentiments of all classes of readers.In its pages will be found those words of burning eloquence whichlighted the fires of the American Revolution, stirring the hearts of ourfathers to do battle for our independence; the words of wisdom whichbrought our ship of state safely through the storms of strife into thecalms of peace, and all of the most important speeches and proclamationsof our statesmen which guided our country during critical periods of ourpolitical life. It is a book of our country as a whole; all must read itwith emotions of gratitude and pride at the grandeur and stability ofour institutions as exemplified by the eloquent words of the statesmenand leading spirits of the great Republic.
First in its pages, appropriately, will be found the "Declaration ofIndependence," the great corner stone of American liberty; and as afitting close, one of our most distinguished historians has furnished a"History of the Flag,"—the Flag of the Union, the sacred emblem aroundwhich are clustered the memories of the thousands of heroes who havestruggled to sustain it untarnished against both foreign and domesticfoes. To the Declaration of Independence, Constitution of the UnitedStates, and Washington's Farewell Address—truly "Key Notes to AmericanLiberty"—have been added many important proclamations and congressionalacts of a later day, namely: President Jackson's famous NullificationProclamation to South Carolina, The Monroe Doctrine, Dred ScottDecision, Neutrality laws, with numerous documents, state papers andstatistical matter growing out of the late Rebellion; all of which willbe read with new and ever increasing interest. And as long as ourRepublic endures, these pages will be cherished as the representative ofall that is great and good in our country; and will prove incentives toour children to follow in the footsteps of the patriots by whose geniusand valor our institutions have been cherished and preserv