From Nelson Mandela to Abraham Lincoln, these revered leaders' words remain poignant and powerful decades after they were first uttered.
You probably know very little about the Battle of Gettysburg. Although it was likely the most decisive battle in the bloodiest war America has ever fought, its commanders, tactics, body counts, and the like have faded into history for nearly everyone that’s not a Civil War buff.
Yet, even today, almost every American surely knows of the Gettysburg Address — the speech given by President Abraham Lincoln at the dedication of the soldier’s cemetery at the battle site four months after the fact — and can probably even recite at least its first six words (“Four score and seven years ago…”).
Such is the power of history’s greatest speeches, the inspiring, heartrending, excoriating addresses that transcend their historical moment and stick with all of us no matter how many decades or even centuries have gone by.
Here are seven of the greatest speeches in modern history:
Greatest Speeches: “I Am Prepared To Die,” Nelson Mandela
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One of the most memorable speeches in modern history comes from Nelson Mandela, the man who fought tirelessly against South African apartheid. His revolutionary work led to his wrongful arrest in 1962 on charges of treason and inciting the public to strike against the government.
Mandela was sentenced to life in prison and delivered this incredible three-hour speech in defense of his aggressive actions against his government’s racist policies during his trial in Rivonia on April 20, 1964.
Highlight:
“I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunities. It is an ideal, which I hope to live for and to achieve. But if needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die.”
“Quit India,” Mahatma Gandhi
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After nearly a century of suppressive British rule, Mahatma Gandhi and the Quit India movement prompted the Indian people to fight for their freedom like never before starting in 1942.
Given in August of that year, Gandhi’s “Quit India” speech called for a passive but determined resistance in order to achieve complete independence from British rule. Gandhi’s dreams were eventually realized five years later when India finally received its independence on August 15, 1947.
Highlight:
“In the democracy which I have envisaged, a democracy established by non-violence, there will be equal freedom for all. Everybody will be his own master.”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RwAR-qfytc8
Greatest Speeches: “The Hypocrisy Of American Slavery,” Frederick Douglass
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After escaping slavery in 1838, Frederick Douglass became a famous abolitionist and revered public speaker across the North. He was invited to speak at a New York Fourth of July celebration in 1845.
Choosing not to celebrate the nation that had captured, imprisoned, and killed hundreds of thousands of people, he delivered a speech that was one of the most blistering condemnations of slavery ever spoken.
Highlight:
“Whether we turn to the declarations of the past, or to the professions of the present, the conduct of the nation seems equally hideous and revolting. America is false to the past, false to the present, and solemnly binds herself to be false to the future.”
“Freedom Or Death,” Emmeline Pankhurst
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One of the leaders of Britain’s suffragette movement, Emmeline Pankhurst visited Connecticut in November 1913. There she delivered her famous “Freedom Or Death” speech, given only five months after her friend and fellow suffragette, Emily Davison, had been killed by King George V’s horse while protesting.
Pankhurst had been arrested many times for her activism and was certain she would be locked up again upon her return to England. But, she said that she had crossed the Atlantic in between “prison appearances” to convince Americans that the fight for equality was a universal one.
Highlight:
“We wear no mark; we belong to every class; we permeate every class of the community from the highest to the lowest; and so you see in the woman’s civil war the dear men of my country are discovering it is absolutely impossible to deal with it: you cannot locate it, and you cannot stop it.”
Greatest Speeches: “I Have A Dream,” Martin Luther King Jr.
-/AFP/Getty ImagesOn August 28, 1963, Martin Luther King Jr. waves to supporters from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., during the “March on Washington,” where King delivered his famous “I Have a Dream” speech.
Delivered on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial during the March on Washington in 1963, this iconic speech marked a watershed moment in the American Civil Rights movement. Interestingly enough, Martin Luther King Jr. actually ad-libbed the famous four lines that remain etched in history.
Highlight:
“I say to you today, my friends, so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream. I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal.'”
“The Gettysburg Address,” Abraham Lincoln
Wikimedia CommonsAbraham Lincoln (identified by red arrow) at Gettysburg not long before giving his famous address.
Delivered by Abraham Lincoln on November 19, 1863, the Gettysburg Address is arguably the most famous speech in American history. Though the original wording is unknown, the short speech – given during the American Civil War at the dedication of the Soldiers’ National Cemetery in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania – encapsulated the very things that define America as a nation.
Highlight:
“Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.”
Greatest Speeches: “The Hope Speech,” Harvey Milk
Wikimedia CommonsHarvey Milk (far left).
Harvey Milk was the first openly gay man elected to California public office (on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors) before being shot down and killed by a city supervisor in 1978. During his political career and gay rights activism, he was particularly renowned for his rousing “Hope Speeches” that encouraged equality and envisioned a hopeful future for all citizens. His last hope speech is considered by many to be the best.
Highlight:
“Without hope, not only gays, but those who are blacks, the Asians, the disabled, the seniors, the us’s; without hope the us’s give up. I know that you cannot live on hope alone, but without it, life is not worth living. And you, and you, and you, and you have got to give them hope.”
Enjoy this look at the greatest speeches in modern history? Next, take a look at the best speeches of ancient history. Then, check out the best Oscars speeches of all time.
