The Columbian Orator facts for kids
The Columbian Orator is a famous book from 1797. It is a collection of speeches, poems, and stories. Caleb Bingham put this book together. It includes real speeches by people like George Washington and Benjamin Franklin. There are also made-up speeches by historical figures. These include Socrates and Cato.
From 1790 to 1820, American schools used this book a lot. Students read from it to learn how to read and speak well. The book taught important values like patriotism, which means loving your country. It also questioned if slavery was right. The Columbian Orator helped students learn to write and speak by giving them examples to copy.
This book was very important. It inspired many people who fought against slavery. These people are called abolitionists. Famous abolitionists inspired by the book include Frederick Douglass. He was a great speaker and a former slave. Other inspired people were writer Ralph Waldo Emerson and author Harriet Beecher Stowe. She wrote the famous book Uncle Tom's Cabin.
How The Columbian Orator Inspired Frederick Douglass
Frederick Douglass taught himself to read and write. He became a powerful abolitionist. In his book, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, he praised The Columbian Orator. He said it was his first look into human history and great speaking.
When Douglass was 12 years old, he was still enslaved. He saved 50 cents from shining shoes. He used this money to buy a copy of the book. He read the essays again and again. He never got bored. He learned a lot from the book. He especially liked a part by Richard Brinsley Sheridan. It strongly spoke out against slavery. It also powerfully defended human rights.
Douglass was especially moved by a story in the book. It was a conversation between an enslaved person and their master. The story showed how smart the enslaved person was. The master tried to explain why slavery was okay. But the enslaved person argued against every reason. In the end, the master agreed that slavery was wrong. The story finished with the enslaved person winning the argument. They also won their freedom.
The book also gave tips on how to speak well. These tips likely helped Douglass become a great public speaker. William Lloyd Garrison wrote about Douglass in his autobiography. He said, "Patrick Henry, a famous speaker from the American Revolution, never made a speech more powerful for freedom."
The Power of Speaking Well
The Columbian Orator became a symbol. It stood for human rights. It also showed the power of speaking clearly and persuasively.
Quotes from the Book
- "I well remember, when I was a boy, how ardently I longed for the opportunity of reading, but had no access to a library." — Caleb Bingham, 1803.
- "Every opportunity I got, I used to read this book." — Frederick Douglass, 1845.
