American Quotations by William J. Federer 2024

Salmon Portland Chase (January 13, 1808-May 7, 1873) was the U.S. Secretary of the Treasury under President Lincoln. He served as the Governor of Ohio, a U.S. Senator and was appointed by President Abraham Lincoln as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. He was a strong opponent of slavery, defending so many escaped slaves when he first started practicing law that he was given the nickname "Attorney-General of Fugitive Slaves." On November 20, 1861, Secretary of the Treasury Salmon Portland Chase wrote to the Director of the Mint in Philadelphia: <Dear Sir, No nation can be strong except in the...

John Greenleaf Whittier (December 17, 1807-September 7, 1892) was an American poet. He was known as the "Quaker Poet," as his faith was exhibited in his life and poetry. He wrote Panorama, in 1856, which included the favorites "Barefoot Boy," and "Maud Muller." His other renowned works include: Song of the Vermonteers, 1779; Lays of My Home and other poems, 1843; Voices of Freedom, 1846; Snowbound, 1866; Justice and Expediency; Dear Lord and Father of Mankind. He was the editor of the American Manufacturer, the Essex Gazette, The Pennsylvania Freeman, and the National Era. He bitterly opposed slavery, to the...

Giuseppe Garibaldi (July 4, 1807-June 2, 1882) was an Italian general and nationalist leader. He freed Italy from foreign rule and saw Rome once again become its capital. Of the Bible, General Garibaldi said: <This is the cannon that will make Italy free.> 1807GG001  In his Autobiography, General Giuseppe Garibaldi wrote: <I am a Christian, and I speak to Christians-I am a true Christian, and I speak to true Christians. I love and venerate the religion of Christ, because Christ came into the world to deliver humanity from slavery, for which God had not created it....You who are here-you, the educated...

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (February 27, 1807-March 24, 1882) was an American poet. He served for 20 years as Professor of Belles-Lettres at Harvard University, 1834-54. He wrote such poems as: Evangeline, 1847; The Song of Hiawatha, 1855; The Courtship of Miles Standish, 1858; and Paul Revere's Ride, 1861. In his brother's Ordination Hymn, Longfellow wrote: <Christ to the young man said: "Yet one thing more: If thou wouldst perfect be, Sell all thou hast, and give it to the poor, And come and follow me!" Within this temple Christ again, unseen, Those sacred words hath said, And His invisible hands...

Robert Edward Lee (January 19, 1807-October 12, 1870) was a Confederate General during the Civil War. He was the son of the Revolutionary leader, "Light-Horse Harry" Lee, and the son-in-law of George Washington's adopted son, George Washington Parke Custis. Robert E. Lee and his wife, Mary Ann Randolph, inherited the 1,100 acre Washington estate directly across the Potomac from Washington, D.C. Tutored and home-schooled as a child, Robert E. Lee excelled at West Point, and distinguished himself in the Mexican-American War. From San Antonio, Texas, he engineered the American troops' passage across the difficult Mexican mountains so they could quickly...