Not in Our Name collects and analyzes the most important antiwar speeches in American history. It is a book about the origins and consequences of America’s wars, but also about the integrity and sacrifices of those who fought on the front lines of dissent. By telling the stories of the people who spoke out in good-faith disagreement with their government and fellow citizens, Not in Our Name records some of the most compelling acts of courage in American politics and some of the most passionate, beautiful, and mighty speeches in American history. In Not in Our Name, Jesse Stellato presents the history of American antiwar speeches in a readable way that is neither pacifist nor partisan, featuring speakers with diverse backgrounds and political beliefs. By combining historical research with a review of classical Greek and Roman rhetorical theory, Not in Our Name also helps answer a fundamental question: “What makes a great antiwar speech?”

Table of Contents:
Contents Acknowledgments Editor’s Note Introduction 1 Mexican-American War Theodore Parker Delivers “A Sermon of War” Charles Sumner Calls for the Withdrawal of American Troops from Mexico Abraham Lincoln Inveighs Against President Polk 2 Civil War Clement Vallandigham Argues That the War Cannot Be Won Alexander Long Proposes Peace at Any Price 3 Spanish-American War and Philippine Insurrection Moorfield Storey Warns of a Dangerous and Growing Militarism Charles Eliot Norton Defines “True Patriotism” Carl Schurz Discusses the Perils Faced by an Occupying Force Charles Eliot Norton Accuses America of “Counterfeit Patriotism” 4 World War I William Jennings Bryan Resigns as Secretary of State to Launch an Antiwar Crusade George Norris Assails the Senate’s War Resolution Robert La Follette Argues That the War Lacks Popular Support Kate Richards O’Hare Discusses the War’s Degradation of Women Eugene V. Debs Argues That the Working Class Will “Furnish the Corpses” of War 5 World War II Norman Thomas Discusses War’s Effect on Civil Liberties Richard Wright Justifies AfricanAmerican Opposition to World War II Charles Lindbergh Asks, “Who Are the War Agitators?” 6 Korean War Paul Robeson Declares That Blacks Will Never Fight the Soviet Union W. E. B. Du Bois Runs for Congress on a Peace Platform 7 Vietnam War Martin Luther King Jr. Urges Americans to Go “Beyond Vietnam” Eugene J. McCarthy Celebrates the “Spirit of 1963” Robert F. Kennedy Says of the War in Vietnam: “It Must Be Ended” Shirley Chisholm Demands “People and Peace, Not Profits and War” Fannie Lou Hamer Rallies Antiwar Students at Berkeley John Kerry Testifies on Behalf of Vietnam Veterans Against the War 8 War on Terror Barbara Lee Pleads with the House Not to “Become the Evil That We Deplore” Barack Obama Criticizes a “Dumb War” Noam Chomsky Asks, “Why Iraq?” Robert Byrd Chastises the Senate for Standing “Passively Mute” Epilogue: The Globalization of Dissent Arundhati Roy Rails Against “Imperial Democracy” Appendix A: Full-Text Sources Appendix B: Rhetorical Devices in Antiwar Speeches Notes Biographical and Bibliographical Notes Index Credits