The Freedom Ring

This famous sermon by the most popular American preacher during the Civil War, Rev. Henry Ward Beecher, was delivered in 1861 to the two Civil War Regiments of the “Brooklyn Fourteenth . ” Many of them members of Rev. Beecher's Plymouth Church , located in the Brooklyn Heights neighborhood of New York City. The Church on that day contributed $3,000 to aid in the equipment of this Regiment. “Thou hast given a banner to them that fear thee, that it may be displayed because of the truth.” – Psalms 1x. 4. FROM the earliest periods nations seem to have gone forth to war under some banner. Sometimes it has been merely the pennant of a leader, and was only a rallying signal. So, doubtless, the habit began of carrying banners, to direct men in the confusion of conflict, that the leader might gather his followers around him when he himself was liable to be lost out of their sight. And thus in our day every nation has its peculiar flag. There is no civilized nation without its banner. A tho...

Preached by Rev. Henry Ward Beecher at Plymouth Church  Brooklyn, NY - January 4, 1863 From the most famous American preacher throughout the time of our great Civil American War, we bring you this lost sermon that will place you in the hearts and minds of those suffering Americans. Those who were shedding blood with their own countrymen in the name of eliminating oppression from the land of the free. The following are the words of the famous abolitionist, minister Rev. Henry Ward Beecher preached in Brooklyn, NY on January 4th, 1863. What is Babylon? The term Babylon, borrowed from a real city, is employed often figuratively. And without straining a point at all, it may be said that it is the kingdom of despotism, the kingdom of oppression, on earth, that is meant by the term Babylon. It is more specific than the term kingdom of darkness; for it seems to refer to a speciality of despotism. The violation of the eternal principles of justice for the injury and destruction...

"Love, The Fulfilling of the Law" Preached by Rev. Henry Ward Beecher, 1869, Brooklyn, NY. “But when the Pharisees had heard that he had put the Sadducees to silence, they were gathered together. Then one of them, which was a lawyer, asked him a question, tempting him, and saying, Master, which is the great commandment in the law? Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.” —Matt., xxii., 34-40. In this brief word Christ has drawn away the veil from the heart of God, and let us see its very central secret. It is love. And since the days of Christ, the divine Helmsman has been steering the ship of human affairs right toward this light-house of the universe—Love; All that was recorded in the past or foreseen in the future pivoted...

Rev. Henry Ward Beecher Speaking on The Strength of the Family Institution, adapted from "The Original Plymouth Pulpit" Brooklyn, NY ca. 1868 “Then said he also to him that bade him, When thou makest a dinner or a supper, call not thy friends, nor thy brethren, neither thy kinsmen, nor thy rich neighbors; lest they also bid thee again, and a recompense be made thee. But when thou makest a feast, call the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind ; and thou shalt be blessed; for they cannot recompense thee; for thou shalt be recompensed at the resurrection of the just." -LUKE XIV., 12-14. The Loving Household Beecher Family Portrait - The Beecher Family, ca. 1859, photographed by Mathew Brady.  The household is founded upon love; and with all its imperfections it is still the best institution which society has ever had, or which it has now. Though its foundations are the natural affections; though it is very possible for father and mother to manifest love full of self-denial;...

American Democracy Explained American Democracy as explained by our forefathers: Country, Liberty, God and Freedom.  US Capitol Building Under Construction, 1861      The year was 1862. Exactly one year after the Civil War had started. Brooklyn, New York, at Plymouth Church, the abolitionist preacher and a spokesperson for the newly established Republican Party, Rev. Henry Ward Beecher was helping Americans understand what made our American Democracy worth fighting for!     These words of  Freedom and Liberty are a true gem of our American history, which now with the publication of this article is the first time these words have been brought to life in over a hundred years! The following adapted passage is from Henry Ward Beecher’s sermon, “ The Success of American Democracy.”      The history of this year is the history of the common people of America. It is memorable on account of the light that it throws upon them. We are fond of talk...