Alexander Stephens’ Cornerstone Speech | Primary Source Essential
In this episode of Primary Source Essentials, examine Alexander Stephens’s Cornerstone Speech and its stark rejection of the principle that all men are created equal in the Declaration of Independence. Delivered in 1861 after the secession of Southern states and the formation of the Confederate States of America, Stephens’s speech laid out the ideological foundation of the Confederacy, arguing that racial inequality and slavery were not temporary conditions, but fundamental truths on which the new government was built.
Stephens directly challenged the Founders’ belief in natural equality, claiming those ideas were mistaken and that the Confederacy was founded on the opposite principle. As the Civil War unfolded, this conflict over slavery and equality led to immense loss of life but ultimately resulted in Union victory and the reaffirmation of the Declaration’s ideals through measures like the Emancipation Proclamation and the 13th Amendment, advancing freedom and equality in the United States.
