Daniel Webster

Henry Cabot LodgeProject Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.5

Word count: 553K words
Chapters: 56

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today. Daniel Webster by Henry Cabot Lodge. Author: Lodge, Henry Cabot, 1850-1924. Language: English. Class: E300: History: America: Revolution to the Civil War (1783-1861). Release Date: July 29, 2004.

Editor's review

This biography of Daniel Webster by Henry Cabot Lodge belongs to the study of historical figures from the American Revolution through the Civil War and is part of the Project Gutenberg free ebook series. Lodge was both a political figure and a historical writer, and his narrative carries the typical style of nineteenth-century biography, emphasizing the arc of the subject's life and the presentation of public oratory, legal practice, and political career. For readers seeking to understand Webster's place in early American political history, this book offers a relatively systematic secondary narrative framework; at the same time, it is a sample of how late nineteenth-century American elites shaped the image of political figures from the founding era. Readers should note the biographer's era-specific stance and value judgments and should not equate the book's assessments directly with modern historiographical consensus. The electronic edition facilitates searching for names and events and is suitable as supplementary material for American history courses or for extended reading by readers interested in early American political oratory and constitutional debate.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers studying the political history of the American Revolution through the Civil War
Non-specialist readers interested in biographies of early American political figures
Students who need original English historical sources to support American history coursework
Readers of history and literature interested in 19th-century American biographical writing

Not a good fit for

Readers looking for critical biography meeting modern academic standards
Beginners with limited English reading ability who need a Chinese translation
Readers seeking Webster's original speeches rather than biographical narrative

Reading tips

Skim the table of contents and chapter titles to clarify the stages of Webster's life, then read chapter by chapter.
Read alongside a timeline of early American political history to reduce confusion over names and events.
Mark passages where the author makes judgments, and compare them with modern historical scholarship after reading.
Use the e-book's search function to jump to chapters on key speeches and political events.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

Is this Webster's own work or a biography by someone else?

This is a biography of Daniel Webster written by Henry Cabot Lodge, not a work by Webster himself. It narrates Webster's life and political career and is a later study of a historical figure, so readers should treat it as a biographical text rather than a primary source.

What English level does the book require?

This is an original English text in 19th-century biographical style, with long sentences and fairly formal vocabulary. Intermediate or higher English reading ability is recommended, with a dictionary for historical names and political terms; beginners may want to start with a Chinese overview of American history.

Is this book suitable to cite in an American history paper?

It can be cited as material for understanding late-19th-century biographical views, but not as an authoritative source of modern historiography. Lodge had his own political stance, and the narrative carries the biases of its time. Use it alongside contemporary scholarship and, when citing, explain when it was written and who the author was.

Any practical advice for reading the e-book?

The Gutenberg edition is a free electronic text, convenient for searching names, events, and speech titles on an e-reader. Read the contents first to build a framework, then jump by topic; keep a historical timeline open alongside, and note the author's evaluative statements to reflect on the biography's stance afterward.

Comments

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About the author

Henry Cabot Lodge Author · American · 1850–1924

Henry Cabot Lodge (1850–1924) was an American statesman and historian. Born in Boston in 1850 and died in Cambridge in 1924, he earned a doctorate in history from Harvard University and edited The North American Review. He served as a United States senator for thirty-one years and chaired the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, becoming known for opposing President Wilson's Treaty of Versailles. Beyond politics, he wrote a good deal; four of his works are included here, among them the two-volume George Washington and biographies of Daniel Webster and Theodore Roosevelt. These works deal largely with political and historical figures he knew well, combining documentary value with readability and offering insight into early American political history and its leading personalities.