Alexander Stephens delivers the Cornerstone Speech in Savannah

Background. Alexander Hamilton Stephens, a member of the Democratic Party, represented Georgia in the U.S. House of Representatives before and after the Civil War and established a legal practice in Crawfordville. He voted against secession but was elected to the Confederate Congress and chosen as vice president of the provisional government, taking the provisional oath of office on February 11, 1861, and the full-term oath on February 22, 1862.

Speech Content. The speech defended slavery as a necessary result of the supposed inferiority of the black race. Stephens argued that scientific advances proved the U.S. Declaration of Independence's view that all men are created equal was erroneous. He enumerated contrasts between Union and Confederate ideologies and laid out the Confederacy's rationale for seceding.

Venue Context. The address was delivered at the Athenaeum in Savannah, Georgia, a city established in 1733 and the county seat of Chatham County. Savannah was the oldest city in the state and had served as the capital of the colonial Province of Georgia. The speech was given a few weeks before the Civil War began.