A question settled by violence, or in disregard of law, must remain unsettled forever.

The troops of other states have their reputation to gain, the sons of the Alamo have theirs to maintain.

The war...must go on till the last man of this generation falls in his tracks...unless you acknowledge our right to self-government. We are not fighting for slavery. We are fighting for Independence,and that, or extermination, we WILL have.

African slavery, as it exists in the United States, is a moral, a social, and a political blessing.

We protest solemnly in the face of mankind, that we desire peace at any sacrifice, save that of honor.

Vicksburg is the nail head that holds the South’s two halves together.

Sir, it is true that republics have often been cradled in war, but more often they have met with a grave in that cradle. Peace is the interest, the policy, the nature of a popular Government. War may bring benefits to a few, but privation and loss are the lot of the many. An appeal to arms should be the last resort, and only by national rights or national honor can it be justified.