Thaddeus Stevens was an attorney in Gettysburg and Lancaster, a state representative in Harrisburg, and a leading member of Congress in Washington DC.  I’ve been performing as Congressman Stevens for almost ten years: with the Pennsylvania Past Players, as a Commonwealth Speaker for the Pennsylvania Humanities Council, on PCN-TV, and at a variety of special events.  And I still have more to learn.

I offer several programs on Congressman Stevens, all presented in first person:

 

Becoming an Abolitionist

How did a small-town lawyer become one of the most powerful men in America?  Why was he so passionate about freedom, equality, and education?  And why did Jubal Early want him dead?

Meet Congressman Thaddeus Stevens, the attorney and abolitionist who brought public education to Pennsylvania, battled with Abraham Lincoln, reshaped the Civil War, and rewrote the Constitution.

 

The School Law

In 1834, Pennsylvania passed a new law to create free, public schools.  A year later, the State Senate voted to repeal that law, and the House was about to do the same.  A young representative, with no political support, stood up to object….

(Available as a 15-minute keynote focusing on the speech itself, or as a one-hour program including stories of the amazing role schoolteachers have played in Pennsylvania history.)

 Changing the Constitution

Many abolitionists felt their hands were tied by a Constitution that protected slavery.  Others preached revolution.  Thaddeus Stevens chose a different course: He wrote the first draft of what would become the 13th Amendment, to end slavery once and for all.

(This has been a very popular Constitution Day talk at several chapters of the DAR.)