From the Boston Tea Party to the Declaration of Independence to the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s, protest against perceived injustices has been as much a part of the American experience as baseball and jazz. The Bill of Rights amending the US Constitution guarantees free speech and assembly, protecting the right of the rabble to rouse. "The spirit of resistance to government is so valuable on certain occasions, that I wish it to be always kept alive," stated Thomas Jefferson, who also added, "The will of the people is the only legitimate foundation of any government, and to protect its free expression should be our first object." The poet Ella Wheeler Wilcox wrote, "To sin by silence when they should protest / Makes cowards of men."

Throughout their country's history, Americans have found many occasions not to keep silent when they should protest. This set of thirty images from the collections of the Library of Congress shows them rejecting the tyranny of Britain's King George III as they tear down his statue in 1776; crusading for the abolition of slavery; speaking out against unfair working conditions for children, women, and all laborers; calling for temperance and women's suffrage; demanding that civil liberties be maintained in wartime; demonstrating for civil rights and against the war in Vietnam; and supporting prisoners' rights while rejecting capital punishment. In the twenty-first century, artists silently plea for a peaceful US response to the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.

Description: 30 top quality reproductions bound together in a handy, artful collection.Printed on heavy card stock. Postcards are oversized and may require additional postage. 4 3/4 x 6 7/8 inches.

ISBN: 978-0-7649-4589-2

Price: $9.95

Availability: Usually ships in 3-4 business days

Product #: 21405002