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Primary sourceSpeech4 December 1854

Second State of the Union Address by Franklin Pierce, 1854

Franklin Pierce · 4 December 1854

Franklin Pierce's own report to Congress in December 1854, covering the events of his presidency including the Kansas-Nebraska period.

Pierce's own address to Congress reporting on his administration, including the contentious Kansas-Nebraska period.

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About this source

What it is

This is the text of Franklin Pierce's second State of the Union address, delivered to Congress on 4 December 1854. It is Pierce's own account of the state of the nation at that time.

Why it matters

As a speech given directly by the president, this is a primary source that shows how Pierce himself described the events of the year, including economic conditions and the turbulence surrounding the Kansas-Nebraska period, a defining and divisive issue of his presidency.

Look closer

  • What tone does Pierce use when describing difficulties facing the nation?
  • What issues does he choose to emphasize, and what might he be avoiding?
  • How might this speech have been received differently by different parts of the country?

This speech is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Franklin Pierce on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

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