McGuffey's Sixth Eclectic Reader, Revised Edition · Lesson CII · Part 10: Granada, Hamlet and the Union
108. Importance of the Union (Daniel Webster)
Goal: Your student can explain Webster's vision of the Union and recite his most famous line.
You'll need
- The book, open to this lesson
- A notebook and pen
- A dictionary
What's in the book
The closing part of Webster's reply to Hayne in the Senate (the same debate as Lesson LXXI). The heading is in the lower part of the page.
The lesson, step by step
Words and meanings
Look over the notes and definitions printed at the end of the lesson before you start, so names and hard words don't trip up the reading.
A note explains that this is the closing part of Webster's reply to Mr. Hayne, in the Senate debate on Mr. Foot's Resolution about the public lands.
Your student picks three unfamiliar words, guesses each meaning from the sentence, then checks a dictionary.
About the author
Webster was introduced in Lesson LXXI. Remind your student that this is the end of the same great speech.
Read aloud
Read it aloud as an oration. The last paragraph should build to the final line.
Listen for these lines:
Mr. President: I am conscious of having detained you and the Senate much too long.
Talk about it
SayWebster says he has not looked beyond the Union. What does he not want to see?
SayDescribe the two pictures he imagines: the flag over a broken land and over a united one.
SayWhy does he join liberty and union together instead of choosing one?
SayAbout thirty years after this speech, what happened to the Union?
Narration
Your student retells the closing passage in their own words.
Memorize or copy
Memorize the closing words:
Liberty and Union, now and forever, one and inseparable!
Writing (optional)
Write a paragraph explaining in your own words why Webster thought liberty needed union.
Afterwards
Read Lessons LXXI and CII together on one day to hear Webster's whole argument.