Cornerstone Speech by Stephens

Date: March 21, 1861 • Location: Washington, United States

Alexander H. Stephens, Vice President of the Confederate States of America, gave an extemporaneous speech laying out the Confederacy's rationale for seceding from the United States.

Alexander Hamilton Stephens was an American politician who was the only vice president of the Confederate States from 1861 to 1865, and later the 50th governor of Georgia from 1882 until his death in 1883. A member of the Democratic Party, he represented the state of Georgia in the United States House of Representatives before and after the Civil War.