"A plan of a Peace Office for the United States"

Title"A plan of a Peace Office for the United States"
Year for Search1793
Authors[Rush], [Benjamin](1745-1813)
Secondary TitleBanneker's Almanack, and Ephemeris for the Year of Our Lord 1793
Pagination[4, 6, 8]
Date Published1793
PublisherJoseph Crukshank
Place PublishedPhiladelphia, PA
KeywordsMale author, US author
Annotation

Essay giving a detailed proposal for a Department of Peace presented in seven proposals: Appointing of a “genuine republican and sincere Christian” to head the office. Establishing free schools “in every city, village and township of the United States. Providing every family with a copy of “a copy of an American edition of the BIBLE.”  Inscribing every “State and Court house” with the words “the son of man came into the world, not to destroy men’s lives, but to save them.” Rejecting capital punishment. Repealing militia laws. Eliminating military uniforms, parades, and titles. Has been read as a satire, and while the above proposals appear perfectly serious, the last proposal, which is to adorn the office of the Peace-Office with pictures of those currently at war in peaceful interaction, and a daily singing of a peace song. The War Office would, in contrast, be adorned with reminders of the horrors of war. A United States Peace Institute was established by Congress in 1984; see http://www.usip.org.

Additional Publishers

Rpt. exp. in his Essays Literary, Moral and Philosophical (Philadelphia, PA: Thomas and Samuel F. Bradford, 1798), 183-88; 2nd ed. with additions (Philadelphia, PA: Thomas and Samuel F. Bradford, 1806), 183-88; rpt. ed. Michael Meranze (Schenectady, NY: Union College Press, 1988), 106-09; in The Selected Writings of Benjamin Rush. Ed. Dagobert D. Runes (New York: Philosophical Library, 1947), 19-23; in Voices of Dissent: An Anthology of Individualist Thought in the United States. Ed. Arthur A. Ekirch, Jr. (New York: Citadel Press, 1964), 17-21; and rpt. illus. by Leonard Baskin and a with note by Sidney Kaplan. The Massachusetts Review 25.2 (Summer 1984): 269-83. 

Info Notes

A United States Peace Institute was established by Congress in 1984; see http://www.usip.org.

Holding Institutions

PSt

Author Note

(1745-1813)

Full Text

1793 [Rush, Benjamin] (1745-1813). “A plan of a Peace Office for the United States.” In Banneker’s Almanack, and Ephemeris for the Year of Our Lord 1793 (Philadelphia, PA: Joseph Crukshank, 1793), [4, 6, 8]. Rpt. exp. in his Essays Literary, Moral and Philosophical (Philadelphia, PA: Thomas and Samuel F. Bradford, 1798), 183-88; 2nd ed. with additions (Philadelphia, PA: Thomas and Samuel F. Bradford, 1806), 183-88; rpt. ed. Michael Meranze (Schenectady, NY: Union College Press, 1988), 106-09; in The Selected Writings of Benjamin Rush. Ed. Dagobert D. Runes (New York: Philosophical Library, 1947), 19-23; in Voices of Dissent: An Anthology of Individualist Thought in the United States. Ed. Arthur A. Ekirch, Jr. (New York: Citadel Press, 1964), 17-21; and rpt. illus. by Leonard Baskin and with a note by Sidney Kaplan. The Massachusetts Review 25.2 (Summer 1984): 269-83. PSt

Essay giving a detailed proposal for a Department of Peace presented in seven proposals: Appointing of a “genuine republican and sincere Christian” to head the office. Establishing free schools “in every city, village and township of the United States. Providing every family with a copy of “a copy of an American edition of the BIBLE.”  Inscribing every “State and Court house” with the words “the son of man came into the world, not to destroy men’s lives, but to save them.” Rejecting capital punishment. Repealing militia laws. Eliminating military uniforms, parades, and titles. Has been read as a satire, and while the above proposals appear perfectly serious, the last proposal, which is to adorn the office of the Peace-Office with pictures of those currently at war in peaceful interaction, and a daily singing of a peace song. The War Office would, in contrast, be adorned with reminders of the horrors of war. A United States Peace Institute was established by Congress in 1984; see http://www.usip.org.