Whig history
Carp made his leading contribution with speeches, and is traditionally regarded as one of the top orators in his generation. According to Ion Bulei, his voice was shrill, with an exotic Moldavian lilt, but Carp always imposed himself by being "intelligent and concise", in sharp contrast with the "Romantic phraseology" of his contemporaries. As a public speaker, Carp sometimes resumed his earlier press debates with the PNL, notably by reproaching on his adversaries that they were enshrining Romania's own version of Whig history. He was especially upset by the accolades bestowed on PNL men for their supposed roles in obtaining Romanian independence. In 1886 Carp offered an alternative "Junimist" narrative of how "national sovereignty" came about, with only two actors: "the king and the foot soldier".