America's Great Age of Rhetoric, 1770-1860 - (International Studies in the History of Rhetoric) by Merrill D Whitburn (Hardcover)

About the Book

The dominance of rhetoric in America from 1770 to 1860 and its continuing promise today. Leaders promoting rhetoric advocated goals, methodologies, and social structures that remain important. The competition between rhetoric and philosophy in Western civilization should become a collaboration.

Book Synopsis

This book analyzes the advocacy, conceptualization, and institutionalization of rhetoric from 1770 to 1860. Among the forces promoting advocacy was the need for oratory calling for independence, the belief that using rhetoric was the way to succeed in biblical interpretation and preaching, and the desire for rhetoric as entertainment. Conceptually, leaders followed classical and German rhetoricians in viewing rhetoric as an art of ethical choice. Institutionally, a rhetorician such as Ebenezer Porter called for the development of organizations at all levels, a "sociology of rhetoric." Orville Dewey highlighted the passion for rhetoric, calling his times "the age of eloquence."

With this book Merrill D. Whitburn is the winner of the Everett Lee Hunt Award of the Eastern Communication Association 2025