E Pluribus Unum
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Public speaking was an important part of life
in 19th century America. Whether you wanted to win an election, win
support for a reform movement, or become a successful minister, you
needed to learn how to deliver crowd-pleasing speeches. Candidates
for office debated one another. Evangelical ministers hoping to win
people to their denominations could often use rousing sermons to attract
large crowds to their revival meetings. In the same period, the local
lyceums and other organizations provided an important source of education
and entertainment for people of all classes by bringing national celebrities
into cities and small towns across America. As Gilman Ostrander writes
in his book, Republic of Letters: The American Intellectual Community,
1775-1865:
Oratory was a lawyerly
skill that boasted a tradition as venerable as the law itself, extending
from Demosthenes to Daniel Webster. From medieval universities to
nineteenth-century liberal arts colleges, orations remained an essential
part of higher education, and forensic eloquence remained the mark
of a cultivated man. Patrick Henry rose to the head of the Virginia
bar chiefly on the basis of his forensic ability, being admittedly
unqualified for practice so far as his technical knowledge of the
law was concerned. The Olympian prestige and appeal of oratory in
the ages of Patrick Henry and Daniel Webster is hard to appreciate
in our present age of mass media, but in med-nineteenth century
America, Emerson observed that "The highest bribes of society
are all at the feet of the successful orator. . . . All other fame
must hush before his. He is the true potentate." (p. 104).
The ability to play an effective role in discussions
of local importance (such as whether to build a town library) or to
speak persuasively in debates over national issues (such as the dispute
over slavery) could even contribute to the standing of a private citizen
in his or her community. Along with print, oratory was an essential
part of public life. It was how the business of public life got done.
George Caleb Bingham, "Stump Speaking, or, the County
Canvass," 1853-54
As you will notice, the crowd is made up of a mixture of men, women,
and children representing a variety of clases.
Although it might seem surprising, many of the
theories that shaped nineteenth century American oratory were taken
from two eighteenth century rhetoric texts written by Scotsmen: The Philosophy of Rhetoric
(1776), by George
Campbell, and Lectures
on Rhetoric and Belles Lettres, Up until the late eighteenth
century, most thinking about rhetoric was based on the ideas of Aristotle,
who offered the formal rules of logic as a means by which one could
deduce truth. As products of the Scottish Enlightenment, Campbell
and Blair rejected those rules, believing instead that human beings
discover truth through experience and can only communicate it by recreating
that experience in the minds of their listeners. According to this
"common sense" approach, the rhetorician was expected to
develop his or her own understanding by reflecting on experience,
and then explain those ideas to the audience by appealing to the faculties
of mind, which included both understanding and imagination. This helps
to explain why nineteenth century American orators so often told stories
of their experiences or created "word pictures" in order
to communicate their ideas to the members of the audience. (In fact,
if you listen to the speeches made by twentieth century American political
candidates, you will realize that these techniques are still in use
today.) According
to this system of thinking, the true purpose of rhetoric was not merely
to entertain but to persuade listeners to take action towards a noble
end. A good speaker was therefore also expected to motivate the listeners
to act by appealing to the passions, and encourage them to adopt a
particular course of action by appealing to their wills.
If someone asked you to deliver a speech with
a "businesslike air" in a highly emotional fashion, you
would probably be perplexed. Yet, that is precisely what you would
have to do if you were delivering a lecture or participating in a
debate before an audience in 19th century America. If you wanted to
win over your listeners, you would probably also offer several kinds
of evidence, in order to appeal to your audience's intelligence and
to their imaginations. Picture the kinds of larger-than-life lawyers
who populate the courtrooms in movies or televised trials. They try
to seem reasonable and down to earth while also doing everything they
can to stir up the emotions of the jury. They use their closing arguments
to describe the details of the scientific and factual evidence, while
also imaginatively recreating the "night of the crime."
They want to be sure that the members of the jury identify emotionally
with the victim--or the accused-- and that they have "reasonable
evidence" to justify a decision in favor of the person with whom
they have identified. If you can picture that kind of lawyer, you
can begin to understand what a nineteenth century orator might have
been like.
Today's audiences typically expect celebrities
to speak in a way that seems "natural." The desire of people
to feel that they are seeing a "real person" giving a glimpse
of his or her "true self" leads political candidates to
speak informally in casual settings wearing shirts with the top button
unbuttoned. While all this is going on, of course, what the audience
is usually seeing is a carefully planned performance.
| Audiences in the 19th century,
on the other hand, would have expected orators to seem larger
than life. Orators were the celebrities of that day, and oration
provided an important source of entertainment in a world without
radio, television, or moview. Speeches, debates and sermons often
attracted large crowds, and every occasion required one or more
speeches. The fried chicken you ate at a Fourth of July celebration
would hardly have tasted right unless it was accompanied by one
or two patriotic addresses by local celebrities. The 1863 poster
at the right, lists several orations as part of the program for
the day's festivities. (By clicking on the image, you can choose
to view a larger version and take a Virtual
Visit to 4th of July Orations Exhibit at the New York State
Library.) |
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Detailed accounts of speeches often appeared in
newspapers, speeches were frequently published in pamphlet form, and
books offering a "behind-the-scenes look" at famous orators
were very popular. Note the reporter taking notes as he sits behind
the speaker in this detail from "The Stump Orator."
George Caleb Bingham, "Stump Speaking, or, the County
Canvass," 1853-54.
How did people learn to master the art of rhetoric?
Young men often joined libraries or lyceums which sponsored debating
societies in order to hone their skills. People used books such as
Luther Cushing's 1854 Manual
of Parliamentary Practice to learn how to run and participate
in deliberative assemblies. However, many people would have received
their first training in speaking in the schoolroom, where anthologies
of speeches were used to teach children reading, speaking, and patriotic
values all at the same time.
Despite their importance in their own time, nineteenth
century speakers and their speeches are largely neglected today for
a number of reasons. Some of the best orations of the day were not
published--or even written down. In addition, since much of the power
of a speech derives from its delivery, orations lose much of their
power as the human voice fades away. One vanished voice of the mid-nineteenth
century is Father Taylor, the once-celebrated minister of the Seamen's
Bethel in Boston. Everyone from Charles Dickens to Jenny Lind crowded
into the pews intended for sailors, eager to hear Taylor's praching.
Walt Whitman, one of Taylors many fans, wrote in "Father
Taylor (and Oratory)": "
I never had anything in the way of vocal utterance to shake me through
and through, and become fix’d, with its accompaniments, in my
memory, like those prayers and sermons—like Father Taylor’s
personal electricity . . ." Yet, just a few years after his death,
Whitman lamented that Taylor's "name is now comparatively unknown,
outside of Boston—and even there, (though Dickens, Mr. Jameson,
Dr. Bartol and Bishop Haven have commemorated him,) is mostly but
a reminiscence As St. George Tucker observed in 1813: ."Orators
"sink into immediate oblivion. . . . The
truth is that Socrates himself would passed unnoticed and forgotten
in Virginia, if he were not a public character, and some of his speeches
preserved in a newspaper; the latter might keep his memory alive for
a year or two, but not much longer."
Nineteenth century speakers
went to the platform--and the pulpit--to entertain, to educate, to
experiment with ideas, to test drafts of literary works in progress,
to gain votes, to persuade, to lead. And across the country, lecture
halls, lyceums, and churches were filled by people who wished to be
educated and entertained, and also to become active participants in
the major decisions and events of their day. If we wish to understand
those people and that time, it is important for us to try to recover
the "the trute potentate(s)" of the period.
Below you will find excerpts from Campbell's and
Blair's classic works, selected texts on rhetoric published in America
in the nineteenth century, and compilations of speeches that were
used for the study of elocution and rhetoric. Also included is an
excerpt from a book for young men, The Bobbin Boy: or, How Nat
Got An Education. The story illustrates the importance placed
on learning to become a successful speaker--particularly for young
men interested in "rising" in life. Finally, you will find
links to descriptions of several widely celebrated orators and a selection
of speeches from the period. You can use those texts to determine
the extent to which the theories of Blair and Campbell were actually
applied by the famous speakers of that day, and to learn more about
how oratory reflected--and contributed to--American life in the nineteenth
century.
This "On-line Study Edition" of Campbell's
"Rhetoric" edited by H. Lewis Ulman and Robert Graves
allows you to read both the original text and annotations offered
by twentieth century readers. If you would like to read a "slide
show" outline of the key principles of Campbell's theory, see
Rhetoric
in Western Thought posted by Arne G'Schwind of Colorado State
University's Department of Speech Communication.
If you want to read what
was probably the first rhetoric textbook published in English, you
can find it at this University of Oregon site.
Anyone interested in
doing further research into the theory and practice of rhetoric
19th century should find this annotated bibliography valuable. This
page is part of a site called Rhetoric
Notes which offers a serious look at the subject of rhetoric.
It includes a Rhetoric
Reading List, a bibliography on The
Rhetorical Situation, comments on Rhetorical
Concepts and Issues
in Rhetoric.
It was not unusual
in the 19th century for an individual to write a reminiscence of a
particular book that affected his life. The author of this humorous
essay describes how he became spoiled by flattery when The Columbian
Orator inspired him to become a juvenile orator.
This essay from The United States Democratic
Review describes and evaluates prominent characteristics of
American orators including their "fervor," appeals to
emotion, "strong common sense" and "frank, open,
business-like air." The subject is a particularly important
one, according to the author, because "The eyes of the whole
civilized world are upon us." Here is a brief excerpt:
American eloquence is directed chiefly
to the feelings of those to whom it is addressed and to the sense
of national honor. The strongest and noblest sentiments in man
to which the appeals of eloquence can be addressed are, first,
the sense of right and wrong, and next, the love of country and
of kindred. . . .. Powerful and effective eloquence has always
been and always must be addressed, mainly, to the passions or
feelings in man's heart. What could all the metaphysical subtleties
of Thomas Aquinas and Duns Scotus effect, in impelling men to
action, or in accomplishing any great and grand end, when compared
with that warm, gusing eloquence, coming from the heart, and going
to the heart? We care not how powerfully the intellect is addressed
and stimulated, enlightened and convinced, by argument. But let
us remember, the work is not effectually done, the grand end and
aim of eloquence is not attained, till the consenting sympathies
of the inner man of the heart are touched, roused, and brought
into action. True eloquence--effective, useful eloquence--must
appeal to the heart, through the understanding and the conscience.
It must open the floodgates of sensibility within us, and thus
bring into exercise our active powers for the promoting of good
or the preventing of evil, or else, its real power and utility
will be of a very small amount. And such, we think, in a very
grand degree, is the character of American eloquence.
This exhibit at the Museum
of the City of New York uses Currier & Ives Prints to document
the political strife of the ante-bellum period. The print, "Arguing
the Point," shows three backwoodsmen deeply engaged in discussion
and illustrates the fact that it was not only statesmen and reformers
who participated in political debates.
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