American Rhetorical Discourse:  by Ronald F. Reid, James F. Klumpp
877 pages, $67.95 list
1-57766-367-5
978-1-57766-367-6
Instructor materials available here
American Rhetorical Discourse
Third Edition
American Rhetorical Discourse, Third Edition continues to build on the success of previous editions. This expanded collection reflects the diversity, significance, and method of speakers throughout American history by illuminating the evolution and accomplishment of rhetorical practice in American society. Rhetorical discourse engages the concerns that define public life, revealing a record of responses to the American experience that enrich the possibilities for future rhetoric. The variety of speakers in this volume emulates a spectrum of achievement and influence throughout American discourse.

Each of the discourses presented in this distinguished collection is preceded by an informative and provocative commentary. These commentaries provide biographical information on the speaker, locate the speech in its historical time, and sketch the rhetorical situation to set the speech into its historical context. By highlighting the content of individual discourses, each commentary creates a solid basis for students to enlarge their understanding of history, broaden their perspective on the importance of the rhetorical moment, and improve their own rhetorical skills. The combination of commentary and speech provides an opportunity to explore a more sensitive analysis of a discourse, engaging and connecting the reader to the power and momentum of rhetoric.
Reactions
“This text provides the finest content base for an American Public Address course that I have encountered.” — Brendan Kelly, University of West Florida

“This is a beautiful and comprehensive volume. It is wonderful to have collected in one place such a variety of crucial political addresses from across America’s history. Thank you for including a variety of political genres, and within each genre, a variety of texts from different historical periods. Also, thank you for including so many women and so many texts from non-mainstream political groups.” — Mary Rist, St. Edward’s University

“This is the leading anthology in American rhetoric and I am pleased that it not only remains in print but also actually has been updated.” — David Zarefsky, Northwestern University

“This is the best collection published; I cannot imagine ever switching. Reid’s commentary and introduction to each text are clear and focused on rhetorical analysis.” — Barbara Adler, Concordia College

“The updated edition makes valuable changes.” — David Shawn, Boston University
Table of Contents
Section I. PURITAN PREACHING AND THE AMERICAN MISSION
  • A Model of Christian Charity (John Winthrop)
  • A Brief Recognition of New-England[’]s Errand into the Wilderness (Samuel Danforth)
  • Abraham’s Offering Up His Son Isaac (George Whitefield
  • Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God (Jonathan Edwards
  • Excerpt from Joy and Salvation by Christ; His Arm Displayed in the Protestant Cause (Peace of 1763) (Samuel Haven)

Section II. FOUNDING A NATION: Rhetoric of the American Revolution
  • Declarations (Stamp Act Congress)
  • Letter II in Letters from a Farmer in Pennsylvania to the Inhabitants of the British Colonies (John Dickinson)
  • Boston Massacre Oration—March 5 , 1774 (John Hancock)
  • Liberty or Death (Patrick Henry)
  • Excerpt from Common Sense (Thomas Paine)
  • To the People of Pennsylvania, Excerpt from Letter III (William Smith)
  • Censure of John Pigg (Pittsylvania County Committee of Safety)

Section III. FOUNDING A NATION: Establishing a Constitutional Government
  • Opening Speech at the Constitutional Convention (Edmund Randolph)
  • Exchange at the Constitutional Convention Regarding a Proposed Second Convention (Edmund Randolph, George Mason, Charles Pinckney and Elbridge Gerry)
  • Closing Speech at the Constitutional Convention (Benjamin Franklin)
  • Exchange at the Virginia Ratifying Convention (Patrick Henry and James Madison)
  • First State of the Union Address (George Washington)
  • Excerpts from Memoranda on the Constitutionality of the National Bank (Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton)

Section IV. PUBLIC LIFE, 1796–1850: The Democratic Experiment and the Role of Government
  • Farewell Address (George Washington)
  • First Inaugural Address (Thomas Jefferson)
  • The Role of Government in Internal Improvement (Henry Clay and James Madison)
  • The Protective Tariff: Excerpt from The American System and Excerpts from South Carolina Exposition and Protest (Original Draft) (Henry Clay and John C. Calhoun)
  • Bunker Hill Monument Address (Daniel Webster)
  • Speech at Fort Meigs (William Henry Harrison)

Section V. PUBLIC LIFE, 1800–1850: The Frontier
  • Campaigning in Madison County and Comments on King Andrew (David Crockett)
  • Tormented by Mockers (Peter Cartwright)
  • Debate before the Choctaw and Chickasaw Council (Tecumseh and Apushamathaubih or Pushmataha)
  • Farewell to Black Hawk (Ma-ka-tai-me-she-kia-kaih or Black Hawk)

Section VI. PUBLIC LIFE, 1800–1860: The Rhetoric of Reform and Counterreform
  • The Evils of Intemperance (Lyman Beecher)
  • To the Public (William Lloyd Garrison)
  • Excerpt from Abolition of Negro Slavery (Thomas R. Dew)
  • Declaration of Sentiments (American Anti-Slavery Society)
  • Pastoral Letter and Response to the Pastoral Letter (General Association of [Congregrational Ministers of] Massachusetts and Sarah M. Grimke)
  • The Murder of Lovejoy (Wendell Phillips)
  • Declaration of Sentiments (Seneca Falls Convention)
  • Protest (Harry Blackwell and Lucy Stone)
  • What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July? Excerpt from an Oration, at Rochester, July 5, 1852 (Frederick Douglass)

Section VII. THE RHETORIC OF SECTIONALISM AND CIVIL WAR
  • Webster–Hayne Debate on Foot's Resolution (Robert Y. Hayne and Daniel Webster)
  • Excerpts from Senate Speeches on the Compromise of 1850 (The “Great Triumvirate”: Henry Clay, John C. Calhoun, and Daniel Webster)
  • House Divided (Abraham Lincoln)
  • Excerpts from The Lincoln–Douglas Debate at Freeport (Abraham Lincoln, and Stephen A. Douglas)
  • Excerpt from The Character of Washington (Edward Everett)
  • Cooper Union Address (Abraham Lincoln)
  • First Inaugural Address (Jefferson Davis)
  • First Inaugural Address (Abraham Lincoln)
  • Gettysburg Address (Abraham Lincoln)

Section VIII. POST-CIVIL WAR AMERICA: Reconstruction, Racial Conflict and the New South
  • Second Inaugural Address (Abraham Lincoln)
  • Congressional Debate over Reconstruction Policy (Thaddeus Stevens and Henry Jarvis Raymond)
  • Senate Speech Introducing and Excerpts from The Senate Debate on the Fifteenth Amendment (William M. Stewart and Adonijah S. Welch, Thomas A. Hendricks, Henry W. Corbett, Simon Cameron, Samuel Pomeroy, Garrett Davis, Joseph S. Fowler, Oliver Morton, James R. Doolittle and Charles Drake)
  • The New South (Henry W. Grady)
  • Excerpt from Oration on the Life, Character and Public Service of the Hon. John C. Calhoun (L. Q. C. Lamar)
  • Cotton States Exposition Address (Booker T. Washington)
  • Of Mr. Booker T. Washington and Others (W. E. B. DuBois)

Section IX. CIVIL WAR TO WORLD WAR I: Industrialization, Economic Justice and Progressive Change
  • Acres of Diamonds (Russell Conwell)
  • Standard Oil and Foreign Missions (Washington Gladden)
  • The Forgotten Man (Abridged) (William Graham Sumner
  • Wealth (Andrew Carnegie)
  • Old-Time Political Speeches (Albert Beveridge)
  • Populist Songs: “The Independent Man” and “Good-Bye, My Party, Good-Bye” (Mrs. J. T. Kellie and Anonymous)
  • Cross of Gold (William Jennings Bryan)
  • The Man with the Muck Rake (Theodore Roosevelt)
  • First Inaugural Address (Woodrow Wilson)

Section X. CIVIL WAR TO THE NEW DEAL: The Struggle of American Labor
  • Speech to the Order of the Knights of Labor (Terence Powderly)
  • The Labor Question (Samuel Gompers)
  • Working Class Politics (Eugene V. Debs)
  • At a Public Meeting in Charleston (Mary Harris [Mother] Jones)

Section XI. CIVIL WAR TO 1920: Women Achieve Suffrage
  • Petition to Congress for Woman Suffrage (Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony)
  • Call for the Anniversary Convention of the American Equal Rights Association (Lucretia Mott)
  • Speech to the Anniversary Convention of the American Equal Rights Association (Sojourner Truth)
  • Excerpts from Is It a Crime for a Citizen of the United States to Vote? (Susan B. Anthony)
  • Testimony to the Select Committee on Woman Suffrage: United States Senate, March 7, 1884 (Susan B. Anthony)
  • The Solitude of Self (Elizabeth Cady Stanton)
  • The Crisis (Abridged) (Carrie Chapman Catt)

Section XII. TURN OF THE CENTURY TO WORLD WAR II: Empire, Isolationism, and World Power
  • American Empire: The March of the Flag (Abridged) (Albert Beveridge)
  • American Empire: Acceptance Speech, 1900 (Abridged) (William Jennings Bryan)
  • War Message (Woodrow Wilson)
  • The League of Nations Debate (Henry Cabot Lodge and Woodrow Wilson)
  • The Arsenal of Democracy (Franklin D. Roosevelt)
  • America’s Present Emergency (Burton K. Wheeler)
  • War Message (Franklin D. Roosevelt)

Section XIII. NEW DEAL TO NEO-CONSERVATISM: The Role of Government in the Economy
  • Progressive Government (Franklin D. Roosevelt)
  • First Inaugural Address (Franklin D. Roosevelt)
  • Fireside Chat on Banking (Franklin D. Roosevelt)
  • A Time for Choosing (Ronald Reagan)
  • First Inaugural Address (Ronald Reagan)

Section XIV. WORLD WAR II TO PRESENT: Cold War and American Power
  • An Iron Curtain Has Descended (Abridged) (Winston Churchill)
  • The Threat of a Red Asia (John Foster Dulles)
  • Inaugural Address (John F. Kennedy)
  • How to Save Lives and Political Face in Vietnam (George McGovern)
  • Speech to the National Association of Evangelicals (The “Evil Empire” Speech) (Ronald Reagan)
  • Address to a Joint Session of Congress and the American People (George W. Bush)

Section XV. EXPANDING CIVIL AND HUMAN RIGHTS IN THE TWENTIETH CENTURY
  • Senate Speech on Free Speech in Wartime (Abridged) (Robert LaFollette)
  • A Moral Necessity for Birth Control (Margaret Sanger)
  • Speech to the Greater Houston Ministerial Association (John F. Kennedy)
  • I Have a Dream (Martin Luther King, Jr.)
  • Separation vs. Integration: A Debate (James Farmer and Malcolm X)
  • Testimony before Senate Hearings on the Equal Rights Amendment, May 6, 1970 (Gloria Steinem)
  • Excerpts from Testimony before the House of Representatives on the Equal Rights Amendment, October 20, 1983 (Phyllis Schlafly)