19th+Century+Rhetoric

= = = __19th Century Rhetoric__ =



Overall theme of 19th century rhetoric is that it was a period where many groups that did not get to speak out before were coming forward; namely woman and African-Americans. They spoke a lot about any restrictions, stereotypes, education, the right to speak, slavery, civil rights, and equality.

The big debates in this time period was originally the role of woman but this led to a broader movement: over slavery, Native American rights, temperance and women’s rights, including suffrage.

Rhetoric in North America was different from European rhetoric because the incomers from Europe, Africa, and Asia mingle with the Native American populations and free, educated people of color took to the pulpit and the platform.

Women’s Rhetoric
- From the 1700’s on, woman began to receive more access to education and literacy very quickly. By the end of the 18th century, about 50% of women in Europe and North America had become literate. This is a huge increase!

How did they become literate if they were still barred from public institutions??

- Mainly learned by reading at home - Women read Bibles, newspapers, popular literature, and business documents - Thankfully by the end of the 19th century, women in America finally were allowed to attend higher education institutions to further their knowledge of rhetoric. This lead to more women speaking in public! They usually used nontraditional strategies that combatted stereotypes and popular beliefs.

Protestant Christianity aids Women in their Education

- They encouraged women to be literate enough to read the Bible and preach - Many women used religious justifications for the right to speak

Cult of True Womanhood

- They believed that women were only respectable if they were domestic. - Women should not leave the home because they are too pure compared to males - If they leave home their chastity is questioned

Protestant Women Political Movement

<span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS",cursive;">- began a campaign for civil rights <span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS",cursive;">- they addressed the need to take action against slavery

<span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS",cursive;">- Denounced white racism <span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS",cursive;">- Told African Americans to demand civil rights <span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS",cursive;">- She paved the way for powerful African American women orators <span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS",cursive;">- Colored orators did not mimic white orators, they came up with their own tactics ||
 * <span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS",cursive;"> Maria W Stewart || <span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS",cursive;">- African American woman

* <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14.66px;">Escaped slavery in 1838 and became a powerful agitator against slavery and for black civil rights <span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS",cursive;">Douglass’ rhetorical stance created new possibilities for rhetoric in the Western rhetorical world || <span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS",cursive; font-size: 130%;">Sojourner Truth * <span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS",cursive;">In 1843, she renamed herself Sojourner Truth (born Isabella, a slave) || <span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS",cursive; font-size: 140%;">Sarah Grimke * <span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS",cursive;">First major American theorist on feminist issues including women’s rhetoric <span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS",cursive;">Same responsibility to be abolitionists and combat social evils || <span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS",cursive; font-size: 140%;">William Apess * <span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS",cursive;">a Native American and Methodist minister, spoke out for Indian civil rights <span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS",cursive;">Like African American orators, he developed rhetorical strategies for speaking to a hostile audience – in this way, he added new elements to the Western rhetorical tradition ||
 * Key Figures from this Period ||
 * <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 18.66px;">Fredrick Douglass
 * <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 18.66px;">Fredrick Douglass
 * <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14.66px;">Worked for the <span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS",cursive;">Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society
 * <span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS",cursive;">Published his own abolitionist newspaper called The North Star
 * <span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS",cursive;">Power on the platform legendary
 * <span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS",cursive;">Combined his physical appearance with a well-modulated voice and his own self-education
 * <span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS",cursive;">Spoke for temperance, women’s rights, and campaigned for political candidates who supported his views
 * <span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS",cursive;">Publishes 3 versions of his autobiography
 * <span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS",cursive;">Advised Abraham Lincoln on freeing slaves and admitting black men to the Union Army
 * <span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS",cursive;">Never learned to read or write and never attempted to erase the broad dialect in which she spoke
 * <span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS",cursive;">No one did more to convince white women, even men, that rights for African Americans and women of all races should be simultaneously pursued
 * <span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS",cursive;">Truth brought African-inflected culture to the speaker’s platform as never seen before
 * <span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS",cursive;">Publicly denounce slavery that they witnessed in their slave-owning family
 * <span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS",cursive;">Chastised for flouting the norms of proper women’s behavior
 * <span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS",cursive;">Develop a feminist critique of social and rhetorical limitations put on women
 * <span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS",cursive;">Women’s mental and moral equality to men