Transatlantic Rhetoric: Speeches from the American Revolution to the Suffragettes

Reclaims public speaking as a central cultural form of the nineteenth century Places famous speeches by Emmeline Pankhurst, Abraham Lincoln, Mark Twain and Oscar Wilde alongside previously unpublished textsOffers a more racially, ethnically and politically varied range of speeches than ever collected beforeIncludes illustrations and suggestions for further readingsA 'how to use this book' section provides historical contextualisations and valuable guidance for steering classroom discussions This pioneering collection brings alive the world of public speaking between the American Revolution and the age of the Suffragettes. It presents over seventy speeches by a diverse range of female and male activists, politicians, tribal leaders, fugitive slaves and preachers from both sides of the Atlantic, debating the crucial issues of the day, from socialism and imperialism to slavery and women's suffrage. Complete with detailed notes, introductions, illustrations and suggestions for further reading, it provides a unique introduction to transatlantic history and culture.

Table of Contents:
IntroductionIllustrations 1 Nationalism and Independence Part A: Debating American Freedom 1. Joseph Galloway, A Plan to Avoid War (Philadelphia, 1774)2. Edmund Burke, ‘On Conciliation with the Colonies’ (London, 1775)3. Patrick Henry, ‘Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death’ (Richmond, Virginia, 1775)4. Buckongahelas, 'You See a Great and Powerful Nation Divided' (Delaware, 1781) Part B: Declaring Independence 5. Thomas Jefferson et al., ‘The Unanimous Declaration of the United States of America’ (Philadelphia, 1776)6. Jean-Jacques Dessalines, ‘Haitian Declaration of Independence’ (Gonaïves, Saint-Domingue, 1804)7. Robert Emmett, ‘Speech From the Dock’ (Dublin, 1803)8. Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla, ‘The Cry of Dolores’ (Dolores, Mexico, 1810) Part C: Pan-Nationalism and Trans-nationalisms 9. Tecumseh, 'Sleep No Longer, O Choctaws and Chickasaws' (1811)10. Jose Martí, ‘Our America’ (New York, 1889)11. W. E. B. Dubois, ‘To the Nations of the World’ (London, 1900) 2 Gender, Suffrage and Sexuality Part A: Gender Equality 1. Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Keynote address at Seneca Falls convention (Seneca Falls, 1848)2. Sojourner Truth, ‘Speech to the Women’s Rights Convention’ (Akron, Ohio, 1851)3. Sojourner Truth, ‘Address to the Equal Rights Association' (New York City, 1867)4. Josephine Butler, Speech on Sex Workers’ Rights (Wigan, 1870) Part B: Suffrage for Women 5. Sir Henry James and W. E. Forster, ‘The Anti-Suffrage Case’ (London, 1871) 6. Susan B. Anthony, ‘Is it a Crime for a US Citizen to Vote’ (Rochester, NY, 1872)7. Emmeline Pankhurst, ‘Freedom or Death’ (Hartford, 1913) Part C: Sexuality and Reproduction 8. Frances Ellen Watkins Harper, ‘Enlightened Motherhood’ (Brooklyn, 1892) 9. Oscar Wilde, Testimony at Indecency Trial (London, 1895) 10. Anna Ruling, ‘The Women’s Movement and the Homosexual Problem’ (Berlin, 1904) 11. Theodore Roosevelt, 'On American Motherhood' (Washington DC, 1905) 3 Slavery and Race Part A: Debating Slavery 1. James Penny, Testimony in Defence of a Humane Slave Trade (London, 1788)2. William Wilberforce, ‘Resolutions Respecting the Slave Trade’ (London, 1789)3. Absalom Jones, Thanksgiving Sermon (Philadelphia, 1808)4. John Calhoun, ‘Slavery, A Positive Good’ (Washington DC, 1837)5. Angelina Grimke, ‘Speech at Pennsylvania Hall’ (Philadelphia, 1838)6. Frederick Douglass, ‘What to the Slave is July 4th?’ (Rochester, New York, 1852)7. Henry Ward Beecher, 'Peace, Be Still’ Sermon (Brooklyn, 1861) Part B: Race and Civil Rights 8. David Walker, ‘The Necessity of a General Union Among Us’ (Boston 1828)9. Robert Knox, 'Lecture on The Races of Man' (Manchester, 1848)10. Alexander Crummell, ‘The American Mind and Black intellect’ (Washington DC, 1898)11. Ida B. Wells, ‘Lynch Law in All Its Phases’ (Boston, 1893) 4 Faith, Culture and Society Part A: The Role of Faith 1. Larena Lee, 'My Call to Preach the Gospel' (Marlyand, c.1810s)2. Charles Spurgeon, 'Compel Them to Come In' (London, 1858)3. Robert Ingersoll, 'The Gods' (Fairbury, Illinois, 1873)4. Swami Vivekanandana, ‘Address at the World Parliament of Religions’ (Chicago, 1893) Part B: Culture and Morality 5. Ralph Waldo Emerson, ‘Ethics’ (Boston, 1837)6. John Ruskin, ‘Traffic’ (Bradford, 1864)7. Oscar Wilde, ‘Art of The English Renaissance’ (New York, 1882)8. William Morris, ‘Art and Socialism’ (Leicester, 1884) Part C: Society and Hierarchy 9. Henry ‘Orator’ Hunt, ‘Speech Spa Fields’ (London, 1816)10. Benjamin Disraeli, In Defence of the Feudal System (Shrewsbury, 1842)11. Peter H. Clark, 'Socialism: The Remedy for the Evils of Society' (Cincinnati, 1877)12. Lucy Parsons, ‘I am an Anarchist’ (Kansas City, 1886)13. William Jennings Bryan, ‘The Cross of Gold Speech’ (Chicago, 1896) 5 Empire and Manifest Destiny Part A: Opposing Empire 1. Nan’yehi et al., ‘Cherokee Women Address Their Nation’ (Georgia, 1817)2. Francisco Mejia, Proclamation Against American Usurpation (Matamoros, 1846)3. John Calhoun, Mexican Annexation and the ‘White Race’ (Washington DC, 1848)4. John Bright, 'Opposition to India Policy' (London, 1858)5. William Jennings Bryan, ‘Imperialism’ (Kansas City, 1900) Part B: Defending Empire 6. Benjamin Disraeli, ‘Crystal Palace Speech’ (London, 1872) 7. Theodore Roosevelt, ‘The Strenuous Life’ (Chicago, 1899)8. Albert J. Beveridge, ‘The Philippines are Ours Forever’ (Washington DC, 1900) Part C: The Irish Question 9. Daniel O’Connell, ‘Ireland Shall be Free’ (Mullaghmast, Ireland, 1843)10. Lewis C. Levin, The Papist Threat (Philadelphia, 1844)11. William E. Gladstone, In Support of Irish Home Rule (London, 1886) Part D: Indigenous Rights 12. Andrew Jackson, 'Speech to Congress on Indian Removal' (Washington DC, 1830)13. William Apess, ‘Eulogy for King Phillip’ (Boston, 1836)14. Mark Twain, ‘Our Fellow Savages of the Sandwich Islands' (San Francisco, 1868)15. Dadabhai Naoroji, ‘Maiden Speech in Parliament’ (London, 1893) 6 War and Peace Part A: America's Path to Disunion 1. Daniel Webster, ‘Reply to Hayne’ (Washington DC, 1830)2. Abraham Lincoln, 'The Lyceum Address' (Springfield, Illinois, 1838)3. Charles Sumner, ‘The Crime Against Kansas’ (Washington DC, 1856) 4. Abraham Lincoln, ‘A House Divided’ (Springfield, Illinois, 1858) Part B: The Meaning of the American Civil War 5. Alexander Stephens, 'The Cornerstone Speech' (Savannah, 1861) 6. William E. Gladstone, The South Has Made a Nation (Newcastle, 1862) 7. Abraham Lincoln, ‘The Gettysburg Address’ (Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, 1863)8. Frederick Douglass, ‘The Mission of the War’ (New York, 1864) Part C: Pacifisms and Nonviolence 9. Hannah Mather Crocker, ‘Fast Sermon Against the War’ (Boston, 1812) 10. Henry David Thoreau, ‘Resistance to Civil Government’ (Concord, Massachusetts, 1848)11. John Bright, ‘Angel of Death’ (London, 1855) 12. Emma Goldman, ‘Patriotism, A Menace to Liberty’ (San Francisco, 1908) Further ReadingIndex

About the Author :
Tom Wright is Lecturer in English Literature at the School of English, University of Sussex. He is the author of Lecturing the Atlantic: Speech, Print and an Anglo-American Commons (Oxford, 2017) and editor of The Cosmopolitan Lyceum: Lecture Culture and the Globe in Nineteenth Century America (UMass, 2013) and has published widely about nineteenth century cultural history and literature.

Review :
Speech is the most important medium of democracy. Yet too many speeches, and too many speakers, go unremarked and unstudied. In this vital book Tom Wright corrects the omission for the oratory between American Independence and World War One…and unearths some of the lost men and women who, at least as much as the famous figures, are truly representative of the age.