A Nation of Speechifiers : Making an American Public After the Revolution

In the decades after the American Revolution, inhabitants of the United States began to shape a new national identity. Telling the story of this messy yet formative process, Carolyn Eastman argues that ordinary men and women gave meaning to American nationhood and national belonging by first learning to imagine themselves as members of a shared public. She reveals that the creation of this American public—which only gradually developed nationalistic qualities—took place as men and women engaged with oratory and print media not only as readers and listeners but also as writers and speakers. Eastman paints vibrant portraits of the arenas where this engagement played out, from the schools that instructed children in elocution to the debating societies, newspapers, and presses through which different groups jostled to define themselves—sometimes against each other. Demonstrating the previously unrecognized extent to which nonelites participated in the formation of our ideas about politics, manners, and gender and race relations, __A Nation of Speechifiers__ provides an unparalleled genealogy of early American identity.

In the decades after the American Revolution, inhabitants of the United States began to shape a new national identity. Telling the story of this messy yet formative process, Carolyn Eastman argues that ordinary men and women gave meaning to American nationhood and national belonging by first learning to imagine themselves as members of a shared public.

She reveals that the creation of this American public—which only gradually developed nationalistic qualities—took place as men and women engaged with oratory and print media not only as readers and listeners but also as writers and speakers. Eastman paints vibrant portraits of the arenas where this engagement played out, from the schools that instructed children in elocution to the debating societies, newspapers, and presses through which different groups jostled to define themselves—sometimes against each other. Demonstrating the previously unrecognized extent to which nonelites participated in the formation of our ideas about politics, manners, and gender and race relations, A Nation of Speechifiers provides an unparalleled genealogy of early American identity.

Contents......Page 8 Acknowledgments......Page 10 Introduction: Messy Beginnings......Page 14 Part I. Making an American Public: Overviews......Page 28 1. Demosthenes in America......Page 30 2. Vindicating Female Eloquence......Page 66 3. Mourning for Logan......Page 96 Part II. Contesting Public Participation: Debating “the Public”......Page 126 4. “A Club Is a Nation in Miniature”......Page 128 5. Saint Franklin......Page 158 6. “Who’s Afraid” of Frances Wright?......Page 192 Conclusion: The Ongoing Process of Making an American Public......Page 224 Abbreviations......Page 232 Notes......Page 234 Index......Page 296 Messy beginnings Demosthenes in America From sensibility to nationalism in elocutionary education Vindicating female eloquence Girls' oratory and the rise and fall of a female counterpublic Mourning for Logan "Indian eloquence" and the making of an American public "A club is a nation in miniature" Young men on the make and their debating societies Saint Franklin Journeymen printers and the medium of democratic virtue "Who's afraid" of Frances Wright? Media debates about the public and its spokesmen in 1829 The ongoing process of making an American public. Contents 8 Acknowledgments 10 Introduction: Messy Beginnings 14 Part I. Making an American Public: Overviews 28 1. Demosthenes in America 30 2. Vindicating Female Eloquence 66 3. Mourning for Logan 96 Part II. Contesting Public Participation: Debating “the Public” 126 4. “A Club Is a Nation in Miniature” 128 5. Saint Franklin 158 6. “Who’s Afraid” of Frances Wright? 192 Conclusion: The Ongoing Process of Making an American Public 224 Abbreviations 232 Notes 234 Index 296 0226180190,9780226180199 University Of Chicago Press After the American Revolution, inhabitants of the United States began to shape a new national identity. Telling the story of this messy yet formative process, this title argues that ordinary men and women gave meaning to American nationhood and national belonging by first learning to imagine themselves as members of a shared public.