Eloquence Is Power: Oratory and Performance in Early America (Published by the Omohundro Institute of Early American History and Culture and the University of North Carolina Press)

Oratory Emerged As The First Major Form Of Verbal Art In Early America Because, As John Quincy Adams Observed In 1805, Eloquence Was P O W E R. In This Book, Sandra Gustafson Examinese The Multiple Traditions Of Sacred, Diplomatic, And Political Speech That Flourished In British America And The Early Republic From Colonization Through 1800. She Demonstrates That, In The American Crucible Of Cultures, Contact And Conflict Among Europeans, Native Americans, And Africans Gave Particular Significance And Complexity To The Uses Of The Spoken Word. Gustafson Develops What She Calls The Performance Semiotic Of Speech And Text As A Tool For Comprehending The Rich Traditions Of Early American Oratory. Embodied In The Delivery Of Speeches, She Argues, Were Complex Projections Of Power And Authenticity That Were Rooted In Or Challenged Text-based Claims Of Authority. Examining Oratorical Performances As Varied As Treaty Negotiations Between Native And British Americans, The Eloquence Of Evangelical Women During The Great Awakening, And The Founding Fathers' Debates Over The Constitution, Gustafson Explores How Orators Employed The Shifting Symbolism Of Speech And Text To Imbue Their Voices With Power. -- From Back Cover. Prologue: Language And Power In Seventeenth-century British America. I. Textual Possession And Oral Resistance. Ii. Renaissance Theories Of Language And The Place Of The Pulpit. Iii. Bodies Of Language And The Gendered Social Body. Iv. Native Speech And The Discipline Of Text -- Ch. 1. Gender In Performance. I. Evangelical Performance Of Speech And Text. Ii. Women's Speech And Women's Silence In Jonathan Edwards's First Northampton Revival. Iii. The Feminine In Performance -- Ch. 2. The Savage Speaker Transformed. I. Cultural Hybridism In Evangelical Oratory. Ii. Competing Words. Iii. Samson Occom's Pentecostal Indian Speech. Iv. John Marrant, Savage Speaker -- Ch. 3. Negotiating Power. I. Republicanism And The Eloquent Indian. Sandra M. Gustafson. Based On The Author's Thesis (ph.d--university Of California, Berkley). Includes Bibliographical References And Index. Machine generated contents note: Chapter One: Gender in Performance 40 i. Evangelical Performance of Speech and Text 40 ii. Women's Speech and Women's Silence in Jonathan Edwards's First Northampton Revival 51 iii. The "Feminine" in Performance 61 Chapter Two: The "Savage" Speaker Transformed 75 i. Cultural Hybridism in Evangelical Oratory 75 ii. Competing Words 78 iii. Samson Occom's Pentecostal Indian Speech go iv. John Marrant, "Savage" Speaker lol Chapter Three: Negotiating Power iii i, Republicanism and the Eloquent Indian ill ii, Iroquois and American Publics 119 Chapter Four: The Oratorical Public Culture of Revolutionary America 140 i, Medium and Message in Revolutionary Public Culture 140 ii, Speech, Presence, and Representation 144 iii, The Transformative Speech of Patrick Henry 158 Chapter Five: The Body of the Nation 171 i. "Words of Reproach" and "Written Reason" 171 ii. Authoritative Bodies 184 Chapter Six: Forms of State 200 i. Documents and Debates 200 ii. Performing the Presidency 213 Chapter Seven: Political Speech in the New Republic 233 i. Representative Speech 233 ii. Figures of Difference 246 Conclusion 267 Appendix: Traditions of the Ancients 271 Index 279.

Sandra Gustafson examines the verbal art of speech in sacred, political and diplomatic forms as it was created and practiced in colonial America and the early republic. She demonstrates that, in the distinctly American interaction of cultures, contact and conflict among Europeans, native Americans, and Africans gave particular significance and complexity to the uses of the spoken word.

Journal of American History

Gustafson's contribution is lively, imaginative, and informed.

Like the events of Boston in 1636-1637 and on the colonial frontier in 1675-1676, the events in Salem in 1692 revolved around a complex symbolism of speech and text.