SPCM 201 1st Edition Lecture 19Rhetoric Comes to America: John Quincy Adams and the Rhetorical Tradition Short Paper Compare and contrast  How to people that we’ve learned about think  3-4 pages  Where do they agree, disagree, overlap, inspire  My opinion  Rhetoric finds a good home in early America… Why? Small communities who had to make practical decisions about how to live and govern (like the Greek polis)- DIY decision-making in Town Halls  Freedom of speech guaranteed by distance from a powerful monarch Religious zeal that prompted a missionary cause Borrowed from a British education system that still taught Rhetoric  Rhetoric’s Contribution to a New Nation (sampling) Thomas Paine: Common Sense  Patrick Henry: “Give me Liberty, or give me death!” The Continental congress The Federalist  Colonial Newspapers  Letter Writing and Printing Presses  Rhetoric was then needed to build a nation (not just free it) John Quincy Adams 1767-1848 A.D. 6th President of the United States  Son of 2ndPrez Congressmen, Senator, and Secretary of State Boylston Professor of Rhetoric and Oratory at Harvard University  D The Boylston Chair of Rhetoric and Oratory  Inaugurated June 12, 1806 at Harvard University An endowed lecturing position for a distinguished practitioner of rhetoric Gave yearly lectures to students  Still exists today; but there is no rhetoric class at Harvard Adams on Rhetoric  Begins by citing an earlier lecture where he discusses rhetoric’s value for clergy and lawyers… Why does this make sense? Yet he said there are more uses to rhetoric in America: “There are other [uses of rhetoric], which, if not exclusively applicable to our native country, and our present state of society, are at least more than ordinary magnitude to us.”  However, first he must defend rhetoric form its common objects  Three Common Objections to Rhetoirc Rhetoric is a “pedantic science” that is “never applicable to any valuable purpose inthe business of the world”  Rhetoric is a “frivolous science” that is “childish” and appeals to “festivals” more than sober concerns of real life Rhetoric is a “pernicious science” that “misleads judgment by the imagination”  Overall Defense How can a “frivolous science” and “pernicious science” both be true at the same time?  On Pedantic “All the Rhetorician’s rules, teach nothing but to name his tools.” This is an authorless claim that does not appeal to reason Even so, “what can be more necessary to an artist than to know his tools?”  Besides, real orators know much more than the rules of rhetoric; they have real knowledge (sounds like Cicero and Quintilian) On Frivolous  Rhetoric would have little value if it was only celebratory Claims people who see rhetoric as frivolous only focus on training, not the actual endresult Analogy of training for war  On Pernicious This belief harps upon the “perversion” of rhetoric for “evilends”  Certainly rhetoric can do wrong  But this can be leveled against any art or any man because we are flawed  “Eloquence” can be “a blessing or a curse; the pest of nations or the benefactress of human kind.” Return of the self-defense argument Taken Altogether… “There is nothing, which ought to deter an honest and generous mind from their assiduous cultivation” This claim is specifically targeted at his immediate audience This is particularly true in AMERICA…  “a consideration arising from the peculiar situation and circumstances of our own country”  Adams sees a direct connection between the newly born United States and another rhetorical nation: Ancient Greece, specifically Athens Rhetoric and Freedom “The only birthplace of eloquence therefore must be a free state.” Under a deposit: “eloquence can never arise…for eloquence is the child of liberty andcan descend from no other stock.” By contrast, in a free state: “eloquence will spring to light; will flourish, will rise to highest perfection, of which will rise to human art”  What does this mean for America?  WE can make “several important inferences” as it pertains to “all youthful Americans” Americans face the same circumstances as that of the Ancient Greeks “Here then, eloquence is recommended by the most elevated usefulness, and encouraged by the promise of the most precious rewards.” FREEDOM and SPEECH are