This expanded collection reflects the diversity, significance, and method of speakers throughout American history by illuminating the evolution and accomplishment of rhetorical practice in American society. Rhetorical discourse engages the concerns that define public life, revealing a record of responses to the American experience that enrich the possibilities for future rhetoric. The variety of speakers in this volume emulates a spectrum of achievement and influence throughout American discourse. Each of the discourses presented in this distinguished collection is preceded by an informative and provocative commentary. These commentaries provide biographical information on the speaker, locate the speech in its historical time, and sketch the rhetorical situation to set the speech into its historical context. By highlighting the content of individual discourses, each commentary creates a solid basis for students to enlarge their understanding of history, broaden their perspective on the importance of the rhetorical moment, and improve their own rhetorical skills. The combination of commentary and speech provides an opportunity to explore a more sensitive analysis of a discourse, engaging and connecting the reader to the power and momentum of rhetoric.

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