CHAPTER 2


Literature in a Time of Crisis
POLITICS AS LITERATURE IN
COLONIAL PERIOD

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Literature in a Time of Crisis

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 Colonial Period

 The Colonial Period was dominated by Puritan beliefs;
literature of this period is usually historical, religious or
didactic.
 The most common genres were tracts, polemics,
journals, narratives, sermons, and some poetry.
 Imaginative literature was rare; in some colonies it was
banned for being immoral.

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 Definition of terms:

 tract – a short treatise  polemic – a strong
(written work dealing verbal or written attack
with a particular subject) on someone or
in pamphlet form, something
typically on a religious
subject.
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 Definition of terms:

 journal – a daily record
of news and events of a
personal nature; a diary;
a newspaper or
magazine that deals with
a particular subject
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 sermon – a talk on
a religious or moral
subjects
 narrative – a spoken
or written account of
connected events; a
story
Literary Work

Author:
Phillis Wheatly

Literary Work:
To His Excellency,
General Washington
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Literary Work

Author:
Abigail Adams

Literary Work:
Letter to Her Daughter
from the New White House

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Literary Work

Author:
Thomas Paine

Literary Work:
The Crisis No. 1

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Literary Work

Author:
Patrick Henry

Literary Work:
Speech in the
Virginia Convention
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Public speaking has played an important role in America’s story.
Here is a quick look at some of the landmark speeches that often
pop up in the discussion about public rhetoric.

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1. Patrick Henry. “Give Me Liberty Or Give Me Death.” In March
1775, Henry spoke to a Virginia convention considering a
breakaway from British rule. “The war is actually begun. The next
gale that sweeps from the north will bring to our ears the clash of
resounding arms,” said Henry, who spoke without notes. “I know
not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty,
or give me death!”

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2. George Washington’s first inaugural address. In 1789, the First
President addressed the First Congress after his inauguration,
setting the precedent for all inaugural speeches to follow.
Washington enforced the need for the Constitution, concluding
that “Parent of the Human Race … has been pleased to favor the
American people with opportunities for deliberating in perfect
tranquillity, and dispositions for deciding with unparalleled
unanimity on a form of government for the security of their union
and the advancement of their happiness.”

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3. Frederick Douglass. “The Hypocrisy Of American Slavery.” In
1852, Douglass was invited to speak at a public Fourth of July
celebration in Rochester, N.Y. Instead of talking about the
celebration, Douglass addressed the issue that was dividing the
nation. “I will, in the name of humanity, which is outraged, in the
name of liberty, which is fettered, in the name of the Constitution
and the Bible, which are disregarded and trampled upon, dare to
call in question and to denounce, with all the emphasis I can
command, everything that serves to perpetuate slavery,” he said.

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4. Abraham Lincoln. “The Gettysburg Address.” The best known
of Lincoln’s speeches was one of his shortest. Lincoln was asked
to make a few remarks in November 1863 after featured speaker
Edward Everett spoke for about two hours. “Fourscore and seven
years ago our fathers brought forth, upon this continent, a new
nation, conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that
all men are created equal,” Lincoln said in his opening paragraph.
He spoke for two minutes.

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5. William Jennings Bryan. “Cross of Gold Speech.” A lesser-
known contender for the Democratic presidential nomination in
1896, Bryan created a sensation with his speech that condemned
the gold standard and held the promise of debt relief for farmers.
“We shall answer their demands for a gold standard by saying to
them, you shall not press down upon the brow of labor this crown
of thorns. You shall not crucify mankind upon a cross of gold,”
Bryan said with his arms spread in a crucifix-like position.

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6. FDR’s first inaugural address. In 1933, the new President faced a
nation in the grips of a deep economic recession. “First of all, let
me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear
itself -- nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes
needed efforts to convert retreat into advance,” Roosevelt said
as he opened his powerful speech. The inaugural set the agenda
for FDR’s 12 years in office.

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7. Richard Nixon’s Checkers speech. Facing controversy as a vice
presidential candidate, Nixon showed how television could be
used as a powerful communications tool. In a stroke of political
genius, Nixon spoke to the nation about his family finances, and
then said the only gift he wouldn’t return was Checkers, the
family dog.

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8. JFK’s first inaugural address. The well-written 1961 speech is
considered one of the best inaugural speeches ever. Rhetoric
expert Dr. Max Atkinson told the BBC in 2011 what made the
Kennedy speech special. “Tt was the first inaugural address by a
U.S. president to follow the first rule of speech-preparation:
analyze your audience - or, to be more precise at a time when
mass access to television was in its infancy, analyze your
audiences.”

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9. Dr. King’s “I Have A Dream” speech. King’s speech at the
Lincoln Memorial in August 1963, in front of 250,000 people, is
also one of the most-analyzed speeches in modern history. But
King hadn’t included the sequence about the “Dream” in his
prepared remarks. Singer Mahalia Jackson yelled for King to
speak about “the Dream,” and King improvised based on remarks
he had made in earlier speeches.

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10. Ronald Reagan in Berlin. President Reagan appeared at the
750th birthday celebration for Berlin in 1987, speaking about 100
yards away from the Berlin Wall. Reagan first cited President
Kennedy’s famous 1963 speech in Berlin, and then asked,
“General Secretary Gorbachev, if you seek peace, if you seek
prosperity for the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, if you seek
liberalization: Come here to this gate! Mr. Gorbachev, open this
gate! Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!” A Reagan speech
writer later said the State Department didn’t want Reagan to use
the famous line, but Reagan decided to do it anyway.

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