Rhetoric of the Revolution
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Barriers separated the communities from others
- Communities were isolated and localized. Life was organized locally
with tenuous ties even to the colony (what are today states).
- The colonial relationship forced commerce through London. London
discouraged trade between colonies. They demanded that each colony trade with
London instead. Thus, a Virginian seeking New England whale oil would buy
it from London merchants who bought it from a New England whaler.
- Identities of colonists was British. They saw themselves as subjects
of the English King. Because the consciouness of social station was so vertical,
they could not envision themselves without a King.
- Their rhetoric of world politics was dominated by their attachment to
Britain.
- Their enemies were Britain's enemies. The world powers that threatened
them were Spain (who had raided their coast) and France (who had unleashed
the Natives on them).
- Their trade was dependent. Everything they had that came from beyond
their communities came from the British merchants who extended them credit.
Americans were heavily in debt to British merchants because they bought
on credit, perhaps even more than we do.
- They took pride in being British rather than any other nationality.
They viewed the British government as the best form of government in the
world. They relished in being a remote outpost of the worlds' most powerful
nation.
But forces were expanding the ring of public awareness through the colonies
- The Great Awakening. This religious movement spread from
New England to Georgia. Itinerant ministers played a large role in its dissemination.
Their journeys provided news of the other colonies.
- Increasing commerce. Prior to the 1750s most trade in the
colonies was through England. As roads improved (particularly the Great Wagon
Road), trade among the colonies picked up. Sea coast shipping also became
important.
- A reality to government beyond the neighborhood. The French
and Indian War required a pattern of government beyond the immediate neighborhood.
As colonial governments organized for the war, and even cooperated with each
other, issues of public life beyond the day-to-day were raised as never before.
These forces present new conditions and new challenges. They define new dimensions
for public life. The rhetoric of the colonies had to develop ways of knitting
the colonies closer in joint opposition to the French. The Great Awakening and
the increased trade provided pathways along which that new "colonial" language
could spread.
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Getting Your Language Ready for War
Regardless of the conflict, those who would wage war must get their language ready
for war. There are several rhetorical tasks required:
Some rhetorical tasks were necessary before the war could start . . .
- Promoting Unity. In the American colonies there were many
rhetorics to motivate public action. Those multiple rhetorics were a source
of disunity. Before war could start, there needed to be a merger of these
rhetorics into a language through which the colonists viewed themselves as
one people, one culture. In this case, they also needed to see themselves
as "Americans" distinct from being "British." The colonists had seem themselves
as "British" for over 150 years. So the basis of their unity needed changing.
- Motivating Sacrifice. Before wars are fought a rhetoric
needs to develop through which people are willing to give even their lives
for the common war objective. Of course, without unity these would have been
in terms of the particular motivation of the particular culture within which
the action occurred, and fighting for the other colonies would have been less
than fully motivated. Thus, the rhetoric to motivate sacrifice required unity
also.
Other rhetorical tasks were necessary to fight an ongoing war . . .
- To divide the enemies from allies. A vocabulary typically
develops that allows allegiances to take form that permits opposition. This
vocabulary is often pejorative and dehumanizing. The colonists divided themselves
among the "Patriots" and the "Tories." They also transformed themselves from
"British" to "Americans." They also developed a way of talking about their
own motives and those of the British that allowed the division to be an obvious
and severe one.
- To transform both defeats and victories into support. Both
wins and losses are inevitable in war. A good war rhetoric must transform
the danger that defeat will dishearten into defeat resteeling the spirit.
Similarly, a good war rhetoric must transform the danger that victory will
encourage complacency into victory as energizing.
- To conduct the day-to-day war. War is a complex of drill,
and orders, and supplies, and financing, and all the other things that constitute
human institutions. A day to day vocabulary must evolve to allow these activities
to proceed.
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American rhetoric to fight the revolution
- Establish intercommunity networks. Through the Committees of Correspondence
(a network of people writing to each other to report on events in their colony
and to share commitments to the cause), an active press that published pamphlets
and pro-revolutionary newspapers, and the begining of intercolonial Congresses
(meetings in Albany and then Philadelphia including representatives of all
the colonies), colonists began to communicate with those in other colonies.
These sources were carried from colony to colony through the increasing number
of itenerants.
- Develop a weave of characteristics from different communities. As
they communicated with each other, the characteristics of their rhetoric began
to cross-pollinate. Common ways of talking pulled from their separate communities'
rhetorics. For example, religious proof and the notion of American exceptionalism
-- the errand -- came from New England; enlightenment themes such as common
sense from Virginia. The key was weaving these together into a single coherent
rhetoric.
- Narratives of British action. One of the important themes of the
Committees of CorrespondenceAs the government of Great Britain took actions
to regain control -- new taxes, closing the port of Boston, sending troops
to maintain order -- the colonists began to describe these actions in a narrative
that changed their values. Colonists were made victims, the British government
became an enemy, and the question of the King's loyalty to his American subjects
became a topic of conversation. These narratives eroded the identity of colonists
as British.
- Ideographs to unite.
<Liberty> and <Americans> became important ideographs that expressed
the commitments of patriots and united the colonists in their fight.
- Day to day language of revolution. As the revolution proceeded, the
colonists developed a rhetoric of governing themselves that empowered their
own communities. They accompanied this with a rhetoric that talked about the
sacrifices of the revolution as for the benefit of future generations who
would govern themselves with liberty.
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Questions to ask yourself about Revolutionary Rhetoric
- How did Americans meld their various rhetorical communities into support
for the war? Specifically, in what ways did Puritan New England and Republican
Virginia come to speak one language?
- How did Americans unite? What ideograph became the center of that unity?
Why did it work so well?
- How did Americans motivate sacrifice? Did that sacrifice work for all Americans
or only for their fellow culturists?
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