Rhetoric, Religion, and the Roots of Identity in British Colonial America

Volume 1 of the Rhetorical History of the United States series probes formal and ideational aspects of colonial rhetoric to illuminate textual/contextual interactions and their enduring implications for American rhetoric. Topics such as millennialism, religious freedom and toleration, covenant theology, revivalism, and the British heritage of American colonial rhetoric are explored. By examining sermons, forensic speaking, theological treatise, literary traditions, prayers, poems, and other rhetorical artifacts, these essays help to illuminate the sources of American identity as that identity was formed through the theory and practice of rhetoric.