The political style of conspiracy
Subtitle: Chase, Sumner, and Lincoln
By: Michael William Pfau.
Series: Rhetoric and public affairs series
Publisher: Michigan State University Press
Published: 2005
Place of publication: East Lansing
Language: eng
Number of pages: 248
Subjects: Chase, Salmon P. 1808-1873 -- Language.; Sumner, Charles, 1811-1874 -- Language.; Lincoln, Abraham, 1809-1865 -- Language.; Slavery -- Political aspects -- United States -- History -- 19th century.; Conspiracies -- United States -- History -- 19th century.; Rhetoric -- Political aspects -- United States -- History -- 19th century.; English language -- Discourse analysis.; Political culture -- United States -- History -- 19th century.; United States -- Politics and government -- 1815-1861.
Description: "This book analyzes the concept and reality of the "slave power" in the rhetorical discourse of the mid-nineteenth-century, in particular the speeches and writing of politicians Salmon P. Chase, Charles Sumner, and Abraham Lincoln. By examining their mainstream texts, Pfau reveals that, in addition to the "paranoid style" of conspiracy rhetoric that inhabits the margins of political life, Lincoln, Chase, and Sumner also engaged in a distinctive form of conspiracy rhetoric that is often found at the center of mainstream American society and politics."--Jacket.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.
Table of contents: title: Problems of interpretation : approaching conspiracy in text and discourse; title: The slave power according to Salmon P. Chase : entering the mainstream of partisan rhetoric, 1845-1854; title: Charles Sumner's crime against Kansas : conspiracy rhetoric in the oratorical mold; title: Lincoln, conspiracy rhetoric, and the house divided : assessing the judgment of history; title: Lessons of the slave power conspiracy : conspiracy rhetoric at the center and fringe.