The Progressive Era witnessed a rhetorical renaissance that changed how
Americans talked about politics and society. Marking a clean break from
the rhetoric of the Gilded Age, the discourse of progressivism
represented a new common language of political and social analysis that
was reform-oriented, moralistic, and optimistic about the future.
Progressives shared a strong faith in public opinion, and they
revitalized the public sphere through a variety of initiatives to
encourage public discussion and empower the citizenry. Whatever their
differences, Progressives believed that a democratic public, properly
educated and deliberating freely, represented the best hope for America
in the modern age.
Rhetoric and Reform in the Progressive Era presents twelve major
studies of the discourse of progressivism, ranging from fresh
interpretations of Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson, to new studies
of the "working class eloquence" of Eugene Debs, the debate between W.
E. B. Du Bois and Marcus Garvey, and the peace advocacy of Jane Addams.
Other studies in this volume explore the rhetorical origins of the
conservation movement and professional journalism, chart the progress of
the woman suffrage crusade, and show how Progressive social thinkers
planted the seeds of the Ku Klux Klan's resurgence in the 1920s. Taken
together, these essays display the remarkable diversity and vitality of
the Progressive rhetorical renaissance. They show how robust democratic
speech became a distinguishing characteristic of the Progressive Era.
