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In all cases we have filmed the best available copy. UniversiV Microfilms International 300 N. ZEEB RD , ANN ARBOR, Ml 4810G 8121778 C oR .\L\N \’, Cl a y t o n D o u g l a s OHIO’S ABOLITIONIST CAMPAIGN: A STUDY IN THE RHETORIC OF CONVERSION The Ohio State University Ph.D. 1981 University Microfilms ! n to r n 8.t0 i n â I 300 N . ZeebRoad. Arm Arbor, MI. 48106 Copyright 1981 by Gormany, Clayton Douglas All Rights Reserved OHIO'S ABOLITIONIST CAMPAIGN; A STUDY IN THE RHETORIC OF CONVERSION DISSERTATION Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University By Clayton Douglas Cormany, B.A., M.A. ****** The Ohio State University 19 81 Reading Committee: Approved By Dr. Goodwin F. Berquist Dr. James L. Golden Dr. Donald Cegala Adviser Department of Communication ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I am deeply indebted to many fine people inside and outside the academic community for assisting me with this dissertation. Dr. Goodwin Berquist, my adviser, has been an able and patient counselor. The members of my reading committee— Dr. Donald Cegala and Dr. James Golden— have both contributed to my growth as a scholar. A special word of thanks is due to Dr. John T. Bonner, my former adviser, for his continued interest in my academic pursuits. Last but not least, I wish to thank my mother, father, wife, and daughter for their love and devotion. Clayton D. Cormany May, 1981 11 VITA June 21, 1949 Born - Columbus, Ohio 19,71 . B.A., Major - Politics and Government, Ohio Wesleyan University 1973 . M.A., Speech Communication, The Ohio State University 1973-1975 . U.S. Army 1979 , . Instructor, Department of Interpersonal Communication, Ohio University 1979-1981 . Writer and Publications Consultant for the Ohio Department of Education PUBLICATIONS "Prelude to the Presidency: Hayes' Gubernatorial Campaign of 1875." Ohio Speech Journal, Vol. XVIII, pp. 76-83, 1980. FIELDS OF STUDY Rhetorical Theory and Criticism. Dr. James L. Golden, Dr. Goodwin F. Berquist, Dr. William Brown, and Dr. John Makay Mass Communication. Dr. Joseph Foley and Dr. Thomas McCain Communication Theory. Dr. Leonard Hawes, Dr. Donald Cegala, and Dr. Ellen Wartella American History. Dr. M. Roe Smith 111 TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ...................................... ii VITA .................................................... iii Chapter I. PLAN AND PURPOSE .............................. 1 II., ABOLITIONISM IN O H I O .......................... 20 III. THE PHILOSOPHICAL FOUNDATIONS OF ABOLITIONISM IN OHIO 4 3 IV. THE EVIL OF S L A V E R Y .......................... 6 4 V. THE DANGER OF SLAVERY ...........................Ill VI. ABOLITIONISM AS A CURE TO THE SLAVERY ISSUE ........................................... 125 VII. THE RHETORIC OF CONVERSION: A FRAMEWORK FOR UNDERSTANDING ............................ 14 4 VIII. THE RHETORIC OF CONVERSION: A RECONSIDERATION .............................. 16 3 BIBLIOGRAPHY ......................................... 179 IV CHAPTER I PLAN AND PURPOSE Not many social movements in American history can challenge the abolitionist crusade in terms of entertain ment, excitement, and violence. As Ernest Bormann notes, "few reforms have been supported by so many inspired, dedicated, involved, and admirable people and few by as many crackpots, radicals, neurotics, and fanatics."^ The 2 antislavery movement was at its peak between 1830 and 1850. During this period, agents for the American Antislavery Society traveled across the nation preaching on the immoral ity of human bondage to anyone who would listen. Other activists formed political parties in order to elect anti slavery men to positions of power. At the same time, abolitionist pamphleteers sent thousands of tracts to each part of the country while clergymen, legislators, and journalists took every opportunity to express themselves on this controversial issue. Not surprisingly, scholars of rhetoric have found the abolitionist movement to be fertile ground for research. Since 1925, graduate students have written at least thirty- four theses and dissertations which deal with rhetoric in the antislavery crusade. Many of these works focus on the 1 2 oratory of individual abolitionist leaders. The speaking of Wendell Phillips, for example, is the subject of no less than seven theses and dissertations written between 1925 and 1940. Each study examines a different aspect of Phillips' rhetoric. Joseph Snyder (M.A. thesis. North western University,19 30), for example, focuses on his use of epithets while Mildred Pomeroy (M.A. thesis, Northwestern University, 1925) examines the imagery he employed. Still another study by R. H. Barnard (M.A. thesis. University of Wisconsin, 1929) deals with Phillips' ability to control hostile audiences. At least two post graduate works in rhetoric and public address have been completed respectively on Thaddeus Stevens, Joshua Giddings, and Frederick Douglass. Other "speaker-centered" theses and dissertations have scrutinized the speaking of George Julian, Angelina Grimkè, Henry Ward Beecher, William Llc_: Garrison, and Theodore Weld. Considering Garrison's impact on the abolitionist movement and the high profile he maintained, it is surpris ing that up to 1974, only one post graduate composition specifically addressed itself to his rhetoric ("A Study of the Emotional Proof of William Lloyd Garrison," Joyce Carper, M.A. thesis, Florida State University, 1961). It is less surprising, however, that Theodore Weld— an equally prominent figure— has been generally overlooked. Weld was a self-effacing individual who did not publicize 3 his involvement in abolitionist undertakings. According to Bormann, he would not even sign his name to some of the 3 tracts which he wrote. A major graduate work on Weld by Paul A. Carmack, University of Syracuse, did come out in 1948. Entitled "Theodore Dwight Weld, Reformer," the dissertation covered Weld's speaking career from his days as an agent for manual labor in colleges to his morale-building campaign during the Civil War. Carmack gives close attention to the Lane Debates and Weld's subsequent crusade through Ohio on behalf of abolition. He concludes that Weld's evangelistic style of oratory and his strategy of branding slavery as a sin had a profound impact on antislavery activities throughout the nation.^ A second work on Weld, Bruce A. Phillips, M.A. thesis, Ohio State University, 1976, "Freedom's Trumpet Blast is Heard Again: Theodore Weld's Return to the Platform in 1862," dealt exclusively with Weld's oratory on behalf of the North during the Civil War. While some graduate students have studied the rhetoric of individual antislavery speakers, others have turned their attention to abolitionist rhetoric that occurred in debates between pro and antislavery advocates. Included among these works are "The Compromise of 1850: A Burkeian Analysis," Jack David Arnold, Ph.D. dissertation. University of Illinois, 1959; "The Debate in Congress on the Kansas- Nebraska Bill: A Study in Persuasion," Donald 0. Olson, 4 Ph.D. dissertation, University of Wisconsin, 1959; "The Arguments over Abolition Petitions in the House of Repre sentatives in December, 1835; A Toulmin Analysis," Robert Gordon Smith, Ph.D. dissertation. University of Minnesota, 1962; "An Analysis of Argumentation in the Virginia Slavery Debate of 18 32," Lee Rivers Polk, Ph.D. dissertation, Purdue University, 196 7. Other relevant graduate compositions include Prescilla K. Jameson's M.A. thesis. University of Michigan, 1953, "The Anti-Slave Trade and Anti-Slavery Movements: An Analysis of