This paper examines the Scopes trial's contribution to American intellectual history by studying the historical context of the controversy from a rhetorical perspective. The trial became a rhetorical vehicle which focused on the modernist-fundamentalist religious controversy and polarized these movements. By analyzing the rhetorical…

Robert G. Ingersoll exerted considerable social impact on American culture, employing rhetorical persuasion to champion the free thought movement of the late 1880's. Primarily concerned with advocating the principle of individual freedom of thought and expression in religious life, he enraged his contemporary churchmen who were devoted to group…

This study discusses the preaching of William Ellery Channing and Theordore Parker as it contributed to the theological development of American intellectual life. Employing Cathcart's concept of "dialectical enjoinment," this study suggests that Channing and Parker exerted a restricted emphasis because communication with the larger…