Michael William Pfau

Michael William Pfau is Assistant Professor of Communication at the University of Minnesota, Duluth. He has published widely and received numerous awards in the field of Rhetorical Studies.

Political Style of Conspiracy, The
Chase, Sumner, and Lincoln

Michael William Pfau

The turbulent history of the United States has provided a fertile ground for conspiracies, both real and imagined. From the American Revolution to the present day, conspiracy discourse—linguistic and symbolic practices and artifacts revolving around themes, claims, or accusations of conspiracy—has been a staple of political rhetoric. Some conspiracy theories never catch on with the public, while others achieve widespread popularity. Whether successful or not, the means by which particular conspiracy theories spread is a rhetorical process, a process in which persuasive language, symbolism, and arguments act upon individual minds within concrete historical and political settings.

Conspiracy rhetoric was a driving force in the evolution of antebellum political culture, contributing to the rise and fall of the great parties in the nineteenth century. One conspiracy theory in particular—the "slave power" conspiracy—was instrumental in facilitating the growth of the young Republican Party's membership and ideology. The Political Style of Conspiracy 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.

Reviews

"Following in the steps of Richard Hofstadter’s theoretical work on conspiracy discourse, Pfau (communication studies, U. of Minnesota) shifts the analytic lens from the political fringes to the center, identifying and analyzing conspiracy discourse in the speeches of Salmon P. Chase, Charles Sumner, and Abraham Lincoln. The analysis revolves around charges of a 'slave power conspiracy' leveled by abolitionists and Republicans, charging that a cabal of 19th century slaveholders sought to use the national government to expand slavery and thereby aggrandize their political and economic power. Pfau’s approach raises a number of questions of how Hofstadter’s ideas about the 'paranoid style' of conspiracy rhetoric have been applied."

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