This essay demonstrates that during the same period when new grammar schools, academies, and colleges were introducing the Greek and Roman classics to the western frontier of the United States, to a rising middle class, to girls and women, and to African Americans, states were expanding the voting population to include all free adult white males. While the spread of manhood suffrage led to a more democratic style of politics, the expansion of classical education ensured that American speeches continued to bristle with classical allusions. Political leaders took advantage of every opportunity to showcase their classical learning, even to broader audiences they hoped might respect, if not fully comprehend, their allusions. Classically trained, American politicians lived a double rhetorical life, attempting to assure common voters of their ability to empathize with their concerns while demonstrating their wisdom and virtue to constituents of all classes through their knowledge of the classics.
Countdown: New York's Vanishing Middle Class: AARP New York Baby Boomer and Gen Xer Retirement Preparedness Survey: New York City African Americans