Analyzes selected speeches by feminists active in the early Afro-American protest, revealing differences in their rhetoric and that of White feminists of the period. Argues that a simultaneous analysis and synthesis is necessary to understand these differences. Illustrates speeches by Sojourner Truth, Ida B. Wells, and Mary Church Terrell. (JD)

Analyzes two of the earliest known speeches by United States women, Priscilla Mason's 1793 salutatory oration and Deborah Sampson Gannett's 1802 lecture tour. Suggests that the conflict between justifying their violation of taboos and speaking in ways appropriate to the occasion (and to their sex) limited their ability to produce coherent works of…