Revisiting twentieth-century argumentation through debate: The University of Puerto Rico’s 1928 tour of the United States

Abstract

Speech and debate have been central in shaping traditions of argumentation in the United States. While much of debate history has focused on individual nation-states, attention to twentieth century intercollegiate debate tours offers one way for argumentation scholars to consider the transgeographic flows of argument exchange. This essay makes the case for thinking about the history of debate across borders. In order to contribute to this special issue’s focus on argumentation in the Americas, I offer the example of the University of Puerto Rico’s 1928 debate tour of the eastern United States, in which student debaters were able to ‘speak back’ to U.S. imperialism through embodied performances that compelled audiences to consider different perspectives on education, language, citizenship, and sovereignty.

Keywords:

• debates and debating
• Puerto Rico
• United States
• imperialism
• tours and tourism

Acknowledgment

The author gratefully acknowledges the assistance of the special issue editors, staff at the Bates College Edmund S. Muskie Archives and Special Collections Library, Abigail Vázquez Rosario, and Damien Smith Pfister.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Funding

This project was supported by a Brockriede Research Grant from the American Forensic Association.