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Part 4 of 4: Crisis and Possibility (2010-Present). Sixty-five percent of Americans say they always or often feel exhausted when thinking about politics. These are not the feelings of a democracy that has figured out how to argue productively. These are the feelings of a people who have forgotten what productive argument looks like.
Part 3 of 4: Urban Debate and the Evidence Revolution (1980s-2010). In 2003, CBS correspondent Lesley Stahl introduced 60 Minutes viewers to the Walbrook High School Warriors, the champion debate team of Baltimore. The segment brought national attention to a movement that had been building for nearly two decades.
Part 2 of 4: Institutionalization and Expansion (1890s-1960). On March 28, 1925, Bruno E. Jacob received the first membership application for an organization that did not yet exist. By the time he retired in 1969, the National Forensic League had grown to over 1,200 chapters.
Part 1 of 4: The Foundations (1787-1890). In 1858, crowds of up to 20,000 people traveled to small Illinois towns to watch Lincoln and Douglas argue for three hours. Debate was mass entertainment, civic ritual, and the primary way citizens engaged with democracy.
