“An Unholy War of Conquest”

Abstract

This chapter examines Turner’s war rhetoric by examining his rhetoric during the Civil War and contrasts it with his rhetoric during the Spanish-American and Cuban wars. Grounded in his prophetic pessimism, Turner’s rhetoric not only shifts, but in his critiques of the government and his outright denunciations of African Americans who support the war, the chapter argues that Turner creates his own anti-war rhetoric that anticipates the contemporary anti-war rhetoric of many African Americans.