How is a nation brought into being? In a detailed examination of texts of 18th-century American literature, Christopher Looby argues that the United States was self-consciously enacted through the spoken word. Historical material informs and animates theoretical texts by Derrida, Lacan and others as Looby unravels the texts of Benjamin Franklin, Charles Brockden Brown and Hugh Henry Brackenridge and connects them to nation-building, political discourse and self-creation. Correcting the strong emphasis on the importance of print culture in 18th-century America, this study uncovers the complex process of early American writers articulating their new nation and reveals a body of literature and a political discourse thoroughly concerned with the power of vocal language.