Debating societies [ Clubs & Societies / Associational culture ]
… mid-eighteenth century, informal discussion groups in taverns had turned into discussion clubs by establishing their own rules and membership dues. Some, in turn, transformed into debating societies in the early 1770s and moved into dedicated … with respectability, as is testified by many elements: the rituals of public speaking arbitrated by a president, many rules on impolite behaviour (including fines for swearing or interrupting speakers), the removal from taverns into … city and by newspapers advertisements. The Robin Hood Society was a well-structured society, with officers, a book of rules, rituals, the publication of questions and summaries of debates. It also had a sense of civic responsibility and …
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