A Rhetorical Analysis Of Speech By Senator George Washington

On March 4, 1858, Senator James Henry Hammond from South Carolina, delivered a compelling speech. He encompassed a variety of thoughts into his speech to reflect how slavery existed in the South which benefitted countries in Europe. As a matter of fact, he wanted to present the speech to the Senate to show how much work the slaves did to provide the world’s top leading crop, cotton. Senator Hammond explains how the land to grow cotton is enough and no one ought to raise a war about it. The rhetorical strategies he uses within his speech are personification, syntax, and diction to make his statement equitable.

First and foremost, Senator Hammond uses other types of rhetorical strategies, but he uses personification in the first sentence. He says, in lines 1-2 “If we never acquire another foot of territory for the South, look at her.” He says “look at her” stating his thought as if we can really look at her. In other words, he means to say look at the South if they were to never acquire another foot of territory. Senator Hammond uses eloquent words to let the flow of his speech make it effortless for Senate to grasp.

Other places around the world may speculate as if slaves have to work in such congested areas, but that is not true. Senator Hammond says, in lines 10-14,“Through the heart of our country runs the great Mississippi, the father of waters, into whose bosom are poured thirty-six thousand miles of tributary rivers; and beyond we have the desert prairie wastes to protect us in our rear.” A country such as the United States has a tremendous Mississippi River that converges over many other smaller rivers. The placement of his usage of words regulates the transition he wants to make later