Rhetorical Analysis Of Susan B. Anthony's Speech

During the years 1825-1850, in the United States, was the age of reform. A time where nationalism and pride grew in the hearts of the American people, that they struggled to bring back the true meaning upon which their country was built. Social, intellectual and religious reform movements in the United States during the years 1825-1850, caused the expansion of democratic ideals through the reformers and reform movements; such as the Women’s Rights Movement, Temperance Movement, Abolitionist Movement, Asylum Reform, Jail Reform, Transcendentalism and the Second Great Awakening, by introducing the idea in the increase of women’s rights, encouraging an abstinence from alcohol, abolishing slavery, improving the treatment of the mentally unstable,

During Progressive Era, there were many reforms that occurred, such as Child Labor Reform or Pure Food and Drug Act. Women Suffrage Movement was the last remarkable reform, and it was fighting about the right of women to vote, which was basically about women’s right movement. Many great leaders – Elizabeth Cad Stanton and Susan B. Anthony - formed the National American Women Suffrage Association (NAWSA). Although those influential leaders faced hardship during this movement, they never gave up and kept trying their best. This movement was occurred in New York that has a huge impact on the whole United States.

Emmeline Pankhurst was a British political activist and a leader of the British suffrage movement; a movement that helped women win the right to vote. Since 1848 women wanted to recognize their own rights and started the Women 's Rights Movement. The movement was protesting against the fact that women were not afforded the same rights as men. Since women were excluded from the political government, they pressured the government to grant them political rights. As part of the movement, in 1913, Pankhurst carried her appeal to the United States, where she delivered her famous speech Why Are We Militant. Therein, she expressed her ideas about women 's suffrage. She gave a talk to encourage American men and women to give political rights to women. In her speech, she states that both men and women are created equal and hence due to this equality women should have political rights too. Throughout her speech she emphasizes the discrimination against women, using the right to vote, the roles in marriage, and unequal wages as her evidence.

“The Fundamental Principle of a Republic” is a speech about women’s suffrage spoken by Anna Howard Shaw. This specific speech was given at the New York State equal suffrage campaign at the City Opera House in Ogdensburg, New York on June 21, 1915. Anna Howard Shaw was a well-known suffrage orator and social reformer. In addition to talking about women’s suffrage, this speech mentions how we, as a country, say we are a Republic but we really aren’t. The speech explains how we aren’t, by mentioning how not everyone has a say in things. It mostly deals with voting rights and women’s rights.

Florence Kelly delivered a speech before the convention of the National American Woman Suffrage Association in Philadelphia on July 22, 1905. She used rhetorical analysis such as pathos, anaphora, and logos to enlist working men to vote for the reform of child labor laws.

Today, millions of women can implement their rights to vote in all elections in the united states of America, but this (rights) did not come easily to those women who sacrifice their lives to make this happen. In the speech “Address to Congress on Women’s Suffrage”, Catt delivered her message for women’s right from a firsthand account of what she had experienced as a woman living in the United States of America in the 19th century. She advocated for the rights of women to vote because she believes in equal rights and justice for all citizens. The speech was very successful because of the use of ethos, pathos, and logos.

Men should have absolute rule over society. This was the mindset back when women's rights activists were considered rare and unorthodox. In A Declaration of Sentiments and Resolutions, Elizabeth Cady Stanton rejects the status quo and finds solutions to the overbearing problems she sees within society. A concept that has greatly been dreamt over throughout history has been challenged, by a woman. Elizabeth Cady Stanton exerts repetition, allusion, and pathos to express her opinions in favor of increasing women's rights.

Hillary Rodham Clinton delivered her speech “Women’s Rights are Human Rights” September 5, 1995 while speaking at the United Nations Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing, China with the intent to educate and spread awareness in regards to the rights and treatment of women around the world, while encouraging women to take initiative and highlight the potential women have if presented with the opportunity of equality.

Women's right activist, Carrie Catt, in her speech, “Address to Congress on Women’s Suffrage”, explains how woman suffrage in inevitable. Catt’s purpose is to convince Congress that it is time for woman suffrage. She adopts a confident tone , uses direct quotations, and appeals to logos in order to convince Congress that it is time for woman suffrage.

Many speeches were given to help them gain their right. Susan B. Anthony gave speeches so that it would help them gain the support they needed for their journey. She did this to prove to women that they were not going to be taken seriously unless they prove that they can, which was getting that right for them. In 1872 Susan started doing things by herself. She went to vote illegally for the presidential election

Susan B. Anthony, a woman who was arrested for illegally voting in the president election of 1872, in her “On Women's Right to Vote” speech, argues that women deserve to be treated as citizens of America and be able to vote and have all the rights that white males in America have. She begins by introducing her purpose, then provides evidence of how women are citizens of America, not just males by using the preamble of the Constitution, then goes on about the how this problem has became a big problem and occurs in every home in the nation, and finally states that women deserve rights because the discrimination against them is not valid because the laws and constitutions give rights to every CITIZEN in America. Anthony purpose is to make the woman of America realize that the treatment and limitations that hold them back are not correct because they are citizens and they deserve to be treated like one. She adopts a expressive and confident tone to encourage and light the hearts of American woman. To make her speech effective, she incorporates ethos in her speech to support her claims and reasons.

In the beginning Susan B Anthony Dares to Vote, the story shows that she was brave, even though it was against the law, she still went and voted because she is a citizen of America and she thought she should have the right to vote. For example, “On November 1872, she and 15 other women in Rochester, New York, had demanded to be registered and had voted in the national election. Soon after, all 16 women were arrested”.

Susan B Anthony applies an allusion, pathos, and sentence structure to remind the audience that the federal constitution says “we the people” have these rights. At the time women weren’t given the same rights as men. When she talks about this Susan says, “It was we, the people; not we, the white male citizens; but we, the whole people, who formed the union.” (Anthony,1) When Susan B Anthony alludes to the constitution it adds that feeling of ‘oh I should be doing this’ because, the constitution was our nation’s foundation. You instantly have part of you wanting to fight for the same cause as Susan B Anthony. In her speech she continues to say, “And it is a downright mockery to talk to women of their enjoyment of the blessings of liberty while they are denied the use of the only means of securing them provided by this democratic-republic government -- the ballot.” (Anthony,1)

The right for suffrage was not only for women, but it was also for African Americans. Susan B. Anthony believed that suffrage can become universal; thus, that there was a chance to push lawmakers for this goal. Stanton, Susan B. Anthony, and a few woman suffrage advocates wanted to push for African Americans’ right to vote and the issue of the 15th amendment. However, lawmakers refused to support this amendment, which led to the formation of the National Woman Suffrage Association in 1869

“These two amendments allowed men to vote, but still permitted states to deny the vote to women” (Kirk, G. & Okazawa-Rey, M. 2013). Once they submitted their votes, they immediately had a warrant out for them because women were not able to vote during this time. After they were caught, they were taken to trial, which lasted for a long year (McDavitt 1944). However, the question for women suffrage bubbled up to the service, which proved to legislation that they needed equal rights for women (McDavitt 1944). According to the textbook, Elizabeth Stanton and Susan B. Anthony formed the Woman Suffrage Association and started working towards getting the women the right to vote (Kirk, G. & Okazawa-Rey, M. 2013). Finally in 1920, the nineteenth amendment was presented and allowed the women in the United States the right to vote (Kirk, G. & Okazawa-Rey, M. (2013). When thinking about how the women felt about not be able to speak up with voting situations is horrible. We are truly blessed that there were women who spoke their mind and changed the women’s lives for the