Rhetorical Analysis Of Susan B. Anthony

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According to listdose.co, New York has been the site for many significant historical and political events such as the New York Stock Exchange Crash in 1929, a multitude of race riots in the mid twentieth century, and even famous court cases arguing for equal rights. One of the best known court cases debating women’s freedom of voting was in Rochester, New York. On November 1872, Susan B. Anthony, along with a group of women, demanded that they should be allowed to vote. Anthony was later put on trial. In Anthony’s “Speech after Being Convicted of Voting in the 1872 Presidential Election”, she discusses women's suffrage and converses over the fact that she had a right to vote and did not violate the 14th Amendment of the Constitution. Anthony’s
Expressions of fierce diction that Anthony manipulates throughout the text are “whole people”, “union”, and “posterity” (Anthony). She exercises concise and strong diction, which supports her ethos, unites her audience, and shows that she is educated just as well as any man. If she is well educated just like the men in her time, then why do women not have the right to vote and not have equality? Women work just as hard as men and can do anything that men are able to do, but they do not have the right to vote. They are also paid less and not treated as equals. With her assertive tone, she stands up to the men listening and exhibits her claim just as well as any male would’ve done. A woman must talk to a man with confidence and power because using a timid, meek tone will create no effect. She puts down the idea that men are superior to
The people started to open their ears and their hearts. Her overall purpose is to show that there is a gap between men and women that cannot be overlooked and sidestepped for any longer. Women don't only deserve the right to vote, but they deserve the same rights as men. Applying logos, a juxtaposition, and a strong use of diction to her speech, she connects to her audience and reveals to them the reasons why what she is saying is crucial to the country. According to history.com, the 19th Amendment was ratified on August 18, 1920. The 19th Amendment granted women the right to vote, also known as women’s suffrage. Almost fifty years after the speech concerning voting at the 1872 Presidential Election, the 19th Amendment came into effect. Today, there is still not an equality between men and women, but the matter has improved because of people like Susan B.

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