Florence Kelley's Speech On Child Labor

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Florence Kelley, a United States social worker and reformer, delivered a speech (July 22, 1905) to the National American Woman Suffrage Association in Philadelphia regarding child labor and the voting rights of workingmen. She argued that Americans should vote to change child labor laws, as well as suggesting Americans should in fact, enlist workingmen voters to have a functionable society. By addressing the laws and problematic situations occurring inside of labor factories, Kelley accentuates how unethical children are being treated . She is speaking to the people of Philadelphia that are listening to her at the convention, since her speech has a possibility to make a difference. Kelley is successful in developing her argument for people
Kelley uses an anaphora to illustrate the harsh working conditions the laborers deal with. “The children make our shoes…robbed them” (lines 66-77). By description of children having to experience dreadful working all night, and how her audience is allowed to sleep, she creates a feeling of guilt for the children that are forced to work. The anaphora narrates the struggle that the children were experiencing. Right after she uses the anaphora , Kelley explains that the burden of factory work has robbed the children of their school life, using sympathy and guilt to establish that children are suffering in order to persuade Americans to vote for the purpose of modifying laws. Lines 18-22, Kelley emphasizes this, “Tonight while we sleep, several thousand little girls will be working in textile mills, all through the night…..ribbons for us to buy.” she also hints that the lack of sleep young worker receive has a high possibility of causing developmental problems that will affect them for the remainder of their lives. Kelley asks if mothers and teachers voting would make a difference (lines 55-59), she asks this because she implies that their votes can make the intense child labor come to a permanent halt. Her speech serves its purpose and is effective because of her examples she uses and the pathos she establishes by making her audience feel guilty.Kelley applies logos into her

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