John Quincy Adams Ethos Pathos Logos

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Former President John Quincy Adams uses the persuasive tools of Pathos and Logos to solidify his argument and convince the United States Supreme Court to free the slaves of the …. . Adams uses Pathos as his primary tool as he appeals to the humanity of the judges as well as their own feeling of patriotism. Similarly Adams uses Logos as a way to make his argument more accurate and factual. A third persuasive tool, ethos, is used is a slighter note in order to add a feeling of credibility to his argument. Adam appeals to the judge’s sense of humanism and the feeling of post American Revolution patriotism, while backing it up with factual evidence to further make his case. Adams uses evidence and facts to explain to the judges that the …show more content…

More specifically, Adam uses American Pride and love for freedom as his battering ram into the hearts and minds of the judges. First, Adams tries to turn the judges against the prosecution who has been siding with Spain. He displays how Un-American Spain is as they think they can toy around with the mighty and bolstered American justice system. He asks the judges why they would allow this child to use the courts as a doll like she does in her own land. He then uses the American love of freedom to normalize the situation. Much like the Americans before the revolutionary war, Sinke and his people also seek freedom, they want nothing more to live in a land that aren’t pestered and oppressed. If the American declaration of independence truly says that all men are created equal then if these slaves aren’t freed, the declaration should be torn up. Much like the Americans, Sinke and his people look to the spirit of their forefather’s for guidance and winsome. What I believe is Adams most powerful argument comes at this point. As he stands over the bust of his father, The 2nd President of the United States John Adams, he utters the words “who we are is who we were”. This completes a full loop as Adams displays that the only difference between the Africans and American is where they live. The Americans and Africans love freedom and both have a special individual bond

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