In the “Declaration of Conscience,” Margaret Chase Smith addresses the American public and the United States Senate during a time of political unrest. Communist accusations and a “national feeling of fear” has brought upon this speech. Even with an upcoming election, the Republican Party decides a freshman woman senator would speak to the public, an uncommon practice at the time . In this paper, I will argue that Margaret Chase Smith’s “Declaration of Conscience” proves her credibility as a woman politician. Smith uses a masculine tone, simple diction, and repetition to prove to Americans and the Senate that she is a strong political figure.
Margaret Chase Smith began her political career when a woman in Congress was a rarity. She won her first seat in the US House after the death of her husband in 1940. In 1949, Smith won a seat in the United States Senate and became the first woman to be in both houses of the Congress . At this time, the Senate floor did not have a woman’s restroom . However, Smith refused to believe that her gender made a difference in her career in politics .
Prior to Senator Smith’s speech, Senator Joe McCarthy had forced himself into the public eye after accusing multiple people in the State Department as communists in a speech in Wheeling, West Virginia . Even though she had concerns about communists, Smith became weary of McCarthy’s accusations after he ignored her requests for evidence that proved these people were communists. Initially, Smith hesitated to speak, as she was just a freshman Senator at the time. Senator Smith explained the tradition of the Senate, as “freshman Senators were to be seen and not heard.” However, she became increasingly frustrated with the Wisconsin Senator, a...
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United States Senate. “A Declaration of Conscience”. Accessed February 15, 2011. http://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/minute/A_Declaration_of_Conscience.htm
United States Senate. “A Declaration of Conscience.”
Kim E Nielsen. "Book Review of Belle Moskowitz: Feminine Politics and the Exercise of Power in the Age of Alfred E. Smith, and: No Place for a Woman: A Life of Senator Margaret Chase Smith, and: Barbara Jordan: American Hero." Feminist Formations, Fall 2001, 205.
Nielsen, “No Place for a Woman,” 204.
United States Senate, “A Declaration of Conscience.”
Ibid.
Smith, “Declaration of Conscience.”
Ibid.
United States Senate, “A Declaration of Conscience.”
Smith, “Declaration of Conscience.”
Ibid.
Ibid.
“Plain Talk in the Senate,” New York Times, June 3, 1950, 14.
Nielsen, “No Place for a Woman,” 204.
On January 7th 1950, an acquaintance said that the communist-in-government issue would attract national publicity and enhance his chances of reelection. His first speech against the issue was on February 9th in Wheeling, West Virginia and McCarthy revealed a sheet of paper with a list of 205 names, who he said, were members of the Communist party. “He could not remember what figure he had quoted at Wheeling, whether it was 205 or 209 or 57 or whatever…” Oakley adds, which shows that McCarthy’s list wasn’t authentic and credible. In an attempt to restore confidence in the Truman administration, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee established a subcommittee headed by Democratic Senator Millard E. Tydings of Maryland to investigate McCarthy’s charges.
To begin with, there are many events in United States history that have shaped our general understanding of women’s involvement in economics, politics, the debates of gender and sexuality, and so forth. Women for many centuries have not been seen as a significant part of history, however under thorough analyzation of certain events, there are many women and woman-based events responsible for the progressiveness we experience in our daily lives as men, women, children, and individuals altogether. Many of these events aid people today to reflect on the treatment of current individuals today and to raise awareness to significant issues that were not resolved or acknowledged in the past.
I am choosing to write my essay focusing on Nancy Pelosi, arguably one of the most influential politicians of her time, and certainly one of the outstanding ladies of the political world. Not only was she the first woman to serve as Speaker of the House, she also was inducted into the National Women’s Hall of Fame at Seneca Falls. She ranks with the most consequential speakers, certainly in the last 75 years.”(Burstyn) Nancy Pelosi was born on March 26th in 1940 and she has represented San Francisco for approximately 29 years. This however is not by far her most notable achievement, speaker of the house aside, under her guidance the 111th US Congress was said to be the most productive in the history of its conception. This means that she was able to oversee the 111th Congress in a manner that minimized the terrible three, collective action problems, commitment problems, and coordination problems. These problems all come down to the inability to make decisions, and are extremely ponderous to efficiency. She ran it as famously, even though the house was so divided when she took the pos...
McCarthy was a virtually unknown politician until February 1950, where in a speech at Wheeling, West Virginia, he proclaimed “have here in my hand a list of 205 . . . a list of names that were made known to the Secretary of State as being members of the Communist Party and who nevertheless are still working and shaping policy in the State Department” (History Matters). This speech coined the “Enemies from Within” propelled McCarthy to the political spotlight and gave him huge power along with the support of the American public. McCarthy, realizing he had a great political opportunity, and continued his “anti-communist” tirade accusing powerful people in hollywood and members of the armed forces as being communists or communist sympathizers. As his skeptics grew, so did his blacklist, with McCarthy accusing every single one of his critics as communists destroying their lives and careers in the process (Victims of McCarthyism). McCarthy used this tactic to discourage any opposition, with many potential critics seeing the potential implications of their skepticism, they simply redacted their statements or never spoke
Joseph McCarthy was a United States senator in the mid twentieth century who believed that the communists were taking over the State Department and were shaping the foreign policy of America, those same communist that were their foes. Joseph McCarthy’s great fear of the rising of the communist party, in both the Soviet Union and in America, was reflected by a great deal of the country. “The fall of China to communism were the results of the infiltration of communism in to the American government, specially the state department” (The Annals of America).
Going an uneventful four years, the major attention came on February 9, 1950 when the Senator gave the Lincoln Day address in Wheeling, Virginia. Through this speech, McCarthy claimed to have the names of over 200 State Department employees who were members of the Communist party. To follow the accusations, the Senator was further...
MacLean, Nancy. A. The American Women's Movement, 1945-2000. A Brief History with Documents. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin, a.k.a.
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-republican government—the ballot.” (Anthony 182). This speech was meant to kindle the flame of the women’s right movement for the citizens of the United States more accurately “Friends and fellow citizens…. Hence, every discrimination against women in the constitutions and laws of the several states is today null and void” (Anthony 181-182). She uses much logos, unlike Chief Joseph, stating the constitution and supporting it with “It was we, the people; not we, the white male citizens; nor yet we, the male citizens; but
Nussbaum, Felicity. “Risky Business: Feminism Now and Then.” Tulsa Studies in Women’s Literature 26.1 (Spring 2007): 81-86. JSTOR. Web. 11 Mar. 2014.
Elizabeth Cady Stanton, along with many other women, packed into a convention on a hot July day to all fight for a common cause; their rights. At the first Women’s Rights convention, Stanton gave a heroic speech that motivated the fight for the cause to be even stronger. Through Stanton’s appliances of rhetorical devices such as emotional, logical, and ethical appeals, she was able to her win her point, change the opinions of many, and persuade people to follow her.
Schneider, Dorothy. American Women in the Progressive Era 1900-1920. New York: Facts on File, 1993.
Shaw, Susan M., and Janet Lee. Women's Voices, Feminist Visions: Classic and Contemporary Readings. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2012. Print.
Bogard, Carley Rees. “The Awakening: A Refusal to Compromise.” University of Michigan Papers in Women’s Studies 2.3 (1977): 15-31. Gale Literature Resource Center. Web. 30 January 2014.
As women, those of us who identify as feminists have rebelled against the status quo and redefined what it means to be a strong and powerful woman. But at what cost do these advances come with?... ... middle of paper ... ... Retrieved April 12, 2014, from http://www.feminist.com/resources/artspeech/genwom/whatisfem.htm Bidgood, J. 2014, April 8 -.
This essay is an attempt to survey the temporal and spacial evolution of the literary movement of feminism in the United States. The feminist movement has always has the main concern of establishing and defending equal human rights. It has passed through three main time periods that are called “waves”, each with differ order priorities. I will try to view the main claims and issues each wave has dealt with as well as study some of the most renowned female writers/activists whose works have been central in reshaping the American attitudes...