Throughout her speech to the National American Woman Suffrage Association on July 22, 1905, Florence Kelley emphasizes the need to modify working conditions for children across the United States. During her speech, the social reformer encourages the women attending the convention in Philadelphia to join her in the fight for labor rights for children. By adopting a stern and persuasive tone, Kelley argues that the exploitation of child labor is a significant issue within the United States. Kelley employs plural pronouns to represent the collective responsibility society has in ending child labor, repetitive phrases to emphasize how widespread the issue is, and rhetorical questions to suggest possible ideas of reform. Most importantly, Kelley utilizes the plural pronoun “we” throughout her speech to establish a sense of unity among the men and women in America and children subject to child labor. Kelley opens her introduction with “we have” …show more content…
In the eighth paragraph, Kelley wonders that if women and teachers could vote in Georgia “would the Georgia Legislature have refused…to stop the work in the mills of children under twelve years of age?” The rhetorical question implies that granting women the right to vote would lead to the abolishment of child labor since they could now vote to prevent young children from working in factories, improving the lives and education of thousands of children. By asking this question, Kelley causes the audience to consider what they can do to help pass laws restricting child labor. In paragraph eleven, Kelley again employs a rhetorical question that asks “what can we do to free our consciences?” By providing a rhetorical question that asks the audience what they can do to help free the children with limited resources encourages them to speak to men who can vote and support the common goal to end child