1798 was a time in American when foreigners were a big topic of debate. In that year the Alien and Sedition Act was passed, prohibiting any kind of malicious or disreputable writings from foreigners that went against the government. Because of this, many credible politicians took action to give their views and opinions on the matter. Two of the politicians were Timothy Pickering and James Madison. Both not only having two different views on the act, but also, having two varying rhetorical strategies. With the audience targeted at the supreme court and the general good of everyone, Timothy’s strategies were far more effective than James Madison. In Timothy Pickering Upholds the Repressive Laws, Pickering uses strong vocab and tone words to describe his disgust towards the foreigners and his passion for the Alien and Sedition Act. He describes foreigners as “pest of society” and “disturbers of order and tranquility.” He uses words like “malicious falsehoods” and “defamation” to describe their actions towards the government. He also compares the people who believe the people who believe the act goes against the Bill of Rights with “knocking down the first person we meet” , then excusing ourselves from punishment because we are “free agents.” Madison ends by elaborating about why we should be held accountable for our actions. …show more content…
Madison uses “power” six times throughout his entire writing. His use of “power” shows he does not want the country to become a tyrant. He, also, uses punctuation to his advantage. There are only four sentences in the entire four paragraph writing. He uses dashes, commas, and semicolons for more effectiveness and