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Florence Kelley Ap Language Essay

1013 Words5 Pages

Individuals in society are obligated to speak up in support of those who do not have a voice. Around the beginning of the 1900s, child labor was instituted on a large scale, as children did not need to be guaranteed the same treatment as adults. Several people argued for child protection such as Florence Kelley, who was a United States social worker and reformer who has spoken out against child labor. In the speech delivered to the National American Suffrage Convention, Kelley argues that children are being exploited to work in harsh conditions with little to no protection in legislation. Florence Kelley utilizes a sentimental story that invokes the reader to sympathize with the children, provides examples of the lack of state laws for child …show more content…

Kelley uses an example of a little girl affected by the lack of child laws as she describes, “13 years of age” who spent her birthday working “twelve hours at night” (7). The evidence would allow the reader to realize that the effects of no regulations in the child labor system is apparent and needs to be addressed. Kelley is able to persuade women and men at the National American Woman Suffrage convention to take the initiative to take a stand against unreasonable working conditions for adolescent children who don’t have a voice for themselves. With the use of a short emotional anecdote, Kelley is able to strengthen her claim regarding advocating for women’s right to vote in order to achieve stronger child labor laws to ensure little girls on their 13th birthday wouldn’t have to spend 12 hours working. As a result, the anecdote compels the audience at the convention to improve conditions for child labor, as the children have little to no protection in the legislation. Thus, Kelley effectively is able to move the men and women at the suffrage convention to advocate for women’s voting rights so that they can change the child labor laws by urging the audience at the convention to take a stand against this injustice. Kelley influences her audience to advocate for women’s suffrage in order to …show more content…

Kelley compares contrasting words as she notes, “Now, therefore, in New Jersey, boys and girls, after their 14th birthday, enjoy the pitiful privilege of working all night long” (6). Kelley is able to create a sense of compassion for the children throughout her audience by using contradicting words such as pitiful and privilege to make the men and women at the convention ponder about the morbid reality of young children working in harsh conditions. Kelley uses the word “privilege” as almost ironic contrast to the pitiful situation convincing the suffragists at the convention to take action against intensive working conditions. Hence, Kelley is able to convince the men and women at the convention to advocate for women’s suffrage through putting conflicting words together to sway the audience to support her cause for voting rights for women. Kelley continues to remind the audience that in order to take the burden of a pitiful privilege off of children, they first need to gain voting rights to make their stances

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