Florence Kelley Child Labor

In social reformer Florence Kelley’s speech (1905), she argues that the practice of child labor in the U.S is immoral and unacceptable. Kelley effectively builds her argument by using both pathos and rhetorical questions. Using examples from current states that allow child labor (Pennsylvania, Alabama, Georgia, New Jersey), she illuminates the cruelty of child labor in order to encourage women to “enlist the workingmen on behalf of our enfranchisement just in proportion as we strive with them to free the children” (87-89). Kelley directs this speech to the women with children at the convention of the National American Woman Suffrage Association in Philadelphia. Kelley consistently uses pathos throughout her speech. For example, she states, “They carry bundles of garments from the factories to the tenements… they may work for us”. In telling this impactful comparison of beasts of burden to children, Kelley creates a sense of

Kelley asks her audience to consider, “What can we do to free our consciences?”. By assuming that the audience feels guilty about their children working nonstop throughout the night, Kelley creates a feel of initiative by inducing the audience to want to free themselves from their guilt. Whereas for the people in the audience who do not feel guilty, Kelley hints that they aren’t doing what it best for their children or country, establishing a sense of shame, as well as giving Kelley the authoritative voice at the convention. In addition, while much of the audience may have enjoyed the freedom of being a child, the fact that their children will never enjoy those freedoms also frightens the audience, causing them to trust in Kelley and in her ideas to stop child labor. With this rhetorical question, Kelley overall strengthens her argument, adding a sense of credibility and showing the power the audience has to stop child