How Does Obama Use Ethos In I Have A Dream Speech

On the evening of November 4, 2008, the United States of America elected their 44th president and first African American White House leader, Barack Obama. Taking place in Grant Park, Illinois that evening, President Obama delivered his victory speech to the thousands of his supporters where history was finally made. In a time where America was facing numerous issues including war, a planet in peril, and financial crisis, President Obama reassured the American people that change was coming. Through his rhetorical appeals, his speech gave hope to the millions of different races around the world that Martin Luther King Jr speech “I have a dream” still lives on and will extend for centuries to come.

Ethos, logos, and pathos are three popular modes

With two wars and the recession that hit the country, he understands the challenges the citizens face while praising the fearless Americans that put their lives on the line to protect their country. This intensifies the audience to consent to the change that America greatly needed. He included them again by saying “it's your job too”, steering them back in that they have a duty to uphold

Quoting from Abraham Lincoln, “We are not enemies, but friends…though passion may have strained it must not break our bonds of affection”. Slavery setback America for centuries. Not only was voting forbidden to African Americans but having an education was outlawed too. When slavery finally ended in 1865, segregation remained through the Jim Crow laws. Through this law African Americans was prohibited from using the same schools, libraries, restrooms, and other human things as White Americans. It wasn’t until the Civil Rights Act in 1964 when African American could righteously vote thanks to the great work of Martin Luther King Jr who put his life on the line to raise awareness that we are all equal no matter race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. Ann Nixon Cooper lived through segregation throughout those timing years. It was very important for her to cast a vote. President Obama established logos by stating historical