Indians Ethos Pathos Logos

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In “Juan Gines de Sepulveda Belittles the Indians” (1547), the author uses the rhetorical appeals of ethos and logos to prove to the Spanish that the Indians of the New World should accept and embrace Spanish rule. The most prominent rhetorical appeal used by the author is logos, it is present even in the first sentences of the passage. Sepulveda does not waste any time getting to his point, and begins with the statement, “The Spanish have a perfect right to rule those barbarians of the New World and the adjacent islands, who...are as inferior to the Spanish as children to adults,” (3). Immediately, logos is being used by using the analogy of the natives as children and the Spanish as adults. Obviously, everyone knows that adults are superior to children, and by using this analogy Sepulveda points out that the natives are as naive as children, and need the guidance …show more content…

He continues to list things the natives of the New World do not allegedly have: literacy, recorded history, and definite laws; all things that seem so simple and arbitrary to the people of Spain. His logical argument is, “what temperance or mercy can you expect from men who are committed to all types of intemperance and base frivolity,” (3) or more simply, how can you expect these people, incapable of developing the basic parts of society, to lead themselves? The intended purpose is to persuade the audience, the Spanish, that the natives need leadership, and are much too lost to find it themselves. Near the end of the passage, Sepulveda says, “If this type of...nation had not been to their liking and nature, it would have been easy for them to...obtain a freer state and one more favorable to their interests.” (4), going on to imply that since they hadn't done that, they were opening themselves up for outside leadership and admitting that they themselves were not ready to