Rhetorical Analysis Essay On Susan B Anthony

Women as Well as Men Susan B. Anthony once told the nation, “men their rights, and nothing more; women their rights, and nothing less.” Women such as herself and Sojourner Truth are the reason as to why women received the rights they have now; civil rights given to all U.S. citizens under the document that laid the foundation of the country, the Constitution. Women’s civil liberties of the past have been resolved thanks to activists like Anthony and Truth who gave females the right to vote, showed how valuable a woman can truly be, and left legacies forever imprinted into our history. With her words and resistance against what was socially unjust, Susan B. Anthony gave women the right to vote. In the year 1872, back when women were not

In her popular speech, Anthony defended herself by stating that she “.., simply exercised [her] citizen’s rights..,” (Source E.) Throughout this work, Susan uses logos to make her argument effective by saying that she committed no crime by voting; she was a citizen of the U.S. and did what she was able to do under the validity of the Constitution. She makes a logical point in saying that no state has enough power to deny this integral document and the rights it gives to all who live in America. Today, women have the right to vote. They are considered citizens of the country and therefore are given the privileges and immunities of one. Susan B. Anthony saw above the ignorant people surrounding her who thought otherwise and focused her sights on the future. She knew in her heart that women reserved this basic civil right- just like men- and spoke out against the status quo to change history for all females who would follow behind her. Towards the conclusion of her speech, Susan B. Anthony makes a monumental point. Dictionaries define a citizen as a person in the United States, entitled to vote and hold office. And so if citizens are people, then, “are

Truth uses personal anecdotes and pressing opinions to show the true worth women really obtain. Being born into the servant class, Sojourner grew up solitary. She learned to work for herself and live her own life. Her ways of acting did not exactly support what was ‘socially correct’ during the time period; women were worth as much as the men in their lives let them be. In her speech, Sojourner tells her listeners that unlike other females in the United States, “nobody ever helps [her] into carriages” or “over mud-puddles” or “gives [her] any best place!” (Source F). The speaker uses pathos here by showing her independent past as a woman and comparing in to society’s standard of a woman. Rather than participating in the whole ‘damsel in distress’ idea, Sojourner defied this expectation and proved that women can hold their own. Sojourner Truth proves that woman’s dependence on a man does not define their worth as a person. Women today are applauded for their sovereignty; an independent woman is someone everybody yearns to become. Throughout her speech, Sojourner had many ‘drop the mic’ moments. She pointed out that “if the first woman God ever made was strong enough to turn the world upside down all alone, these women together ought to be able to turn it back..,” (Source F). Truth uses pathos in this statement by hinting at a religious watershed