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Rhetorical Analysis Of Alfred Green Speech

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In 1861, Alfred Green delivered a speech persuading his fellow African Americans to join the Union forces. At the time, many blacks had no motivation or intention to fight for the cause. They were still seen as property, sub-human, even savage. Still, with these circumstances, Green persuaded African Americans to be a part of the fight by mentioning pride, addressing objections, promising a chance to earn and defend glory, using religion, and demonizing the opposing side. Alfred Green commences his speech by noting his audience’s sense of racial pride by referencing their “bravery and patriotism . . . however proscribed.” With this statement, Green says he knows they are genuinely courageous and loyal, using flattery and praise. Green encourages …show more content…

Green says, “let not the honor and glory achieved by our fathers be blasted or sullied by a want of true heroism among their sons.” Nothing is worse than letting your predecessors down, and Green makes sure the audience knows that. He is essentially saying that African Americans can make their ancestors proud by fighting for this cause. If one believes in God, then one would like to think that God is on his or side. In fact, Green goes one step further and outright tells his audience members that God is with them. “Let us take up the sword, trusting in God, who will defend the right,” says Green. The speaker uses religion to plant the seed of invincibility within his audience. Losing the war is almost unimaginable if God is on the side of the Union. Green then demonizes the opposing side and describes its leaders as “howling.” He states their motive is to “Drive back the advance guard of civil and religious freedom; let us have more slave territory; let us build stronger the tyrant system of slavery.” This is foreshadowing for what will happen if the enemy wins the war. Green is saying that if his fellow African Americans do not want a world with more slavery, then they better fight for its

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