Rhetorical Analysis Of Mary Ann Shadd Cary

Mary Ann Shadd Cary was an African American writer, newspaper publisher, educator, lawyer, and abolitionist. In 1851 she traveled from the United States to Canada to work with the fugitive community. She uses strong rhetorical strategies in her editorial that she published in the newspaper Provincial Freeman to link the fugitives and to promote antislavery. Cary begins her editorial by stating “we need an organ, too, for making our voice heard at home.” She uses an analogy, referring to the fugitives who need a functioning body like a newspaper to make their voice heard. She implies her feeling that fugitives are just like any other member in the country by stating “as the great country grows, we grow with it...” and they should feel a part

“We must allow our fellow subjects to know who we are and what we want, through our own authorized mouth-piece.” She is wanting the fugitives to come together and petition to stand up for themselves and have a say for the rights they so long deserve. They too, are citizens and it is given in the Constitution that everyone should be treated equally and have equal rights. Cary reminds the fugitives of their homeland before, stating “such freemen we never were before,” reminding them of their undeserving past. How their thoughts, rights, and interest were never taken into consideration, they were never truly free. Thus, Cary starts her own editorial to create a voice and functioning body for the fugitives. Cary reminds the readers’ that we live in a free country and should not be ashamed of any nationality. However, she states there was “never a newspaper in Canada which represented the intelligence of colored Canadians.” Their values, morals, and beliefs were never cherished, they never had a functioning body to represent their voice and all of the accomplishments they had achieved. Simply, the fugitives just wanted the same rights granted to everyone else, where they could publish their own paper and