We Shall Overcome To A Joint Session Of Congress Essay

On March 15, 1965, during the height of the civil rights movement, President Lyndon B. Johnson delivered a famous speech entitled We Shall Overcome to a joint session of congress. His speech revolved around the oppression of certain groups at the time and the actions which both congress and all Americans must take in order to overcome the adversity presented by roadblocks to social progress. While his speech mainly focused on the right to vote, the ideas contained within spoke beyond this and ultimately looked at what it means for America to be on the top of the world stage, both from a legal and individual perspective. His speech spoke directly to the American people with lines such as “Because it’s not just Negroes, but really it’s all of

This technique is used as the backbone of the two speeches as it is the reasoning which is designed to convince the audience. In LBJ’s speech, logic is used in showing how the state of America during the 1960’s is contrary to what state of America should be given its magnitude and power as a nation. In other words, Johnson argues that if equal rights for all Americans cannot be attained, America as a nation will never be as powerful. He states “Our mission is at once the oldest and most basic of this country: to right wrong, to do justice, to serve man… Our lives have been marked with debate about great issues … but rarely in any time does an issue lay bare the secret heart of America itself.” Through these couple of lines, Johnson introduces something which all Americans must take part in. He uses powerful language in the phrases “is at once the oldest and most basic” and “the secret heart of America itself”. Between these two phrases, Johnson introduces a big idea of his speech: the fact that the issue of civil rights for all Americans is so basic to our beliefs but yet so core and important for our future as a nation. Thus, this reasoning acts as a logical backbone upon which his argument is formed. This logical argument contributes to the purpose of this speech, that being, to convince congress to pass a newly written bill concerning the removal of illegal barriers to the right to vote. While this speech was directed towards congress, it was broadcasted across the nation. Thus it can be said, that while the direct audience was congress, the speech also was given for the purpose of exposing the American people to the issues which existed during the time and hopefully to bring about create change. His logical argument was impactful here because through persuasive word choice about the need for equal voting rights, LBJ had a higher chance of convincing the American people to take