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Why Is Florence Kelly Important For Women During The Early Twentieth Century?

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“Remember the ladies!” Abigail Adams sparked the significance of women during the colonial period in a patriarchy society. Likewise, during the early twentieth century, Florence Kelly led a critical turning point of women’s involvement in society, but enforced her ideas even further by action rather than just casual statements like the way Adams had. Kelly manipulated the stream of events, to ensure women of the association, an option of helping mistreated children and rights granted to them. By Kelly leading the convention of the National American Women Suffrage Association, her style and personality are exposed when she speaks to disintegrate the strict children labor laws to the suffrage women who also understand the level of unfairness …show more content…

When Kelly claims, “We can enlist the workingmen on behalf of our enfranchisement just in proportion as we strive with them to free the children” (Kelly 11) . Kelly’s intention of this speech was to pursue reforming children’s rights in labor; however, by trying to find a solution to the strict children labor laws, it required women to seek men for assistance for women’s liberty since men are the ones with authority. Still being in a patriarchal society, Kelly motivated social equality with examples like “If mothers and the teachers in Georgia could vote […]” (10) or “Would the New Jersey […] enfranchised” (10)? This began to advocate the feminist ideology, that women should have the same opportunities as men such as “enjoying the right of petition” (10). As the feminist perspective sprouted in the minds of women, the idea of asking men for assistance began to show irony, because who would want to help their opponent achieve their goal? Yet, the women have the courage to even ask. By introducing this ironic situation to the women, it shows that Kelly is truly determined to change the child labor laws. Even if it meant that her dignity and pride would be gone because she asked for help by her opponents. This shows the members of the association that child labor laws have many serious problems to be fixed. No matter what, Kelly is …show more content…

As Kelly emphasizes the imagery of “Several thousand little girls will be working in textile mill” and “A girl of six or seven years […]”to the convention, she tries to persuade the women to support the children who are working continuously. Women normally have sympathy towards benevolence . Women of the association understands the event of strict labor laws because of tradition, but since they have the will to gain authority, they would most likely convert the whole setting of labor work emitted by children . As Kelly appeals to the women at the convention, it opens their eyes to the issue at hand that will affect the future since those young kids will become the adults one day. Since they are women, they have a connection with children because of tradition and society barriers. The most connection with the mistreated kids and the suffrage women is that they can both relate to unfairness and declination of their rights. With this connection Kelly uses this to help the situation of the strict laws on the children by gaining support from the suffrage women. The gain of support of the suffrage women could ultimately be the reason for the relaxation of the child laws because through feminists, they will support the mistreated since they were once mistreated in a sense of decline of

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As a social worker and reformer, Florence Kelley utilizes asyndeton, juxtaposition, and rhetorical questions in her ardent speech for the attendees of the convention for the National American Women Suffrage Association to “enlist the workingmen voters” in helping with the implementation of more stringent child labor laws to encourage the protection of children, especially girls, from working in factories at such young ages. Kelley’s employment of asyndeton in the second paragraph as she states, “Men increase, women increase, youth increase in the ranks of the breadwinners…”, makes her speech more passionate and effective by speeding up its rhythm and pace. She applies this rhetorical strategy to segue into the fact that despite the increase across different demographics, none is so exponential as the growth of “girls between twelve and twenty years of age.” She describes this fact before the convention to depict the extensive hindrances this particular contingent faces.

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In her speech to the National American Woman Suffrage Association, Florence Kelly descriptively vocalizes about chid labor. She talks about the horrible conditions young children face in the states. Kelly uses repetition to put emphasis on little girls working in textile mills, “while we sleep” is repeated 3 times this makes the audience feel guilty for enjoying life while little girls are working. Kelly also uses pathos, appealing to the emotion of her

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At the Women’s Suffrage Convention in Washington D.C., Elizabeth Cady Stanton, one of the most influential women’s activists of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, delivers a completely stunning and powerful clamor for change. During the late nineteenth century, all men gain complete egalitarianism, and the government grants equal opportunity for the males only. In her speech, “The Destructive Male,” Stanton details the long list of women’s forgotten rights. In Washington D.C., Elizabeth Cady Stanton forces the entire world to listen and respond as she delivers the cries of oppressed women, proving the reality of their injustice and the need for demolition of the rigged patriarchy. She uses strong, persuasive figurative language

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Throughout this speech, Florence Kelley addresses The Philadelphia Convention of the National American Woman Suffrage Association in 1905, to bring attention to the working conditions of young children across the nation. Kelley’s rhetorical strategies are, listing examples of the appalling working conditions in a repetitive manner and appealing to ethos and pathos to persuade her audience. Kelley creates a compelling argument that captures the audience and throws them into the issue and then persuading them to join her battle. Kelley forms strong personal and emotional statements that strikes the hearts of the audience. She captures the hearts of the mothers and fathers in the audience and then encourages them to empathize with victims.

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In 1905, a United States social reformer named Florence Kelley fought for child labor laws and improved working conditions for women. In July 1095, Kelley delivered a speech on child labor (and other topics) while in Philadelphia as a part of the National American Woman Suffrage Association convention. Within the speech, Kelley uses many notable rhetorical devices, which will be analyzed in this essay. Perhaps the most noticeable of Kelley’s rhetorical devices is the vast amount of facts and statistics contained within her speech.

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Children from as young as the age of 6 began working in factories, the beginning of their exploitation, to meet demands of items and financial need for families. In Florence Kelley’s speech before the National American Woman Suffrage Association in Philadelphia 1905, Kelley addresses the overwhelming problem of child labor in the United States. The imagery, appeal to logic, and the diction Kelley uses in her speech emphasizes the exploitation of children in the child labor crisis in twentieth century America. Kelley’s use of imagery assists her audience in visualizing the inhumanity of the practice.

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In Florence Kelley’s passionate 1905 speech against child labor at the convention for the National American Woman Suffrage Association in Philadelphia, she employs multiple persuasive rhetorical strategies to guilt her audience and provoke action. Kelley, through illustrating the experiences of young children with auditory and visual imagery, juxtaposes her audience with the plight the children face, calling them to not perpetuate the problem and act. Kelley further utilizes statistical figures to connect with her female audience and call for change. She further connects her audience to the injustice, shaming their comfort in comparison to the danger and pain the children face. Florence Kelley illustrates the terrible conditions and grueling work children of the time dealt with through visual and

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Killing two birds with one stone is exactly what Florence Kelley does in her speech at the National American Woman Suffrage Association convention on July 22, 1905. She argues against unfair child labor laws by utilizing emotional appeal, using rhetorical questions, and employing repetition. Kelley does this in order to convince her audience if women had the right to vote there would be better child labor laws. Kelley’s utilization of emotional appeal invokes a number of different emotions onto the audience.

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Florence Kelley was a women’s rights activist who gave a speech before the convention of the National American Woman Suffrage Association in the summer of 1905 on the topic of child labor. This speech on child labor offers insight to the harsher lives that some children have to carry in comparison to some adults due to no child labor laws. Kelley’s writing was meant to persuade the audience to improve child labor laws and safety by appealing to pathos. Throughout the beginning of the essay, there’s repetition of the phrase: “[W]hile we sleep.”

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1020 Words | 5 Pages

Analysis on: Florence Kelley on Child Labor Florence Kelly was a social worker who was passionate about restricting child labor laws, her work inspired her to fight for children. In 1905 Florence Kelly spoke to the National American Woman Suffrage Association, an audience that expected her to speak about women's suffrage. Surprisingly, Florence Kelley spoke to her audience about Child Labor laws, a strategy which captured their attention and evoked confusion and anger. As she continues into her speech the Women's Suffrage Association realizes that her message of Child Labor laws also reveals reasons for women's right to vote. Despite her semi-relevant topic, Florence Kelly is purposeful in the structure of her speech as she begins with confusion,

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Child Labor Analysis Child Labor was one of Florence Kelley’s main topics at a speech she gave in Philadelphia during a convention of the National American Woman Suffrage Association. Kelley talks about all the horrors children were going through and the injustices they were suffering. She talks of the conditions children working in, the hours they were going in, and all in all, how wrong child labor was. Her purpose for this was to gain support of people to petition for the end of child labor. Kelley’s appeals to Ethos, Pathos and Logos through the use of great rhetoric is what allows her to achieve her purpose.

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United States social worker and reformer Florence Kelley, in her speech to the National American Woman Suffrage Association in Philadelphia on July 22, 1905, emphasizes the dire need to reform the working conditions of children across the country. Throughout the speech, Kelley strives to make the audience aware of the terrible hours and conditions that children face, and to compel the listeners at the convention to empathize with the children in their situation. Kelley adopts a compelling, yet passionate tone in order to call the listeners to action to help the child workers, while still demonstrating how much she truly believes in solving the issue. Kelley employs repetition of phrases in order to emphasize the lack of involvement from the

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569 Words | 3 Pages

In America’s history, child labor was fiercely criticized. Many activists of child labor laws and women’s suffrage strived to introduce their own viewpoints to the country. Florence Kelley was a reformer who successfully changed the mindset of many Americans through her powerful and persuading arguments. Florence Kelley’s carefully crafted rhetoric strategies such as pathos, repetition, and sarcasm generates an effective and thought provoking tone that was in favor of women’s suffrage and child labor laws. Florence Kelley uses pathos continuously throughout her speech.

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Nowadays our world is changing hourly – its political, social and economic global picture depends on the decisions (more or less important, but still important), which are taken every minute. Sometimes it seems that all significant events have taken place, moreover it was a long time ago. At the same time we forget that there are areas of life, our daily lives, which have been completely different recently. In modern Western societies the right to receive education and to vote for women is natural part of life, contrast to the Third world counties, where women still do not have opportunity to take part in decision-making and influence various spheres of life in their countries. Skeptics may wonder: “What is so special about the fact that women are allowed to vote?”

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