Alexander Hamilton Rhetorical Analysis

On November 14, 1878, Alexander Hamilton took to address the residence of the State of New York in support of ratification of the U.S. Constitution. He pens the Federalist Papers: No 6 Concerning Dangers from Dissensions Between the States, in a plea to bring support for the unification of the states. He skillfully uses pathos to appeal the reader, while providing logos to support his initial call for unification. Hamilton’s words are well thought out and logical in his presentation of the factual data, supporting the call that separate states cannot succeed as separate entities, they must unify under one nation and one federal government.

Hamilton’s first example of pathos is in his explanation of the faults of man, which he reminds

the reader that they are “ambitious, vindictive, and rapacious” (Hamilton). His use of these terms are used to relate to the reader, what they already see for themselves. This is used to demonstrate that within business, the lack of governmental oversight, will lead to conflicts among parties. To the person that disagrees with this premise, “they must be far gone in Utopian speculations who can seriously doubt that” (Hamilton). Hamilton continues to provide the logos needed to support his claim.
The factual support presented by Hamilton contains events throughout time. He utilizes his faults of man explanations to explain the ambitions of the Cardinal that resulted in England declaring war on France (Hamilton). These actions were against the will of the people, but driven by actions of a powerful few. Hamilton further ties this to blindly following these actions, as occurred most recently in Massachusetts, during Shays Rebellion. Hamilton explains that had individuals understood Shays self-resulting indebtedness, they would not have followed him into a civil war. These individual traits of man are further complicated when immersed in the state of commerce.
The fall of Carthage and Athens are described as commercial states, continuously entrenched in warfare with their surrounding neighbors (Hamilton). Hamilton once again ties this back to the greed and desire of man that forces this war onto their people. To counter any dissention to these points, Hamilton provides the case of Holland. Mired in debt, Holland became an active participant in wars throughout Europe to settle internal monetary issues (Hamilton). This situation is also compared to England and their drive to war by the need to support commerce.
Hamilton ties these points together by asking the reader to understand the comparisons to the examples given and the current situations amongst the states. His use of rhetorical questions posed to the reader forcing them to make the connection on their own, as asked to wonder how they are so different to expect “us into an expectation of peace and cordiality between the members of the present confederacy, in a state of separation.” (Hamilton). As Hamilton continues with his plea that action now would only stand above others throughout the world. This is easily understood and accepted by his audience, knowing the credibility that Hamilton has.
Alexander Hamilton is able to use his ethos in the writing of the paper.

This essay was the sixth essay in support of the U.S Constitution and continued to provide undisputed reasoning for the ratification of the Constitution. The success of the previous five essays, allowed for the continues path of credibility. Within his writings, he remained consistent in his logic and structure, providing the base structure of his argument, providing historical facts, and then ties the two together. Hamilton additionally provides a quote at the end of Federalist Paper No 6, only referring to the author as “an Intelligent writer expresses himself on this subject” (qtd in Hamilton). The following quote summarizes Hamilton’s points and need for action, concluding that Hamilton has been able to “point out the Evil and suggests the Remedy.” This forces the reader to ignore the person that had been quoted and allows them to understand for themselves what they had read, concluding the same end result.

The Federalists Paper: No 6 is an excellent example of an author utilizing pathos in his writing to sway a reader to his message. He continues to provide support for his goal of achieving unification among the states, that without, would result in the failure of the nation. His structure steps the reader through the identification of the faults of men and how they can impact a state. These are all rational assessments of historical facts and leaves the reader to agree, on their own, that unification must be done to allow the U.S. States to continue on a path of

greatness.