Florence Kelley Rhetorical Analysis

Rhetorical Analysis on Florence Kelley’s speech about Child Labor Laws
Florence Kelley was a social and political reformer that fought for woman’s suffrage and child labor laws. Her speech to the National American Woman’s Suffrage Association initiated a call to action for the reform of child labor laws. She explains how young children worked long and exhausting hours during the night and how despicable these work conditions were. Kelley’s use of ethos, logos, pathos, and repetition helps her establish her argument for the reform of the child labor laws.
Kelley’s use of factual information such as her first sentence “We have, in this country, two million children under the age of sixteen years…” helps her establish credibility. By giving a tangible number to focus on, the audience pays her more attention. This displays Kelley’s knowledge on the subject making her appear more reliable to the audience. As the speech continues, she shows us more of her knowledge by stating and comparing specific child labor

laws in certain states. Alabama’s law states that “a child under sixteen years of age shall not work in a cotton mill at night longer than eight hours…”, whilst states such as Georgia, North Carolina, and South Carolina have no restrictions. Kelley’s knowledge about the laws shows that her statements are supported by facts and evidence.
As a way to further reinforce her speech, Kelley also uses logos in addition to ethos. Her use of rhetorical questions such as “If the mothers and the teachers in Georgia could vote, would he Georgia Legislature have refused at every session for the last three years to stop the work in the mills of children under twelve years of age?” and “Would the New Jersey legislature have passed that shameful repeal bill enabling girls of fourteen years to work all night, if the mothers in the great industrial states are enfranchised?”, she is able to kill two birds with one stone by challenging her audience’s logic and addressing that if women could vote, it would help with the reforms on child labor laws. Another example of logos can be found in the paragraph beginning with the sentence “What can we do to free our consciences?” She answers her own question with “We can enlist the workingmen on behalf of our enfranchisement just in proportion as we strive with them to free the children.” Kelley’s use of we, shows her logic that in order for them to be able to “free their children, they must work together in order to achieve that goal. By showing the audience logical and easy-to-achieve outcomes, she draws in her audience very effectively.
Pathos plays a big role in Kelley’s argument.

She excites the feelings of guilt and pity in order to gain the support of her audience. By using details that describe the horrible work conditions of “several thousand little girls”, such as “in the deafening noise of the spindles” and “all night through”, she emphasizes how bad the children’s lives are without the proper laws. Another example of pathos being used is “A little girl, on her thirteenth birthday, could start away from her home at half past five in the afternoon, carrying her pail of midnight luncheon, and could work in the mill from six at night until six in the morning…” Kelly’s subtle emphasis on the innocence of children as seen the preceding example, gives the audience a feeling of guilt because children shouldn’t need to work through the night. By going into more detail about the type of work children do, Kelley helps to persuade the audience into making a change in order to satisfy their

conscience.
Lastly, her use of repetition invokes a sense of responsibility to address the issue with child labor laws as whole. Throughout her speech, Kelley repeats the phrase “while we sleep”. This is adds on to the guilt factor because the phrase points out that while the adults are lying in bed sleeping safely and soundly, children are working in harsh and tiring conditions overnight. Kelley wants the adults to wake up and address the issue of child labor instead of sleeping soundly. Her repeated use of the pronouns “we” and “our” gives the audience a sense of greater responsibility and broadens the range of people who should do something about the child labor laws. Her speech sends a call to action to not only the people that want change, but also to those who remain ignorant of the matter.
Florence Kelley’s excellent argument helped persuade her audience to make a change and take action to the child labor laws. By having an unbreakable focus on the subject, she manages to convey a message that appealed to the logic, and emotions of the audience. Her use of ethos, logos, pathos, and repetition helped Kelley create a very persuasive argument that communicated her own opinions effectively while gaining the favor of the audience.