Rhetorical Analysis Of Alfred M. Green's Speech

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With the oncoming arrival of the United States Civil War, the evident issue since before the fighting began was the use of slavery in the North and South counterparts, and everyone had an opinion on it. White citizens primarily started the fight while it was over the lives of African Americans. The lack of African American people allowed into the fight drew attention. In his April of 1861 persuasive speech, Alfred M. Green used rhetorical devices such as allusion to past American events and shared religion, as well as anaphora to persuade fellow African Americans to join the Union military forces. At the time religion and the view of the shared future and past gathered the people in unity in times of strife, so Green used that to his advantage. …show more content…

They still “failed to bring” them to the same level as the white population. In order to prove his point, he brings up the famous man named Dred Scott and uses diction to exaggerate the suffering to the point the audience will feel a need to alleviate the pain imposed on their people. Additionally, he focused on their duty, both civil and religious, as citizens to not just focus on the “past grievances” but also their duty to hope for the future, and to not give up their honor to the opposing side. With the suggestion of their civil duty to their roots, and God, Green shows that they all have something in common. They have the same limited rights to fight for, and a God they have most likely devoted their lives to. Green aligns their cases and motivations to a moral degree. Any good American wouldn’t be able to decline because their patriotism lives on a baseline of right or wrong, yet they still love their country unconditionally. A rhythm always gets a crowd going. Green validates the oppressed population’s struggles by confirming that it did

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