Theodore Roosevelt's The Duties Of American Citizens

“Nothing worth gaining is ever gained without effort” (Roosevelt). The Duties of American Citizenship defines what it means to be an American citizen. In Theodore Roosevelt’s The Duties of American Citizenship speech, he addresses and describes the obligations that come with being an American citizen. These obligations include working in politics and doing this with a sense of justice and honor. The purpose of The Duties of American Citizenship was to remind us what it means to be an American citizen, and the responsibilities that come with it. In the speech Roosevelt highlights the faults of average citizens and then urges the audience to change this. Theodore Roosevelt delivers this speech with rigor, and gets his point across through repetition,

using real life examples, appealing to emotions, logic, and morals. Theodore Roosevelt was ardent about America and politics, which is reflected into The Duties of American Citizenship.
Theodore Roosevelt was born on October 27, 1858 in New York City.

In his early life, he was homeschooled due to an illness. Roosevelt attended Harvard College, and then Columbia law school. Roosevelt’s political career began with him leaving law school to have a position on the New York State Assembly (Mathless 57). Theodore Roosevelt then went on to become Assistant US Navy Secretary, the governor of New York, the Vice President of the United States, and The President of the United States. He was the 26th president and assumed the presidency at 42 years old after William McKinley was assassinated (Biography.com Editors).

Roosevelt was 25 years old when this speech was given, during his time on the New York State Assembly. The Duties of American Citizenship was given in Buffalo, New York on January 28, 1883. Roosevelt gave this speech because was displeased and frustrated with what the modern American citizen had come to be. He went on to outline what the ideal American citizen is, and then elaborated on how to become a good citizen in “The Duties of American Citizenship”. The speech was given early in Theodore Roosevelt’s career, but the impact of his words left a mark on America that would last to the present

day.
The speech opens with Theodore Roosevelt saying that a good citizen is “manly”. This theme is reiterated several times throughout the speech. This is an example of Pathos, a literary device. Pathos is an appeal to the audience’s emotions. Roosevelt brings up the idea of being a good man, father, and/or husband to resonate with the audience. “No man can be a good citizen who is not a good husband and a good father, who is not honest in his dealings with other men and women, faithful to his friends and fearless in the presence of his foes, who has not got a sound heart, a sound mind, and a sound body” (Roosevelt). All of the things mentioned in the quote are things that people want to be. It plays to people’s emotions on wanting to better themselves and to become the ideal American citizen in Roosevelt’s case.
Likewise, Theodore Roosevelt uses frequent allusions and makes comparisons to events in American history to citizenship. He references a stanza from Lowell about the Civil War and an article from Artemus Ward. Roosevelt makes several allusions to the Civil War during this speech because he grew up during the time the Civil War was fought, and so did many audience members. The Civil War had a significant impact on every American’s life during this time period, so the references to it conjured an emotional response from the audience. “To these too hopeful or too easily discouraged people I always feel like reading Artemus Ward's article upon the people of his town who came together in a meeting to resolve that the town should support the Union and the Civil War, but were unwilling to take any part in putting down the rebellion unless they could go as brigadier-generals” (Roosevelt). Theodore Roosevelt used these frequent allusions to help the audience understand what it truly meant to be a good citizen. “I do wish that more of our good citizens would go into politics, and would do it in the same spirit with which their fathers went into the Federal armies.” (Roosevelt). Roosevelt also makes allusions talking about the corruption that had occurred in the New York Legislature; he references Tweed’s ring and talks about how good citizens should try to end the corruption that occurs in politics. The use of allusions helps the audience understand the meaning of the speech by relating it to real life events.
Furthermore, ethos was recurring throughout “The Duties of American Citizenship”. Ethos is the appeal to the audience’s ethics and also refers to the credibility of the speaker. Roosevelt frequently speaks of his time on the New York Legislature and his experience to persuade the audience that he has knowledge about the topic on hand. He uses his platform and experience to express his ideas, which can be seen in the following quote: “It ought to be axiomatic in this country that every man must devote a reasonable share of his time to doing his duty in the Political life of the community. No man has a right to shirk his political duties under whatever plea of pleasure or business; and while such shirking may be pardoned in those of small means it is entirely unpardonable in those among whom it is most common--in the people whose circumstances give them freedom in the struggle for life”. Roosevelt possessed a strong belief on what a good American citizen is through his experience. Also, Theodore Roosevelt referred to God occasionally in this speech. “The voice of the people is not always the voice of God; and when it happens to be the voice of the devil, then it is a man's clear duty to defy its behests” (Roosevelt). He did this to remind the audience that a good citizen is also a good man who is close with the Lord.
Literary devices that Teddy Roosevelt uses frequently in this speech are repetition and restatement. In the beginning of the speech, Roosevelt repeats the phrase “the ideal citizen”. The entire speech hones in on what the ideal citizen is, and what the ideal citizen does. The word citizenship is used a considerable amount of times. Theodore Roosevelt also uses restatement throughout the speech, which is stating the same ideas but with different wording. He restates the same ideas by using different metaphors to get his point across.
A metaphor is a comparison between two things used to get an idea across. Theodore Roosevelt uses metaphors in “The Duties of American Citizenship” speech to help people understand what he is talking about. An example of this in the speech is when he compares Congressmen to demagogues, saying they are narrow minded but not corrupt. He also goes on to compare American politics to football.
Let him go into the political contest with no more thought of such matters than a college boy gives to the social standing of the members of his own and rival teams in a hotly contested football match. As soon as he begins to take an interest in politics...he will begin to work up the organization in the way that will be most effective, and he won't care a rap about who is put to work with him, save in so far as he is a good fellow and an efficient worker. (Roosevelt)
Theodore Roosevelt is saying that a good citizen views everyone as equal, no matter what “position” someone is playing on the metaphorical football field. The use of metaphors in The Duties of American Citizens helps the audience understand important ideas by comparing them to something widely known.
The Duties of American Citizenship is an admirable speech for many reasons.

One reason is because Theodore Roosevelt is an extremely passionate individual, he possessed a love for politics and America. By giving this speech, he defined his standards on what American citizens should do so they could better the nation. These standards are still upheld to this day, and his words left an impact on America that changed what it meant to be an American. Another reason is the use of rhetorical devices clearly establishes the meaning of the speech. By using metaphors, ethos, pathos, and making allusions, Roosevelt got his point across precisely. He used an array of literary devices to explain what the ideal American citizen is. The fifteen page speech contains clear explanations of the topic at hand, along with detailed examples on what a good American citizen

is.
In closing, “The Duties of American Citizenship” speech was Theodore Roosevelt telling Americans to fulfill the duties that come with being a citizen. The duties are to work in politics, work in a businesslike manner, and to work with a sense of justice and honor. “It is perfectly right to consider the question of failure while shaping one's efforts to succeed in the struggle for the right; but there should be no consideration of it whatsoever when the question is as to whether one should or should not make a struggle for the right.” (Roosevelt). That single line embodies the purpose and ideology of the speech, and Theodore Roosevelt’s character. Theodore Roosevelt believed in a hard working American citizen who does what is right and participates in their local government. Through appealing to emotions, allusions to American history, restatement, repetition, appealing to morals, and metaphors, Theodore Roosevelt defined what it means to be a good citizen in America.