Up until the Reconstruction period of American history, slavery remained legal in the United States of America. While many supported the actions of slavery, many also opposed it. Primarily in the north, abolitionists fought for the rights of slaves. Abolitionists, who argued against the institution of slavery, helped runaway slaves and free former slaves. They fought diligently for the cause by publicly speaking about the issue through written and verbal words. Despite the efforts of thousands of individuals, there are a few whose impacts are often recognized: Frederick Douglass and William Lloyd Garrison. Frederick Douglass was a Maryland-born slave who became one of New England’s leading abolitionist by delivering famous speeches. William Lloyd Garrison, creator of The Liberator, used his writings to make him one of the most prominent abolitionists in America. Despite both men using rhetoric to establish coherent arguments, Garrison uses rhetoric more effectively than Douglas.
Garrison effectively utilized the rhetorical tools of pathos and…show more content… Unlike Garrison, Douglass only used pathos to convince his readers. Douglass starts with explaining the day of independence for America should be for all citizens, including slavery. Continuing, Douglass says, “The rich inheritance of justice, liberty, prosperity, and independence bequeathed by your fathers is shared by you not me… This fourth of July is yours, not mine. You may rejoice, I must mourn.” Emotion is written in the words itself, the white man may be free, but the black man remains a slave. The horrors of slavery, as further explained, add to the emotion and sympathy for slaves. Douglass continues this communality of reaching the audience through their heats and not their ways of thinking. Overall, both abolitionists use rhetoric effectively, but because Garrison uses logos in addition to pathos with his words were more impactful to the
