Florence Kelley's Persuasive Speech Against Child Labor

Florence Kelley was a social worker who lived at the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th. In a speech to the National American Woman Suffrage Association, she stresses the importance of changing child labor laws by appealing to her audience's emotions and ethics. She goes into detail describing the time of day and the type of work they are doing to emphasize her argument. The speech has a sense of urgency and is a clear call to action which form the tone of the piece. Florence Kelley uses a variety of rhetorical strategies to argue for labor law reforms.

Florence Kelley, in her 1905 speech to the National American Woman Suffrage Association, condemns that “while we sleep,” labor practices in the United States force young children into cruel, inhumane working conditions. Kelley illuminates the harsh reality of child labor by utilizing shocking statistics, creating forceful emotional appeals to detail a bleak visual of the grueling working conditions, and juxtaposing both the way girls spend their time and the current laws between states. Kelley’s purpose is to inspire women to fight for the right to vote, believing that enfranchisement will lead to improvements in society, including the reformation of child labor practices. Kelley’s ostensible audience is the voting class of America because she closes her speech by offering to “enlist the workingmen voters” to join the fight against child labor in an enraged and persuasive tone.

The nineteen hundreds: children were working through the night while the adults were sleeping. Florence Kelley, a United States social worker and reformer, spoke out against this harsh reality. Fighting to improve child labor laws, she delivered her speech in 1905 at the National American Woman Suffrage Association convention, in Philadelphia. By incorporating anecdotes to emotionally appeal; shocking state statistics; and showing a strong, direct, and compassionate attitude towards children working, Florence Kelley reveals the harsh child labor laws and fights to improve their conditions.

In 1905, in the United States, some children as young as six years old are working in factories and women aren’t allowed to vote. Florence Kelley is a fiery and inspiring child labor activist and also a suffragette. On July 22, 1905, in Philadelphia, she gives a speech to the National American Women Suffrage Association (NAWSA) to try to rally them to assist her in her main cause which is fixing the child labor system. In her speech where she doesn’t hold back, Kelley lets the audience know why the child labor system is atrocious and why they should get involved. She also tells them the steps that they should take to try to right these wrongs, in convincing their husbands to vote for child labor

After industrialization in America, the Progressive Era (1890 – 1920) began. Lives were changing and people wanted the rules to as well. They did this by passing reforms. Some reforms were written on the subjects of child labor, women’s rights, and monopolies and trust.

Initially Kelley conveys her message about the corrupt child labor laws by criticizing the practices of the states in a way that incites change by using examples and rhetorical devices. She begins by providing specific evidence of child labor statistics to add to her credibility. Explaining that “two million children under the age of sixteen” are working just to survive, alludes to the

Florence Kelley is a social worker and reformer who fights for child labor laws and better working conditions for women. At the National Assembly Women Suffrage Association in Philadelphia on July 22, 1905, Kelley recites a speech about the issue of child labor laws. She uses rhetorical strategies such as repetition of the many negative aspects of child labor through specific examples, criticism of state policies, and emotional appeal. A combination of figures, logic, evidence, and emotional appeal will help convince her audience that child labor is a problem.

Change has become an incremental aspect when it comes to reaching a success in our society. This can be seen in several different aspects within our society. It is seen within our economy, traditional and nontraditional values, and especially within our government. However, in order for us to reach any form of higher success we must be willing to change. In Florence Kelley's Speech, she expresses her firm and unchanging view of the violation of children's rights in child labor in order to make a change through the use of modes of discourse intertwined with sophisticated uses of diction, imagery, and other uses of appeals to tie into her audience and further encompass her purpose.

Florence Kelley, an active social worker and reformer of the 20th century, rants over the horrendous working conditions kids must endure. She presents this in her speech before National American Woman Suffrage Association in Philadelphia, which provides context and credibility for her argument. Kelley argues clearly of the terrible conditions and work hours kids suffer to bring about her message of, “enlisting the workingmen voters.” This is essentially to free the kids from the disastrous issue through her usage of credibility, empathetic tone to strike the audience, and her usage of examples of their conditions and state rules to support her message and purpose.

Florence Kelley, social worker and reformer, argued for child labor laws in a speech to the National American Woman Suffrage Association in Philadelphia in 1905. To achieve her purpose, Kelley prods her audience of both men and women to fight for the right for women to vote in order to free the children from slavery.

When one hears the term “Child Labor”, an image of children making low quality clothing in some dingy third world sweatshop inevitably comes to mind. While this imagery is unfortunately founded in fact, the third world is not the only area complicit with this heinous practice. Truthfully, we, as a nation are also guilty of propagating this heinous practice. For over a century, this nation’s youth were subjugated to exploitation and abuse at the hands of captains of industry in the hopes of extracting every ounce of profit they could. Fortunately, sympathetic individuals recognized the children’s need for advocacy and rose to their defense in the form of organized dissent that appealed to the highest powers of this country to fight for those who could not fight for themselves. In this paper, we will look at what exactly child labor is, the circumstances that gave rise to the widespread acceptance of child labor usage, what working condition these children experienced, and how the United States eventually made its use illegal.

Improving undesirable working conditions for women and eliminating child labor was an impassioned issue for female reformers during the time of industrialization in the United States. Florence Kelley, a united states social worker and reformer, opposes the appalling work environment children as young as six would toil through and relays her speech to the National Woman Suffrage Association to propel her audience to demand changes that are necessary to stop countless hours of hard-work the youth struggle to complete. Kelley adopts a fervid tone in order to convince the audience that political action is needed to adjust the laws that allows child labor to continue in many states with her use of pathos and rhetorical questions meant to stir action

Florence Kelley was a United States social worker and reformer who fought successfully for child labor laws and improved conditions for working women. Throughout her speech to the Philadelphia Convention of the National American Woman Suffrage Association, she stresses the importance of changing the working conditions that are in place for children. By using child labor as her baseline, Kelley is able to talk about her main point, which is her suggestion for women’s rights with the help of repetition, strong word choice, and opposition.

During the twentieth century, the Woman Suffrage Movement allowed women to speak confidently on the topic of equality to earn their right to vote. One of those speakers made an explanation that does not directly request her right to vote. Nevertheless, she made clear what would happen if women were not given equality. Social and political reformer, Florence Kelley, in her speech fights for women’s rights and for the establishment of child labor laws. Kelley’s determined tone illustrates a future where children would not have to force themselves into labor to earn their pay for food. Using logos, pathos, and call for action, Kelley creates an argument for equality and child labor laws.

Throughout her life, Florence Kelley was an advocate for child labor reform and women’s rights. On July 22, 1905, she delivered a speech at the National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA) convention regarding women's rights and child labor, with a specific focus on the labor of girls ages 14-20 and the necessary enfranchisement of women. In this speech, Kelley uses rhetorical techniques such as: Imagery, appeals, and parallel structure to motivate the audience and call them to action. Florence Kelley uses imagery numerous times throughout her speech in order to produce a negative image in the minds of her listeners that will provoke a call to action. She gives vivid descriptions of the working conditions and actions of many young