Collin Laley
W131 Period 2
March 3, 2017 The Right of the People to Rule Analysis
Throughout Theodore Roosevelt’s speech on March 20, 1912, he addresses many issues that the American people have, especially the issue about the minority having so much more power than the majority of the American people. He starts off his speech with the question, “Are the American people fit to govern themselves, to rule themselves, to control themselves?” He is able to gain support by this question by agreeing with it, and showing his opponents opinions and how they are the minority. He uses cause and effect, tone, allusion, and appeals to the majority of Americans in his speech against the minority and how they are ruining the lives of the majority. …show more content…
“But we are today suffering from the tyranny of minorities. It is a small minority that is grabbing our coal-deposits, our water-powers, and our harbor fronts. A small minority is battening on the sale of adulterated foods and drugs.” Roosevelt is showing that because the minority is so powerful, they can choose to do basically whatever they want with that power, including oppressing the majority. Roosevelt uses this as a kind of eye-opener to the public and to show that there is a major problem that needs to be changed. He uses the term “master and servant” in the paragraph to represent what it is actually like for the economy and the working conditions of the public in “the sweat-shops” and calls this “social and industrial …show more content…
He uses the words of Mr. Taft, who is against Roosevelt’s proposition, and says that it “is utterly without merit or utility, and, instead of being in the interest of all the people, and of the stability of popular government, is sowing the seeds of confusion and tyranny. Roosevelt is able to skillfully manipulate what Taft has said and uses it to help further his own argument. Roosevelt states that the criticism isn’t against his proposal but against popular government and that this is “wholly unfounded, unless it is founded on the belief that the people are fundamentally untrustworthy”. This states makes what Taft has said less appealing to the audience, because if what Taft said is true, then, from Roosevelt’s words, Taft doesn’t believe that the people can be trusted. This goes back to appealing to the public, as Roosevelt has done in the previous parts in his speech, making the public feel more in favor for Roosevelt than his opponents. Roosevelt continues with allusion by referencing that Taft has said that “every class should have a voice in the government”, and Roosevelt points out that his is a misconception of the American political situation. Roosevelt states that some classes have too much of a voice while others don’t have enough, and points out that one of the most important lessons that need to be taught is that a man should vote on what is right, not what his representative class
W131 Period 2
March 3, 2017 The Right of the People to Rule Analysis
Throughout Theodore Roosevelt’s speech on March 20, 1912, he addresses many issues that the American people have, especially the issue about the minority having so much more power than the majority of the American people. He starts off his speech with the question, “Are the American people fit to govern themselves, to rule themselves, to control themselves?” He is able to gain support by this question by agreeing with it, and showing his opponents opinions and how they are the minority. He uses cause and effect, tone, allusion, and appeals to the majority of Americans in his speech against the minority and how they are ruining the lives of the majority. …show more content…
“But we are today suffering from the tyranny of minorities. It is a small minority that is grabbing our coal-deposits, our water-powers, and our harbor fronts. A small minority is battening on the sale of adulterated foods and drugs.” Roosevelt is showing that because the minority is so powerful, they can choose to do basically whatever they want with that power, including oppressing the majority. Roosevelt uses this as a kind of eye-opener to the public and to show that there is a major problem that needs to be changed. He uses the term “master and servant” in the paragraph to represent what it is actually like for the economy and the working conditions of the public in “the sweat-shops” and calls this “social and industrial …show more content…
He uses the words of Mr. Taft, who is against Roosevelt’s proposition, and says that it “is utterly without merit or utility, and, instead of being in the interest of all the people, and of the stability of popular government, is sowing the seeds of confusion and tyranny. Roosevelt is able to skillfully manipulate what Taft has said and uses it to help further his own argument. Roosevelt states that the criticism isn’t against his proposal but against popular government and that this is “wholly unfounded, unless it is founded on the belief that the people are fundamentally untrustworthy”. This states makes what Taft has said less appealing to the audience, because if what Taft said is true, then, from Roosevelt’s words, Taft doesn’t believe that the people can be trusted. This goes back to appealing to the public, as Roosevelt has done in the previous parts in his speech, making the public feel more in favor for Roosevelt than his opponents. Roosevelt continues with allusion by referencing that Taft has said that “every class should have a voice in the government”, and Roosevelt points out that his is a misconception of the American political situation. Roosevelt states that some classes have too much of a voice while others don’t have enough, and points out that one of the most important lessons that need to be taught is that a man should vote on what is right, not what his representative class