Voting Legislation President Lyndon Baines Johnson’s address to a Joint Session of Congress on Voting Legislation on March 15th 1965 sought to change the hearts and minds of it’s audiences by creating a connection between himself and all other Americans trough appealing to their patriotism, religious beliefs, and desire to become a greater nation. President Johnson’s Address persuades the audience to unanimously endorse his Voting Rights Act. His Address was given to Congress about a week after the events in Selma, Alabama that later became known as “Bloody Sunday” because of its violent nature. On March 7th ,1965 an estimated 525 to 600 civil rights activists marched southeast out of Selma, Alabama intending to reach Alabama’s state capital
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For example when he said“I will welcome the suggestions from all of the Members of Congress -- I have no doubt that I will get some -- on ways and means to strengthen this law and to make it effective. But experience has plainly shown that this is the only path to carry out the command of the Constitution.” he is admitting that he is not perfect and that this Voting Rights Act may also not be perfect and surrenders to the experiences of the Congress, in all things except that he will up hold the Constitution the backbone of the American ideal which is a common theme in his address. Again when he said “It was more than a hundred years ago that Abraham Lincoln, a great President of another party, signed the Emancipation Proclamation; but emancipation is a proclamation, and not a fact. A century has passed, more than a hundred years, since equality was promised. And yet the Negro is not equal. A century has passed since the day of promise. And the promise is unkept.” Johnson brought in Abraham Lincoln a former president and symbol of honesty in American culture and said that this Voting Rights Act was to fulfill Lincoln’s promise of equality to the African-American people. Johnson used a amazing amount of ethos throughout his address as he tried to show this as a selfless endeavor with only others well-being and the Constitution, to which he had given oath to in
For example when he said“I will welcome the suggestions from all of the Members of Congress -- I have no doubt that I will get some -- on ways and means to strengthen this law and to make it effective. But experience has plainly shown that this is the only path to carry out the command of the Constitution.” he is admitting that he is not perfect and that this Voting Rights Act may also not be perfect and surrenders to the experiences of the Congress, in all things except that he will up hold the Constitution the backbone of the American ideal which is a common theme in his address. Again when he said “It was more than a hundred years ago that Abraham Lincoln, a great President of another party, signed the Emancipation Proclamation; but emancipation is a proclamation, and not a fact. A century has passed, more than a hundred years, since equality was promised. And yet the Negro is not equal. A century has passed since the day of promise. And the promise is unkept.” Johnson brought in Abraham Lincoln a former president and symbol of honesty in American culture and said that this Voting Rights Act was to fulfill Lincoln’s promise of equality to the African-American people. Johnson used a amazing amount of ethos throughout his address as he tried to show this as a selfless endeavor with only others well-being and the Constitution, to which he had given oath to in