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. Kelley commences her speech by providing a shocking statistic that “two million children under the age of sixteen years” strenuously work to support themselves and their families in order to create a forceful sense of emotion within her audience. By doing this she illuminates the rate of child labor to stress the severity of the problem. The author repeats “increase” to emphasize and describe that the American workforce is increasingly composed of girls/women in order to highlight their role and the growth of their participation in the workforce. Juxtaposing how girls spend their time with how
3. Urban industrialism dislocated women’s lives no less than men’s. Like men, women sought political change and organized to promote issues central to their lives, campaigning for temperance and woman suffrage., Susan B. Anthony, launched the National Woman Suffrage Association in 1869, demanding the vote for women suffrage, though not yet generally supported, was no longer considered a crackpot idea. Thanks to the WCTU’s support of the “home protection” ballot, suffrage had become accepted as a means to an end even when it was not embraced as a woman’s natural right.
Throughout history, the topic of suitable working conditions on children has been a prominent issue in regards to the limit of their actions. Nearly 2 million of America's laborers ranged within the ages of six and sixteen, which are considered to be crucial years for intellectual and social development. Instead of implementing the children’s time in necessary educational matters, their time was spent crafting society’s “stockings” and “artificial flowers”. One particular social worker and reformer, Florence Kelley, strived to bring attention to the tedious working hours abhorred by children in a speech presented at the convention of the National American Woman Suffrage Association. In order to convey her message in an effective matter, Kelley
Florence Kelley applies repetition throughout the text by continually referring to her audience as “we.” This use of repetition is key because it builds a sense of unity that is essential for the American people to have in taking on the issue at hand. Through the constant use of “we,” Kelley is able to push the concept that the current state of child labor is not just one man’s problem, it is an American problem. Kelley clearly portrays this message through “We do not wish this. We prefer to have our work done by men and women.” This demonstrates the obvious: nobody
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’s speech to the National American Woman Suffrage Association in 1905, effectively utilized rhetorical strategies to convey her message about child labor. Through the use of vivid imagery, repetition of “while we sleep” and juxtaposition, Kelley successfully persuaded her audience to support the reform of child labor laws. Vivid imagery is portrayed throughout the speech to describe the overworked children all over the United States. This evokes strong emotions throughout her audience as she emphasizes how while asleep, young children will be working in textiles the whole night in the “deafening noise of the spindles” as well as “looms spinning”. By describing how young children, including “little girls” across the United States,
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.
Florence Kelley was born on September 12, 1859 in Philadelphia and she would later become a famous child welfare advocate and social reformer. She was born to U.S. congressman William Darrah Kelley, who was a founding member of the Republican party, a radical deconstructionist, and an abolitionist. When Kelley was a child her father would take her to see the young boys working at the factories in dangerous conditions, to teach her about child laborers. Through her fathers influence and reading various books of her father’s on social reform, human rights and slavery, Kelley focused on advocacy for child labor reform. In 1876, Kelley enrolled at Cornell University and a few years later, moved to Europe and attended the University of Zürich. While
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
In America, there used to be unfair laws and regulations regarding labor. Children are put to work in harsh conditions, conditions often deemed difficult even for adults, and are forced to work ridiculous hours. Florence Kelley gave a speech at the National American Woman Suffrage Association in Philadelphia on July 22, 1905. In her speech, Kelley uses repetition, pathos, imagery, logos, and carefully placed diction to express how child labor is morally wrong and inhumane.
Florence Kelley was a hard working woman who dedicated her life to changing the lives of women and children. She deserves a place in history because she is responsible for the passing of the “Fair Labor Standards Act, abolishing child labor and setting maximum hours and minimum wage for all working adults” (“Florence Kelley”, 2001). Motivation Florence Kelley’s father and her values motivated her. Her father, for example, was “a Republican Congressman who supported abolition and women’s suffrage…”
In Florence Kelley’s speech before the convention of the National American Woman Suffrage Association in Philadelphia on July 22, 1905, she argues that there are millions of young children working under harsh conditions that is not acceptable in human nature. Kelley promotes an end to child labor by utilizing pathos and repetition in her speech to strengthen her claim. By stating out facts, she compares the conditions of young boys and girls with healthy men in order to emphasize about child abuse and to encourage her audience to stand with her to fight for child labor laws.
To this day the women’s suffrage movement ignites women in the present to keep those right burning. Alice Paul and her fellow women suffrages demonstrated through speeches, lobbying and petitioning Congressional Committees, with parades, picketing and demonstrations, and with arrest that lead to imprisonment. These women express courage that women still uphold for years after their legacy has passed on, such as the article “Women’s Strike for Equality,” by Linda Napikoski, in the demonstration that was held on August 26, 1970 on the 50th anniversary of women’s suffrage. As well as an article “Women to Protest For Equality Today,” by United Press that talks about on the eve of the 50th anniversary of the women’s suffrage and “declared war on firms that Damage the Image,” of the fair sex. Alice Paul, set the stage for inspiring women to fight for their rights everywhere across the world.
Jobs are currently available to women of any race, background, or ethnicity, and the age to go into an area of work has gradually decreased; for instance, some careers allow students to begin a job starting at the young age of fourteen. But working was not always an option for women. World War I was the stepping stone that pushed women into the workforce. As men were being drafted into the military, women stepped up into factory jobs, creating the necessary technology for America’s victory and emergence as a world power. In today’s government, women are joining the workforce because the economy calls for it. With high costs of raising children, college debt shooting through the roof, and gas prices going up, women are taking on similar roles to their husbands and providing two set incomes as opposed to
According to Mother Jones, child labor is like slavery. It is incredibly tough and dangerous, especially for young children. Mother Jones begins by telling us how she heard “gruesome stories of little children working” in the factories. She wanted to see for herself if these terrible stories were true, unfortunately, she saw for herself how they were indeed true. Mother Jones first applied to a mill in Cottondale, that was the first encounter she had with the living conditions provided to the small children. She describes the house as a “sort of two-story plank shanty”, with broken windows and a sagging door. The place was small, and it offered no real protection. There were “cracks in the roof”, so when it rained it rotted the floors. She also talks about the downstairs’ “big open fireplace”, that had “holes big enough to drop a brick through”. This meant that if small children ran or played around the fireplace, they could fall and get injured. The living conditions alone were terrible and not adequate for children. The children also experienced harsh summers and winters. They were more prone to getting a disease and dying.
So..What is child labor? Child labor is children basically being slaves for other people. Children who are involved in child labor are sold by their parents to other companies. Adults would not be considered people who are in child labor because they are grown adults. They work in fields and factories but mostly factories. Sometimes they work in gold mines but with no safety equipment whatsoever. These children work all day and not like you think which is maybe 3 hours. They spend countless hours which I doubt you would even guess working in those fields, Factories and gold mines. This segment will teach you all about child labor and what effects it has on these children. In this essay you will learn about Child Labor and how it affects different children