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Why Establish This Paper By Mary Ann Shadd Cary Analysis

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In the editorial, “Why Establish This Paper?”, Mary Ann Shadd Cary, an abolitionist and African American writer, asserts that her newspaper, Provincial Freeman, will give fugitive slaves representation within the new country. Cary validates this claim by establishing a need for a voice, emphasizing a lack of freedom, and confirming a lack of a current voice. Cary empowers and unites fugitive slaves in order to give them a voice. Cary writes to the fugitive slaves of Canada with a didactic yet inspiring tone to establish the necessity of her newspaper, which would give the slaves a new freedom they deserve. Cary declares that free slaves need a voice in order to magnify the significance of her newspaper. She begins by declaring, “We need an organ” in order to make their voice heard. By immediately creating a comparison between an internal …show more content…

She first makes an allusion to the Constitution by giving an example of what they should be- “freeman we never were before.” She enforces the idea that they should strive to be free like their Constitution promised them in order to persuade them into believing that her newspaper is the next step to freedom and representation within their country. Cary then acknowledges her competitors’ papers to further prove how little colored people are represented. She states that “there never was a newspaper in Canada which represented colored Canadians.” This discredits her opposing newspapers and shows how they truly lack a voice in the country through newspapers, proving how her newspaper is going to be beneficial and life changing for all fugitive slaves. She establishes her credibility and authority by making an allusion to the Constitution and acknowledging her opponent's paper, which helps her establish the lack of freedom and representation of colored people, making her paper

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