I believe that the speech given by Ignatius Donnelly at the 1892 populist convention had the intentions of making the people realize how twisted and corrupted politics and the government were. He calls the time of these elections a moral,political, and material ruin. He also says that the ballot-boxes, the legislatures and the congress are all corrupted. He also talks about how the "urban workmen" have horrible working conditions. I believe that Donnelly was trying to argue that the government is creating two major classes and ruining society. He refers to the two classes as tramps and millionaires at the end of his speech. Throughout the speech he talks about many negative things that the government is doing.
I thought that Donnelly was extremely convincing in this speech and that his wording made it even more convincing. He made many great points throughout the entire speech. If I were to have been an average person and hear this back then I would have been outraged. It would have been a harsh realization on what was really going on in society.
I feel that the choice of words that Donnelly used and the examples that he gave would have made an emotional impact on a reader, not only with anger but even sadness as well. I'm sure that Donnelly's character reflected on the people while he was giving his speech in a positive or motivational way.Donnelly made extremely well and logical points as to how the government was corrupt and destroying society. He talks about how newspapers are muzzled and public opinions are silenced. I feel that ethos pathos and logos all would have been affected by Donnelly's speech in a way that Donnelly had hoped for, in agreement with his argument.
I agree with you that the author is trying to let the people know how corrupted the system is. Not only was it corrupt with the politicians but there was also the issue of the country's growing national debt that is "burdening the people". He claims that political parties wish to destroy the lives and funds of the masses in order to fund the millionaire. Donnelly wants nothing more but for the government to be restored into the hands of the everyday citizen and that this is the only chance the country has for success. Donelly was very to the point and I think he did a good job conveying his feelings.
ReplyDeleteThe main aim of this convention was to address the people about the political agenda of the populist party and to request them to support the party in the presidential election. The populists argue that the Democrats and Republicans have ignored many important issues and now, time has come to expand the government, in order to achieve economic as well as social reforms in the American society.I like your first paragraph and how you mentioned that the democrats and republicans are ruining American society.Your second paragraph is a little unclear to me.You have mentioned that he made great points in his speech, but you haven't mentioned specifically what exactly were those words.I feel that you should have elaborated the concept of pathos and ethos in your analysis.
ReplyDeleteAlso I think its intresting to know that the Knights of Labor was origionally founded in 1869 and was the first national labor organization. Since it wasnt unheard of to work 80 hours a week, or be eligible for sick leave or basically have to work or face the threat of not having a job, plus the issues with child labor as mentioned in our last text analysis the crime of poverty, was the motivation for this organization to be founded. Trying to achieve political power was also a main priority for this group.
ReplyDeleteI am also one to agree that Donnelly was in his right to speak out against the corruption in the government that worked against the smaller class citizens. Donnelly seemed to be a proper authoritative figure who called out the two large political parties on their corrupt and greedy ideals while also speaking for the "smaller people/workers." Donnelly was one to see that the lower class citizens were being led around by the government and forced into a difficult lifestyle with no idea that they were being left out and thrown into the corner by the two large competitive political parties. I also agree with your point in putting yourself in the place of those workers after hearing Donnellys speech. It wouldn't be abnormal to feel some sort of culture shock after hearing that your countries government is lead my greedy corrupt "tramps" followed by anger and a need to reform.
ReplyDeleteI agree completely with your statement about it was in his right to speak his mind. And how he stated everything being of two classes and utterly corrupt seems to be just like how society is today. It seems rather tragic to think that nothing has really changed since then and now. Both literally and emotionally, this hits where it hurts if you were a commoner back in those times. In short, his speech is nothing less then persuasive and true, ready to outrage anyone of the lower class and to try and cause some sort of movement.
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