English 102 25 March 2018 Critical analysis essay of the Address to Congress on Women’s Suffrage by Carrie Chapman Catt. In the article “Address to Congress on Women’s Suffrage” (Carrie Chapman Catt) the author is addressing the many decades of suffrage that women have endured in our country. She calls out the Congress on their contradicting statements made about being treated fairly such as “Ours is a government of the people, by the people, and for the people” (Abraham Lincoln 3). Clearly the author is insinuating that “people” in that statement is comprised of only men and not necessarily women. Carrie Chapman Catt shows many statements that support her claims on the lack of women’s rights. “Address to Congress on Women’s Suffrage by Carrie Chapman Catt presents a successful argument because it opened up a candid discussion about how women were not treated as equals, not allowed to vote, and not allowed their voices be heard by denying them their rights to democracy. Throughout the article the author points out the many ways that women have suffered and expresses it greatly through emotion and passion. The author uses a great amount of the pathos mode to persuade the audience and enhance her argument. The primary audience being addressed here are men and the author wants the audience to feel, understand, and possibly place themselves in those very same positions as those women. At times, the authors words may seem mostly emotion driven, with statements like “women haters” (14), and “old males of the tribe” (14). Carri Chapman Catt bravely calls out the people of the Congress, will they stand idly by and do nothing, or will they move forward for a change. The author really shows her credibility through pointing out facts regarding women’s suffrage. She states that “thirteen black states where no suffrage for women exists, and fourteen other where suffrage for women is more limited than in many foreign countries” (8). The statement being driven here is that women of education must beg men, who often cannot read, for the political rights. The fact that a woman of statue, such as a college president, having to ask someone like a janitor to give them a vote may sound absurd. This article has provided some sound logic for the arguments being claimed. One argument discusses “Taxation without representation is tyranny” (5). The fact is that the government had seized all tax dollars from hard working, educated women since they were refused “representation” (5). Another logical appeal the author made is that the women of this country did not have “a voice in their own government” (5), but young men who were newly made immigrant citizens were given that very same right denied to women. This type of logical reasoning alone showed how the Government denied the rights of democracy to thousands of women. Carrie Chapman Catt demands the Congress to change their way of thinking and change the history of the country. They author alludes to the fact that the country cannot state claims of a great nation while at the same time deny those rights of others, ideally being women. The author uses a combination of all three, pathos, ethos, and logos to present her argument to the people of the Congress. The article could have pointed out a bit more facts on the importance of the “Federal Suffrage Amendment” and how important of these actions taken had eventually led to a major focal point in women’s history. At about paragraph five of the article is when it really started to build and hook in the audience. Although the author was not always fair and objective; she did show she had knowledge and experience on the topic. The author pointed out a few key facts to support the claim made showing her credibility. The author really enhanced the message using more of the pathos and ethos to build the case. The author passionately states that “our nation cannot long continue a condition under which government in half its territory rests upon the consent of half of the people and in the other half upon the consent of all the people” (6). To sum up the entire article, the author’s point is that our nation must change for the better and that all women should be treated as equals. Works Cited Carrie Chapman Catt. "Address to Congress on Women's Suffrage." http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/carriechapmancattsuffragespeech.htm, Accessed 21 Mar 2018.
