Premium Essay

Viewed as an Era as a Whole, Reconstruction Takes Place Between the Years 1865-1877 or Between the Civil War’s End and the Union Army’s Withdrawal from the South. Reconstruction’s Main Goals Were to Integrate Newly

In: Historical Events

Submitted By e41488
Words 438
Pages 2
"The Morality of Birth Control" by Margaret Sanger, (1921)

Margaret Sanger uses several method's within her speech, "The Morality of Birth Control", to convey her strong views on the topic. She uses a strong sense of bias, fallacies, and colorful rhetoric devices in her speech to not only get the attention of the audiences, but to relay a sense of urgency for the actions that need to be taken.

One bias that Sanger uses is toward the idea of motherhood without birth control being a condition of ignorance and chance. This may perhaps be the case for a small number of women, but it is not accurate to categorize all women who do not use or believe in birth control in this manner.

Margaret Sanger uses vivid examples of fallacies and rhetorical devices in her speech. She uses the words "religious scruples" to drive home the basic need for power and morality. When Sanger refers to the opposition to birth control she refers to them as "this group is diseased, feeble-minded, and is of the pauper element dependent entirely upon the normal and fit members of society for their support." Her vivid imagery evokes not only emotion, but the need for aggressive action.

One way that the speaker addressers arguments and counterarguments is when she brings about the point of the two sexes "mixing together”. Sanger brings about the point that opponent to birth control are the same people that were opposed to women working outside the home and mixing with the opposite sex. Margaret Sanger does an excellent job of pointing out that these same people have no objection to women meeting with members of the opposite sex to attend church. What Sanger accomplishes with this counterargument is show that there is a double standard involved in allowing women freedom and that if women are able to successfully handle other important decisions, they most certainly are able to handle the

Similar Documents

Premium Essay

Ku Klux Klan Impact on Reconstruction Efforts

...Viewed as an era as a whole, Reconstruction takes place between the years 1865-1877 or between the Civil War’s end and the Union army’s withdrawal from the South. Reconstruction’s main goals were to integrate newly freed slaves into society, readmitting Southern states whom had seceded from the Union, and recreating Southern property as to better its conditions. At war’s end, the process of reconstruction sought out to solve the challenge that the disembodied Union now faced: what the status would be of postwar freedmen. While the North continued occupying Southern territories, Reconstruction shared very few successes. However, Reconstruction failed to meet its greater purpose. The process of Reconstruction was incompetent in integrating freedmen into American society because of its unstable and strained economy, its political disadvantages and its desire to redesign Southern social structure completely. Financial matters played a key role in Reconstruction’s failure, leading way to public hostility and corruption. Government industrialization plans helped rebuild the Southern economy however; the plans cost a lot of money to the government who financed such plans using tax revenue. Unable to keep up with the ever-growing investments, tax rates skyrocketed resulting in an antagonistic public opinion on Reconstruction. Conditions during this period were bad enough; the Civil War had greatly damaged the economy, greatly limiting financial opportunities as well as resources. Such...

Words: 277 - Pages: 2

Premium Essay

Reconstruction: a Post-Civil War Failure

...History 21 January 2010 Reconstruction: A Post-Civil War Failure Viewed as an era as a whole, Reconstruction takes place between the years 1865-1877 or between the Civil War’s end and the Union army’s withdrawal from the South. Reconstruction’s main goals were to integrate newly freed slaves into society, readmitting Southern states whom had seceded from the Union, and recreating Southern property as to better its conditions. At war’s end, the process of reconstruction sought out to solve the challenge that the disembodied Union now faced: what the status would be of postwar freedmen. While the North continued occupying Southern territories, Reconstruction shared very few successes. However, Reconstruction failed to meet its greater purpose. The process of Reconstruction was incompetent in integrating freedmen into American society because of its unstable and strained economy, its political disadvantages and its desire to redesign Southern social structure completely. Financial matters played a key role in Reconstruction’s failure, leading way to public hostility and corruption. Government industrialization plans helped rebuild the Southern economy however; the plans cost a lot of money to the government who financed such plans using tax revenue. Unable to keep up with the ever-growing investments, tax rates skyrocketed resulting in an antagonistic public opinion on Reconstruction. Conditions during this period were bad enough; the Civil War had greatly damaged the economy...

Words: 899 - Pages: 4