Calhoun Analysis

In 1836 there was a collection of readings sent to congress concerning the ending of slavery. In this case, it was whether or not to allow petitions for the abolition of slavery from the citizens of Pennsylvania to be presented to Congress. The debate over whether slavery was to be abolished or not was of great importance during this time period, where slave owners tried desperately to maintain possession. Calhoun, a resident of South Carolina, was clearly interested to prevent the abolition of slavery. In order to do this Calhoun attempted to prevent these petitions to be read. He begins by using the rhetorical device logos, by reviewing past rules and regulations, Calhoun states that if there was a rule against these petitions being read in 1789, then it should uphold now. By doing this he made a logical argument that would help him in persuading congress. Calhoun then continues his argument in an ethos-based aspect, pulling text from the Declaration of Rights, the Magna Carta, and the Constitution. Calhoun uses these reliable well known and credible documents and relies on using the idea that since our Constitution has rules limiting the rights of petitions, that it should apply to this specific instance. Without the use of ethos, Calhouns argument would lack the credibility to persuade congress. Calhoun then concludes with the utilization of pathos to make the audience reflect on themselves. For example, he states that the movement for petition readings is distracting and divisive, he did this to infer that if people supported this petition then they would be supporting that as well . The negative connotation involving the petition then stirs the thoughts and emotions in Congress. With the utilization of ethos pathos and logos helped him promote his cause in stopping the abolition of slavery, however thankfully they were not extremely accepted throughout the country and slavery was abolished.