In Douglass’ Speech he uses several examples of these rhetorical appeals. One quote from his speech that uses rhetoric is “Fellow-Citizens—Pardon me and allow me to ask, why am I called upon to speak here to-day?” (Douglass 285). In this quote particularly he uses ethos, because he is giving an example of credibility. Also, another place in the text that uses rhetoric appeal is when Douglass states, “America is false to the past, false to the present, and solemnly binds herself false to the future.” (287). This example is pathos, because he is referring to past experiences; this quote also had great parallel …show more content…
Douglass had several allusions to the Bible. When he referenced “zion” (which was a reference to Psalm 137), he was referring to when the Babylonians took the Jews captive in the sixth century BC. This was considered in his speech to be like how the slaves were being held captive by the slaveholders. Back in this time, several slaveholders thought that it was God’s will to have slaves. However, Douglass makes another interpret of the text when he says “Is it that slavery in not divine; that God did not establish it…” (Douglass 289). By saying this he makes a point that slavery cannot come from God, that slavery is wrong, and bad things do not come by God’s