This study was a rhetorical analysis of two black Louisiana newspapers during the Civil War and Reconstruction era, L'Union and the New Orleans Tribune. / L'Union, a French-English publication, emerged in 1862 as the first black owned newspaper in the South. The paper was founded in New Orleans by a group of free blacks of Creole heritage (African, French and Spanish) who wanted to agitate for equal rights. Mounting negative pressure from its adversaries caused the paper to discontinue on July 19, 1864. / Two days later, one of L'Union's owners, Dr. Louis Charles Roudanez, purchased the stock and the equipment of L'Union and started the New Orleans Tribune. The Tribune became the Louisiana Republican Party's organ in the South, and in October, 1864, it became the first black owned daily in the United States. Conflict among staff members and problems with the Louisiana Republican party contributed to the paper's suspension in March, 1870. / This dissertation answers insofar as possible the following research questions pertinent to L'Union and the New Orleans Tribune. (1) What issues did L'Union and the Tribune cover most frequently in their editorials? (2) What arguments did L'Union and the Tribune advance in support of their positions on these issues? (3) How were the rhetorical proofs of logos, pathos, and ethos (both artistic and nonartistic) used to support the arguments? (4) What was the philosophical basis of the L'Union-Tribune movement? / The investigation revealed that Dr. Louis Charles Roudanez provided the rationale for the political thrust of the two newspapers. As a result of his philosophy, L'Union's argued for emancipation, employment and fair treatment of black troops, and suffrage. The Tribune argued for suffrage, opposed the "free" labor system, and promoted the Freedmen's Aid Association. / Although some of L'Union's arguments for black suffrage were similar to those of the Tribune, each newspaper had a unique argument for each policy that it supported. While both newspapers used all three types of proof (logos, pathos, ethos) to support their arguments, L'Union's arguments were less diverse than those of the New Orleans Tribune and its editorials relied more on emotional rather than logical proof. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 51-01, Section: A, page: 0012. / Major Professor: Thomas King. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1989.
Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:fsu.edu/oai:fsu.digital.flvc.org:fsu_78148 |
Contributors | Rouzan, Laura Velina., Florida State University |
Source Sets | Florida State University |
Language | English |
Detected Language | English |
Type | Text |
Format | 218 p. |
Rights | On campus use only. |
Relation | Dissertation Abstracts International |
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