Garrison

When I look at Garrison and his language, I think of conformity, and persuasion. Garrison was a man who could persuade anyone, and would always get a group to believe in him. He uses numerous social psychology techniques at persuasion and conformity, such as mere exposure effect, social influence on emotion, and the peripheral route to persuasion. When he speaks or writes his messages are all intended to relay his values and beliefs to his fellow Americans, and persuade them to share those values and beliefs with him. The first example of effective social psychology I see with Garrison is conformity. Garrison tries to change a person’s behavior as a result of real or imagined pressure from himself as well as the abolitionist. You can see him doing this in Document 1 when he states “A very large proportion of our colored population was born on our soil, and are therefore entitled to all the privileges of American citizens. This is their country by birth, not by adoption. Their children possess the same inherent and unalienable rights as ours, and it is a crime of the blackest dye to load them with fetters” (Document 1 pg, 64). He is trying to pressure his listens or readers into believing in the injustices of slavery by stating that the slaves are the same as you and me, and their children have the same rights as ours. He also states that slavery is one of the worst possible crimes to commit.
Another example of effective social psychology Garrison uses is the emotional appeal. Emotional appeal is done by hitting the audience somewhere close to them; it is making them understand the impact on a personal level. Garrison does this when he talks about the gruesome suffering slaves encounter; he is trying to get the audience to feel the pain of the slaves. This is seen in document19 when Garrison states "but to enslave, brutalize, scorn and insult human beings based on the hue of their skin which it has pleased god to bestow on them; to pronounce them accursed, for no