English 12 CP Names: Sophia, Anastasia, Alyssa, Kaylib, Channing

Logical Fallacies Unit Class Period: #6

“Shut the Door” Speech, by Senator Ellison D. Smith (1924)

In the early 20th century, there was an influx of immigration to the United States. The Quota
Act of 1921 and the Act of 1924 prohibited the amount of immigrants allowed into the
country, the latter more restrictive than the former. In the following speech delivered to
Congress on April 9, 1924, Senator Ellison DuRant Smith of South Carolina democratic party
argues that in order to preserve American resources, the government should restrict
immigration. Although his argument is now largely considered racist, the Act of 1924 was
instated with only six dissenting (opposing) votes. After reading and annotating for logical
fallacies (TASK 1), complete the following group collaborative writing assignment. This is a
timed, in-class final for our logical fallacies unit and will earn a group grade. See rubric
for more information.

TASK #2: WRITING ANALYSIS & GROUP COLLABORATION. Make ONE copy and complete as a group. Each
group member signs up for which portion of this final they will complete. The owner of the document will be in
charge of submitting this task to Google Classroom.

● After analyzing the logical fallacies used in Senator Ellison D. Smith’s speech (TASK 1), write ONE
strong explanatory paragraph that explains the speaker’s effectiveness to persuade his audience .

● Example Topic Sentences/Claims:

○ Senator Ellison D. Smith effectively uses persuasive language in his “Shut the Door” speech to bolster the
flaws in his argument that America needs to restrict immigration to protect and preserve its natural
resources.
○ In his speech, “Shut the Door,” Senator Ellison D. Smith effectively uses persuasive language to convince
Americans that immigrants pose a real threat to America and its resources.

Student Name/Sign-Up Paragraph Checklist:

Anastasia ❏ Clear claim including TAG - Title (“Shut the Door”), Author (Senator Ellison D. Smith), Genre
(Speech)
In “Shut the Door” a speech by Senator Ellison D. Smith is not effective in persuading the
audience because Senator Ellison D. Smith uses multiple logical fallacies that discredit the
argument he is trying to make. Throughout the time of the 20th century, many hopeful
immigrants arrived in the United States for a greater opportunity. The two acts Act of 1921 and
Act of 1924, forbid the number of immigrants to come into the country to begin their new lives.
Society was changing quickly and Senator Ellison D. Smith along with others were worried about
what they believe would restrict immigration to improve American prosperity and preserve
American resources.

Channing ❏ Background info of the speech (max 3-4 sentences) South Carolina Senator Ellison DuRant
Smith in his 1924 speech to the Senate advances the deplorable idea that the United States
must “shut the door” on immigration, or at least adopt the “lowest possible quota” of
allowing any more immigrants into the country, so that the country may breed up a “pure…
American citizenry.”

Sophia ❏ Lead-in and Example 1: Transition to evidence/quotation from the speech, including proper
citation (Smith)

LCC English Department

 Towards the beginning of his speech, Smith uses a scare tactic technique: “We all know that
one of the most prolific causes of war is the desire for increased land ownership for the
overflow of a congested population” (Paragraph 2).

Sophia ❏ Commentary 1: Explain how evidence/quotation proves your claim (how the logical fallacy
persuades)
In this statement, Smith claims that if we let in too many immigrants, there will be an
overflowing population, which will cause high demand in land ownership and ends up in a
war declaration . Not only is this faulty reasoning, but Smith also sparks fear in his audience
by exaggerating unlikely consequences of accepting immigrants, which in the end, weakens
his overall argument.

Kaylib ❏ Transition to next example

Smith then continues on in his speech and uses a red herring to address the US citizens
about this issue,

Kaylib ❏ Lead-in and Example 2: Continue to evidence/quotation from the speech, including proper
citation (Smith)
“I do not believe that political reasons should enter into the discussion of this very vital question.
It is of greater concern to us to maintain the institutions of America, to maintain the principles
upon which this Government is founded, than to develop and exploit the underdeveloped
resources of the country” (Paragraph 3)

alyssa ❏ Commentary 2: Explain how evidence/quotation proves your claim (how the logical fallacy
persuades)
In this statement, Smith is trying to explain how he thinks we should try to keep things
the way they are and not change. Smith is inferring if things are changed then it could
expose more of America's flaws which then can be a threat to America itself. Smith is using
faulty causality because not all change can end up being a bad thing, it could go both ways.

alyssa ❏ Closing sentence: Leave the reader with your overall impression on how effective Smith was
at persuading you to support his argument.
❏ 1 Point Extra Credit if you end with a theme statement! :)
❏ 2 Points Extra Credit for ending with a theme statement regarding our senior thematic
topic of Freedom & Responsibility

To finish, Smith´s argument was not persuasive because of the use of logical fallacies
to unknowingly un do his arguments, as well as weak arguments.

TASK #2: WRITING ANALYSIS & GROUP COLLABORATION - Begin group wring in the box below.

Ineffectively Spoken

In “Shut the Door”, a speech written by Senator Ellison D. Smith, Smith is not effective in persuading the

audience because he uses multiple logical fallacies that discredit and weaken the argument he is trying to

make. Throughout the time of the 20th century, many hopeful immigrants arrived in the United States for a

greater opportunity. The two acts, Act of 1921 and Act of 1924, forbid the number of immigrants allowed to

enter into the country to chase their dreams. Society was changing quickly and Senator Ellison D. Smith

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along with others were worried about what the influx of immigrants could do to the American culture. These

politicians stood by their ideas to improve American prosperity and preserve American resources. Towards

the beginning of his speech, Smith uses a scare tactic technique: “We all know that one of the most prolific

causes of war is the desire for increased land ownership for the overflow of a congested population”

(Paragraph 2). In this statement, Smith claims that if we let in too many immigrants, there will be an

overflowing population, which will cause high demand in land ownership and ends up in a war declaration.

Not only is this faulty reasoning, but Smith also sparks fear in his audience by exaggerating unlikely

consequences of accepting immigrants, which in the end, weakens his overall argument. Smith then continues

on in his speech and uses another logical fallacy that diverts the attention away from the real argument. He

uses a red herring to address the US citizens about this issue, “I do not believe that political reasons should

enter into the discussion of this very vital question. It is of greater concern to us to maintain the institutions of

America, to maintain the principles upon which this Government is founded, than to develop and exploit the

underdeveloped resources of the country” (Paragraph 3). In this statement, Smith is trying to explain how he

thinks we should try to keep things the way they are and not change. Smith is inferring if things are changed

then it could expose more of America's flaws which then can be a threat to America itself. Smith is using

faulty causality because not all change can end up being a bad thing, it could go both ways. To finish, Smith´s

argument is not persuasive because of the use of logical fallacies to unknowingly undo his arguments, as well

as weak arguments.

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Works Cited:

http://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/5080/
https://www.commonlit.org/en/texts/shut-the-door-speech