How does roosevelt link his assertion that this speech occurs at an unprecedented moment to his later claim that this speech “ is unique in our history “?

Roosevelt does this by gradually comparing previous historical precedents of American history with the current moment. He starts his demonstrative enumeration with 1789, a very symbolic year since it is the year when the Constitution of the US came to have legal force (it is also the year of the French Revolution which is hardly a coincidence). Roosevelt delivered this speech before Congress on January 6th, 1941. Context is paramount here: at that point in time, WWII was well under way, and Nazi Germany and the Axis powers were winning victory after victory. France had already fallen (thence the date of 1789 is definitely not a coincidence), so had Norway, Denmark, Belgium, The Netherlands, Belgium, Poland, etc. the only major Western European country that still resisted Nazi Germany was the United Kingdom and Churchill was desperately in need of both material and moral support from America. The Nazi army seemed unstoppable and the Blitz was raging over London. Roosevelt shows that due to technological advances the world was much smaller than the previous antebellum world in which the great oceanic distances between America and Europe/Asia protect the former from invasion or political turmoil. Also, the viciousness and the hostility of the Axis made it inevitable that once they had secured dominance of Europe and its colonies, they would come for the USA. Because of such dangerous and imminent threats, this moment was unique in history and Roosevelt provided factual evidence of that in its speech.

Roosevelt linked his assertion that this speech occurred at an unprecedented moment as he related past events in the history of America to where the country was.

Roosevelt analyzed how the happenings in the past led to where the country was presently. He explained the importance of the Constitution in the country.

The main idea in his speech was about the development of the country. He further stated that technological advancement was vital for the development of the country. He stated that it was important for the rights that were addressed in the Constitution to be respected.

In conclusion, Roosevelt also stated that it was important for the country to unite and protect itself from the enemies.

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