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A Rhetorical Analysis Of Patrick Henry's Speech

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Patrick Henry presented a monumental speech that convinced the Virginia delegates to consider independence from England. Henry’s speech was one of the many catalysts that tilted the once ambivalent and divided mindsets of the colonists about England to a rebellious sentiment. The powerful speech was delivered on March 23, 1775 which called for opposition against the British; the rapid success of the Henry’s speech can be seen by the first military engagements in the Battles of Lexington and Concord on April 19, 1775 shortly after the speech was made at the Virginia Convention. In his speech, Henry attempts to persuade the members of the Convention that war with Britain is inevitable and waiting will only make the war more difficult to win. …show more content…

He knows that the delegates are devout Christians, and he uses this to his advantages by making references to God. He states, “It is only in this way that we can hope to arrive at truth, and fulfil the great responsibility which we hold to God and our country.” He believes that to fight for freedom is God’s truth as well as the country’s. In the fight for freedom, the statement places God on the side of the colonists. He then follows up with, “Should I keep back my opinions at such a time, through fear of giving offence, I should consider myself as guilty of treason towards my country, and of an act of disloyalty toward the majesty of heaven, which I revere above all earthly kings.” God as Henry believes it stands with liberty, thus with the American colonies. In his assertion, he juxtaposes God as the Majesty of Heaven with earthly king, King George III. In placing God above the King of England, he hopes to appeal to the men’s pious beliefs and that they, too, will side with God over an earthly king. Furthermore, Henry removes any doubts about the colonies’ strength by appealing to a higher authority. He starts his refutation by saying, “Sir, we are not weak if we make a proper use of those means which the God of nature hath placed in our power.” He disproves the opposing argument that the colonies lack power to fight against Britain by asserting that they are invincible, for they are armed in the holy cause of …show more content…

He states, “We have petitioned; we have remonstrated; we have supplicated; we have prostrated ourselves before the throne…” The list of reasons of attempted peace illustrates that the colonies are far from being the antagonists. The use of parallelism accentuates and emphasizes the numerous ways in which the colonists tried to maintain a state of peace that is continually disregarded by Britain. In addition, Henry ends his speech in a parallel structure. The prominent line reads, “Give me liberty or give me death!” The sentence empowers the concept of freedom, and by paralleling liberty and death, he is stating that there will be no compromise and the result will be one or the other. He finishes his message by equating death with slavery. Henry uses parallelism as a way to remind the men of British neglect as well as to clearly express his stance on

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He feels that Great Britain’s deployment of military personal is more of a threat than a means to peacefully win back the colonies’ affection. He appeals to logos here by saying that Britain is sending military units to the colonies only to start a war with them and not resolve tensions. He feels it’s illogical for someone to induce fear

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Patrick Henry, former governor of Virginia, bravely spoke on the 23rd of March, 1775, at St. John’s Church, introducing his strategies to end the American Revolution in victory. The speech was so inspiring that it ignited a massive flame of patriotism. Americans began to greatly support his political ideology. Due to his stirring choice of words, the phrase “Give me liberty, or give me death!” impacted the listeners, making his remarkable words yet known to this date.

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Finally, he also uses logos to show logical appeal towards the audience. Patrick henry says "shall we try arguments" talking about and thinking about everything they have done in the past that hasnt worked. Henry say the British will betray the colonists, telling the audience you can't trust the British that why we shall fight. Give me liberty or give me death is a way of him saying and showing he will get peace one way or another, but if the people dont agree with him then there is no hope for freedom so give him

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In the “Speech to the Virginia Convention” given by Patrick Henry to the President in 1775, asserts that the colonists should not be trying to negotiate with the British. His purpose was to convince the audience that they should not be trying to befriend the people of Great Britain rather that they should make Great Britain their foe. Henry uses his speech to appeal to both the President and the colonist through the use of figurative language, tone, and syntax. Patrick Henry’s use of diction, a persuasive and forceful tone, appeal to ethos and pathos, as well as various syntactical elements in his “Speech to the Virginia Convention” shows that the colonists should be fighting to break away from the British monarchy rather than negotiate terms to try and stay under their clutches.

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With the same purpose of persuasion, the literary device logos is used as a solely logical and factual form of enticement or argumentation, especially in paragraph 13. He uses this “fact of the matter” when he states that the colonies were a force to be reckoned with, “three millions of people, armed with the holy cause of liberty” to be exact. As has been noted all throughout Patrick Henry’s speech, he uses many devices and fallacies to inform his audience of the facts, explain what said facts mean for the country and people, and to persuade and alert their viewpoints; all of this is done magnificently and famously in his “Give Me

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He believes that he should fight for his country and for the people. He also likes to prove his point and get the trust form the people in the fight for liberty. “ no man thinks more highly than i do of the patriotism, as well as abilities, of the very worthy gentlemen who have just addressed the house” which he is sharing with his people. He is sharing with them his morals on establishing his goal for the

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On March 23,1775 Patrick Henry convinced colonists to fight against Britain by using four rhetorical devices which were allusion, imagery, one-word sentences and rhetorical questions. He did this by reading his famous speech called “the Virgina Convention speech”. These four devices helped Patrick Henry convinced many people that were still not willing to go to war. Patrick Henry purpose for using allusion was to helped him connect with the listeners. “Listen to the song of the siren till she transforms us into beast.”

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