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Compare And Contrast Patrick Henry And Thomas Paine

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Life and Liberty “Free people, remember this maxim: we may acquire liberty, but it is never recovered if it is once lost.” - Jean-Jacques Rousseau. Freedom is a widely sought after commodity but is hard to acquire. Many people and nations throughout history have tried to gain their freedom. Some of them have won but many have failed. One particular group of people that wanted their freedom were the American Colonists. The colonies wanted nothing more than to be free from British rule. They knew that if they tried to gain their freedom and failed, they would have no chance of ever gaining it. The punishment that they would receive if they failed would be horrendous. Many of the colonists were beginning to grow weary and thinking of throwing in the towel. Patrick Henry and Thomas Paine were the push the Colonists needed. The two writers both gave compelling reasons as to why they needed to go to war with Britain and obtain their freedom. They were both in full support of the American Revolution. Though both writers had an influence on the people, Patrick Henry was the stronger of the two. …show more content…

Paine’s writing was full of emotion and feeling. His writing tugs on the heartstrings, but by doing this, lacks the drive the Colonists needed. His collection of articles rambled on and took round about ways to get to what he was trying to say. At times it seemed that he got off topic making it harder to follow what he was saying. He also talked about what would happen to the people during the war. This made it less likely that the people would want to go to war. To them the risks outweighed the rewards. Patrick Henry’s speech is the

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In both the speech to the Virginia Convention and The Crisis, Number 1, Henry and Paine write to persuade the colonists to fight. But, they both have different methods in doing this. Paine uses figurative language, tone, and rhetorical devices to convince the colonists to rise up against the British and fight for their independence. Paine’s writing uses ethical and emotional appeals, or ethos and pathos, in order to achieve his goal. Henry, on the other hands, uses logical appeal, or logos, to convince the colonists to secede from England and to fight the British.

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Under the control of the British Parliament in 1775, the American colonies consider going to war in order to gain independence from Britain. In “Patrick Henry’s Speech in the Virginia Convention,” Henry addresses the need for American colonists to work together to stop the British from controlling them. Thus, Henry’s periodic sentence, rhetorical questions, antithesis, and anaphora successfully convince the American colonists to unite against the British and to bring awareness to their wrongdoings. Firstly, Henry applies periodic sentences and rhetorical questions to convey the idea that the American Colonists must fight back against the British by working together if they want to gain freedom. Henry believes that “if [they] wish to

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Give them liberty of give them death! In 1773, Thomas Paine wrote “The American Crisis”, an essay designed to persuade the colonists to separate from Britain. In 1775, Patrick Henry delivered his “Speech in the Virginia Convention with the same idea. Paine and Henry wanted to persuade the colonists to stand up for their freedom and basic human rights against Britain. The writings of Thomas Paine and Patrick Henry both use metaphors, include rhetorical questions, and serve the same purpose.

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Edward Mitchell 10/22/2016 English 10 Essay Unit 1 Patrick Henry and Thomas Jefferson played a large role in motivating the fight toward freedom in the weeks leading up to the Revolutionary War and immediately following it. Each believed in the fundamental right to be free from rule. Patrick Henry appealed to the people’s fear of war. Thomas Jefferson was able to convince people that together, they could form a new nation. The writings of each man reveals a very chaotic time in America’s history and the leadership, determination, and boldness of Patrick Henry and Thomas Jefferson ensured that when change came, the people were ready for it.

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Liberty or Death “Give me Liberty or give me Death!” It was 1775 the time were colonist were trying to break free from British troops and Government. Colonist steadily paying unfair taxes, on all newspaper and public documents which the British Parliament named the “ Stamp Act”. The colonist feared that they would be overruled and would never get there freedom. The only thing they wanted was to get their rights and a new government.

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780 Words | 4 Pages

Patrick Henry gave his famous, "Give me liberty or give me death!" speech in 1775 at the Second Virginia Convention. Patrick Henry talks about many different topics in his speech. He talks about liberty, false hope, and fighting back against Britain. I think he is one of the most influential founding fathers because of this famous speech. The Revolutionary War may not have happened if it wasn't for Patrick Henry.

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1069 Words | 5 Pages

Common Sense vs. Plain Truth The battle for independence in America during 1776 was indeed a complex issue requiring the involvement of intellectuals to air their own views regarding the best move that British colonies could make toward gaining independence. At the time, two famous individuals, Thomas Paine and James Chalmers, appeared disagreeing to matters concerning the giant step of gaining independence from the central government in Britain. While Thomas Paine was a patriot who wrote Common Sense with the intention of enlightening Americans the greater benefit they would gain by separating from British rule, James Chalmers who wrote Plain Truth was a loyalist to the British rule and saw it as a wrong move and a beginning for a lot of problems.

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Compare the backgrounds of Jefferson and Paine; did Paine have an advantage or disadvantage by not being born in the colonies? Explain. Paine had the advantage of being able to see the issues from the outside and from a lower point of society. To be able to understand a bigger group of people is far more of an advancement than to always target the smaller group. Which was the cause of the colonies not wanting to be under rule.

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“The cause of America is in a great measure the cause of all mankind” (Paine 1). With the Revolutionary War beginning in 1775, and the publication of Common Sense, by Thomas Paine, only a year later, this statement was widely recognized and addressed the issue at hand: the fight for independence. According to Paine’s assertion, America’s desire for peace and freedom is a basic necessity of life; it is what all men desire. Despite this innate thirst for liberty, many residents of America’s thirteen colonies were fearful of Great Britain, and because of this fear, complied with Great Britain’s every whim. Consequently, most colonists were hesitant to fight against the mother country for independence.

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Throughout history, there is a vast majority of opinions solely on one event in history but in order for someone to grasp an idea of something, such as the American Revolution, one has to look and evaluate the different ideas on a historical event. In the case of the American Revolution authors Charles Inglis, Thomas Paine, Howard Zinn, and speaker Patrick Henry had to compare and contrasting ideas. Inglis and Zinn identified the revolution as something that was unnecessary as there are more advantages in staying with Britain and as a result of the revolution there are more problems, while Paine and Henry suggested that the revolution is needed due to the subordination and inflicted pain to the colonists, and King George III not being able

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Before this many Colonists did not know of the harsh injustices done by the British. They also did not believe that the cause for revolution was urgent. Thomas Paine showed them that the cause was urgent by explaining the wrongs the British had committed and why King George was a tyrant. He also showed them that America did not need the British Empire 's protection. This quote shows his reasoning “Small islands, not capable of protecting themselves, are the proper objects for kingdoms to take under their care; but there is something absurd, in supposing a continent to be perpetually governed by an island.”

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He starts by analyzing the past, saying that if any mistakes were made, they “have none to blame but ourselves” (IN TEXT). However, he counters this with the idea that they cannot change the past, but embrace its effects and move on. Next, he appeals to the logic of his Puritan beliefs. Paine says that he believes that “God Almighty will not give up a people to military destruction” (IN TEXT). This gives the reader a sturdy base to place their hope, which he later increases by calling the king out for his murderous and unethical actions, and claims that the king has no grounds to seek support or solace from

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182 Words | 1 Pages

On January 10, 1776 (during the American Revolution) Thomas Paine published a pamphlet titled “Common Sense”. In this he sets his arguments in favor of American independence, the pamphlet was written in clear and persuasive prose. It inspired people in the Thirteen colonies to declare and fight for egalitarian government from Great Britain and because of this the pamphlet was an immediate sensation. The pamphlet was originally published anonymously and was one of the most influential pamphlets in America.

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691 Words | 3 Pages

In his document, The Crisis, Number 1, Thomas Paine argues that the American colonists should go and fight for the freedom that they want. Thomas Paine supports this cause by explaining to the colonists that they should have that same mind set no matter what it is. Paine’s purpose is to persuade with emotion in order to get the colonists to feel the need to go and fight for the freedom of the developing country against the British. Thomas Paine uses a formal tone to engage with the emotions of the colonists using rhetorical devices. Paine in his writing likes to use a lot of charged words throughout his writing.

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It was extremely important for Paine to persuade the colonist to continue the war for American independence. He used pathos by using a parent’s love for their children against them to convince the army to continue on with the war. By way of example, when Paine is talking about a tori and patriotic father “finished with this unfatherly expression ‘Well! Give me peace in my day…’ and a generous parent should have said ‘If there must be trouble let it be in my day; that my child may have peace’ and this single reflection, well applied, is sufficient enough to awaken every man to duty” (Paine 109).

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