Patrick Henry's Speech Against The Tumultuous States Of The Colonies

In 1775, Patrick Henry congregated with commissioners of the second Virginia Convention at St. John’s church in Richmond, in conductive to deliberate the urgency to assemble and organize the national military resources to revolt against the British. Along with 2 other delegates of the Virginia Convention, Richard Henry Lee and Thomas Jefferson, Patrick Henry bolstered to create the Virginia House of Burgesses to dispute the tumultuous state of the colonies. Henry possessed an extremely prominent role in the success of America’s independence from Britain. Patrick Henry, a passionate and valiant orator, delivered a prolific speech, in which he argued that Americans have no choice but to take up arms against the British parliament by reminding

Patrick mentions, “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. But different men often see the same subject in different lights.” Henry forthwith acknowledges the apparent differences in opinions that his fellow citizens may hold. He realizes that he must stress and understand the needs and concerns for the people that disagree with him in order for him to make a powerful connection. After establishing a strong connection with his audience, Henry wastes no time to point out the major premise of his speech by saying, “The question before the House is one of awful moment to this country, and I consider it as nothing less than a question of freedom or slavery.” Here, Henry illustrates an ultimatum, in which the Americans’ must take. By using the antonymic words, ‘freedom’ and ‘slavery’, Henry conceives a sense of angst in attempt to scare his audience and also provides a sense of aspiration for them to cling on to. Henry applies emotional appeal within his speech by saying that hope is just an illusion and that hope will inevitably result in imprisonment. He also compares the colonists’ future imprisonment to being locked up like beasts as a rhetoric device to instill

He states, “Should I keep back my opinions at such a time, through fear of giving offense, I should consider myself as guilty of treason toward my country, and of an act of disloyalty toward the Majesty of Heaven, which I revere above all earthly kings.” Henry denounces King George by pointing out God is the true king and will always remain above him. Henry effectively creates an illusion that God favors the colonist rather than its counterpart, and that not rebelling against the British would be an act of treason. Henry utilizes both rhetoric devices of pathos and ethos to cause an enlargement in emotions with the colonists by incorporating God in their conflict. In the second paragraph of Patrick Henry’s speech, Henry mentions, “It is natural to man to indulge in the illusions of hope. We are apt to shut our eyes against a painful truth, and listen to the song of that siren till she transforms us into beasts.” Henry addressed this line to act as a testimony to those individuals that believe that armed conflict with Britain is not