Rhetorical Analysis Of Patrick Henry

The American Revolution was a period where independence was growing immensely among the thirteen colonies of America. The struggle for independence was shown through persuasive literature and speeches spoken and or written by some of the most influential men in Americas early history attempting to persuade men in the thirteen colonies to fight against Britain for their freedom. Patrick Henry was one of these influential men. Patrick Henry’s Speech in the Virginia Convention addresses the delegates of the Virginia Convention with an ethos appeal that uses allusions, rhetorical questions, and parallelism to persuade the delegates to be on board with the idea of going to war with Britain.
Patrick Henry uses allusions many times in his speech

One of Henry’s most famous quotes is an example of this device, “Give me liberty or give me death!” (Henry190). Henry knows he must be dramatic with his words in order for the delegates to listen to him, so he uses death as a way to put his point across. He says that he would rather die than not have his right to liberty, making the delegates question whether they would do the same. Along with being dramatic, Henry also shows once again how he pokes at the delegates pride “The battle, sir, is not to the strong alone; it is to the vigilant, the active, the brave,” (pg.189). Henry is basically explaining that every man in the union needs to come together, not just the strong ones, but everyone. He says this strategically because he knows that some men don’t think they are strong or brave enough to fight, so he explains this to assure that everyone can and should fight for their country’s independence. Henry also explains the different ways they have been wronged by Britain, “We have petitioned; we have remonstrated; we have supplicated; we have prostrated ourselves before the throne,” (Henry188). Many of the speeches and other literature during this time had listed all the wrong doings of the king, and Henry did the same. In this parallelism example, he lists the ways that the colonists have tried to peacefully come to terms with the British, but their attempts have just been met with rejection and aggression. Henry’s reasoning for saying this is to explain to the delegates that they have tried everything in their power that they can do to peacefully end things with Britain and now it’s time for