Similarities Between Give Me Death And Patrick Henry

Even though both the Declaration of Independence and Patrick Henry’s “Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death” speech conveyed the same message of American liberty and freedom from the British oppressors (through similar tones, diction, and a copia of examples highlighting the tyrannical rule of Great Britain), the delivery of their ideas differ in the format, usage of persuasive appeals, and rhetorical devices.

With only a short glance at both of these revolutionary pieces, it is easily recognized that both share the central theme of liberty for America. From the patriot’s point of view, each of the authors use persuasive techniques to appeal to their audience. Patrick Henry’s speech establishes pathos as its strongest method of persuasion by appealing

it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government”. This is no plea like in Henry’s speech; the right of Americans to overthrow their repressive government is stated as absolute fact. The bulk of the Declaration’s straightforward, logical appeal is contained in the list of specific grievances against the king. Some of the many complaints listed include that “He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary powers” and “has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.” Past examples of oppression under British rule are mentioned in Henry’s speech a few times as well. By adding that “[w]e have petitioned; we have remonstrated; we have supplicated; we have prostrated ourselves before the throne”, Henry inserts a bit of logos into his pathos-based argument. It is likewise noticeable that both Patrick Henry and the authors of the Declaration of Independence included emotional appeal in the form of diction to further strengthen the impact of their claim. The most notable use of word choice used has to be the description of the oppressive British government. In both texts, the British are labeled as tyrants with Henry

Both of these piece include rhetorical strategies in order to interest their audiences and prove their claims. Since religion made up a large part of the lives of the people in the time period of these pieces, one of the most effective rhetorical devices was allusion to the Bible and God. Both pieces refer to the bible various times to encourage people to participate in this “holy cause of liberty” (Henry 2). The Declaration of Independence backs its arguments with not only logic but by saying the the right “to throw off such Government” is “the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God” which in the Revolutionary time meant that those rights are set in stone (get the reference wink wink?) by God and therefore irrefutable (Declaration of Independence 1). While both Henry’s speech and the Declaration of Independence appeal to the Christian population through the usage of biblical allusions, Patrick Henry’s speech contains more rhetorical tropes such as metaphors to create imagery whereas the Declaration of Independence relies on rhetorical schemes such as anaphora to create a convincing logical argument. Patrick Henry includes in his speech “Suffer not yourselves to be betrayed with a kiss,” which refers to the bible in an indirect and artistic way unlike the Declaration of Independence which is written in a straightforward manner that directly indicates when God