Persuasion: The American Revolution and the 2016 Presidential Election
Throughout history, persuasion is a tactic used by influential people in order to gain something. In both the American Revolution and the 2016 presidential election, persuasion was used to acquire a number of things: the trust of the people, their vote, their encouragement and overall, their faith. The ideas of democracy, freedom and liberty that political speakers alike employed in both of the aforementioned events helped persuade the American people. The American Revolution contained rhetoric in an abundance of its literature that features the radical ideas of democracy, freedom and liberty. The usage of these ideas helped sway the audience, and instituted a sense of nationalism and pride in the future. The Declaration of Independence was not just something for the political man, but it was addressed to the people.
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They did so by employing the ideas of democracy, freedom and liberty. Both the democratic candidate, Hillary Clinton and the republican candidate, Donald Trump spoke on national security and both of their speeches include evidence of these ideas. Trump spoke of how the future of the democracy must include an increase in military and a more preventative approach regarding cyber attacks. The fear tactic of a possible attack urges voters to think about their freedom, and what it would mean if it was lost. Similar to the The Declaration of Independence and The Crisis, Trump addressed the “common man” as identified by Maddy Todaro in her socratic discussion. Clinton uses a persuasive attack also, but she uses a logical explanation for why American freedom would be endangered under a Trump presidency. The 2016 presidential election was full of events that contained persuasion