The Declaration of Independence and the “Speech in the Virginia Convention” are two of the most influential and powerful debates in the Revolution. These arguments lead Thomas Jefferson and Patrick Henry to become very important figures in the American Revolution. The revolution was when America was demanding freedom from Great Britain. Both of these literary accomplishments are targeting Great Britain. The similarities and differences of these arguments is shown greatly in their format, content, and persuasive techniques. Jefferson and Henry are unquestionably two of the greatest persuaders. They both include information on how Great Britain has challenged the way of life for Americans. In each piece they talk about the past events of Great …show more content…
Jefferson’s piece is a legal document with a great amount of input and ideas from others. Henry’s piece was speech, influenced by himself and the actions that surrounded him. The declaration of Independence focuses mainly on the the King and how he is affecting the people of America. While on the other side, Henry is talking about what seems like the people but is really himself, as illustrated in the last sentence, “Give me Liberty, or Give me Death”. IN addition to those, the format of the writings have their own characteristics. In the Declaration of Independence, Jefferson reaches his main point in the body, while the Speech accomplishes it at the end. Continuing with that, Jefferson separates his main points into paragraphs, at the same time as when Henry was combining all of his points into one long idea. There is one persuasive technique that Henry has mastered, and that is the rhetorical question. He includes a question 22 times in his speech, and the interesting part is that none of them are meant to be answered. As Henry used rhetorical questions, Jefferson used another form of persuasion called logos, logic. Jefferson uses this by bringing up very simple points that resulted in major issue. This technique is also used to easily convince the readers by using basic things the know and