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Thomas Jefferson's Use Of Ethos In The Declaration Of Independence

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In The Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson calls for the independence of the thirteen colonies who were under the British rule. While the thirteen colonies where under the British rule there was many wrong doings done to them by King George III. Therefore, the thirteen colonies wanted to become independent from the British rule.Jefferson’s purpose is to justify the act the colonies took in declaring themselves independent from the British rule to the foreign nations. He is able to achieve this purpose through the use of ethos and logos. At the beginning of the Declaration of Independence Jefferson uses ethos to establish his credibility for his argument. Jefferson justifies why the American colonies have decided to declared themselves independent from Great Britain. He uses ethos to make the foreign nations understand why the thirteen colonies decided to separate themselves from the British rule. Jefferson states there's a time when a society needs to break away from its past leader and rely on the powers of God and the earth to create a new community. In the first paragraph Jefferson states, “ When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a …show more content…

Jefferson was able to accomplish his goal by using ethos and logos.Jefferson had to use ethos in the first paragraph in order to establish his credibility. Thus, he's seen as being a reasonable person. He also uses logos to make the foreign nation understand that the action taken was the logical decision/action. The Declaration of Independence is important because it contains the ideals or goals of our

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His claim was evident in the first paragraph of the text with the statement, “…in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them to another.” Its placement as the first line of the document also directly contributed to the persuasion of the Declaration. This guaranteed that the French leaders reading the document were immediately and clearly informed of the motive behind the penning of the Declaration which XXXXx. Furthermore, similar to the colonists in America, the people of France had experienced numerous conflicts with the British which severed the ties between the nations. The claim’s use of mythos with this shared cultural connection ensured that the audience would be keen to listen to, and perhaps heed, Jefferson’s request for assistance.

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These two pieces of evidence emphasize how Jefferson’s work for our country was crucial for our country’s development each in their own way. The Declaration of Independence was America's first act of becoming a separate nation of Great Britain. It contained the ideals of our nation, the complaints against the British king, and the arguments the colonists used to explain why they wanted to be free of British rule. Only the most patriotic men wrote it because they knew what they wanted in a

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231 Words | 1 Pages

The declaration of independence was written on July 4th 1776 in Philadelphia by Thomas Jefferson for all Americans. The document was written to explain why America had voted to declare independence from Britain and is one of America’s most important documents to this day. There are many persuasive techniques used in this document. As Thomas Jefferson says, “We hold truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal” (p.) he uses ethical appeal.

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While writing the declaration the problem Thomas Jefferson was trying to address was the unjust treatment of the English colonies. For the most part, the English colonies where bullied and not given the right treatment by England. As a solution to this miss treatment Thomas Jefferson decides that the colonies should run them self as a completely separate country. Even if that means going to war. Jefferson chose the evidence he did to highlight the unfair treatment of the colonies.

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“Do you want to know who you are? Don’t ask. Act! Action will delineate and define you.” He should believe so, as Thomas Jefferson’s actions clearly characterize his individual self, while also inducing the question, Does Thomas Jefferson deserve the honor he possesses, through these eminent actions?

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The Declaration of Independence Rhetorical Analysis In his 1776 articulate and cleverly crafted document, The Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson expressively and emotionally establishes himself as a powerful speaker and persuades his audience through his use of parallelism and metaphors to advocate the freedom of a new nation and the rights of the people. Thomas Jefferson established himself to be a motivated and powerful speaker by asserting his credibility at the beginning of the document. Jefferson cites, ¨...the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them…¨ Through a statement of fact, Jefferson is able to justify his reasoning of why we have the right to declare independence while accordingly undermining the power of the British monarchy. Repeatedly throughout the document, Jefferson addresses the reader using pronouns such as ¨We¨ or ¨Us¨ to bring a sense of unity, portraying our nation as a whole while constantly addressing the king as ¨He¨ to belittle the king, indicating he has no power.

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Thomas Jefferson wrote this document that the declared the thirteen American colonies then at war with Great Britain were no longer under British rules. The colonies became independent states. Their purpose was to create an ideological nation because in an ideological nation the people and the government are hold together by a set of ideas. The solution that the Declaration of independence declared that all people have inalienable rights, requiring life, liberty, and

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It helps the reader to feel the emotions known as pathos, and the ethics known as ethos behind the writer. In the declaration of independence we can see how Thomas Jefferson and the rhetorical triangle work together by Jefferson bringing together the emotions, the logic and the ethics behind this very important document we call the Declaration of Independence The ethos part of The Declaration of Independence Thomas Jefferson talks about, “we; therefore, the representation of the United States in general congress, assembled, appealing to the supreme judge of the world,” he is making it known that it is not only himself, Jefferson, that wants this but all Americans want to be free from British rule and

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So after many “unprovoked attacks” by the colonists to British soldiers stationed in America, they were ready to rebel against the King. Jefferson’s Declaration sole purpose was to justify their reasons for betraying the crown, treason. Jefferson’s writing sucks, he repeats his statements by using different words when explaining the reasons why they are separating from

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Declaration of Independence Precis Thomas Jefferson in his historical document, The Declaration of Independence (1776), asserts that the colonies should break free from Britain’s tyranny. Jefferson supports his assertion through the use of anaphora, parallel structure, imagery, emotional appeal to patriotism, and logical appeal to the colonist’s basic rights. Jefferson’s purpose is to advocate for the separation of Britain and the colonies in order to escape the British tyranny that King George imposes on the American colonists. Jefferson writes in a measured tone for the British parliament, King George, and for colonists who have been a victim of Britain’s oppression.

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The Declaration of Independence is an extremely important document to the United States. Thomas Jefferson receives the most credit for writing the declaration, however he was assisted by five other men that were apart of the Constitutional Congress. They wrote the declaration to persuade the colonist to break free from Britain. The Declaration of Independence uses numerous persuasive appeals and language, including parallelism, pathos, and ethos. Parallelism is “a pattern in writing in which words and phrases are similar in structure, one echoing another.”

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If it weren’t for Jefferson’s Declaration of Independence, America would look so much different than it is right now. Who knows if the United States would even exist. Arguably, if Jefferson hadn’t written the Declaration, is someone else had, it wouldn’t have been as strong. And possibly, the new colony would have needed to wait longer to become independent, if they became independent at all. But Jefferson’s strong rhetorical appeals help persuade his audience that new colony deserves independent, and his use of allusions contribute greatly to his argument, making his appeals powerful and capture the attention of his audience, and to get them to agree with him.

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Jefferson explains some of the King’s actions to make them submit to him. These are some of the reason why the Colonist have decided to break their bonds with Britain. Another example is: We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it.

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The authors of The Declaration of Independence successfully persuade the reader through the use of logos, ethos, and pathos. Of the three modes of persuasion, logos is definitely one of the most important. Logos plays off of the logic that something contains and how well the supporting informations relates to the thesis. The founding fathers used logos exceptionally well throughout their writing of The Declaration of Independence. One of the main ideas of logos asks if the thesis for the piece of writing is clear and specific.

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During the writing of “The Declaration of Independence”, Thomas Jefferson go to great lengths to describe why the colonies were choosing to separate themselves from Great Britain. This is done not only so readers will have a detailed description of what the American people were facing while being ruled by the King. The vivid depiction of all the cruelty he has shown towards the people. Furthermore, the lengthy, highly descriptive examination of all the wrongs and showing that the colonists made many appeals to the King but also the people of Britain that the reader now feels as if it is wrong for the Colonies to be under Great Britain. Thomas Jefferson begins by detailing the ethical standings of all people that live within the colonies.

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