ipl-logo

What Defines American People

906 Words4 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Coming to america cultures

What defines a people? Some argue that they are defined by their technological achievements, the monuments they built, the languages they created and the philosophies or culture that they contributed to the global platform. Others argue that it is the superficial components such as our appearance and our wealth that defines us. How then do we define the American people? English is a medley of different sounds and etymologies, our monuments draw inspiration from the outside sources such as the Romans and the Egyptians. And our population is a compendium of human diversity. What is it then that unifies the American people? What is the spark that separates them from the rest of the world? Looking in the metaphysical spectrum, it becomes apparent that what separates Americans from the rest is not a …show more content…

This guiding principle draws inspiration from the current attitude of the time and is subject to change. During the early stage of American history, a time otherwise known as “The Age of Reason,” grit motivated the common man, however in our current era, it is initiative that is our guiding principal. “Give me liberty or give me death.” These words were spoken by an impassioned Patrick Henry, who upon seeing that the colonies would be following a course of inaction was forced to remind his compatriots that regardless of their strength and numbers, they had to fight otherwise it would be tantamount to be retreating in “submission and slavery.” The whole speech is charged with ideals of hardiness, resilience, the idea the one must work hard and even sacrifice to get what he wants. To put it simply, it represents grit. It

Show More
Related
210 Words | 1 Pages

Well-known orator and attorney, Patrick Henry, in his speech, “Speech in the Virginia Convention” (1775), asserts that Americans must fight for their independence against Britain. Henry’s purpose is to take a stand against the British government. He adopts an acrimonious tone in order to call influential Virginian landowners to action and persuade them to advocate the revolution. Henry appeals to emotions through the use of syntax in order to emphasize the British government’s refusal to acquiesce with the colonists’ requests. For instance, Henry begins his speech by asking if Great Britain has an “enemy, in this quarter of the world, to call for all this accumulation of navies and armies” not to receive an answer, but to indicate that the

Read More
524 Words | 3 Pages

Under the control of the British Parliament in 1775, the American colonies consider going to war in order to gain independence from Britain. In “Patrick Henry’s Speech in the Virginia Convention,” Henry addresses the need for American colonists to work together to stop the British from controlling them. Thus, Henry’s periodic sentence, rhetorical questions, antithesis, and anaphora successfully convince the American colonists to unite against the British and to bring awareness to their wrongdoings. Firstly, Henry applies periodic sentences and rhetorical questions to convey the idea that the American Colonists must fight back against the British by working together if they want to gain freedom. Henry believes that “if [they] wish to

Read More
422 Words | 2 Pages

Nehemiah Wright Ms. Guidorizzi Junior English Per. 6 21 September 2016 Virginian Persuasion Patrick Henry, a revolutionary who could persuade a charging rhinoceros to change directions became one of the most important founding fathers during the early stages of the Revolutionary War. While the thirteen colonies were on edge trying to decide whether or not a permanent militia was to be put in place. Mr. Henry came to the forefront and, using words alone, swayed enough of the congressmen’s opinions to have that militia put in place.

Read More
765 Words | 4 Pages

Logos Speech Examples 1. “Are fleets and armies necessary to a work of love and reconciliation? Have we shown ourselves so unwilling to be reconciled that force must be called in to win back our love?... These are the implements of war and subjugation” Henry is saying that Great Britain is not trying to peacefully restore relations with the colonies, but instead trying to regain control over them by force.

Read More
619 Words | 3 Pages

Henry’s Striking Speech “I am not a Virginian but an American”(Henry 2). During the age of reason, people believed in logic and appealed more to statistics and reason rather than ethics or emotion. People were interested in and aimed for liberty, progress, tolerance, fraternity, constitutional government, and separation of church and state. During the age of reason, people feared the devil. One of the struggles the people went through during this time was the war between the United States and Britain.

Read More
453 Words | 2 Pages

There are many and reasons that the United States is a free country today and Patrick Henry is one of those reasons. Henry was a loyal patriot and believed that the United States had to fight back against the British before it was too late. Henry uses many rhetorical strategies in his speech in order to grasp the attention of the government and the citizens of the U.S. One example of a rhetorical strategy being used is when Henry says that “They tell us sir, that we are weak; unable to cope with such so formidable an adversary.

Read More
357 Words | 2 Pages

Patrick Henry’s “Speech to the Virginia Convention” uses exclamatory sentences to declare that he might not know which path others will take, but he himself is ready to even give up his life for the freedom and liberty by stating, “I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!” (119). Here Henry uses an exclamatory sentence to tell the president and people that he does not care which path you will take; but as for him, he will even give up his life to get his liberty and freedom. In the sentence, Henry starts out by saying “I know not what course others may take”; he says that because he is not sure what others might consider as their choice because many of them were not willing to take action to stand

Read More
651 Words | 3 Pages

“Rhetorics in Patrick Henry’s Speech” During the tension before the American Revolution, colonial outlook on freedom was bleak. Governor Patrick Henry conveyed the urge for retaliation against Great Britain in his speech at the Virginia Convention. In Patrick Henry’s speech “Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death,” he uses rhetorical devices, such as logos and pathos to instill the drive in the Convention to rebel against Great Britain and its tyrannical rule. Patrick Henry lived in colonial Virginia in the 1700s.

Read More
479 Words | 2 Pages

In 1775, Patrick Henry proposed his Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death speech at the Virginia Convention to persuade America to go to war with Britain. America tried different ways of approaching the situation, but Britain wouldn’t give in. Henry was tired of America being Britain’s slave and wanted independence now. In his speech, he used many literary devices such as rhetorical questions, repetition, and parallelism to convince the colonists to fight for freedom.

Read More
768 Words | 4 Pages

In the “People Like Us” by David Brooks, he talks about the diversity in America. He argues that diversity is something that we tend to forget about. We

Read More
887 Words | 4 Pages

“The cause of America is in a great measure the cause of all mankind” (Paine 1). With the Revolutionary War beginning in 1775, and the publication of Common Sense, by Thomas Paine, only a year later, this statement was widely recognized and addressed the issue at hand: the fight for independence. According to Paine’s assertion, America’s desire for peace and freedom is a basic necessity of life; it is what all men desire. Despite this innate thirst for liberty, many residents of America’s thirteen colonies were fearful of Great Britain, and because of this fear, complied with Great Britain’s every whim. Consequently, most colonists were hesitant to fight against the mother country for independence.

Read More
1044 Words | 5 Pages

On March 23, 1775, “Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death” was heard all throughout St. John 's Church. These famous words were not only from a great speaker looking to have his voice heard, but the words truly had an everlasting impact on freedom’s history. In the speech, “Give me Liberty or Give me Death” by Patrick Henry, he used figurative languages such as allusions, parallelism, and biblical references to bring his speech to life. These examples are just a few ways that Henry used literary devices, to create emotion and realism. In this specific piece of literature, qualities like patriotism and individualism are exceedingly prominent, this all being due to Henry’s use of literary devices.

Read More
109 Words | 1 Pages

What it means to be an American is that you have the freedom to vote freedom of speech. You have the liberty to be what you want in America no one chooses for you. Also have the liberty to work wherever you want not be someone 's slave. Being American means you don 't have to hide your religion, the color of your skin or your sex. You have the ability to speak what you want.

Read More
733 Words | 3 Pages

First person. For centuries the notion of war as an exciting and romantic endeavor has existed until Stephen Crane DE glorified war in his novel The Red Badge of Courage. He tells about the true nature and experience of war through a young soldier Henry Fleming and contrasts it with his romantic imagination. Crane introduces a more realistic approach to war which is in contrast to Henry’s expectations.

Read More
361 Words | 2 Pages

We live in a society that teach us how to be individuals, as Americans, we grew up with the idea of being some very special, this concept does not sound bad at all, but, if we want to compare our life style with other ones round the world, we will find out that those people’s beliefs are different than ours. Many people around the world grew up with a concept of been part of a group that affects their life style every day, such as knowledge, beliefs, arts morals, laws, customs etc. Both lifestyles the American and someone from around the globe are different, however, both are correct this is what we call Culture. When it comes to define the world Culture, we encounter that Culture is “traditions and customs that govern behaviors and beliefs;

Read More

More about What Defines American People

Related Topics

Open Document